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Psalm 71 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
As an older man, David’s primary concern in this Psalm is that he is protected and never forsaken. The basis of this belief is rooted in a supernatural trust. Protection from worldly forces may come and go. Armies will gain and lose strength. Nations will rise and fall. The Lord, however, is a constant source of protection and worthy of our total trust.
Be a rock of refuge for me, where I can always go. Give the command to save me, for You are my rock and fortress. 4 Deliver me, my God, from the power of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and oppressive.
Psalms 71:3-4 HCSB
Deliverance is an interesting theme. From David’s perspective, he was concerned with physical and emotional deliverance. He was asking for practical intervention and there is nothing wrong with that. However, today we know that true deliverance came in the physical form (Jesus) to conquer the eternal consequences of sin and death. Though David’s predicament was very serious, it was not nearly as deadly as his sin struggle. The words here foreshadow a much larger type of deliverance yet to come.
Many times, the practical and tangible gifts that are offered by Jesus on a daily basis build our spiritual trust of His sacrifice for eternal consequences. In other words, seeing evidence of His faithfulness in our lives gives us assurance through faith that we are saved by His blood. If we believe that God is capable of providing for us financially, and we actually see Him do it, we can be assured that His blood covers our sin. We can know, with certainty, that we will reign with Him in Heaven one day. Even though we know this, sometimes we act like He can only handle the “smaller issues” of our life.
The supernatural trust David exhibited was not rooted in himself. He didn’t spread a message of “trusting your heart” as so many do today. He wrote of trusting God in horrendous conditions because God’s track record speaks for itself. God had always been David’s hope; his confidence from his youth. If we can trust Him with the small things, we can trust Him with the matters that seem far above our knowledge or understanding as well. Let’s trust Him in all things.