PSALM 71

In Your Righteousness Deliver and Rescue Me

Cry for help (vv.1-4)

1 In You, O Yahweh, I have taken refuge;		Let me never be ashamed.
2 In Your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;		Incline Your ear to me and save me.
3 Be to me a rock of habitation to which I may continually come;	You have given commandment to save me,		For You are my rock and my fortress. (see Psalm 31:1-3a)
4 Rescue me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked,		Out of the grasp of the wrongdoer and ruthless man,

Confession of faith & trust (vv.5-9)

5 For You are my hope; O Lord Yahweh, [1]		You are my confidence from my youth.
6 By You I have been sustained from my birth;	You are He who took me from my mother’s womb;		My praise is continually of You.
7 I have become a marvel to many,		For You are my strong refuge.
8 My mouth is filled with Your praise		And with Your glory all day long.
9 Do not cast me off in the time of old age;		Do not forsake me when my strength fails.

10 For my enemies have spoken against me;		And those who watch for my life have consulted together,
11 Saying, “God has forsaken him;	Pursue and seize him,		for there is no one to deliver.”
12 O God, do not be far from me;		O my God, hasten to my help! (Psalm 70:1,5)
13 Let those who are adversaries of my soul be ashamed and consumed;	Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor,		who seek to injure me.

Praising, telling and declaring God’s righteousness (vv.14-19)

14 But as for me, I will hope continually,		And will praise You yet more and more.
15 My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness	And of Your salvation all day long;		For I do not know the sum of them.
16 I will come with the mighty deeds of the Lord Yahweh;		I will make mention of Your righteousness, Yours alone.
17 O God, You have taught me from my youth,		And I still declare Your wondrous deeds.
18 And even when I am old and gray,		O God, do not forsake me,
Until I declare Your strength to this generation,		Your power to all who are to come.
19 For Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the heavens,	You who have done great things;		O God, who is like You? (Ex.15:11,20)

Vow of praise for answered prayer (vv.20-24)

20 You who have shown me many troubles and distresses	Will revive me again,		And will bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
21 May You increase my greatness		And turn to comfort me.
22 I will also praise You with a harp,		Even Your truth, O my God;
To You I will sing praises with the lyre,		O Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to You;		And my soul, which You have redeemed.
24 My tongue also will utter Your righteousness all day long;	For they are ashamed,		for they are humiliated who seek my hurt.

[1] The NASB95 translates “Lord God” (˒ădōnāy yhwh) because “Lord LORD” would be awkward. ˒ădōnāy yhwh occurs about 300x in the in the OT but only 4x in the Psalms and all four occurrences are found close together: Psalm 69:6; 71:5,16; 73:28.

As is noted in Psalm 1, there are several problems translating the Tetragrammaton (YHWH) as “LORD” (1) YHWH does not mean “lord”; (2) translations miss something when they exchange the covenant Name of Yahweh with the title “LORD”; and (3) a definite article is often used “the LORD” which is not found in Hebrew.