Prepare
Opening Prayer
Father, thank you for this day and for the rich blessing of following you. Thank you for being our rock and for loving and caring for us. Incline our hearts to you this morning. In Jesus' name, amen.
Read
Scripture Passage
Psalm 71
God the Rock of Salvation
1 In You, O Lord, I put my trust; Let me never be put to shame.
2 Deliver me in Your righteousness, and cause me to escape;
Incline Your ear to me, and save me.
3 Be my strong refuge,
To which I may resort continually;
You have given the commandment to save me,
For You are my rock and my fortress.
4 Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked,
Out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.
5 For You are my hope, O Lord God;
You are my trust from my youth.
6 By You I have been upheld from birth;
You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb.
My praise shall be continually of You.
7 I have become as a wonder to many,
But You are my strong refuge.
8 Let my mouth be filled with Your praise
And with Your glory all the day.
9 Do not cast me off in the time of old age;
Do not forsake me when my strength fails.
10 For my enemies speak against me;
And those who lie in wait for my life take counsel together,
11 Saying, “God has forsaken him;
Pursue and take him, for there is none to deliver him.”
12 O God, do not be far from me;
O my God, make haste to help me!
13 Let them be confounded and consumed
Who are adversaries of my life;
Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor
Who seek my hurt.
14 But I will hope continually,
And will praise You yet more and more.
15 My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness
And Your salvation all the day,
For I do not know their limits.
16 I will go in the strength of the Lord God;
I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only.
17 O God, You have taught me from my youth;
And to this day I declare Your wondrous works.
18 Now also when I am old and grayheaded,
O God, do not forsake me,
Until I declare Your strength to this generation,
Your power to everyone who is to come.
19 Also Your righteousness, O God, is very high,
You who have done great things;
O God, who is like You?
20 You, who have shown me great and severe troubles,
Shall revive me again,
And bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
21 You shall increase my greatness,
And comfort me on every side.
22 Also with the lute I will praise You—
And Your faithfulness, O my God!
To You I will sing with the harp,
O Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing to You,
And my soul, which You have redeemed.
24 My tongue also shall talk of Your righteousness all the day long;
For they are confounded,
For they are brought to shame
Who seek my hurt.
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ps 71.
A — About
What Is This Passage About?
From youth to old age, the psalmist trusts the Lord as rock, fortress, hope, and rescuer. Even when God permits severe trouble, he remains confident that the Lord will revive and comfort him, so he resolves to declare God's righteousness, salvation, strength, and wondrous works to the next generation.
B — Best Verse
A Verse That Summarizes the Passage
Psalm 71:15
Distilled from the devotional exposition; the speaker did not explicitly name a best verse.
My mouth shall tell of your righteousness and your salvation all the day. for I do not know their limits.
No explicit Best Verse selection appears in the transcript. Psalm 71:15 distills Bryan's repeated emphasis that believers should speak and sing of the Lord's righteousness and salvation in both good and hard days.
C — Called or Christ
C — Christ Connection
In prosperity and trouble alike, go to the Lord as your rock and rescuer. Sing of his righteousness and salvation, rejoice in his praise, and rest in Jesus Christ through every season of life.
Devotional Study
Transcript of the devotion. Minor transcription errors may remain.
Well, good morning and welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This is where every day we get together, we get into God's Word, and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2021, we'll make it through all of the wisdom literature. And this morning, we are at Psalm 71. I've said it a few times.
Let me know down in the comments, what is your favorite Bible translation? We use the New King James Version at our church, and I'm just interested to hear. So go ahead and let me know down in the comments. Why don't we go ahead and have some coffee.
We'll pray and we'll get into God's Word. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for what a rich blessing it is to follow after you, to have such a rock, such a God who would love us and care for us. Father, we pray that you would incline our hearts to you this morning. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, here we go. Turn over in your Bibles with me to Psalm 71. In you, O Lord, I put my trust.
Let me never be put to shame. Deliver me in your righteousness and cause me to escape. Incline your ear to me and save me. Be my strong refuge to which I may resort continually. You have given the commandment to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress. Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man, for you are my hope, O God.
You are my trust, you are my trust from my youth. By you I have been upheld from birth. You are he who took me out of my mother's womb. My praise shall be continually of you. I have become as a wonder to many, but you are my strong refuge. Let my mouth be filled with your praise and with your glory all the day. Do not cast me off in the time of old age. Do not forsake me when my strength fails.
For my enemies, speak against me. And those who lie and wait for my life take counsel together, saying, God has forsaken him. Pursue him, for there is none to deliver him. O God, God, make haste to help me. Let them be confounded and consumed, who are adversaries of my life. Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor, who seek my hurt.
But I will hope continually, and I will praise you yet more and more. My mouth shall tell of your righteousness and your salvation all the day. for I do not know their limits. I will go in the strength of the Lord God. I will make mention of your righteousness and yours only.
O God, you have taught me from my youth, and to this day I declare your wondrous works. Now also, when I am old and gray-headed, O God, do not forsake me until I declare your strength to this generation your power to everyone who is to come. Also, your righteousness, O God, is very high. You who have done great things, O God, who is like you, you who have shown me great and severe trouble shall revive me again and bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
You shall increase my greatness and comfort me on every side. Also with the lute I will praise you, and your faithfulness, O my God. To you I will sing with the harp, O Holy One of Israel. My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing to you, and my soul which you have redeemed.
My tongue shall also talk of your righteousness all the day long, for they are confounded, for they are brought to shame who seek my hurt. What is this about? This is about the psalmist saying, no matter what, I'm gonna sing of your righteousness. No matter the pit I find myself, I have a rock and a savior, the Lord Almighty himself.
It's interesting that often we'll think of the hard things or bad things that happen in this life as something that is, you know, something else is happening. But here, the psalmist faces it head on. Did you notice that? Did you notice what he said? You who have shown me great and severe trouble shall revive me again and bring me up again from the depths of the earth. Reminds us almost what Job said, isn't it?
Shall we expect prosperity from the Lord and not also trouble? Right, the Lord is the one who cares for us and loves us. The Lord is the one who does bring us low that we might be brought to him. Will we sing his righteousness? That's the calling today.
Will you sing of the Lord's righteousness when it's a great day and when it's a hard day? Will you sing of God's salvation when things are going well and when things are hard? Will you cry out to God the rock of your salvation when the kids are crazy and when there's peace in the home? No matter what you're going through, the Lord is there. He is your rescuer. He is the one who saves you by his righteousness. Will you sing out his praises? Will you rejoice in him?
Go to the rock today. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you that you are a righteous God, perfect and holy and awesome and wonderful, and your deeds, your righteousness is above all. Lord, we could sing of them all of our lives. We thank you that in you we have a rock, a fortress, a strong tower, a mighty defense. where we pray that we might rest in Jesus Christ all the days of our lives. In Jesus's name, amen. Well, may you go with peace today. May your heart rejoice that God is your savior. And I'll see you tomorrow. Bye.