Prayer of an Old Man for Rescue.
71 In you, O Lord, I have put my trust and confidently taken refuge;
Let me never be [a]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 and a sheltering stronghold to which I may continually come;
You have given the commandment to save me,
For You are my rock and my fortress.
4
Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked (godless),
From the grasp of the unrighteous and ruthless man.
5
For You are my hope;
O Lord God, You are my trust and the source of my confidence from my youth.
6
Upon You have I relied and been sustained from my birth;
You are He who took me from my mother’s womb and You have been my benefactor from that day.
My praise is continually of You.
7
I am as a wonder to many,
For You are my strong refuge.
8
My mouth is filled with Your praise
And with Your glory all day long.
9
Do not cast me off nor send me away in the time of old age;
Do not abandon me when my strength fails and I am weak.
10
For my enemies have spoken against me;
Those who watch for my life have consulted together,
11
Saying, “God has abandoned him;
Pursue and seize him, for there is no one to rescue him.”
12
O God, do not be far from me;
O my God, come quickly to help me!
13
Let those who attack my life be ashamed and consumed;
Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor, who seek to injure me.
14
But as for me, I will wait and hope continually,
And will praise You yet more and more.
15
My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness
And of Your [deeds of] salvation all day long,
For their number is more than I know.
16
I will come with the mighty acts of the Lord God [and in His strength];
I will make mention of Your righteousness, Yours alone.
17
O God, You have taught me from my youth,
And I still declare Your wondrous works and miraculous deeds.
18
And even when I am old and gray-headed, O God, do not abandon me,
Until I declare Your [mighty] strength to this generation,
Your power to all who are to come.
19
Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the [height of the] heavens,
You who have done great things;
O God, who is like You, [who is Your equal]?
20
You who have shown [b]me many troubles and distresses
Will revive and renew me again,
And will bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
21
May You increase my greatness (honor)
And turn to comfort me.
22
I will also praise You with the harp,
Your truth and faithfulness, O my God;
To You I will sing praises with the lyre,
O Holy One of Israel.
23
My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to You,
And my soul, which You have redeemed.
24
My tongue also will speak of Your righteousness all day long;
For they are ashamed, for they are humiliated who seek my injury.
Footnotes
- Psalm 71:1 I.e. have my expectations in Your goodness be disappointed.
- Psalm 71:20 Another reading is us.