LHC Midday Word: PSALM Seventy One

In you, Lord, I have taken refuge;

let me never be put to shame.

In your righteousness, rescue me and deliver me;

turn your ear to me and save me.

Be my rock of refuge,

to which I can always go;

give the command to save me,

for you are my rock and my fortress.

Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked,

from the grasp of those who are evil and cruel.

For you have been my hope, Sovereign Lord,

my confidence since my youth.

From my birth I have relied on you;

you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.

I will ever praise you.

I have become a sign to many;

you are my strong refuge.

My mouth is filled with your praise,

declaring your splendour all day long.

Do not cast me away when I am old;

do not forsake me when my strength is gone.

For my enemies speak against me;

those who wait to kill me conspire together.

They say, ‘God has forsaken him;

pursue him and seize him,

for no one will rescue him.’

Do not be far from me, my God;

come quickly, God, to help me.

May my accusers perish in shame;

may those who want to harm me

be covered with scorn and disgrace.

As for me, I shall always have hope;

I will praise you more and more.

My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds,

of your saving acts all day long –

though I know not how to relate them all.

I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, Sovereign Lord;

I will proclaim your righteous deeds, yours alone.

Since my youth, God, you have taught me,

and to this day I declare your marvellous deeds.

Even when I am old and grey,

do not forsake me, my God,

till I declare your power to the next generation,

your mighty acts to all who are to come.

Your righteousness, God, reaches to the heavens,

you who have done great things.

Who is like you, God?

Though you have made me see troubles,

many and bitter,

you will restore my life again;

from the depths of the earth

you will again bring me up.

You will increase my honour

and comfort me once more.

I will praise you with the harp

for your faithfulness, my God;

I will sing praise to you with the lyre,

Holy One of Israel.

My lips will shout for joy

when I sing praise to you –

I whom you have delivered.

My tongue will tell of your righteous acts

all day long,

for those who wanted to harm me

have been put to shame and confusion.

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Word by Word Meditations

by Fred Ursell

Psalm 71 : “grey” (v.18)

Observe the way the psalmist looks back to the Lord’s working in his life since his “birth” (v.6) and his “youth” (v.5); then ahead to being “old and grey” (v.18). Is he just wrapped up in himself, simply self-obsessed? Not at all.

Past experiences help to remind us how God has accompanied us, especially if we have seen “troubles, many and bitter” (v.20). In the tough times we find He is our “rock of refuge” (v.3). He is our “confidence” (v.5) when our own “strength is gone” (v.9).

It is a very personal issue. We need to grasp him and say in faith “as for me, I will always have hope” (v.14). In old age too!

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READING

Psalm Seventy One

Read by David Suchet