July 28th 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.
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