Psalms 71:11

_FOR MINE ENEMIES SPEAK AGAINST ME; AND THEY THAT LAY WAIT FOR MY SOUL TAKE COUNSEL TOGETHER,_ For mine enemies speak against me ... God hath forsaken him: persecute and take him. The ungodly persecute the saints most when they think, because of the sufferings of the latter, that they are given up by God (Psalms 3:2; Psalms 41:7). So Ahithophel spake as to David when fleeing from Absalom (2 Samuel 17:2). FOR THERE IS NONE TO DELIVER HIM - (Psalms 7:2.)...

1-13 David prays that he might never be made ashamed of dependence upon God. With this petition every true believer may come boldly to the throne of grace. The gracious care of Divine providence in our birth and infancy, should engage us to early piety. He that was our Help from our birth, ought to be our Hope from our youth. Let none expect ease or comfort from the world. Those who love the Lord, often are hated and persecuted; men wondered at for their principles and conduct; but the Lord has been their strong refuge. The faithful servants of God may be assured that he will not cast them off in old age, nor forsake them when their strength fails....

Verse Psalms 71:11. _GOD HATH FORSAKEN HIM_] "God, who has been his special help all through life, and who has guarded him so that no hand could be raised successfully against him, has now cast him off; therefore we shall easily prevail against him. His present adversity shows that God is no longer his friend." Thus _men_ judge. "Secular prosperity is a proof of God's favour: adversity is a proof of his displeasure." But this is not God's way, except in especial judgments, c. He never manifests his pleasure or displeasure by secular good or ill....

SAYING, GOD HATH FORSAKEN HIM - That is, God has given him over; he no longer protects him; he regards him as a wicked man, and we shall therefore, not only be “safe” in our attempts upon his life, but we shall be “justified” in those attempts. PERSECUTE AND TAKE HIM - It can be done safely now; it can be done with propriety. FOR THERE IS NONE TO DELIVER HIM - He has no one now to whom to look; no one on whom he can rely. Abandoned by God and by man, he will be an easy prey. Compare the notes at Psalms 41:7....

EXPOSITION Psalms 71:1 is, like so many others, a psalm divided between complaint and praise. It is comparatively wanting in originality, being, to a very great extent, an echo of other psalms, especially Psalms 22:1, Psalms 31:1, Psalms 35:1, and Psalms 40:1. Complaint, mingled with prayer, occupies the first half (Psalms 40:1); praise and thanksgiving the second (Psa 40:14 -24). The authorship of the psalm is very doubtful, as it has no "title," and fe

SAYING, GOD HATH FORSAKEN HIM,.... Good men may seem to others to be forsaken of God; and they themselves may sometimes think they are; and they may be forsaken for a small moment, when God withdraws his gracious presence, or does not afford immediate help; but never finally and totally. This David's enemies concluded, from the distressed condition he was in, being obliged to leave his family and court, and flee from his son, and wander up and down with a small retinue; and this they said to one another, to encourage themselves to lay violent hands upon him, which they thought they might do with ease and impunity; wherefore it follows, PERSECUTE AND TAKE HIM; pursue after him eagerly and diligently; lose no time; and, when come up to him, seize upon him, without any fear of God or man; FOR [THERE IS] NONE TO DELIVER [HIM]; out of our hands. God will not, for he has forsaken him; and me...

Psalms 71:1. _In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion._ There is his trust, and there is his fear; his trust he dares to avow, his fear he turns into a prayer. Psalms 71:2. _Deliver me in thy righteousness, and cause me to escape: incline thine ear unto me, and save me. Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress._ «Be thou my strong habitation whereunto I may continually resort.» Not merely now and then a hiding-place in emergency, but my constant abode, my home, so that from morning to night I may come to thee, and feel myself secure. «Thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress.» You see he knows that God has

Psalms 71 Israel's Song of Hope _ 1. Declaration of trust (Psalms 71:1)_ 2. Anticipations of faith (Psalms 71:12) 3. Revival and victory (Psalms 71:19) This Psalm, which bears no inscription whatever, gives another prophetic picture of the faith and the anticipations of faith as found in the godly of Israel, when the salvation is about to come out of Zion. They look to Him who is all sufficient to deliver and to save them. The Psalm may well be called Israel's song of hope. It abounds in many beautiful, refreshing statements, equally precious to us....

LXXI. A PSALM OF GRATITUDE FOR GOD'S CONSTANT CARE OF HIS SERVANT FROM YOUTH TO OLD AGE. The Psalmist expresses himself in language borrowed from older sources. PSALMS 71:1. Quoted from Psalms 31. Use is also made of Psalms 22. But the Psalmist is a man of original power, and the Ps. has a definite character of its own. He has powerful enemies and has been brought to death's door, but he is full of trust that God, who has led him from his infancy, will lead him to the end. He is already growing old. The writer cannot be speaking in the name of Israel (see Psalms 71:9). Psalms 71:6_ c_. Read, my hope shall be continually in thee....

Repeated deprecations and prayers....