Commentary - Psalm 71:1-4

Bird's-eye view

This psalm is the prayer of an old saint, a man who has a long history with God and is now facing the indignities and fears of old age, along with the persistent malice of his enemies. Though it has no title in the Hebrew, the Septuagint attributes it to David, and it certainly fits his life story. The prayer is a beautiful exhibition of what Spurgeon called a "struggling, but unstaggering, faith." The psalmist is in deep trouble, but his footing is secure. He begins, as all wise saints do, by grounding his plea not in his own merit or strength, but in the character and covenant faithfulness of God. The first four verses are a dense, tightly-packed appeal for divine intervention. He pleads for refuge, deliverance, protection, and salvation, and he does so on the basis of God's righteousness. The central metaphor is that of God as a rock, a fortress, a place of secure habitation. This is not a panic-stricken prayer, but a reasoned appeal to a God who has already proven Himself faithful over a lifetime.

The structure of this opening section is a cascade of petitions, each one building on the last, all of them flowing from the foundational declaration of trust in verse one. The psalmist is surrounded by wicked, unrighteous, and ruthless men, and his only hope is that God will act in accordance with His own righteous character. This is a model for every believer facing affliction. Our arguments in prayer must be theological; we appeal to God to be who He has said He is. This is not a matter of reminding God of something He might have forgotten, but rather of reminding ourselves where our true security lies, and demonstrating that faith through articulate, biblically-grounded supplication.

Outline

Context In Psalms

Psalm 71 is untitled in the Hebrew text, which often suggests a close connection to the preceding psalm. Psalm 70 is a brief, urgent cry for help, a prayer that David wanted brought to remembrance. Psalm 71 picks up that same desperate tone but expands it into a more reflective, lengthy meditation on God's lifelong faithfulness. It feels like the prayer of an older man looking back on a life of both trouble and deliverance. While Psalm 70 is a sprint, Psalm 71 is a marathon. It is filled with echoes of other psalms, particularly Davidic psalms, which lends credence to the tradition that he is the author. The psalm sits in Book II of the Psalter, a section heavy with prayers of the afflicted who trust in God for vindication. This psalm is a mature expression of that trust, one that has been tested by fire over many decades and has not been found wanting.

Key Issues

The Logic of Covenantal Prayer

When a believer prays, he is not throwing wishes at the ceiling, hoping one will stick. He is engaging in a legal and relational transaction based upon covenant promises. Notice the logic at work in these opening verses. The psalmist does not say, "Deliver me because I am a good fellow who has gotten a raw deal." He says, in effect, "I have taken refuge in You. Therefore, let me not be ashamed. Deliver me in Your righteousness." The argument is grounded entirely in the character and commitments of God. "You are a righteous God who has promised to defend those who trust in You. I am trusting in You. Therefore, be righteous and defend me."

This is how we must pray. Our feelings of desperation are legitimate, but they are not the basis of our appeal. Our appeal is to the settled nature of God. He has given a command to save the psalmist (v. 3). This is not a reference to a specific verse, but to the entire drift and substance of God's covenantal declarations. God has, in His Word, commanded salvation for His people. The prayer, then, is an appeal for God to be true to His own command, to His own Word. This is not presumptuous. It is faith. It is taking God at His word and holding Him to it, which is precisely what He invites us to do.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1 In You, O Yahweh, I have taken refuge; Let me never be ashamed.

The prayer begins with a declaration of position. Before any request is made, the psalmist states his location. He is in You, O Yahweh. He has run for cover, and the place he has run to is God Himself. This is the fundamental posture of faith. It is an acknowledgment of personal helplessness and an active flight to the all-sufficient help of God. From this position, the first plea naturally flows: "Let me never be ashamed." This is not primarily about avoiding social embarrassment. In the biblical world, shame is the state of being publicly proven to be in the wrong, of having your trust shown to be misplaced. If the psalmist has trusted in Yahweh, and Yahweh fails to deliver, then the psalmist is put to shame. But more than that, God's own name and reputation are put to shame. The plea is therefore a zealous concern for God's glory. "Lord, I have banked everything on You. For the honor of Your own name, prove that this trust was not in vain."

2 In Your righteousness deliver me and protect me; Incline Your ear to me and save me.

Here is the ground of the appeal: In Your righteousness. God's righteousness is His unwavering commitment to what is right, and that includes His commitment to His own covenant promises. It is a righteous thing for God to save those who belong to Him. The psalmist is not appealing to some abstract standard of justice, and certainly not to his own righteousness. He is appealing to God's covenant-keeping character. Because God is righteous, He will deliver and protect His own. The prayer then becomes more personal and urgent. "Incline Your ear to me" is a plea for personal attention. In the midst of a chaotic universe, the psalmist asks the sovereign King to bend down and listen to his specific case. And the goal is simple: "save me." This is the cry of a man who knows he cannot save himself.

3 Be to me a rock of habitation to which I may continually come; You have given the command to save me, For You are my rock and my fortress.

The imagery here is potent. He asks God to be a rock of habitation. Not just a temporary hiding place, but a permanent dwelling. A place to live. He wants to be able to come to this rock continually, at all times, in every trouble. This is a request for God to be a constant, stable, and utterly dependable reality in his life. And he has confidence in this request because, as he says, "You have given the command to save me." God's Word has decreed the salvation of His people. God's promises are as firm as a divine command. The psalmist then concludes the verse by turning the petition into a confession of faith: "For You are my rock and my fortress." He asks God to be what He already is. This is the nature of faith-filled prayer. It lays hold of the objective reality of God's character and asks that this reality be made manifest in the believer's subjective experience.

4 Protect me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, Out of the grasp of the unrighteous and ruthless man.

Now the abstract threat is given concrete form. The danger is not a random accident or a natural disaster; it is personal and malicious. It is the hand of the wicked, the grasp of the unrighteous and ruthless man. The enemy is defined by his moral character. He is wicked (acting against God's law), unrighteous (acting unjustly toward men), and ruthless (violent and cruel). This is not just a personal squabble; it is a manifestation of the ancient conflict between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. The psalmist, by taking refuge in God, has placed himself on God's side of that conflict. Therefore, he can rightly appeal to "my God" to rescue him from the clutches of God's enemies. The prayer is for protection, for God to pluck him out of a hand that has already seized him. The situation is dire, the enemy is strong, and the only hope is a divine intervention.

Application

Every Christian lives their life in the middle of the truths found in this psalm. We have all, by faith, taken refuge in God through His Son, Jesus Christ. Christ is our rock and our fortress. And yet, we are constantly beset by enemies: the world, the flesh, and the devil. These enemies are wicked, unrighteous, and ruthless. Therefore, like the psalmist, our lives must be characterized by continual prayer for deliverance, a prayer that is grounded not in our performance but in God's righteousness.

When we are tempted, when we are slandered, when we feel our strength failing, we must learn to pray with this kind of theological precision. We do not simply cry out in pain; we make our case before the court of heaven. "Father, I have taken refuge in Christ. For the glory of His name, do not let my faith be put to shame. In Your righteousness, which was satisfied at the cross, deliver me from this sin, protect me from this accuser. You have commanded my salvation in the gospel. Be to me now what You have declared Yourself to be in Your Son: my rock, my fortress, my habitation." This kind of prayer strengthens our own faith as we speak it, because it forces us to look away from the size of our problems and to fix our gaze upon the character of our God. He is a rock, and all who build their house upon Him will never be ashamed.