Psalm 71 explained: A Prayer for Growing Old

Asking for shelter (vv. 1-4)

The opening lines closely echo the start of Psalm 31, so the writer seems to be using familiar words of prayer. A rock or fortress was a high, hard-to-reach place where people fled for safety, and the writer asks God to be that kind of place.

Trusted since birth (vv. 5-8)

The writer sees God's care reaching back to infancy, and that long history is the reason to hope for help now. Saying they have become a striking example to many is unclear: people may have seen their suffering as a sign of God's punishment, or their survival as a marvel.

Don't drop me now (vv. 9-13)

The writer is old and weakening, and enemies take this trouble as proof that God has abandoned them, so they feel free to attack. The prayer that these enemies be ruined and disgraced is blunt, the kind of raw plea for justice found often in the psalms.

Hope that keeps growing (vv. 14-18)

The writer resolves to keep hoping and to praise God more and more, admitting God's good deeds are too many to count. The central wish is to live long enough to tell the next generation what God has done.

Up from the depths (vv. 19-21)

The writer admits God has allowed bitter troubles, yet expects to be brought back to life again. "The depths of the earth" is a picture of being near death, as good as in the grave.

Music and joy (vv. 22-24)

The writer promises to praise God with stringed instruments, calling God the "Holy One of Israel," a title common in Isaiah but rare in the psalms. It ends as if the enemies are already defeated, either looking back on a rescue or trusting ahead of time that it will come.

Key verse: Psalm 71:18

Something to think about

As strength fades with age, what do you hope will still hold you up, and what would you most want to have passed on?