Reading: Psalm 70-72

QUESTIONS
  • How can the declaration “But as for me, I am poor and needy; come quickly to me, O God” (verse 5) shape our perspective on our own needs and God’s provision?
  • How can you apply David’s trust in God, shown in Psalm 70, to a current situation in your life?
  • How does remembering where you have come from and how you have gotten where you are (71:6) fill you with hope and trust (71:7) and help you to look to God to bring your through your current trials (71:5)?
  • What qualities of the ideal king depicted in Psalm 72 resonate with you most, and why? Pause to pray and thank God for Jesus, our perfect King!
DEVOTION

Psalm 71 approaches the boundaries of life in this world, from a dependence of God even before birth, to the point of old age when strength is spent (verse 9). The whole psalm is worthy of meditation, but I just have two things to comment on. 

First, the root and foundation of faith is the God in whom we trust. “For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O LORD, from my youth. Upon you I have leaned from before my birth; you are he who took me from my mother’s womb” (verses 5-6). The idea of “leaning” upon the Lord prepares for the image of a newborn supported by the hand of a midwife. The child doesn’t have much of a choice. Such “leaning” is as natural as existing, and it depends not so much upon the baby as the one who holds her. This idea was introduced in verse 5 as the beginning of the psalmist’s present trust in the Lord. What a beautiful image! While surely his trust has matured through the years, it began with his earliest moments in this world. As we mature in self-conscious trust in God, let us not lose this basic posture of utter dependence upon our God who is faithful in Christ.

Second, as the psalmist has known God’s faithfulness from his earliest days, so also he pleads for this same faithfulness into the latter years of life. This is perhaps natural and expected. God has been faithful; we desire his continued faithfulness. But notice why he longs for God’s faithfulness. “So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come” (verse 18). This is not a self-seeking request. He’s not looking to live long and prosper. He desires to give praise to God in the hearing of future generations. It’s almost an axiom that older generations bemoan the waywardness of the younger. We fear what we may see in future generations. But what if this were turned to hopeful zeal. Not merely an expectation of seeing good in those who are younger (though surely God will use them in great ways), but first an eager desire to declare what is good to those who have not yet seen it. Whatever our age, let’s be those who desire as many years as the Lord gives that we might declare his praises to generations yet unborn.

Ultimately, of course, we know that the continuity between generations is established by Christ, who lives and will never die. His zeal for the glory of the Father, and his drive to tell it to future generations, sustains him in his everlasting life. We may not be able to reach every generation personally, but we have a Savior who will.

– David O’Leary