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"The Prayer of an Elderly Person"
Psalm 71.1-6
Good News Translation (GNT)
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1 Lord, I have come to you for protection;
never let me be defeated!
2 Because you are righteous, help me
and rescue me.
Listen to me and save me!
3 Be my secure shelter
and a strong fortress [a] to protect me;
you are my refuge and defense.
4 My God, rescue me from wicked people,
from the power of cruel and evil people.
5 Sovereign Lord, I put my hope in you;
I have trusted in you since I was young.
6 I have relied on you all my life;
you have protected [b] me since the day
I was born.
I will always praise you.
Footnotes
Psalm 71:3 One ancient translation a strong
fortress;
Hebrew to go always you commanded.
Psalm 71:6 Some ancient translations
protected;
Hebrew unclear.
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Commentary taken from 'word-on-the-web'
supplied by Scripture Union
'The Prayer of an Elderly Person'
How subjective ought our worship to be?
There is a trend in Christian worship from the use of objective, corporate hymns, prayers and readings to more person-centred, 'I'-based expressions.
Is this good or bad?
Certainly, we do well in shared worship to construct services that enable a broad spread of people to participate and to celebrate the great objective realities of creation and redemption.
However, as the gospel is deeply personal, so should our worship be.
The psalms, Israel's hymn book, are profoundly personal: 'I', 'me' and 'my' language abounds.
God is my refuge, righteousness, rock, fortress, hope.
My lips will praise him, my tongue will tell of his righteous acts, my mouth will be filled with praise.
My God is my honour and my life.
Correspondingly, of God, this psalm speaks of your righteous and marvellous deeds, your saving acts, your righteousness, your power.
You will restore my life, you will comfort me.
This is the ultimate I-Thou relationship.
It speaks of a deep intimacy between the psalmist and God, one that has lasted throughout life.
It has extended from birth (v 6) and will reach into fragile old age.
It is the kind of loving closeness that Jesus knew when he prayed to Abba, Father.
We see how the psalmist is nourished by this relationship.
It sustains him when there are those who despise and conspire against him (v 4).
Because God is close to him, he is confident that those who wish to harm him will not succeed.
The personal knowledge that God is near to us in all circumstances can heal us when we are inwardly wounded and assailed.
We might also say that unless the objective reality of a gracious and caring God also becomes a subjective, personally felt reality we have yet to get the point.
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