Sunday, November 7, 2010 pm
STUDIES IN PSALMS
My Trust From My Youth
Psalm 71
The psalm is one of trust and a reminder that we need to seek
faith early and remain faithful to the end.
Much of this psalm deals with oft addressed subjects, but as
always, there are some unique thoughts worthy of consideration.
We will focus on these.
a.
As always,
we see the need to trust God always (1)
Prov. 3:5 – ALWAYS!
Let me never be ashamed – a two way street.
1 - Trusting in God regardless of
what happens and; 2 – failing to live so that you can trust in Him
b.
May
deliverance come “in Your righteousness” (2)
We have here again an acknowledgment of the righteousness of God.
He IS right and just ALWAYS.
Our attitude in this ought to be that in whatever way He delivers
us, may it be according to His will.
c.
God is a
strong refuge (3). How often
we are reminded and need to remind ourselves of this.
d.
God is our
rescuer (4). He can deliver
from ungodly men (2 Pet. 2:9).
e.
Hope from youth (5-6) –
elaborate on this.
Faith that begins in youth can carry one throughout his life, even into
old age.
It is actually the best chance one has and the reason parents are
commended to train up a child in the way he should go – Prov. 22:6.
David, as a youth, trusted in God (cf. 1 Sam. 17:33-37).
Solomon, in his letter of wisdom said, “Remember
your Creator in the days of your youth.” (Eccl. 12:1)
Eph. 6:4 commands fathers to bring up their children, “in the nurture
and admonition of the Lord.”
I am reminded of Timothy who, “from
childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you
wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” (2 Tim.
3:15)
The author of this psalm, has believed in God all of his life.
In vs. 6 he makes reference to being upheld (sustained) from birth.
The point simply being that he trusts God and give Him the glory
for his life.
f.
Vs. 7 -
“I have become as a wonder to
many” “I have become a marvel to many” (NASU).
The word “wonder” here means a sign or a phenomenon, a miracle.
(WS Dictionary OT)
Vine’s describes the word as, “signifies a divine act or a special
display of divine power.” The point being, the author (consider it as
David) looks at his life as a manifestation of the mercy and power of
God. When you consider the
life of David, he certainly demonstrated that.
Think of the hand of God being with him.
THIS statement is an acknowledgment of God’s impact in the author’s
life.
THOUGHT: How do we live our lives?
Does God manifest Himself thorough us? Matt. 5:16, 2 Cor.
4:11-12, Acts 4:13, “they realized
they had been with Jesus.”
g. In deliverance he would praise God out of his mouth (8). Such was typical of the psalms of David. He continually speaks of openly praising God. Let us continually remind ourselves of our need to do the same.
II.
Sustained in old age (9-16)
a.
Do not
cast me off when I am old and when strength fails (9).
In old age, his faith, now
proven, is even more precious.
He still relies upon his faith.
He still turns to God.
In fact, in the golden years, there is a sense in which one’s
faith is even more precious – because the promised hope by faith is that
much nearer. I
am reminded of Paul in 2 Tim. 1:12 saying, “I
know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what
I have committed to Him until that day.”
Later in that same letter he
would say, “And the Lord will
deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly
kingdom. To Him be glory
forever and ever.” (2 Tim. 4:18)
In Eccl. 12:1-7 Solomon very probably describes the body wearing down.
This is within the context of remembering God when you are young
so that it will go with you throughout your life.
b.
His
enemies still pursued him (10-11) – the description here is typical of
what David faced on many occasions during his life.
CONSIDER THIS: Old age
does not mean a life free from trials and tribulations (sometimes
many more as our bodies do begin to wear out).
It is at such a time that one STILL cannot give up.
Gal. 6:9 tells us to not grow weary.
2 Peter 1:13 finds Peter saying, “Yes,
I think it right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by
reminding you. Knowing that
shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me.”
Rev. 2:10 challenges us to “be
faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
When Paul said, “For me to live is Christ, but to die is vain” (Phil.
1:21) he acknowledged that however long we live, we must still keep
working.
c.
Do not be
far from me (12) – a need for Him to be near.
This is something understood even better in maturity.
d.
Prayer for
(against) his enemies (13) – that they be confounded and consumed.
We have discussed this often in our studies.
David’s desire for God’s will to prevail includes removing his
enemies who would also be the enemies of the LORD.
e.
His praise
continues (14-16) – Once again we find one who will glorify God
regardless of what happens.
In him you find hope, praise, telling of His righteousness and salvation
to others.
NOTE: Concerning the salvation of the Lord, the author says, “For I do
not know their limits.” An
acknowledgement of the greatness of God’s blessings toward us.
We occasionally sing a song, “Count your many blessings.”
An honest examination of how blessed we are would truly humble
us. In Psalm 139:17-18
we read, “How precious are Your
thoughts to me, O God! How
great is the sum of them! If
I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I
awake, I am still with You.”
Continues praise for His mighty deeds
(16) – in strength (even if he is weak physically) he will still mention
the goodness of God.
III.
I
will declare You (17-24)
a.
Taught
from youth and still going (17)
In this wonderful verse we find what we have previously mentioned –
taught from youth, he STILL clings to God word and wondrous works.
They have been his life and he continues to proclaim them.
b.
A desire
to do even more (18) – the psalmist is now old (gray headed) and wearing
out, so there are some ways in which he needs the Lord even more
(instead of less). There is
more he is incapable of doing for himself.
BUT in this his request is, “Do
not forsake me UNTIL I declare Your strength to this generation, Your
power to everyone who is to come.”
With age, the godly look toward the future with mixed feelings.
They anticipate leaving to be with God (if they are read), but
they also have a concern for the future of the world.
The godly will want to “win one more.”
He wants to leave this life with
assurance that all will be well for the next generation.
You find this in Paul’s 2nd letter to Timothy (his
last) and in Peter’s 2nd letter (his last) – 2 Pet. 1:15.
Reminders are written down to
preserve the truth.
AS THE NEXT GENERATION: We can give the elderly who are godly
consolation by starting process as described in this psalm in our lives.
Let them see your faith (cf. 1 Tim. 4:12).
LESSON: You don’t retire in this life from serving God.
In old age, you abilities may be more limited, but to WHATEVER
degree you have ability – use it!
c.
His is a
righteousness that transcends that of man (19)
It is described as “very high” (NKJV) and “reaches to the heavens” (NASU).
One who is approaching the end of his life can look back and see how
wonderful God is and has been.
Earlier David said, “I have
been young, and now am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,
nor his descendants begging bread.” (Psa. 37:25)
d.
Faith in
his deliverance, even from the depths of the earth (20)
The psalmist knows that his life was not without troubles.
But now, in his later years, that doesn’t matter.
He still trusts in the power of
God and knows that He is able to deliver.
As Paul said of the numerous
persecutions and afflictions he faced, “And
out of them all the Lord delivered me.” (2 Tim. 3:11).
Later in this same letter (his last), he will say in 2 Tim.
4:17-18 that the Lord stood with him (when all other forsook him) and
delivered him from the mouth of the lion.
“And the Lord will deliver
me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom.”
NOTE: And let us not
forget that such faith in deliverance is NOT limited to this life.
The ultimate hope of the godly is the resurrection of the dead –
1 Cor. 15:51-58 – we shall not all sleep, but we shall be raised
incorruptible.
1 John 3:1-3 speaks of us being like Him (our Lord) when He is revealed.
“And everyone who has this
hope purifies himself, just as He is pure.”
I am convinced this is what the psalmist had in mind when he said that
the Lord would “revive me again, and bring me up again from the depths
of the earth.”
e.
May God
increase his greatness and comfort (21) – ON THAT DAY, true and
everlasting comfort will prevail on every side.
f.
Praising
God in song and harp – (22-24).
The psalmist concludes by describing an array of instruments and the
tongue with which he would praise God. Such
was how David and Israel worshipped God. He tolerated it and at least to
some degree was pleased with such.
There are many psalms that make reference to instrumental music.
We cannot use such to justify it’s use today because our
instructions under the New Law command singing ONLY.
Every passage dealing with music in worship to God in the New
Testament leaves out instrumental music (Eph. 5:19, Col. 3:16, 1 Cor.
14:15, James 5:13, Heb. 2:12 which quotes David in Psalm 22:22 saying, “I
will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I
will sing praise to You.” NOTE:
Of all the psalms that deal with praise to God in song, many of them
dealing with instrumental music, such as our text, why did the Hebrew
writer choose a verse that mentions ONLY singing?)
g. His praise comes knowing that the enemy has been confounded and brought to shame. God is glorified. IN the very end, the psalmist still has as much faith as in the beginning.
And thus we see the message of another
psalm. May we with such
studies learn to render due praise to our God and our Lord.
And may we in this psalm remember that we must ALWAYS serve God.
It matters not whether you are young or old (or in between), you
need to have faith and obey His instructions.
Have you obeyed Him?