Psalms 71
PSALMSPsalms 71A from the spite of wicked enemies prays for deliverance, Psalms 71:1-3. He acknowledges God’s goodness to him in early life, Psalms 71:4-8, and prays that it may be continued in old age, Psalms 71:9-13. He confidently anticipates an answer to his prayers, Psalms 71:14-21, and promises a suitable return of praise, Psalms 71:22-24. This psalm bears a strong resemblance to the others in which the sufferings of the righteous are the great theme, such as the twenty-second, thirty-fifth, thirty-eighth, and fortieth, a portion of which last seems to have been prefixed to it, as a kind of text or theme, or for the purpose of connecting it with the whole class of compositions just referred to. This explains the absence of a title or inscription in the psalm before us, as in the case of the second, tenth, forty-third, and others. Psalms 71:1. In thee, 0 Jehovah, have I trusted, taken refuge; let me not be shamed, disappointed and confounded, to eternity, for ever. This verse and the next two are borrowed, with slight variations, from the beginning of Psalms 31.
Psalms 71:2. In thy righteousness thou wilt deliver me and cause me to escape; incline to me thine ear and save me. See above, on Psalms 31:1-2, where the imperative form of the preceding clause is still retained, instead of being changed, as here, into the future. The verb deliver me there occurs in what is here the second clause; and the qualifying term, haste or quickly, is omitted in the case before us. The division of the sentences is also different, so that the verses do not exactly correspond.
Psalms 71:3. Be thou to me for a rock of habitation, a rock where I may safely dwell and make my home, (whither I may be able) to come always, i.e. whenever it is necessary; thou hast commanded to save me, my deliverance is decreed already; for my rock, my hiding place, and my fortress art thou. The images presented and the terms used are similar to those in Psalms 18:2). Commanded to save me; see above, on Psalms 44:4. The imitation of Psalms 30 here insensibly merges into a new and independent composition.
Psalms 71:4. My God, free me, cause me to escape, from the hand of the wicked, from the palm, a poetical equivalent to hand, of the perverse and corruptoer. The last word in Hebrew occurs only here, but from its form appears to be the particle of a verb that means to be (or become) sour, to ferment, to putrefy. The infinitive of the same verb is applied to moral evil in Isaiah 1:17.
Psalms 71:5. For thou (art) my hope, 0 Lord, Jehovah, my confidence, the object of my trust, from my youth. Compare the combination Lord Jehovah with those in Psalms 68:20; Psalms 69:6, and the phrase my confidence with Psalms 40:4.
Psalms 71:6. Upon thee I leaned, or by thee was held up, sustained, from the womb; from the bowels of my mother, a synonymous expression, thou (art) my bringing out, the one that brought me out, a different expression of the same idea as in Psalms 22:10. The meaning of the verb here used, both in its transitive and intransitive forms, may be gathered from Psalms 90:10, Numbers 11:31. In thee is my praise always; it originates, revolves, and ends in thee. Compare the analogous expression in Psalms 22:25.
Psalms 71:7. As a prodigy, or wonder, an object of contemptuous astonishment, was I, or have I been to many, on account of my extraordinary sufferings; but thou art my refuge of strength, my strong refuge, at once my protector and my hiding place. With the first clause compare Deuteronomy 28:46, Isa. 53:14, 1 Corinthians 4:9.
Psalms 71:8. Filled shall my mouth be (with) thy praise, and all the day (with) thy beauty, or glory, as the subject of that praise. The sight of thine excellency now excites, and will excite for ever, my admiration and my praise. Psalms 71:9. Cast me not off, at the time of old age; as my strength fails, literally according to the failure of my strength, leave me not, do thou not abandon or forsake me. He here prays that the grace which he experienced in youth, and which he has already acknowledged in the foregoing context, may be continued and extended to his old age. Compare Isaiah 46:3-4.
Psalms 71:10. For my enemies have said (so) to me, i.e. have told me that God would forsake or had forsaken me, and as a proof that hey believe it, the watchers of my soul, those who watch and lie in wait for its destruction, have consulted together, i.e. against me, which they would not have done if they had really believed me to be under the Divine protection. Instead of to me in the first clause, we may read of (i.e. concerning) me, without any violation of usage or material change of meaning. See above, on Psalms 3:2.
Psalms 71:11. Saying, God hath forsaken him, pursue and seize him, for there is no deliverer, literally none delivering. This verse is an amplification of the phrase they say (so) in the verse preceding. It gives the very words in which they say so. With the first clause compare Psalms 3:2; Psalms 41:5, and the words of Ahithophel in 2 Samuel 17:1-2, to which there may be a direct allusion, as an actual instance of the thing ideally described in David’s own experience. With the last clause compare Psalms 7:2.
Psalms 71:12. 0 God, be not far from me; 0 my God, to (or for) my help hasten. Compare the similar expressions of Psa 22:19; Psalms 35:22; Psalms 38:21-22; Psalms 40:13; Psalms 70:1. The stronger expression my God, in the second clause, urges his covenant relation to God, as a reason for expecting to be heard.
Psalms 71:13. They shall be shamed, they shall cease (or be consumed)—the adversaries of my soul; they shall put on (or be clothed with) reproach or disgrace — the seekers of my hurt. The verbs may also be translated as optatives, let them be shamed, &c. But this is really included in the strict sense of the future. Compare the parallel passages, Psalms 35:4; Psalms 35:26; Psalms 40:14; Psalms 70:2.
Psalms 71:14. And I will always hope, and add to (literally add upon, accumulate, increase) all thy praise. To all thy praise which I have uttered hitherto, I will continue still to add. Psalms 71:15. My mouth shall recount thy righteousness, all the day (long) thy salvation, for I know not numbers (to express them), I cannot number them, they are innumerable. The righteousnesss or rectitude of God, including his veracity or faithfulness, is here referred to as the cause of his salvation, the salvation of which he is the source and author.
Psalms 71:16. I will come with the mighty deeds of the Lord Jehovah; I will mention (or commemorate) thy righteousness, thine only. The first phrase may also be translated, I will enter into the mighty deeds, ete., as we speak of entering into the particulars of a subject. But this is rather an English than a Hebrew idiom. The common version, I will go in the strength of the Lord God, is at variance with the usage both of the verb and noun, as the former does not mean to go absolutely, but either to enter or to come to a particular place, expressed or understood. The ellipsis here may be supplied from Psalms 5:7 and Psalms 66:13, in both which places the same verb denotes the act of coming to God’s house for the purpose of solemn praise, and in the second passage cited is followed by the same preposition, I will come into thy house with burnt-offerings, ie.
I will bring them thither. This sense agrees well with the vow to praise God in the two preceding verses, and with the promise of commemoration in the other clause of this verse. See above, on Psalms 20:7. It also enables us to give the noun its usual sense of God’s exploits or mighty deeds. See below, Psalms 106:2, and compare Deuteronomy 3:24. Thine only, not my own or that of any creature.
See above, on Psalms 44:3; Psalms 44:6.
Psalms 71:17. 0 God, thou hast taught me (to praise thee) from my youth, by thy providential dealings with me, i.e. given me occasion to celebrate thy praise, and until now I will declare, i.e. I am still declaring, still have reason to declare, thy wondrous works. See above, on Psalms 9:1; Psalms 26:7; Psalms 40:5.
Psalms 71:18. And also (or even) unto old age and hoary hairs, 0 God, forsake me not, till I declare thine arm, i.e. the exertion of thy power, to the (next) generation, (and) to every one that is to come thy power. The last clause determines the sense of the indefinite expression, a generation. See above, on Psalms 22:30. With the phrase thy arm, compare Psalms 44:3.
Psalms 71:19. And thy righteousness, 0 God, (reaches) even to the height (or high place), i.e. heaven, (thou) who hast done great things, 0 God, who is like thee? With the first clause compare Psalms 36:5; Psalms 57:10); with the last, Exodus 15:11, Deuteronomy 3:24, 2 Samuel 7:22.
Psalms 71:20. (Thou) who hast shewed us, made us see, i.e. caused us to experience, distresses many and severe (or many distresses and evils) wilt return (and) make us live, revive or quicken us, and from the depths of the earth wilt return (and) bring us up, make or cause us to ascend. The sudden change from the singular to the plural form, in reference to the same subject, led he authors of the masoretic punctuation to restore the singular in this verse also; but the reading in the text is no doubt the original and true one. As the word translated depths is elsewhere invariably applied to water, some suppose an allusion to the deluge, as in Psalms 29:10; Psalms 32:6; Psalms 36:6. Compare Isaiah 8:7-8. The verb return, twice used here, may, agreeably to Hebrew usage, merely qualify the verbs to which it is prefixed, thou wilt quicken us again, thou wilt bring us again. But the similar expression in the next verse makes it probable that the verb was meant to have an independent meaning, and to point out the dependence of the quickening and the restoration here expected on Jehovah’s return to his forsaken people. See above, on Psalms 14:7.
Psalms 71:21. Thou wilt increase my greatness, and wilt turn (and) comfort me. As the word translated greatness is elsewhere applied to the great things done by God for the protection and deliverance of his people (Psalms 145:3, 2 Samuel 7:23) my greatness may have here the objective sense of great things done to or for me. See above, on Psalms 71:19, and compare Psalms 40:5.
Psalms 71:22. Also I will thank thee with a harp-instrument, i.e. with a harp or lyre as the instrument of praise, (for) thy truth, or as to thy truth, veracity and faithfulness; I will play to thee, make music to thee, praise or celebrate thee, with a lyre, (thou) Holy (One) of Israel, i.e. his peculiar God, possessed of all divine perfections. See above, on Psalms 22:3. From this place the title has been borrowed by the prophets, and by none so frequently as by Isaiah.
Psalms 71:23. My lips shall sing when I play to thee, and my soul which thou hast redeemed. The first clause, as above translated, seems to promise the combination of vocal and instrumental praise. But as the first verb usually means to shout or sing for joy, and sometimes simply to rejoice, and the second commonly conveys the idea, not of music merely, but of praise, the clause may be explained, my lips shall rejoice, for I will sing to thee (or praise thee), and my soul (shall also rejoice). With the last clause compare Psalms 34:22. Psalms 71:24. Also my tongue all the day shall muse of thy righteousness, because they are ashamed, they blush–the seekers of my hurt. The verb in the first clause means to think aloud, to talk to one’s self, and therefore suggests the idea both of thought and sound. It is here applied to the tongue, as the instrument by which one’s thoughts are thus expressed, not to others but himself. See above, on Psalms 1:2; Psalms 2:1; Psalms 35:28; Psalms 37:30; Psalms 38:12; Psalms 63:6, and below, on Psalms 90:9. The position of the subject at the end of the last clause is emphatic, as in Psalms 71:13 above. The preterite form of the verbs represents the effect as one already past, though really still future.