Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 71:5
For thou [art] my hope, O Lord GOD: [thou art] my trust from my youth.
5, 6. A free imitation of Psa 22:9-10.
my hope my trust ] Cp. Jer 14:8; Jer 17:7; Jer 17:13; and “Christ Jesus our hope” (1Ti 1:1).
By thee &c.] Better (cp. Isa 48:2), On thee have I stayed myself from (my) birth. The same word is used in Psa 3:5; Psa 51:12.
thou art he that took me ] A different word from that similarly translated in Psa 22:9, and of doubtful meaning. The rendering, Thou hast been my benefactor from my mother’s womb (cp. R.V. marg.), suits the parallelism well. But cp. Jer 1:5.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For thou art my hope, O Lord God – The ground of my hope and my expectation is in thee.
(1) I have no other help; no other defense; but
(2) I have confidence; on thee I do rely.
Thou art my trust from my youth – From my earliest years. The meaning is, that he had always trusted in God, and had always found him a helper. All that he was, and all that he possessed, he owed to God; and he felt now that God had been his protector from his earliest years. Perhaps it could not be shown certainly from this expression that he meant to say he had actually trusted in God from his youth, for the language means no more than that God had actually protected him, and holden him up, and had continually interposed to save and keep him. As God had always been his Protector, so he felt that he might come to Him now, and put his trust in Him.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 71:5
Thou art my hope, O Lord God: Thou art my trust from my youth.
God our hope in youth
It was a man well advanced in life who uttered these words. Aye, the snows of age are falling on his head; his back bends under the weight of years; but,–is the frail old man dejected and forlorn? No, nothing of the kind: the faith of his youth proves the comfort of his age; and, as he leans his hand upon his staff, he lifts up his eyes to, heaven, and says, Thou art my hope, etc. What I wish to bring out and illustrate is this, that a pious trust in God at the outset of life guarantees a blessed hope in God at the end of it. Archbishop Leighton beautifully observes: The world dare say no more for its device, than Dum spire, spore, While I breathe, I hope; but the children of God can go further and say, Dum exspiro, spero, Even when I die, I hope; for that very event which drowns all the worldlings prospects throws open to the Christian the gates of a glorious eternity!
I. It is well for you in your youth to contemplate and prepare for age. As I was wandering one day through the old cathedral at Elgin, my eye lighted upon a quaint epitaph, carved on a slab in the wall:–
This world is a city full of streets;
And death is the market that all men meets;
If life were a thing that money could buy,
The poor could not live and the rich would not die.
The grammar may be at fault, but the sentiment is true. Oh, how many squander in early life those energies they would afterwards give a fortune to recall! How many are practically saying, Let youth have its carnival of pleasure, and let ago look out for itself! It is your duty to contemplate living long and growing old. But will you? Where do you spend your evenings? Answer me that, and I shall have some notion where you will spend eternity. Are you in the habit of taking stimulants? If you are, that lessens your chance of seeing old age by some fifty per cent. Oh, do not tamper with the drink-fiend that every year digs a grave for hundreds of the flower of London. If some of you will act upon the advice I am now to give you, you will thank me for it some day. It is meanly selfish for a man, dying in the prime of life and professing a Christian hope, to be perfectly happy whilst he knows that as he steps into heaven his wife and children will step into the workhouse. I say it is abominable! If you have the faintest prospect of having any dependent upon you, you have no business to spend on gratification all your weekly wage or your yearly salary. It is not yours to spend. The first few shillings, or the first few pounds, belong to them, and should go to pay the premium on a policy that at least will keep them from beggary.
II. The only guarantee of a blessed hope in age is a pious trust in youth. I was once summoned to the military barracks, to visit a soldier who was lying in the sick ward. I saw at once the stamp of death upon his countenance. It was evident he had but a few moment to live. I stooped over him, held his hand and softly asked him, Have you a hope in Christ? His answer made me tremble, and though twenty years have gone, it rings in my ear to-day–the last words of a dying unbeliever, I have no hope! Will any of you, dear lads, risk such an exit from the world? Can your life be genuinely happy, with a drawn sword hanging daily over you? Would you not wish, then, to be prepared? Would it not be a glorious thing if everybody could say with Dr. Watts: I lay my head upon my pillow to-night, not caring whether I awake in this world or the next? Oh, wont you all take the decisive step at once, the step that will make your whole life luminous, your death triumphant, and your eternity infinitely happy? (J. Thain Davidson, D.D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 5. My trust from my youth.] When I was born into the world, thou didst receive me, and thou tookest me under thy especial care. “My praise shall be continually of thee.” Rather, I have always made thee my boast.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
5. trustplace of trust.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For thou [art] my hope, O Lord God,…. The object, ground, and foundation of it, even of present deliverance, and of future and eternal salvation;
[thou art] my trust from my youth; in whom he trusted in his youthful days, of which there is an eminent instance in 1Sa 17:33.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
5. For thou art my expectation, O Lord Jehovah! The Psalmist here repeats what he had said a little before concerning his trust or confidence. But some, perhaps, may be inclined to refer this sentence rather to the matter or ground afforded him for hope and confidence than to the emotions of his heart; supposing him to mean, that by the benefits which God had conferred upon him, he was furnished with well-grounded hope. And certainly he does not here simply declare that he hoped in God, but with this he conjoins experience, and acknowledges that even from his youth he had received tokens of the Divine favor, from which he might learn, that confidence is to be reposed in God alone. By adverting to what God had done for him, (106) he expresses the real cause of faith, (if I may so speak;) and from this we may easily perceive the powerful influence which the remembrance of God’s benefits had in nourishing his hope.
(106) In the Latin version it is, “ Ab affectu ipso;” which is probably a mistake for “ Ab effecto ipso.” In the French version it is, “ Par l’effet mesme.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(5) My hope.Comp. Jer. 14:8; Jer. 1:7. Also in New Testament, 1Ti. 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 succour us.2 Henry VI.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5. My trust from my youth Happy the man who can say this! A life-long habit of faith gives strength to character, and support and assurance to prayer.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Of all the subjects to arrest the tenderest affection of the true believer, Jesus’s incarnation, and Jesus’s condescension in the years of childhood, are among them. Here is an identical person spoken of peculiarly and specially to be regarded. See Psa 62:8-10 . Oh! Reader! it is blessed to behold Christ in his word. Every day, and all the day, would I so desire to see him. This, indeed, is the one only sight my faith desires in the present life. For this is giving credit to God’s word. And where the Lord gives grace to a poor sinner to honour his word; the Lord will surely honour and reward that faith.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 71:5 For thou [art] my hope, O Lord GOD: [thou art] my trust from my youth.
Ver. 5. For thou art my hope ] Helpless I may seem, but hopeless I am not.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
hope. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Adjunct), for the object of hope.
Lord GOD. Hebrew Adonai Jehovah. App-4.
trust = confidence. Hebrew. batah. App-69.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 71:5-8
Psa 71:5-8
GOD HAS HELPED HIM ALL OF HIS LIFE
It is true of every person who reaches an advanced age that God has been the constant helper all the way, even from the very beginning of life.
“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.
I am a wonder unto many:
But thou art my strong refuge.
My mouth shall be filled with thy praise,
And with thy honor all the day.”
“Thou art my hope” (Psa 71:5). This is from Psa 29:7 and Psa 40:4.
“By thee have I been holden up from the womb” (Psa 71:6). The same thought exactly is expressed in Psa 22:9-10.
“I am as a wonder unto many” (Psa 71:7). The word here rendered “wonder” is also translated “portent.” “The general significance of `portent’ is `something that clearly shows that God is at work.’
Certainly, there were many things in the life of David that indicated the special blessing and providence of God. How remarkable is it that a shepherd boy should have become the mighty King of Israel?
Besides that, he killed a lion and a bear under circumstances that strongly suggest the miraculous. Then there was that encounter with the Giant Goliath of Gath.
In one of the most astounding actions of human history, that unarmed shepherd boy slew the mighty champion of the Philistines in full armor! Yes indeed, God was at work in the life of David.
Of course, it is possible that God also did such wonders in the life of some other aged psalmist; but the Scriptures tell us of these wonders.
Some have understood this Psa 71:7 to speak of remarkable punishments heaped upon the psalmist; and Rawlinson even referred to this interpretation as “Preferable. However, we prefer the other interpretation. This is not to deny that there were also some very remarkable punishments in David’s life. Among such was the death of the first child of Bathsheba and the rebellion of David’s own son Absalom.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 71:5. There is very little difference between hope and trust. The first refers specifically to a strong cord to which a man might cling; the second means a place of refuge; both denote a condition of assurance. David had enjoyed this support from his youth. That is, from the time he was old enough to think and be responsible. He did not believe the doctrine of inherited sin.
Psa 71:6. This verse does not contradict the preceding one. An infant is in no danger on account of sin, but he could be liable to physical harm. God had cared for him and also his mother before she had given birth to the son.
Psa 71:7. It is hard for the world to understand the courage that is manifested by a true servant of God. David’s explanation of it was the fact that he relied upon God for strength. A similar circumstance arose with the apostles. (Act 4:13.)
Psa 71:8. Praise and honor go hand in hand. The greatest honor any man can have is to be an admirer of God. David, therefore, would praise him all the day long.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
trust
(See Scofield “Psa 2:12”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
For thou: Psa 13:5, Psa 39:7, Psa 42:11, Psa 119:81, Psa 119:166, Jer 17:7, Jer 17:13, Jer 17:17, Rom 15:13
my trust: Psa 71:17, Psa 22:9, Psa 22:10, 1Sa 16:13, 1Sa 17:33-37, 1Sa 17:45-47, Ecc 12:1, Luk 2:40, 2Ti 3:15
Reciprocal: Psa 27:9 – thou Psa 62:5 – my Psa 130:7 – Let Israel Psa 146:5 – whose Isa 49:1 – The Lord Jer 1:5 – Before I Jer 3:4 – the guide
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
71:5 For thou [art] my hope, O Lord GOD: [thou art] my {e} trust from my youth.
(e) He strengthens his faith by the experience of God’s benefits, who not only preserved him in his mother’s womb, but took him from there, and ever since has preserved him.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
2. A review of the psalmist’s faith 71:5-13
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The writer had trusted in the Lord from his youth, since God had sustained him from the day of his birth. He had praised Him all his life.