This summer, I had the opportunity to study the Psalms in my church with other women, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. As we learned about the Psalms of Lament, I had to stop and think about the psalmist’s unique and out-of-the-norm way of dealing with the ‘voices in his head.’
The setting of Psalm 71
The psalmist is in midlife. He seems to be in some distress. He seems to be in want of refuge. The wicked are against him, and the enemies want to pursue and seize him. At this juncture, the Psalmist looks to the Lord for refuge and preaches to himself the truth that he has learned from a young age about his Lord God.
Rinse; Lather; Repeat
Throughout this Psalm, the psalmist follows the pattern of repeatedly going back to the Lord with his concerns and preaching the truth about God and his situation to himself. He has an outstanding knowledge about God’s immovable, unchanging, steadfast character, and he chooses to rely on those unchanging truths throughout this Psalm.
He uses a ‘Rinse; Lather; Repeat’ process with his situation and prayer.
As I kept reading and studying this Psalm, I saw the following pattern emerge:
- The psalmist repeatedly goes back to God in prayer, being open, honest, and raw about his situation.
- The psalmist preaches to himself the truths about God.
- The psalmist willfully chooses to proclaim the Lord’s doing in an increasing measure continually
In my fear, I come to you
As I was reading vv. 9, I realized that the psalmist had a fear—he did not want God to cast him off in his old age or forsake him. The reason for that fear, as per vv. 10–11, was that his enemies were scheming to attack and seize him, for they thought that God had forsaken him.
The voices in his head at that given moment were probably the voices of his enemies who were plotting against him. However, the psalmist does not allow those voices to torment him. On the contrary, he takes those ‘voices in his head’ (those negative voices that were causing fear) and converts them into a conversation with God. In this manner, he converts his fear into a plea. In addition, he does not hide from God, but he is open and honest with God. Knowing that it is the Lord who can save him from this situation, he pleads with God, asking the Lord not to forsake him in his old age.
The section from vv. 7–11 seems to be one chunk. Here, we observe five parts: two real situations, one sermon to self, one practical solution, and one plea.
Real situations:
- The psalmist has become a portent to many.
- The wicked are plotting against the psalmist.
Preaching to self:
“I have become a portent to many, but God is my strong refuge.” (vv.7)
Amidst the difficulties, the psalmist chooses to preach the truth about God to himself.
Practical solution:
“My mouth is filled with your praise,
And with your glory all day long.” (vv. 8)
The psalmist, even amidst his difficult situation, chooses to fill his mouth with God’s praise. Not once, not twice, but all day long!
Although it takes great courage and strength to be able to look away from one’s troubles and look to God and sing his praise all day long, the psalmist chooses to do so and does so well until he cannot but sing, shout, and declare the Lord’s justice.
In his fear, the psalmist chooses to come to the Lord.
The Palmist’s Way: Painful Petition to Prolific Praise
The life-altering point about the psalmist is that he continues this cycle of painful petition to willful praise until it becomes overflowing praise. The psalmist has a way of life; he has trained himself to preach to himself and come to God continually. He shapes his thoughts with Scripture, laments freely, and praises willfully, even when he does not see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Turning our painful petition to prolific praise
What makes the psalmist able to do this?
- He has a personal relationship with God. He can call on Yahweh and say that Yahweh is his refuge.
- He knows his God. He knows the unchangeable, immovable character of God. This surely did not come to him in an instant during his struggle. He was well acquainted with his God. His past knowledge of God helped him.
- He does not go by what he is feeling and what the situation is telling him. He informs his thoughts with scripture. He takes his feelings to God and preaches the truth to himself.
- He chooses to praise even when his situation has not changed.
How do we do this?
- Develop and maintain a personal relationship with God.
- Read and study the Bible in passive wartime (for we are always at war) so that when trials and temptations arise, the Lord will cause us to recall what we have learned, and we can use that to preach to ourselves.
- Learn to be raw and open with God during a passive wartime situation.
- Learn to praise God for who he is and what he has done in passive wartime situations.
- Learn to think the Philippians 4:8 way—think about whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise.
- Learn to ‘direct your heart’ in the right way (Proverbs 23:19, ESV), and do not let your heart direct you.
Conclusion
Our feelings may be slow to follow, but they are sure to follow.
Therefore, when we are faced with fear, anxiety, loneliness, helplessness, and more, let us bring it to God and follow the Psalmist’s way—for in it we find a pathway to move from our painful petitions to prolific praise.
