| Psalm 71 | |
| Subtitle: | "In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion" |
| Other Name: |
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| Language: | Hebrew (original) |
Psalm 71 is the 71st psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion". It has no title in the Hebrew version. In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate translations of the Bible, this psalm is Psalm 70. In Latin, it is known as "In te Domine speravi".[1]
The psalm has 24 verses in both English and Hebrew verse numbering.[2] It forms a regular part of Jewish, Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and other Protestant liturgies. It has been paraphrased in hymns and set to music.
The following table shows the Hebrew text[3] [4] of the Psalm with vowels alongside an English translation based upon the JPS 1917 translation (now in the public domain).
| Verse | Hebrew | English translation (JPS 1917) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | In Thee, O LORD, have I taken refuge; Let me never be ashamed. | |
| 2 | Deliver me in Thy righteousness, and rescue me; Incline Thine ear unto me, and save me. | |
| 3 | Be Thou to me a sheltering rock, whereunto I may continually resort, Which Thou hast appointed to save me; For Thou art my rock and my fortress. | |
| 4 | O my God, rescue me out of the hand of the wicked, Out of the grasp of the unrighteous and ruthless man. | |
| 5 | For Thou art my hope; O Lord GOD, my trust from my youth. | |
| 6 | Upon Thee have I stayed myself from birth; Thou art he that took me out of my mother's womb; My praise is continually of Thee. | |
| 7 | I am as a wonder unto many; But Thou art my strong refuge. | |
| 8 | My mouth shall be filled with Thy praise, And with Thy glory all the day. . | |
| 9 | Cast me not off in the time of old age; When my strength faileth, forsake me not. | |
| 10 | For mine enemies speak concerning me, And they that watch for my soul take counsel together, | |
| 11 | Saying: 'God hath forsaken him; Pursue and take him; for there is none to deliver.' | |
| 12 | O God, be not far from me; O my God, make haste to help me. | |
| 13 | Let them be ashamed and consumed that are adversaries to my soul; Let them be covered with reproach and confusion that seek my hurt. | |
| 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 the day; For I know not the numbers thereof. | |
| 16 | I will come with Thy mighty acts, O Lord GOD; I will make mention of Thy righteousness, even of Thine only. | |
| 17 | O God, Thou hast taught me from my youth; And until now do I declare Thy wondrous works. | |
| 18 | And even unto old age and hoary hairs, O God, forsake me not; Until I have declared Thy strength unto the next generation, Thy might to every one that is to come. | |
| 19 | Thy righteousness also, O God, which reacheth unto high heaven; Thou who hast done great things, O God, who is like unto Thee? | |
| 20 | Thou, who hast made me to see many and sore troubles, Wilt quicken me again, and bring me up again from the depths of the earth. | |
| 21 | Thou wilt increase my greatness, And turn and comfort me. | |
| 22 | I also will give thanks unto Thee with the psaltery, Even unto Thy truth, O my God; I will sing praises unto Thee with the harp, O Thou Holy One of Israel. | |
| 23 | My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing praises unto Thee; And my soul, which Thou hast redeemed. | |
| 24 | My tongue also shall tell of Thy righteousness all the day; For they are ashamed, for they are abashed, that seek my hurt. | |
The following is the full English text of the Psalm from the King James Bible.
Psalm 71 in the Hebrew text does not have a title, one of four such psalms in the first two books of the Psalter. However, the Greek Septuagint text bears the title: "By David, of the sons of Jonadab and the first ones taken captive".
Theologian Albert Barnes suggests that it "belongs to the "class" of psalms which refer to the trials of the righteous".[5]
Verses 9, 17 and 18 suggest that the psalmist is an old man, perhaps a king towards the end of his reign, seeking relief from distress in form of severe illness or the approach of death (verse 20), as well as the taunts of his "enemies" asserting that God has abandoned him (verse 11). The writer affirms his close relationship with God as he speaks of the faith in God which has sustained him all his life (verses 5–6, cf. 17), praying that God will not reject him (verse 9), declaring his witness to God's salvation (verses 15, 18), while asking for renewed health (verses 20–21) and the discrediting of hisenemies (verse 13, cf. verse 4), then he will renew his praises (verses 14–16, 22–24).
Ignatius M.C. Obinwa wrote a book on this psalm, based on his doctoral thesis.[6] Obinwa uses a quantitative lexical analysis to argue that the theme of the psalm is not old age, but refuge and YHWH's righteousness.
One unique feature of this psalm is the frequent allusion to other psalms (even almost direct quotation) such as:
In the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer, this psalm is appointed to be read on the morning of the 14th day of the month.[8]
Heinrich Schütz set Psalm 71 in a metred version in German, "Auf dich, Herr, trau ich alle Zeit", SWV 168, as part of the Becker Psalter, first published in 1628.
Marc-Antoine Charpentier, "In te Domine speravi" H.228, for soloists, chorus, strings and continuo (1699)
A Hebrew-English Bible according to the Masoretic Text and the JPS 1917 Ed.