Psalm 71:15-24 NKJV
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 psalmist’s mouth is full of God’s praises. His mouth will tell of God’s righteous and salvation all the day (15). He will make mention of the Lord’s righteousness” (16) and declare His wondrous works” (17). Even though he is gray headed, he wants to declare the Lord’s strength to this generation and His power to everyone who is to come (18). With his lips he will greatly rejoice with song (23) and his tongue shall talk of God’s righteousness all the day. The psalmist cannot help but speak of God’s righteousness and salvation, which have accompanied him from his youth.
This does not mean the psalmist has not been sorely tempted, tried, and afflicted throughout his life. God has shown him “great and severe troubles” (20). God has allowed enemies to rise up against him who plotted against his life, as the first part of the psalm shows. God has shown him troubles to exercise his faith and make him consider that his righteousness and salvation in every trouble come, not from himself, but from the Lord. He knows that as death approaches, the Lord will revive him again, bring him up again from the depths of the earth, increase his greatness, and comfort him on every side (20-21). Just as God brought him through all his trials and temptations, so God will bring him through death by raising him from the dead and giving him everlasting comfort and blessedness.
When we consider how the Lord teaches us faith by His word of Holy Scripture and exercises our faith in temptations and trials, we see how constant His righteousness and salvation have been for us. He has delivered us from innumerable calamities, the chief of which is the eternal punishment we deserve because of our sins. He delivers us from evil each day, as well. When we consider all this, our mouths cannot help but be full of God’s praise and our lips with rejoicing. We know that though God show us “great and severe troubles” in our days, He will raise us up and comfort us, either now in this life, or at the resurrection when He increase our greatness and comfort us on every side.
Let us pray: Fill our hearts with the knowledge of Your righteousness and salvation, O Lord, so that our mouths may be full of Your praise all the day. Amen.