PM July 28th Psa 71

July 28^th            Psalm 71

The Prayer of an old man

1: In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion. 2: Deliver me in thy righteousness, and cause me to escape: incline thine ear unto me, and save me. 3: Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress. 4: Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. 5: For thou art my hope, O Lord GOD: thou art my trust from my youth. 6: By thee have I been holden up from the womb: thou art he that took me out of my mother's bowels: my praise shall be continually of thee. 7: I am as a wonder unto many; but thou art my strong refuge. 8: Let my mouth be filled with thy praise and with thy honour all the day. 9: Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth. 10: For mine enemies speak against me; and they that lay wait for my soul take counsel together, 11: Saying, God hath forsaken him: persecute and take him; for there is none to deliver him. 12: O God, be not far from me: O my God, make haste for my help. 13: Let them be confounded and consumed that are adversaries to my soul; let them be covered with reproach and dishonour that seek my hurt. 14: But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more. 15: My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousness and thy salvation all the day; for I know not the numbers thereof. 16: I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD: I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only. 17: O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works. 18: Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come. 19: Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high, who hast done great things: O God, who is like unto thee! 20: Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth. 21: Thou shalt increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side. 22: I will also praise thee with the psaltery, even thy truth, O my God: unto thee will I sing with the harp, O thou Holy One of Israel. 23: My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee; and my soul, which thou hast redeemed. 24: My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long: for they are confounded, for they are brought unto shame, that seek my hurt.

 

Psalm 72

 

A Psalm for Solomon

A Prayer for a King

1: Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king's son. 2: He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment. 3: The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness. 4: He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor. 5: They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations. 6: He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth. 7: In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. 8: He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. 9: They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust. 10: The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. 11: Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him. 12: For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper. 13: He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. 14: He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight. 15: And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba: prayer also shall be made for him continually; and daily shall he be praised. 16: There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth. 17: His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed. 18: Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. 19: And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen.

EPILOGUE
 

20: The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.

Today we are reading Psalms 71 & 72. These two Psalms close the third section of the Psalms which are primarily David’s Psalms. Psalm 71 is a declaration of trust in the Lord who will save his people. David says I am putting my trust in You O Lord; don’t let me ever be disappointed before my enemies. Save me, he says, and enable me to escape, listen to me and save me. He asks the Lord to be his strong house where he can always seek rest, because you are my rock and fortress. David asks that the Lord would deliver him out of the hand of wicked, unrighteous and cruel men. David lived constantly in the fear of the Lord and aware that, though his enemies could not defeat him in battle, that they did nevertheless try to secretly assassinate him. But David puts all his trust in the Lord and he has done so since his youth. Even in the womb he was protected by the Lord and the Lord took him from his mothers belly and therefore he will forever praise the Lord. Even In David’s day men were amazed at how he was able to survive and this was due directly to the Lord who kept him safe. David was always grateful and full of praise to the Lord. He pleads that even in his last years when his natural strength fails that the Lord would look after him. His enemies gathered to plot against him thinking that the Lord had forsaken him and that he had no bodyguards. David calls on the Lord to protect him and to take positive action to destroy them. David had learnt that trusting completely in the Lord was his only hope. He had learnt to trust himself to the enabling strength of the Lord to testify to the faithfulness of the Lord. David was now old and his hair was grey and he asks that he might teach the successive generations the righteousness of following the Lord. Then David breaks forth into praise saying Your righteousness is very high and who has done great things like you? Who is like you O God? He says I am laid low but you will raise me up from the earth. And so I will praise you on the psaltery and the harp, I will sing your praises O Holy One of Israel. My heart will be filled with joy when I sing to you. And I will talk of all your righteousness all day long. David was a very spiritual man whose heart and mind was absorbed with the Lord. The last Psalm of David is composed concerning his son – the Messiah. The Title says that this was written ‘for Solomon’ but its subject is the Messiah – Christ. David calls on the Lord to give the King – Solomon the judgments of the Lord. Perhaps it was this Psalm or this sentiment that Solomon learnt to seek wisdom. The tone of the Psalm is prophetic and looks far into the future to think of Messiahs reign in the Kingdom. The feature of Christ’s reign will be righteousness to the people and justice for the poor. Never has there been a king like Christ who will be He will bring justice to the poor and he will deliver the little children of those in greatest need. And he will shatter the oppressors. What this world needs is a king like that. The men of this earth will fear the Lord Jesus Christ and he will bring rain on the pastures making the earth fruitful. While Christ reigns the righteous will blossom and peace will descend on the whole earth for as long as the moon shines. He will rule over every nation from the Pacific to the Indian Oceans. And from the Nile to China. (The biggest concept of those days) All his enemies will bow down to the dust of the earth and the kings of Spain and of the Islands and from deepest Africa and all nations beyond will bring gifts to Christ. Christ will save the hungry when they cry to him and he will deliver those who have no-one to help them. He will dwell in his temple and he will be given all the gold of Ethiopia. Prayer will be offered to him continually and men will praise him every day. He will begin with a handful of corn and with it he will cause wheat to grow everywhere. And those of Jerusalem will flourish like the grass of the pastures. The Name of Christ will endure forever as long as the sun shines and all nations will bless him. Then David finishes saying, May the Lord God of Israel be blessed, who alone does wonderful things and may his glorious name be blessed forever and may the whole earth be filled with his glory, Amen, and Amen. This is the end of the Psalms of David.