Charles Ellicott Commentary Psalms 71
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Psalms 71
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Psalms 71
"In thee, O Jehovah, do I take refuge: Let me never be put to shame. Deliver me in thy righteousness, and rescue me: Bow down thine ear unto me, and save me. Be thou to me a rock of habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: Thou hast given commandment to save me; For thou art my rock and my fortress." — Psalms 71:1-3 (ASV)
These verses are borrowed, with some verbal alterations, from Psalms 31:1-3, where the Note on that passage can be consulted.
"Be thou to me a rock of habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: Thou hast given commandment to save me; For thou art my rock and my fortress." — Psalms 71:3 (ASV)
Rock. —Better, cliff (Hebrew selah), to distinguish it from tsûr, above.
"Rescue me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, Out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. For thou art my hope, O Lord Jehovah: [Thou art] my trust from my youth. By thee have I been holden up from the womb; Thou art he that took me out of my mother`s bowels: My praise shall be continually of thee." — Psalms 71:4-6 (ASV)
These verses are manifestly founded on Psalms 31:8-10; but the variations are more marked than usual, and indicate a definite purpose of adaptation rather than copying.
"For thou art my hope, O Lord Jehovah: [Thou art] my trust from my youth." — Psalms 71:5 (ASV)
My hope. —Compare Jeremiah 14:8; Jeremiah 1:7. Also in New Testament, 1 Timothy 1:1, The Lord Jesus Christ our hope. Shakespeare, with his fine ear for scriptural expressions, caught this.
“And God shall be my hope, my stay.”
“God, our hope, shall help us.”—2 Henry VI.
"By thee have I been holden up from the womb; Thou art he that took me out of my mother`s bowels: My praise shall be continually of thee." — Psalms 71:6 (ASV)
Took me out. —Compare Psalm 22:10. The Hebrew is not the same, but the Authorized Version renders it with the same word, treating it as a transitive participle of a word that elsewhere only means to go through, a doubtful expedient. The Septuagint (and Vulgate) have “protector,” σκεπαστἠς, which is probably an error for ἐκσπαστἠς (following Psalm 22:10, ἐκσπάσας), which would support the rendering, “he that severed me,” a rendering for other reasons probable.
This allusion to birth and retrospect of life from the earliest infancy, is not unsuitable to Israel personified as an individual, or rather it suits both the individual and the community of which he is the mouthpiece. So it has often been in application treated as an epitome of the history of the Christian Church.
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