October 10, 2025, Psalm 71:1-24

October 10, 2025, Psalm 71:1-24

71 In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;
    let me never be put to shame!
² In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
    incline your ear to me, and save me!
³ Be to me a rock of refuge,
    to which I may continually come;
you have given the command to save me,
    for you are my rock and my fortress.

⁴ Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
    from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man.
⁵ For you, O Lord, are my hope,
    my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
⁶ Upon you I have leaned from before my birth;
    you are he who took me from my mother's womb.
My praise is continually of you.

⁷ I have been as a portent to many,
    but you are my strong refuge.
⁸ My mouth is filled with your praise,
    and with your glory all the day.
⁹ Do not cast me off in the time of old age;
    forsake me not when my strength is spent.
¹⁰ For my enemies speak concerning me;
    those who watch for my life consult together
¹¹ and say, “God has forsaken him;
    pursue and seize him,
    for there is none to deliver him.”

¹² O God, be not far from me;
    O my God, make haste to help me!
¹³ May my accusers be put to shame and consumed;
    with scorn and disgrace may they be covered
    who seek my hurt.
¹⁴ But I will hope continually
    and will praise you yet more and more.
¹⁵ My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,
    of your deeds of salvation all the day,
    for their number is past my knowledge.
¹⁶ With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come;
    I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.

¹⁷ O God, from my youth you have taught me,
    and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
¹⁸ So even to old age and gray hairs,
    O God, do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might to another generation,
    your power to all those to come.
¹⁹ Your righteousness, O God,
    reaches the high heavens.
You who have done great things,
    O God, who is like you?
²⁰ You who have made me see many troubles and calamities
    will revive me again;
from the depths of the earth
    you will bring me up again.
²¹ You will increase my greatness
    and comfort me again.

²² I will also praise you with the harp
    for your faithfulness, O my God;
I will sing praises to you with the lyre,
    O Holy One of Israel.
²³ My lips will shout for joy,
    when I sing praises to you;
    my soul also, which you have redeemed.
²⁴ And my tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long,
for they have been put to shame and disappointed
    who sought to do me hurt.

Although the psalmist continues to ask for deliverance from enemies and hard times, he shares a deep gratitude for God’s power and goodness from youth to old age. There is continued reliance on God for strength and refuge, deep appreciation expressed for salvation, and a request of continuance in God’s will into old age.

I love how the psalmist asks God to help recognize usefulness into old age. As we age, it’s easy to question our purpose.

How can we minister to aging adults to reassure them of their importance to the Kingdom of God?

As we age, how can we continue to serve God when experiencing physical challenges or declining health?

Robin Adams