In Your justice, rescue and deliver me; incline Your ear and save me. Sermons
I. HIS SUBLIME FAITH." In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust" (ver. 1). Here is the secret of his character. "Trust" gave strength to his heart, and unity and completeness to his life. In this he was in sympathy with others who had gone before (cf. Psalm 31:1-3). II. HIS EARNEST PRAYERS. The godly are ever given to prayer. It is their great resource. It is the never failing means of obtaining mercy and grace. They learnt to call upon God at their mother's knee (cf. Psalm 116:16; 2 Timothy 1:5), and all through life they have found the virtue and the blessedness of prayer. In old age the cry of the godly is, "I must pray more." III. HIS VARIED EXPERIENCES. Often, when looking back, there is dimness, or many things have fallen out of sight, or there is a confusion in the perspective; but events that have made a deep impression stand out clearly. Memory goes back to the time of youth, and traces life onward, with all the great changes, the dangers and adventures, the attempts and the achievements, the joys and sorrows. There are grateful recollections of kindness and help from many; but above all, there is praise to God for his goodness and wonderful works (vers. 5, 6; cf. Isaiah 44:4). IV. HIS SETTLED CONVICTIONS. Experience is a great teacher. The man who has seen many days has learned much, and is able to bear witness as one that speaketh with authority (Job 32:7; Leviticus 19:32; 2 Peter 1:13). One thing that the godly old man testifies is that God is worthy of trust; another thing is that the Word of God is not a cunningly devised fable, but truth; another thing is that religion is not a delusion, but a reality - the power of God unto salvation; another thing is that the most pleasant memories are of loyalty to God, and of good done to men, even to enemies, and that the saddest thoughts are of times when self prevailed over love and duty, and opportunities were lost from neglect and sloth. V. HIS UNFALTERING RESOLUTION. The old have their regrets. They have also their times of trial and weakness. In another place the psalmist says, "I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken" (Psalm 37:25), and yet here he seems just for a moment to falter; but if he trembles at the thought of being a "castaway," as Paul also did (1 Corinthians 9:27), he renews his strength by prayer (vers. 17, 20). Then having gained courage, he pledges himself with fresh ardour to be true to God. Instead of wavering, he will press on. Instead of keeping silence, he will testify, by word and deed, to the strength and power of God. This was beautifully seen in Polycarp, "Eighty and six years have I served him, and he never wronged me; and shall I forsake my God and my Saviour?" VI. HIS GLORIOUS PROSPECTS. For the old the end is near. They know that soon they must die, and have no more to do with anything under the sun. This seems a dismal condition. But for the godly there is not only hope in death, but the bright prospect of a blessed immortality. "The end of that man is peace," yea, more, far more, the future is glorious. - W.F.
O God, Thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared Thy wondrous works. His SCHOLARSHIP. "O God, Thou hast taught me from my youth."1. The psalmist was an instructed believer. He had not merely been saved, but taught: conversion had led to instruction. I call the attention of all young Christians to this. How desirable it is not merely that you should be forgiven your sins, and that your hearts should be renewed by the operations of the Holy Ghost, but that you should go to school to Jesus, and take His yoke upon you, and learn of Him. 2. All his instruction the psalmist traced to his God. "O God, Thou hast taught me." He had entered Christ's college as a scholar. Most wisely had he chosen to learn of Him who was infinite wisdom to impart, and divine skill in communicating it. What a school have some of us passed through, a school of trial and a school of love. We have sat on the hard form of discipline. 3. David also had the privilege of beginning early. "O God, Thou hast taught me from my youth." If you would be a good scholar you must be a young scholar. 4. Further, notice David tells us he kept to his studies. He says, "O God, Thou hast taught me from my youth," which implies that God had continued to teach him: and so, indeed, He had. The learner had not sought another school, nor had the Master turned off His pupil. Some make slight progress because they seem to begin well, but afterwards turn aside to folly. II. HIS OCCUPATION. "Hitherto have I declared Thy wondrous works." 1. A Divine subject. Did you notice the fifteenth verse, "My mouth shall show forth Thy righteousness and Thy salvation all the day"? That is the great Christian doctrine — the very pith and marrow of theology — the atonement in which grace and justice unite in the sacrifice of Jesus. 2. The style which David used was very commendable. "Declared." David's teaching about his God had not been with an "if," and a "but," and a "may be," but it had been, "Thus and thus, saith the Lord." III. His PRAYER. 1. He was not ashamed of his former reliance. He knew the secret springs from which all his blessings had flowed, and he pleads with the Lord never to stop the Divine fountain of self-sufficiency, or he must faint and die. 2. This proves that David did not imagine that past grace could suffice for the present. David acknowledged his present dependence, and it was wise to do so, Men always stumble when they try to walk with their eyes turned behind them. 3. He confessed his undeservingness. He felt that for his sins God might well leave him. But he humbly resolved not to be deserted, he could not bear it, he held his God with eagerness, and cried in agony, "O God, forsake me not." His heart was desperately set upon holding to his one hope and consolation, and so he pleaded as one who pleads for life itself. IV. His WISH (ver. 18). He had spent a lifetime in declaring God's Gospel, but he wanted to do it once more. Aged saints are loth to cease from active service. Many of them are like old John Newton, who, when he was too feeble to walk up the pulpit stairs of St. Mary Woolnoth parish church, was carried up to his place and preached on still. His friends said, "Really, Mr, Newton, you are so feeble, you ought to give over," and he said, "What? Shall the old African blasphemer ever leave off preaching the grace of his Master as long as there is breath in his body? No, never." It is harder work to leave off than to go on, for the love o! Christ constrains us still, and burns with young flame in an aged heart. So here the good man pines to show forth once more God's strength. And, do you notice the congregation he wished to address? He would testify to the generation that was growing up around him. He wished to make known God's power to his immediate neighbours, and to their children, so that the light might be handed on to other generations. This should be on the mind of all who are going off the stage of action: they should think of those who are to come after them, and pray for them, and help them. ( C. H. Spurgeon.) I. HEAR THE VOICE OF OUR OWN NATION IN THESE WORDS. Trace her history from pro-Roman times, on through the beginnings of Christianity in her midst, by the days of our rude Saxon forefathers who had entered into the fair heritage which Rome had abandoned; how they in their turn bowed before the cross of Christ, and in their turn strove against ruthless Dane and Norseman. And once again foreign rule forced itself on the nation, how on this very spot the Conqueror, first of a long line of kings, was crowned by the tomb of the gentle, unwarlike monarch whose bones still rest amongst us, And we see the gradual fusing of the varied elements into that one hardy race, toiling, fighting, conquering, and being conquered, the memorials of all which are around us. But in and through all these vicissitudes has not God been training this land; might it not take our text for itself? II. And we may do so, again, IN REGARD TO THE REIGN OF OUR SOVEREIGN, whose jubilee we have so recently and joyfully celebrated. During these fifty years God has still been teaching this nation by ways and agencies manifold. What material prosperity has been given; for the amelioration of the lot of the poor, what were once the privileges of the few being now the common patrimony of the many; for all just and wise legislation; for the strides with which human knowledge has advanced, for fresh light thrown on history; for the good men and great whom God has raised up for us; for those who are gone and those who are left. And let us, above all, thank Him for those who have died in His faith and fear; and for all who have striven to extend the knowledge of our Father-God and of our Lord Jesus Christ. And let us ask Him not to forsake us now that He has led us so far on in our career. We may not shut our eyes to the perils of the future — the weakness as well as the strength of a world-wide empire; the decay of faith and the turning away from Christ. All the more, therefore, let us pray this prayer, "O God, forsake me not." (Dean Bradley.) I. IT BEGINS EARLY. II. IS CONDUCTED THROUGH VARIOUS AGENCIES. 1. Prosperity is one of them. Darwin says in one of his books, speaking of change of instinct in the lower creation, that when bees were carried to Barbadoes and the Western Islands, they ceased to lay up honey after the first year. They found the weather so fine, and the material for honey so plentiful, that they ate up their store, and neglected to provide for the future any longer. Their character degenerated under the influence of their prosperity. Too often it is so among men; and the greater their prosperity, the greater is their deterioration of character. It is said of one of the popes that when he was a poor priest he was regarded as a good man; when promoted to be a cardinal he doubted of his salvation; and when he was raised to the papal chair he despaired of it. Now, that ought not to be the result' of prosperity. But it too often is so. 2. Adversity is another. Adversity, says one, is of use to kill those sinners which the summer of prosperity is apt to produce and nourish. I have seen a Christian man accumulate money, and in the process of accumulation begin to love it; and I have observed the wisdom and fatherly kindness of God, in making all his investments profitless, and scattering his little board to the winds like dust, and in the end drawing out his soul in deeper love and desire for the true riches. Affliction is beneficial in perfecting patience, fortitude, and acquiescence in the Divine will. No other form of discipline can so promote growth. III. IS OFTEN VERY MYSTERIOUS. See this in history of Joseph. And observation and experience teach the same. IV. IS PERPETUAL. And — V. IS REGULATED BY INFINITE WISDOM AND LOVE. (William Walters.) I. Think of DAVID AS A PUPIL, God was his Teacher. "O God, Thou hast taught me from my youth." This shows that David had a teachable spirit; and if you had asked him where it came from, he would have said that God gave him a teachable spirit. God is not only the Teacher of our spirit, but He gives us a teachable spirit, Have we all received that precious gift? A teachable spirit, although it is despised by many, is a happy spirit; it is a growing spirit; it is a restful spirit; it is a heavenly spirit; and whoever has it, must ascribe the possession of it to the Spirit of God, who leads us into all truth, and makes us willing to be led therein. Oh, that we may have such a spirit, that we shall count it an honour to say, "O God, Thou hast taught me"! In David's acknowledgment we learn that God took him very early into His school. "Thou hast taught me from my youth." What a mercy it is to begin to know God before we begin to know anything else! Happy shalt thou be if thy first intelligible thoughts shall be of thy Maker, thy Benefactor, thy Friend. There are many aged men who can say with David, "O God, Thou hast taught me from my youth." They find themselves learners yet, for they are "Unstable, weak, and apt to slide."II. But now I want you to notice DAVID AS A PUPIL-TEACHER. While he was a pupil, he was also teaching. He says, "Hitherto have I declared Thy wondrous works." Observe, then, that David taught people what he saw. He saw God's works all around him. Ah! me, that is a great sight. We do not see God as we should, and we shall never teach aright for God, until we have a kind of instinctive feeling of the presence of God, till we are conscious that God is in us, and round about us, and at work for us. God's work that David saw was very much work in himself, and work for himself, and work in other men's hearts. Being taken into the school of God, he was made to observe things; he had object lessons put before him, and he learned to read God's work; and as he saw it, he wondered. "Hitherto," said he, "have I declared Thy wondrous works." He who is a stranger to wonder is a stranger to God, for God is wonderful everyway, and everywhere, and everyhow. We find that David took opportunity to declare God's wondrous work; sometimes with his pen, writing his psalms; sometimes with his voice, singing those psalms; sometimes talking to a few, sometimes speaking to many. Now, dear friends, what I want you all to do is, if you have seen God's work, and have been struck with it, you should declare it, tell it to others. ( C. H. Spurgeon.) People Psalmist, SolomonPlaces JerusalemTopics Bow, Cause, Deliver, Ear, Escape, Incline, Rescue, Righteousness, Safe, Save, Saviour, Turn, VoiceOutline 1. David, in confidence of faith, and experience of God's favor, prays both for himself, 10. and against the enemies of his soul 14. He promises constancy 17. He prays for perseverance 19. He praises God, and promises to do it cheerfully Dictionary of Bible Themes Psalm 71:2Library December 22. "My Tongue Also Shall Talk of Thy Righteousness all the Day Long" (Ps. Lxxi. 24). "My tongue also shall talk of Thy righteousness all the day long" (Ps. lxxi. 24). It is a simple law of nature, that air always comes in to fill a vacuum. You can produce a draught at any time, by heating the air until it ascends, and then the cold air rushes in to supply its place. And so we can always be filled with the Holy Spirit by providing a vacuum. This breath is dependent upon exhausting the previous breath before you can inhale a fresh one. And so we must empty our hearts of the last breath … Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth More and More Of Four Things which Bring Great Peace Of the Day of Eternity and of the Straitnesses of this Life For Old Age. --Ps. Lxxi. They all Hold Swords, Being Expert in War; Every Man Hath his Sword Upon his Thigh Because of Fear in the Night. Letter Xlv (Circa A. D. 1140) to the Canons of Lyons, on the Conception of S. Mary. The Baptismal Covenant Can be Kept Unbroken. Aim and Responsibility of Parents. But Concerning True Patience, Worthy of the Name of this virtue... The Christian's Hope Let Thus Much have Been Said with Regard to Charity... Psalms Links Psalm 71:2 NIVPsalm 71:2 NLT Psalm 71:2 ESV Psalm 71:2 NASB Psalm 71:2 KJV Psalm 71:2 Bible Apps Psalm 71:2 Parallel Psalm 71:2 Biblia Paralela Psalm 71:2 Chinese Bible Psalm 71:2 French Bible Psalm 71:2 German Bible Psalm 71:2 Commentaries Bible Hub |
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