God’s Righteousness – Psalm 71

“In You, O Lord, I put my trust. Let me never be put to shame. Deliver me in Your righteousness and cause me to escape. Incline Your ear to me and save me. Be my strong refuge, to which I may resort continually. You have given the commandment to save me, for You are my rock and my fortress. Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.” Psalm 71:1-4

David prays that he might never be made ashamed of his dependence on God. Access to God’s throne of grace in time of need is a gift that Jesus Christ purchased for us with His blood.

David prayed that God would rescue him based on God’s righteousness and not his own. In Isaiah 64:6, the prophet Isaiah wrote, “We are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags.” In Philippians 3:9, Paul wrote of being found in Christ, “not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.” All God’s saints are saints based on God’s forgiveness and His crediting the righteousness of His Son Jesus Messiah to their account.

Whatever others did, David chose to trust in God his Savior. God alone was his strong refuge. God was his impenetrable fortress. God delivered David from cruel criminals.

“For You are my hope, O Lord God. You are my trust from my youth. By You I have been upheld from birth. You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb. My praise shall be continually of You.” Psalm 71:5-6

Being brought forth from the womb safely was as much a miracle then as it is now. The pagans around Israel, and later the Israelites as well, offered their sons and daughters in fiery sacrifices to idols made of wood and stone. Nowadays, people all over the world are torturing and executing their preborn children via various kinds of abortion methods.

According to 1 Samuel 17:12-14, David was the youngest of eight sons of Jesse. Imagine the loss to humanity if his parents had aborted his birth!

In the 1700’s, God mightily used John and Charles Wesley to revive the faith in Christ all over the world. John Wesley was the 15th child of Susanna Wesley. Charles Wesley was her 18th child. Together with her husband Samuel, Susanna had a total of 19 children.

David had been upheld by God from his birth. God kept him in the faith during his teen years. In 1 Samuel 17:34–36, youthful David told King Saul that he had killed both a lion and a bear while protecting his father’s sheep.

David did not take his life for granted. He used it to continuously praise the Lord!

“I have become as a wonder to many, but You are my strong refuge.” Psalm 71:7

Everyone seemed to be waiting to see the moment that David would abandon God. How long could he keep up his zealous pursuit of God. Surely, they thought, he was just going through a phase and he would get over it. Eventually, he would become like them. But no, David trusted in God to keep the fire in his soul burning.

In 2 Timothy 1:12, Paul wrote, “I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.” In 1 Peter 1:5, Peter wrote, “You are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

“Let my mouth be filled with Your praise and with Your glory all the day.” Psalm 71:8

Proverbs 23:7 states: “For as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” When we think about God’s love for us as recorded in the Bible, it fills our minds with overflowing joy so that we want to praise Him and bring Him glory. I am at my best with witnessing for Christ when I am redeeming my free time by playing worship music and singing His praises. Jesus is worthy of all the glory!

“Do not cast me off in the time of old age. Do not forsake me when my strength fails.” Psalm 71:9

“To be cast off and forsaken of God is a thing to be dreaded at any time, especially in the time of old age and when our strength fails us; for it is God that is the strength of our heart.” [1]

There are so many predators in the world. They like to prey on weak and vulnerable people. They use phone, text and internet messages to try to scam the elderly out of their retirement money. In Matthew 10:16, Jesus advised us to “be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” In other words, we need shrewdness like a serpent and gentleness like a dove. Jesus taught us to love our enemies, but not to support their criminal activities.

“For my enemies speak against me. Those who lie in wait for my life take counsel together, saying, ‘God has forsaken him. Pursue and take him, for there is none to deliver him.’ O God do not be far from me. O my God, make haste to help me! Let them be confounded and consumed who are adversaries of my life. Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor who seek my hurt.” Psalm 71:10-13

David admitted his need for God to defend him against the lies of false witnesses. He needed God to help him overcome their schemes to defraud him. He asked God to stand up for him so they would see that he was not without help. Instead of being confused, defrauded and hurt by them, David asked God to flip the script. Let them reap what they have sown! Give them a taste of their own bitter medicine so that they will not cheat people anymore.

“But I will hope continually and will praise You yet more and more. My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness and Your salvation all the day, for I do not know their limits. I will go in the strength of the Lord God. I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only.” Psalm 71:14-16

David’s joy and song of praise spring forth from his faith and hope in God. Instead of depending on his own strength and righteousness, he depended on the Lord’s. The oil of God’s anointing never stopped flowing for David. The Spirit of God helped David to overcome the odds against him. Thus, he gave to God alone all the glory.

“O God, You have taught me from my youth, and to this day I declare Your wondrous works.” Psalm 71:17

It is a blessing from God to have a revelation of who He is and what He can do. He gives us the air we breathe. He keeps our heart beating. He gave His Son to die for our sins on the cross. He does so much for us daily. We do well to regard what He says to us in the Bible.

“Now also when I am old and gray headed, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come.” Psalm 71:18

Rather than just survive during his old age, David wanted to thrive. He wanted to impact his whole world for God, as well as to be a witness to the generations that are still to come.

I am old, but the Lord continues to use my life to touch many people. The Holy Spirit leads me to daily use maps to visualize all nations and pray for them with uplifted hands before the Lord. The Lord has blessed 21st Century Jeremiah blogsite with viewers from 165 countries. Praise the Lord! I am old now, but the Lord is touching more people now through me than at any time in my past. Glory to God!

“Also Your righteousness, O God, is very high, You who have done great things. O God, who is like You?” Psalm 71:19

There is none like the Lord! He is above “all powers! Above all kings! Above all nature and all created things! Above all wisdom and all the ways of man!” He was “here before the world began. Crucified. Laid behind a stone. He lived to die. Rejected and alone. He took the fall and thought of me above all.” [2]

“You, who have shown me great and severe troubles, shall revive me again, and bring me up again from the depths of the earth. You shall increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side. Also with the lute I will praise You—and Your faithfulness, O my God! To You I will sing with the harp, O Holy One of Israel. My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing to You, and my soul, which You have redeemed. My tongue also shall talk of Your righteousness all the day long, for they are confounded, for they are brought to shame who seek my hurt.” Psalm 71:20-24

David believed that God would rescue him from his troubles. God would increase his greatness and comfort! So, David decided to express his joy with a lute. A lute is like a modern day guitar but smaller. There were no musical recordings in his day, thus, David learned to play an instrument so his voice was not without music accompaniment. Thus, as David strummed the strings of the lute, his lips rejoiced. His soul sang. His tongue uttered the praises of God’s redeeming grace. He praised God for His faithfulness. As David worshiped the Lord, the Lord dealt with those who sought to confuse and hurt him.

Many years later, a descendant of David was led in a similar way to him. In 2 Chronicles 20, the nation of Judah was surrounded by a coalition of enemies. At first, King Jehoshaphat bowed his face to the ground in prayer, but then, the Levites stood up and began to praise the Lord with loud and high voices. After that, King Jehoshaphat was led to send the singers of praise out in front of his troops. 2 Chronicles 20:21-22 says, “As they went out before the army, they were saying, ‘Praise the Lord, for His mercy endures forever.’ Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, and they were defeated.”

In 1983, Michael and Stormie Omartian wrote a song entitled, “Praise His Name and See It Happen.” I like the lyrics... “Praise His name and see it happen. Let the power of God become alive in your life. Praise Jesus! Praise Jesus! Sing Hallelujah, Hallelujah! Praise His name and see it happen! Let your voice resound, on this holy battleground! The battle’s His! You’ve done your part if He be glorified in your heart.” In other words, trust God to do what is right, and praise Him for His help.



[1] Matthew Henry’s Commentary
[2] Above All lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Capitol CMG Publishing, Integrity Music, song by Lenny LeBlanc