Prayer For God’s Protection
March 9, 2024
Commentary
In this passage it seems that the psalmist was old and saw life as a testimony of all God had done for him. He finds himself approaching the last lap of his journey in the service of God, he had run a good race, he had kept the faith, and he pleads with God for strength to finish well.
He expresses God’s faithfulness (vv. 1-3) – He rests everything on the character of God and on the compassion of God. Let a person invest his faith and trust in the living God and he will find that, when all else fails, God is still in business.He shares the experience of God’s faithfulness (vv. 4-6) – This godly old believer had been trusting God for a long time. He remembered many occasions when God had saved him from trials in life. As an old man, he was determined to keep trusting Him.The psalmist now gives detail of the threatening circumstances that he finds himself in old age.
The problem he was finding (v. 7) – All eyes were on him.The praise he was formulating (v. 8) – He was determined to give thanks in his circumstances, even if he did not like them.The pressure he was feeling (v. 9) – He pleads that God will no longer burden him.The persecution he was facing (vv. 10,11) – As he grows old it seems that the walk gets more lonely and the battles become more intense.
Application
Remembering how God has blessed me during my lifetime will help me see the consistency of His grace, trust Him for the future and share with others the benefits of being faithful.
Psalms 71:1– 13 (NET)
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Illustration: Hudson Taylor Small Meeting With Great Results
It was a stormy night in Birmingham, England, and Hudson Taylor was to speak at a meeting at the Severn Street schoolroom. His hostess assured him that nobody would attend on such a stormy night, but Taylor insisted on going. “I must go even if there is no one but the doorkeeper.” Less than a dozen people showed up, but the meeting was marked with unusual spiritual power. Half of those present either became missionaries or gave their children as missionaries; and the rest were faithful supporters of the China Inland Mission for years to come. (Warren Wiersbe, Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching and Preachers, p. 242).