Psalms 71 - Introduction

This psalm is without a title, as is the case with the first, second, tenth, and some others. Of course it is impossible to determine on what occasion it was composed. There is some plausibility in the supposition that Psalms 70:1 might have been placed before it, or in connection with it, as a kind of introduction, or as indicating the character of the psalms among which it is found; but nothing of certainty can be ascertained on that point. It evidently belongs to the “class” of psalms which refer to the trials of the righteous; but it was rather in view of past troubles than of those which were then existing.

There is no certain evidence that the psalm was composed by David. If so, it was when he was advanced in life. There is, indeed, much in the psalm which would be appropriate to David - much which he might have written; but there is no way now of ascertaining with certainty who was the author. In the Syriac version, the psalm is, indeed, ascribed to David, and this may perhaps express the prevailing idea in regard to the authorship as it had been handed down by tradition. The title in Syriac is, “Composed by David. When Saul warred against the house of David. And a prophecy respecting the passion and resurrection of the Messiah.” The Latin Vulgate and the Septuagint also ascribe it to David. The title in both is the same - “By David. Of the sons of Jonadab, and the first captives.” But these titles are of no authority, as they are not in the Hebrew, and they are of little historic value.

All that is known respecting the occasion on which the psalm was composed, whoever was the author, is, that it was composed when old age was drawing near, and in view of the trials and the blessings of life as considered from the contemplation of its approaching close, Psalms 71:5, Psalms 71:9,Psalms 71:17. The life of the author had been one of trials Psalms 71:20, but also of great mercies Psalms 71:6, Psalms 71:17. He was then surrounded with difficulties; the infirmities of age were coming upon him, and he was encompassed with enemies Psalms 71:10, Psalms 71:20; therefore, he sought the continued favor and blessing of God in the little that remained to him of life.

It is a psalm of great value as describing the feelings of a good man when he is growing old, and is an illustration of what there has been occasion so often to remark in this exposition of the Book of Psalms, that the Bible is adapted to all the conditions of human life. In a book professing to be a revelation from God, and in a world where “old age,” with its trials, its infirmities, its recollections, and its hopes, must be so prominent in the actual state of things existing, it would have been unaccountable if there had been nothing to illustrate the feelings of those in advancing or advanced years - nothing to suggest the kind of reflections appropriate to that period of life - nothing to cheer the heart of the aged man, and to inspire him with hope - nothing to prompt him to recall the lessons of the past, and to make use of those lessons to prepare him for the future; even as, in a world so full of trial, it would have been strange if there had been nothing to comfort the mind in affliction, and to enable people to derive proper lessons from the experiences of life. This psalm, therefore, is one of the most valuable portions of the Bible to a certain class of mankind, and may be to any of the living, as suggesting the proper reflections of a good man as the infirmities of age draw on, and as he reviews the mercies and the trials of the past.

It is not necessary to make a more particular analysis of its contents. The psalm, in general, embraces these points:

(1) A prayer for deliverance from troubles, and from wicked people, Psalms 71:1.

(2) An acknowledgment of God’s goodness in early life; a grateful review of divine mercies manifested from the earliest years of life, Psalms 71:5.

(3) A prayer that God would still preserve him as old age came on; a prayer that God would interpose in his behalf, and enable him still to be useful to the world - to that generation, and to the generations to come, Psalms 71:9.

(4) The expression of a confident expectation that his prayer would be answered, and that God would be merciful to him, Psalms 71:19.

(5) The expression of a purpose to offer praise to God as a suitable return for the mercies of the past, and for all that he hoped to receive in time to come, Psalms 71:22.