16 I will give news of the great acts of the Lord God; my words will be of your righteousness, and of yours only.
Be my saviour from violent death, O God, the God of my salvation; and my tongue will give praise to your righteousness.
And their strength will be in the Lord; and their pride will be in his name, says the Lord.
For it is an act of righteousness on God's part to give trouble as their reward to those who are troubling you,
I am able to do all things through him who gives me strength.
Lastly, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his power.
That in the wealth of his glory he would make you strong with power through his Spirit in your hearts;
But now without the law there is a revelation of the righteousness of God, to which witness is given by the law and the prophets;
For in it there is the revelation of the righteousness of God from faith to faith: as it is said in the holy Writings, The man who does righteousness will be living by his faith.
Your shoes will be iron and brass; and as your days, so may your work be.
I will give news of the mercies of the Lord, and his great acts, even all the things the Lord has done for us, in his great grace to the house of Israel; even all he has done for us in his unnumbered mercies.
But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness.
O Lord, our God, other lords than you have had rule over us; but in you only is our salvation, and no other name will we take on our lips.
My tongue will be talking of your righteousness all the day; for those whose purpose is to do me evil have been crushed and put to shame.
Your righteousness, O God, is very high; you have done great things; O God, who is like you?
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 71
Commentary on Psalms 71 Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalm 71
David penned this psalm in his old age, as appears by several passages in it, which makes many think that it was penned at the time of Absalom's rebellion; for that was the great trouble of his later days. It might be occasioned by Sheba's insurrection, or some trouble that happened to him in that part of his life of which it was foretold that the sword should not depart from his house. But he is not over-particular in representing his case, because he intended it for the general use of God's people in their afflictions, especially those they meet with in their declining years; for this psalm, above any other, is fitted for the use of the old disciples of Jesus Christ.
He is in an ecstasy of joyful praise; and, in the singing of it, we too should have our faith in God encouraged and our hearts raised in blessing his holy name.
Psa 71:1-13
Two things in general David here prays for-that he might not be confounded and that his enemies and persecutors might be confounded.
Psa 71:14-24
David is here in a holy transport of joy and praise, arising from his faith and hope in God; we have both together v. 14, where there is a sudden and remarkable change of his voice; his fears are all silenced, his hopes raised, and his prayers turned into thanksgivings. "Let my enemies say what they will, to drive me to despair, I will hope continually, hope in all conditions, in the most cloudy and dark day; I will live upon hope and will hope to the end.' Since we hope in one that will never fail us, let not our hope in him fail us, and then we shall praise him yet more and more. "The more they reproach me the more closely will I cleave to thee; I will praise thee more and better than ever I have done yet.' The longer we live the more expert we should grow in praising God and the more we should abound in it. I will add over and above all thy praise, all the praise I have hitherto offered, for it is all too little. When we have said all we can, to the glory of God's grace, there is still more to be said; it is a subject that can never be exhausted, and therefore we should never grow weary of it. Now observe, in these verses,