“Be my strong refuge, to which I may resort continually.” (Psalm 71:3)
If you’ve wearied a friend with your tears or known the shame of crying hopelessly about that thing for the thousandth time, you begin to understand the power of the psalmist’s declaration and request in Psalm 71:3. In this prayer he utters three petitions for deliverance, recounting the rich history of his relationship with the Lord in the process.
With each of these petitions, the psalmist declares that he depends “continually” on God (vv.3, 6, 14). The psalmist puts the faithfulness of God on display. We see God actively involved in everything that touches the psalmist’s life—protecting, defending, strengthening, saving, and teaching him. And we get a bird’s-eye view of God at work over the course of a life—from birth to old age.
Though we may be less aware of it than the psalmist, our prayers are also uttered within the framework of a proven relationship. God has proven his faithfulness in our lives no less than in the life of the psalmist.
God is not like us; he is unswervingly true to his promise. That’s why we return to Psalm 71 and lean on (and learn from) the prayer of one who is actively rehearsing God’s faithfulness.
Through the psalmist’s words of faith, we taste God’s past faithfulness so palpably that present and future faithfulness seem equally sure. As the psalmist remembers and anticipates, we too are swept up in the expectation that such a righteous God will come through in the end.
Let your heart be swept up. Dare to hope. Dare to trust. Dare to believe. And run to God continually.
— Michele Bennett Walton (adapted)