(Rewritten notes from a message at Corona International Christian Fellowship on Feb. 20, 2011)
1 In you, O Lord, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
2 Rescue me and deliver me in your righteousness;
turn your ear to me and save me.
3 Be my rock of refuge,
to which I can always go;
give the command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
4 Deliver me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp of evil and cruel men.
5 For you have been my hope, O Sovereign Lord,
my confidence since my youth.
6 From birth I have relied on you;
you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.
I will ever praise you.
7 I have become like a portent to many,
but you are my strong refuge.
8 My mouth is filled with your praise,
declaring your splendor all day long.
9 Do not cast me away when I am old;
do not forsake me when my strength is gone.
10 For my enemies speak against me;
those who wait to kill me conspire together.
11 They say, “God has forsaken him;
pursue him and seize him,
for no one will rescue him.”
12 Be not far from me, O God;
come quickly, O my God, to help me.
13 May my accusers perish in shame;
may those who want to harm me
be covered with scorn and disgrace.
14 But as for me, I will always have hope;
I will praise you more and more.
15 My mouth will tell of your righteousness,
of your salvation all day long,
though I know not its measure.
16 I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, O Sovereign Lord;
I will proclaim your righteousness, yours alone.
17 Since my youth, O God, you have taught me,
and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.
18 Even when I am old and gray,
do not forsake me, O God,
till I declare your power to the next generation,
your might to all who are to come.
19 Your righteousness reaches to the skies, O God,
you who have done great things.
Who, O God, is like you?
20 Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter,
you will restore my life again;
from the depths of the earth
you will again bring me up.
21 You will increase my honor
and comfort me once again.
22 I will praise you with the harp
for your faithfulness, O my God;
I will sing praise to you with the lyre,
O Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will shout for joy
when I sing praise to you—
I, whom you have redeemed.
24 My tongue will tell of your righteous acts
all day long,
for those who wanted to harm me
have been put to shame and confusion.
The quick overview
Who wrote this? Probably David, but then it could have been Asaph, who wrote other psalms in this book of prayers. Apparently, the psalmist must have lived many years, judging from verses 9 and 18, and has experienced much, especially being constantly attacked for whatever reason, which, if you read of David’s life closely, even in his later years, it wasn’t exactly retirement as many of us envision the golden years to be.
In the end, it really doesn’t matter if we know who the specific author is, because what is described in Psalm 71 is a universal experience for those who follow the Lord. And it doesn’t matter what your chronological age is – if you walk with Him, if you chase after Him, if you love Him with everything that you are, those who do not aren’t exactly going to be your best and closest friends.
When all is said and done, the psalmist concludes that it is not man in whom one should trust fully, but God, who rescues, who saves, who redeems. And because this is such a mighty work not done by a mere man, the psalmist realizes that he can’t keep this good news to himself, but has to tell everyone, and to testify to it constantly and consistently.
So just how did the psalmist get there?
Teaching point No. 1: List man’s needs from this psalm
v1 in need of help
v2 in need of a rescue and deliverance
v4 apparently a victim of wicked people
v5 in need of hope
v6 in need of someone to rely on
v7 a portent to many … eh? What's that? From Merriam-Webster, a portent is:
1: something that foreshadows a coming event : omen, sign
2: prophetic indication or significance
3: marvel, prodigy
Here, in the context of the psalm definitions 1 and 2: a sign or warning that something usually bad or unpleasant is going to happen … the world looks at it as “a portent of evil,” and maybe to the ones who don’t know the Lord, we certainly look that way to them.
v9 fears being separated from God
v10-11 being scorned by his enemies, who say God won’t be there when he needs Him
v12 needs to be near God and needs His help – both very quickly and, it seems, frequently
v20 he’s seen a lot of bad stuff, gone through a lot of hardship, and this was something that the Lord brought him to, has shown him … (maybe there is a parallel to Job’s trails, as well as those of Paul in the NT)
So, what are your needs? Are they anything like these? List them out.
Teaching point No.2: List God’s character as described in this psalm
v3 rock of refuge, rock and fortress
v5 hope, confidence
v7 strong refuge
v6 the Creator
v8 splendor (or glorious)
v14 gives hope, is the source of constant hope
v15 righteous and saving
v16 does mighty acts and is righteous; He is the sovereign Lord
v17 does marvelous deed
v18 powerful and mighty
v19 righteous and does great things
v20 one who teaches and restores
v21 rewards and comforts
v22 faithful
v23 redeemer
v24 does righteous acts and judges the wicked
Based on Scripture only (the ONLY authority from which we should learn of God), are there other characteristics of God not listed here? If there are, list them, and cite book/chapter/verse.
Teaching point No. 3: List man’s response as described in this psalm
v6 knowing God created him, he will EVER praise God
v8 his mouth is filled with praise, and not just on a Sunday, and not just at a worship “service”
v14 his praise increases
v15 he talks and testifies of God’s saving grace ALL DAY
v16 he proclaims the Sovereign Lord’s mighty acts, of the things that only He can do, and of His righteousness -- and no one else’s.
v17 he declares God’s marvelous deeds, not just the recent ones, but what the Lord has taught him life long
v18 he’s not just telling his friends, but the next generation – and I have to think, because he speaks of the next generation, he’s writing down what the Lord has done
v19 he praises God for His unlimited, unfathomable righteousness, and acknowledges that there is no one who even comes close to who He is
v20 he acknowledges that the things that he’s experienced, God allowed, and even so, God restored him
v21 if he was dishonored by the wicked, God restored his honor, and was also comforted in his affliction – and not just one time (“once again”).
v22 he praises God with music for His faithfulness
v24 he praises God for His holiness and perfection
v23 knowing that he has been redeemed by the Almighty God, that he has been saved, he sings praises TO the Lord
v24 he tells of God’s righteous acts ALL DAY, that God acts in perfect judgment
In light of God’s character (again, the only revelation of Him with real authority is Scripture) revealed to you, what has been your response? Describe it. How does it compare to the psalmist’s experience in Psalm 71?
Now that you know all this, what do you do with it? (Application)
What it seems to me that the psalmist is getting at are active acts of worship – how our lips and actions praise God all day, more and more. And notice there is NO mention of being in a temple, there is no mention of offering up burnt offerings or other sacrifices. There is no “organized” ritual of worship.
Instead, he seems to be leading to a life that praises God – increasingly and constantly.
How can we do that in practical terms?
Give Him praise: The obvious one, and many of you do this, is to give the Lord praise. I know you do it here, during the praise reports, and I’m guessing you do it with your family, your D-groups and with other followers of Jesus. But I wonder, are we telling others outside that circle? Are we even telling those who may be “enemies” in the sense of this psalm, those who make fun of use because we desire to have hearts that go after God?
How do you, in a practical, every day way, give Him praise?
Give Him praise more and more (verse 14): And not just the Sunday school answer that “God is good.” There is truth to that, of course, and to you and me it makes sense. But to those outside of this room, and to those who are going through a hardship, and to those who just are very young in their faith, it starts to sound like something you say when you have nothing else to say.
God does new things in our lives. Do our praises reflect that? If not, why is that? Are we paying attention to what He is doing in us and through us and around us? Are we in His Word consistently to see what He’s done in the past for others, and how that has played out in our own lives? (Isaiah 43:18-19, of not dwelling in the past failures, but looking ahead to new things He is doing NOW.)
And don’t get hung up on technique or “proper theological” principles. Those are important to know, BUT don’t worry about the specific words to say or when to say it … yield yourself to the Holy Spirit – God in you – to let you know when and with what words. (Example, Stephen in Acts 6 and 7.)
Do you constantly praise God, or only when it’s a) convenient (like at church on Sunday) or b) when things are going good? What about other times? Why is constant praise of God a good thing?
Tell people all day: OK, this is a tough one, because you don’t want to come across as the person who says “praise the Lord” as if it were a comma in a sentence. And, honestly, I tend not to listen when people do that. (I think that can be another way of taking the name of the Lord in vain, but that’s a whole different Bible study.)
But I have to think that this follows what Peter wrote:
But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.
In other words, with the grace that God has showed you, and continues to show you, share that with others, especially those who want to know of the hope in Him that you have. And not only that, Peter says to do it in such a way – to live out that grace – that even if they slam you for your faith, in the end, they’ll be ashamed of doing so … Psalm 71:24 of the psalm says that more poetically:
My tongue will tell of your righteous acts
all day long,
for those who wanted to harm me
have been put to shame and confusion.
Verse 17 of the Psalm 71 says, “Since my youth, O God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.”
You who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, you who are redeemed by His resurrection three days later, you who have His Spirit living within you – you have a testimony. And just like the psalmist, it’s not good news that just happened. It was good news that came out of hardship.
Think on that for a second. Good stuff just doesn’t just happen. A challenge, a hardship, a trial happens first before the good news happens. That’s your testimony: How God led you through a hardship, and how it was Him who showed the way because you TRUSTED in Him through His promises in His Word.
And while specific circumstances of problems are unique to people, problems are not:
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
Do you tell people? What keeps you from doing so? What allows you to do so? Reflect on your own walk and see how God has led you… and as He leads, tell people.
Sing it out: This can be a sticky one. I know some of you aren’t necessarily liking the style of music we do at CICF. That’s OK. We’re not asking you to like it. What we are asking you to do, though, is sing it. Sing the new songs the Lord is giving us. Better yet, and more important, sing the truths that He’s giving us through the Scripture the songs reflect, and through the Scripture as we worship in the Word.
When you leave here, sing the new songs the Lord is giving you.
Some of you may say that you don’t have a good singing voice.
Sing anyway.
Sing this way: At the end of his book, “Blue Like Jazz,” a book that is essentially his and his friends testimony of their relationship with Jesus and how that relationship is made real in their lives and the people around them, Don Miller wrote that their testimony, their very lives was a song about and to Jesus. That's how they desired to live, even in the challenges and hardships, they want their lives to be a song of praise to the One who redeemed their souls.
The Bible says it this way in the Old Testament:
He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
-- Micah 6:8
Sing it like that ...
And the Bible says this in the New Testament (using The Message paraphrase –again):
Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?
-- James 2:14-17, The Message paraphrase Bible by Eugene Patterson
Sing it like that ...
We who are redeemed, we who are saved by God, have a song to sing, have praises to shout, have praises to share with the world more and more. If you do have real trust in Him, your faith goes far beyond words – it resonates in the very way you live.
Your very life is an ongoing song of praises to Him.
What practical ways (non-musical, especially) is your life an ongoing song to God? List them.
Let’s let God lead us by His Spirit to testify what a redeemed life is in Jesus.
Let’s be the people who use what God has done in us, and still doing in us, to make disciples to add to His kingdom.
“We the Redeemed” by Hillsong
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