Psalm 71

Sermon  •  Submitted
0 ratings
· 2,452 views
Notes
Transcript
Most Scholars believe this is David who is writing and I’m telling you this is for every age, this is pertinent.
Psalm 71:1
Psalm 71:1–14 NKJV
In You, O Lord, I put my trust; Let me never be put to shame. Deliver me in Your righteousness, and cause me to escape; Incline Your ear to me, and save me. Be my strong refuge, To which I may resort continually; You have given the commandment to save me, For You are my rock and my fortress. Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, Out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. For You are my hope, O Lord God; You are my trust from my youth. By You I have been upheld from birth; You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb. My praise shall be continually of You. I have become as a wonder to many, But You are my strong refuge. Let my mouth be filled with Your praise And with Your glory all the day. Do not cast me off in the time of old age; Do not forsake me when my strength fails. For my enemies speak against me; And those who lie in wait for my life take counsel together, Saying, “God has forsaken him; Pursue and take him, for there is none to deliver him.” O God, do not be far from me; O my God, make haste to help me! Let them be confounded and consumed Who are adversaries of my life; Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor Who seek my hurt. But I will hope continually, And will praise You yet more and more.
Psalm 71:16
Psalm 71:16 NKJV
I will go in the strength of the Lord God; I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only.
Psalm 71:17-
Psalm 71:17–18 HCSB
God, You have taught me from my youth, and I still proclaim Your wonderful works. Even when I am old and gray, God, do not abandon me. Then I will proclaim Your power to another generation, Your strength to all who are to come.
This psalm is the testimony of one who is born lifes burdens and now as the evening shadows are beginning to fall, the psalmist refelcts over the trials and struggles of the righteous, this psalm describes the feelings of a good man who is growing old. Therefore it is one of the most valuable portions of scirpture for the elderly Christian.
The writer has a good grasp on the sacred scriptures. Every phrase that he shares of 23 verses are found somewhere else in the psalms. What is he doing? He is gathering bits and pieces of the scriptures… and saying Gods taught me this truth, God’s showed me this truth and he is bringing it all together.
No wonder the Bible says THY WORD HAVE I HID IN MY HEART THAT I MIGHT NOT SIN AGAINST GOD. His Heart is OVERFLOWING WITH THE TRUTH OF THE BIBLE. While the enemy is saying there aint no help for him, He is remebering that God is my refuge and my help in time of need.
Its as though the psalmist is gathering up scripture to set forth the proper thoughts of a good man as the infirmities of age set in and as he thinks about the mercies through the trials he has gone through and is going through. Someone said groowing old is not for sissies, So the psalmist still has life before him, but undoubtedly more behind him.
He is calling out to God because he knows when he doesnt trust god he knows the trouble he can get into. Hes learned that God is there for him and will forgive him and even empower him to be an overcomer and as an older man he desires to finish well.
That would be one of the overarching ideas of .
He is saying Lord I JUST NEED YOU! Throughout all of my difficulties I just need you, sometimes we focus so much on the change we need but the truth is instead of the change God brings we just need HIM.
Moses is fighting the Amalekites in the valley of rephraidim He has a rod and the rod is a picture of God’s power He is holding up this rod and as he holds up this rod the scripture records that when he holds it up Israel prevails against the Amalekites but when his hands get weary, and they do grow weary, the Amalekites prevail against Israel. so Aaron and Ur oh and by the way what a picture of Aaron and Ur as a reminder that God never intended any of us to do it alone.
So they come and they put him on a stone and they hold his hands up, and this is my favorite verse in “So Moses’ hands were heavy, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it and Aaron and Ur supported his hands, one on the one side and one on the other side, and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
Now can I remind everyone here that regardless of how old you are this is just an encouragement your aging, the sun will one day set on all of our lives. How will you finish? Let me tell you something you might not be able to serve in the ways you used to but let me tell you something when you hold your leaders up in prayer it matters.
I need prayer, I feel prayer, we all do.
Psalm 37:25 NKJV
I have been young, and now am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread.
As I stand here this evening, I have not lived the longest in this room but I am telling you I can’t think of a need that God has not supplied, I need to give testimony tonight that this scripture is 3,000 years old but its only a day old in my life Im telling you he woke me up this morning, gave me strength to face the day, He’s given me a mind to think with clarity, He has given me wisdom to know how to handle some very serious issues that people come to me with.
HES FAITHFUL AND HE ALWAYS GIVES YOU WHAT YOU NEED!
the writer is thinking back on life and the psalmist has a lifetime of memories of all the Lord has meant to Him.
The psalmist says heres what He has been to me:

You’ve Been My Strong Tower Of Refuge

Im telling you there has been times in my life where else to go with what I was feeling. Im grateful to God that He has been my strong refuge my safe place in times of trouble. In verses 8-15 he says Youv’e been my song of salvation, in verse 16 he says Your my strength in tribulation when you go through difficult times, when your rubbed on both sides, he says in verse 20 he magnifies that his soul has found redemption in verse 23.
So David is now an older man his strength is fading as his enemies rise up against him, people surrounding him are saying God has forsaken him. Some scholars think he may have been suffering from some particular illness however his faith is strong.
It is God who took him from his mothers womb who also taught him from his youth, and now hes old and grey headed and he calls upon the Lord not to forsake him. His desire is to witness his faith to the generations to come, his confidence that although god has shown him great and mighty troubles He will be revived again and his greatness will be increased. Those who attack him he prays they’ll be brought to shame.
Not destroyed, I bet in his younger days he might have prayed God would wipe em out but not now not here, because as you age you pitty your enemies, you pray they’ll be confounded and confused. the Bible says NO WEAPON THAT IS FORMED AGAINST YOU SHALL PROSPER.
He is praying that there will be no propsering of the enemies words, and that he will worship afresh and anew.
I really just want to focus tonight in on 3 words

Deliverance

There are two words that scream out in this passage the first one is found in verse 1 the second in verse 3 his profession of trust.
HEy your going through a difficult time in your life man what are you doing, TRUST THE LORD! There comes times when there is nothing anyone can do for you, you just have to trust in God. What does it mean to trust God?
It doesnt just mean to mention Him, it means to put the weight of who you are and the wight of your issue on God’s shoulders. I’m telling you nothing has ever caused him to sink, So I’m gonna give this proble to you Lord I am rolling it over on you, and once I roll it over on you, I am gonna roll over and go to sleep. Then you can be assured you can sleep because he never sleeps.
Have you ever thought about this truth last night while you were sleeping God was up all night working on your behalf. HE NEVER SLEEPS AND NEVER SLUMBERS! TRUST IS NOT ONLY A PRESENT ACTION BUT IT IS A PERSONAL ATTITUDE. TRUST IS NOT JUST SOMETHING I DO WHEN I REALLY TRUST GOD IT CHANGES MY ATTITUDE.
So that way I can not say DEAL WITH THOSE WHO ARE TRYING TO DEAL WITH ME, DESTROY THOSE WHO ARE TRYING TO DESTROY ME, but instead I can say just keep em confused and astonished. But you dont really seek anyones harm when your right with God you dont really care that anybody else is harmed because you begin to take on His Character and His character is uncoonditional love and if he felt that way towards others he could have easily felt that way towards you and if God desired for people who hurt his heart to be harmed as well we would all be doomed!
Those who commence with trust shall conclude with joy. Theres somethings you can do with trusting God, all things work together for the good to those that love God and are called according to HIs purpose.
The psalmist gives a 5 fold request let me give em to you
verse 2 “Lord would you incline youe ear to me” its almost as if he is saying Lord please turn your ear over here in my direction.
“Deliver me in Your righteousness” righteousness is mentioend 5 times in this psalm and deliverance is one of God’s attributes but also speaks of His faithfulness of keeping His word.
When the Bible refers to God’s righteousness it speaks of His covenant faithfulness and His moral character. GOD IS A PROMISE KEEPER
“BE MY STRONG REFUGE” be my rock my fortress, be may safe dwelling place. Let me tell you something there are times when troubles arise that I just need to run to Jesus and HE protects me and He keeps me through the storms of life, and he renews my strength. When God is your fortress it means when a man trusts in him he can find security in secure cave.
Theres a place where I can go and hide and my life is hid, HE HIDES MY SOUL IN THE CLEFT OF THE ROCK AND COVERS ME THERE WITH HIS HAND. Thats what He is talking about. Then he says in verse 3
To which I resort continually in other words this aint the first time David has needed to run to the Lord as his refgue of protection and strength we didnt just need God yesterday, we didnt just need Him to get us through this or that we need God CONTINUALLY. I don’t know how old He is but he is an older man that has learned that God has always been there for Him.
The sad thing is there are many people that are older who think they are forgotten or alone, but you are never alone. So God has done this over his lifetime. Heres what its reminding him of when were going through present difficult times, one of your greatest encrouagements should be your past relationship with god.
DONT FORGET THE MIRACLES FROM YESTERDAY DURING THE STORMS OF TODAY
What God has done before He can do again!
he hasn’t failed me yet, and this is a picture that He never will, Jesus never fails. I have failed Him but He has never failed me. Then he says in verse 1 “LET ME NEVER BE PUT TO SHAME”
Did you know that th writers of the NT studied what the OT so they knew this text and listened to how Peter used on two occasions.
1 Peter 3:16 NKJV
having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.
1 O
1 Peter 2:12 NKJV
having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.
1 Peter 2:12
That means when God does come to them and god is going to come to them, in some type of revalation and they will be ahsamed of what they said about you. Heres what He is saying is someone is saying something about you and your trying to do what is right in God’s eyes you dont have say anything you dont have to settle the record GOD WILL!
VENGANCE IS MINE SAITH THE LORD
Have you ever this: I’ve never felt dirtier then when I try to defend myself.
The Bible says let another speak well of you not your lips even a stranger.
So then David moves from praying for deliverance to praise
For instance

Praise

Psalm 71:
Psalm 71:5–8 NKJV
For You are my hope, O Lord God; You are my trust from my youth. By You I have been upheld from birth; You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb. My praise shall be continually of You. I have become as a wonder to many, But You are my strong refuge. Let my mouth be filled with Your praise And with Your glory all the day.
So as the writer goes through these days of trouble he is strengthened and reminded that God has taken care of him all of His life. I truly believe if we could see all the times the Lord has intervened on our behalf to rescue us and to save us that we would realize it has been His plan all along to bless us.
A man is valued by what others say of him
Let me ask you a question have any of you ever needed a breakthrough? Some of you here have had these amazing times where God broke through all the noise and confusion and brought a clear word to you and ti changed your life. I believe there are some in our church that have never experienced the life giving power of Jesus Christ, and though they acknowledge God they do not know Him personally.
Thats only the back side
God is not after a change in behavior He is after a change of heart, He wants to make a change from the inside out! You will hate church if you come here to try to better a person, but if you come here crying out for the Lord from sincerity and desperation He will step out of Heaven and into your heart and you’ll have more that religion you will have eternal life.
But to those of you who have had these moments the reason you can be steady when everything else is in chaos is because you have seen how mighty the hand of God is and you trust Him to handle the situation your in. This is what David sys when He says I have become a wonder to many… why is he a wonder?
Because even in His trial he is steady as a rock because His life is rooted and founded upn the rock of ages the rock that never moves, the rock of our salvation the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is saying in verses 9-10 DO NOT CAST ME OFF NOW, you have taken care of me from my youth, you brought me into this world now look after me today as you always have. Because why?
My strength fails, He is saying Lord when I was young I was strong and I thought back then I could handle just about anything but I couldn’t you took care of it all, but today Lord I and weak and helpless even more in my older age than in my younger days. So do not forsake me now.
He takes HIs confidence from the fact that He knows that God will never abandon him.
Psalm 71:16 NKJV
I will go in the strength of the Lord God; I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only.
Psalm 71
Heres how I will end this message:
When you need confidence in a troubled time: Look Back
When you need courage in a troubled time: Look Forward
When you need help in your weariness: Look up
God has not left you this far He will not leave you now.
You might be in here and think to yourself that there is no hope for you, in Jesus theres always hope but you have to put your trust in Him! Some of us dont need to be delivered from our situations we need to be delivered from our sin.
Related Media
See more
Related Sermons
See more