the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 4 of 5
Psalms 71:17-24
It seems likely that this psalm was composed by David when he was fleeing from his son Absalom. Already an aged man (vv. 9, 18), the man of God is once again going through a time of "great and sore troubles" (v. 20). He addresses the LORD: "Now also when I am old and grey-headed, O God, forsake me not . . ." Isaiah 46:4 provides a divine reply to this prayer: "Even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you . . .". No, God has not forsaken His servant, and He never will forsake those whose souls He has redeemed (v. 23; Psalms 37:25), for the very reason that He forsook His own Son on the cross to accomplish this redemption. If He is the God of our youth, and we desire that He should be that for you, dear young reader, He will be the God of the whole of our life.
Notice how many times the author of the psalm recalls and praises the righteousness of God (vv. 2, 15, 16, 19, 24). Living as he does in a world where unrighteousness prevails (and the world has not changed since), he sets out by contrast the value of this divine righteousness. It will triumph over the whole earth when the earth is given to the glorious King of whom Psalms 72:1 speaks.
