The longer we live, the more our disappointments can pile up. Even if we genuinely have faith in God, it’s easy to wonder: if God is so willing and able to help us, why hasn’t He blessed us in certain ways? Or why have different kinds of suffering come into our lives?

And the writer of Psalm 71 doesn’t ignore these questions. No, he confesses God’s strength and power (verse 18), and he admits God’s righteousness (verses 16 and 19). And because he has already lived a long time (verses 9 and 18), he can bear personal testimony to many of God’s mighty deeds (verses 16 and 19). But at the same time, he confesses that God has also shown him “many troubles and distresses” (verse 20).

So, how can he be so confident that God will revive him and bring him up from the low place in which he finds himself (verse 20)? How can he continue to hope in God when his strength is failing, and when his enemies are pressing in from every side (verses 9-13)?

The first thing he does is to think back, to recall the many years he had been walking with God. He remembers how he had placed his confidence in God when he was a youth, and how God had sustained his life from the time of his birth (verses 5 and 6). And so, looking back on the many lessons God taught him throughout his life (verse 17), his past experience with God gives him great hope for the future.

But while he remembers God’s protection and teaching in the past, and while he hopes for God’s blessings in the future, the psalmist makes a firm determination to praise God in the present, regardless of the circumstances of his life. Even while his enemies surround him, he pledges to tell everyone about God’s righteousness and salvation (verses 15 and 24). He goes so far as to say that he will rejoice and sing praises to God (verses 22 and 23), even while he waits for God to help him and comfort him (verses 12 and 21).

So today, let’s take the time to remember how God has walked with us along our life’s journey. Let’s remember His blessings, in both the good and bad times. And as our knowledge of Christ’s death and resurrection combines with our personal experience of God’s grace and favor, may we hold on to hope in His deliverance, even as we proclaim His truth and sing His praise – no matter what troubles may come our way.

Psalm 71 (NASB)

In Thee, O LORD, I have taken refuge; Let me never be ashamed.
2 In Thy righteousness deliver me, and rescue me; Incline Thine ear to me, and save me.
3 Be Thou to me a rock of habitation, to which I may continually come; Thou hast given commandment to save me, For Thou art my rock and my fortress.
4 Rescue me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, Out of the grasp of the wrongdoer and ruthless man,
5 For Thou art my hope; O Lord God, Thou art my confidence from my youth.
6 By Thee I have been sustained from my birth; Thou art He who took me from my mother’s womb; My praise is continually of Thee.
7 I have become a marvel to many; For Thou art my strong refuge.
8 My mouth is filled with Thy praise, And with Thy glory all day long.
9 Do not cast me off in the time of old age; Do not forsake me when my strength fails.
10 For my enemies have spoken against me; And those who watch for my life have consulted together,
11 Saying, “God has forsaken him; Pursue and seize him, for there is no one to deliver.”
12 O God, do not be far from me; O my God, hasten to my help!
13 Let those who are adversaries of my soul be ashamed and consumed; Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor, who seek to injure me.
14 But as for me, I will hope continually, And will praise Thee yet more and more.
15 My mouth shall tell of Thy righteousness, And of Thy salvation all day long; For I do not know the sum of them.
16 I will come with the mighty deeds of the Lord God; I will make mention of Thy righteousness, Thine alone.
17 O God, Thou hast taught me from my youth; And I still declare Thy wondrous deeds.
18 And even when I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me, Until I declare Thy strength to this generation, Thy power to all who are to come.
19 For Thy righteousness, O God, reaches to the heavens, Thou who hast done great things; O God, who is like Thee?
20 Thou, who hast shown me many troubles and distresses, Wilt revive me again, And wilt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
21 Mayest Thou increase my greatness, And turn to comfort me.
22 I will also praise Thee with a harp, Even Thy truth, O my God; To Thee I will sing praises with the lyre, O Thou Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to Thee; And my soul, which Thou hast redeemed.
24 My tongue also will utter Thy righteousness all day long; For they are ashamed, for they are humiliated who seek my hurt.