I. (71:1–3) Be My Refuge Always. The song opens with a sturdy profession of faith, taking assurance from God’s promises, and then moves to summarize the psalm’s theme: “Be to me a rock of refuge . . . for you are my rock and my fortress” (v. 3).496 This affirmation of trust enables the singing congregation to address its own crises with confidence.

As do other psalms, this one uses several synonyms for that which the song requests: “deliver” (vv. 2, 11), “rescue” (vv. 2, 4) and “save” (v. 3, cf. v. 15). These all designate God’s rescue and protection of the person praying from the schemes of these enemies. As elsewhere in the Psalms, “put to shame” (vv. 1, 13, 24) refers to public exposure, so that the entire community recognizes the enemy as a danger. The faithful fear that the enemies will succeed in exposing them to illegitimate shame, thus harming their connection to the rest of the faithful, and they pray for God to expose the enemies’ schemes for what they are.

Commonly in the Psalms God’s “righteousness” (v. 2) is his reliability, his faithfulness to keep his promises, and this supplies the ground of hope here (cf. vv. 15, 16, 19, 24).

II. (71:4–11) Rescue Me from the Wicked Who Want to Hurt Me. The next section identifies the specific reason for the prayer: the presence of “the wicked,” namely, “unjust and cruel” men who look for any opening to do harm to the faithful (vv. 4, 10–11).497 From the wording, the psalm is especially geared to a case in which these wicked speak falsely about the faithful person and aim to deprive him of property, influence, and even life.

As usual in the Psalms, the term “wicked” refers to those who oppose true faith in God; the singer professes to be not in this category but among the faithful “from my youth” (v. 5), praying that God would “not cast [him] off in the time of old age” (v. 9). This profession serves to reinforce in the singers their commitment to true faith and loyalty to the Lord, helping them to love piety so that each one will yearn to have his “mouth . . . filled with your praise” (v. 8). It also strengthens their bonds with each other: their faithful brethren may be under threat, so they will stand together. Finally, it offers the reminder that the benefits of the covenant are for those who are faithful to its provisions—they are not automatic.

Similarly to 22:10; 139:13–16 (cf. Luke 1:41–44), Psalm 71:6 traces the relationship with God back to the earliest days of the singer’s personal existence: “from before my birth.” Hence the singer says, “My praise is continually of you”—in other words, “I began my existence trusting you, have continued trusting and praising, and hope to do so forever.” The Psalms, of course, comes from a time in which almost all of the worshipers were born within the family of God. These words describe for them the ideal of lifelong faith, beginning even before they could speak it. A Gentile proselyte would have to adapt the ideas to his own case—but his children can join the song without change. The same considerations would apply to Christians—those who have been raised in the faith and those whose conversion came later.

For the psalmist to be a “portent” (v. 7) may imply that others see his troubles as a sign of God’s judgment (cf. HCSB: “ominous sign”). But, since a “portent” is usually an expression of God’s faithfulness and love,498 it makes better sense to see this as continuing the story of the singer’s faith and his standing in the community. The life of the faithful is a sign of God’s power and love, a testimony that unites people in their common devotion to the Lord.499

III. (71:12–16) Do Not Be Far from Me. The next appeals to God are “Be not far from me” and “Make haste to help me” (v. 12). Under threat from those people described as accusers “who seek my hurt” (v. 13; cf. vv. 4, 10–11), the pious singer looks to God for help and prays for their visible defeat (cf. 70:2–3; comment on 40:11–17 [at vv. 14–15]).

In contrast to the enemies’ perfidy the faithful person intends to “hope continually”—that is, to carry on the project of 70:6 (repeating both “continually” and “praise”). Thus he looks forward to sharing his story of God’s “righteous acts” with his fellow worshipers. “Praise,” “tell,” and “remind them” (i.e., “remind my fellow believers”) describe activities among the congregation, and “come” is “come to worship.”

IV. (71:17–21) Care for Me from Youth through Old Age. This stanza returns to the topic of the second stanza: since “from my youth you have taught me” (to trust in you; cf. vv. 5–6), “so even to old age and gray hairs . . . do not forsake me” (cf. v. 9).

The song goes on to foster an ideal for a pious person’s life, asking God to make that life long enough so that “I” might “proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come” (v. 18)—the life of faith is meant to be passed on to one’s descendants (just as the faithful singer’s came to him; v. 6). The faithful are here helped to delight in the prospect of recounting God’s “righteousness” and “great things” (v. 19) to their children.

The psalms readily confess that the believer’s life is full of “many troubles and calamities” (v. 20) and acknowledge that these are under God’s control: “You have made me see.” Since God governs such troubles, he can relieve them, even if they take his faithful to the “depths of the earth,” to terrible circumstances and despair. Thus verses 20–21 finish this stanza with confidence.

V. (71:22–24) I Will Praise You for Your Deliverance. The psalm closes by bringing to conclusion the previous parts of the psalm, especially the confidence (vv. 20–21) and the anticipation of giving testimony in worship (vv. 14–16). The mention of the “harp” and “lyre” (v. 22) and the activities “shout for joy” and “sing praises” (v. 23) evoke the public worship setting; but even further the psalmist expects to speak of God’s “righteous help all the day long” (v. 24), which implies speaking even outside of the gathered congregation. The last line of the psalm picks up verse 13, ending the song with confidence that the prayer has been heard and that the protection of the faithful by way of defeating the enemies will be the subject of this talk.

Verse 22 calls God the “Holy One of Israel.” This title is distinctive of the book of Isaiah, used twenty-five times (in all parts of it); it is rare outside that book, only appearing here and in Psalms 78:41; 89:18; Jeremiah 50:29; 51:5 (2 Kings 19:22 parallels Isa. 37:23).

On “redeem” (Ps. 71:23) cf. comment on 25:22. For God to “redeem” the “soul” in this context is for him to protect the life and faithfulness of the faithful person (cf. 34:22).