God, you have taught me from my youth. Until now, I have declared your wondrous works.
Parallel Translations
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God, you have taught me from my youth. Until now, I have declared your wondrous works.
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O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.
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O God, Thou hast taught me from my youth; and until now do I declare Thy wondrous works.
Cross-references (10)
Passages linked to Psalms 71:17 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 119:9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.
- Psalms 71:5 For you are my hope, Lord Yahweh, my confidence from my youth.
- Psalms 119:102 I have not turned away from your ordinances, for you have taught me.
- Deuteronomy 4:5 Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, even as Yahweh my God commanded me, that you should do so in the middle of the land where you go in to possess it.
- 1 Samuel 17:36-37 Your servant struck both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.” David said, “Yahweh who delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go! Yahweh will be with you.”
- 2 Samuel 4:9 David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, “As Yahweh lives, who has redeemed my soul out of all adversity,
- Psalms 26:7 that I may make the voice of thanksgiving to be heard and tell of all your wondrous deeds.
- Psalms 66:16 Come and hear, all you who fear God. I will declare what he has done for my soul.
- 2 Samuel 22:1-51 David spoke to Yahweh the words of this song in the day that Yahweh delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul, and he said: “Yahweh is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, even mine; God is my rock in whom I take refuge; my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge. My savior, you save me from violence. I call on Yahweh, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies. For the waves of death surrounded me. The floods of ungodliness made me afraid. The cords of Sheol were around me. The snares of death caught me. In my distress, I called on Yahweh. Yes, I called to my God. He heard my voice out of his temple. My cry came into his ears. Then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations of heaven quaked and were shaken, because he was angry. Smoke went up out of his nostrils. Consuming fire came out of his mouth. Coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down. Thick darkness was under his feet. He rode on a cherub, and flew. Yes, he was seen on the wings of the wind. He made darkness a shelter around himself: gathering of waters, and thick clouds of the skies. At the brightness before him, coals of fire were kindled. Yahweh thundered from heaven. The Most High uttered his voice. He sent out arrows, and scattered them; lightning, and confused them. Then the channels of the sea appeared. The foundations of the world were laid bare by Yahweh’s rebuke, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils. He sent from on high and he took me. He drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. They came on me in the day of my calamity, but Yahweh was my support. He also brought me out into a large place. He delivered me, because he delighted in me. Yahweh rewarded me according to my righteousness. He rewarded me according to the cleanness of my hands. For I have kept Yahweh’s ways, and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all his ordinances were before me. As for his statutes, I didn’t depart from them. I was also perfect toward him. I kept myself from my iniquity. Therefore Yahweh has rewarded me according to my righteousness, According to my cleanness in his eyesight. With the merciful you will show yourself merciful. With the perfect man you will show yourself perfect. With the pure you will show yourself pure. With the crooked you will show yourself shrewd. You will save the afflicted people, But your eyes are on the arrogant, that you may bring them down. For you are my lamp, Yahweh. Yahweh will light up my darkness. For by you, I run against a troop. By my God, I leap over a wall. As for God, his way is perfect. Yahweh’s word is tested. He is a shield to all those who take refuge in him. For who is God, besides Yahweh? Who is a rock, besides our God? God is my strong fortress. He makes my way perfect. He makes his feet like hinds’ feet, and sets me on my high places. He teaches my hands to war, so that my arms bend a bow of bronze. You have also given me the shield of your salvation. Your gentleness has made me great. You have enlarged my steps under me. My feet have not slipped. I have pursued my enemies and destroyed them. I didn’t turn again until they were consumed. I have consumed them, and struck them through, so that they can’t arise. Yes, they have fallen under my feet. For you have armed me with strength for the battle. You have subdued under me those who rose up against me. You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me, that I might cut off those who hate me. They looked, but there was no one to save; even to Yahweh, but he didn’t answer them. Then I beat them as small as the dust of the earth. I crushed them as the mire of the streets, and spread them abroad. You also have delivered me from the strivings of my people. You have kept me to be the head of the nations. A people whom I have not known will serve me. The foreigners will submit themselves to me. As soon as they hear of me, they will obey me. The foreigners will fade away, and will come trembling out of their close places. Yahweh lives! Blessed be my rock! Exalted be God, the rock of my salvation, even the God who executes vengeance for me, who brings down peoples under me, who brings me away from my enemies. Yes, you lift me up above those who rise up against me. You deliver me from the violent man. Therefore I will give thanks to you, Yahweh, among the nations, and will sing praises to your name. He gives great deliverance to his king, and shows loving kindness to his anointed, to David and to his offspring, forever more.”
- 1 Chronicles 16:4-36 He appointed some of the Levites to minister before Yahweh’s ark, and to commemorate, to thank, and to praise Yahweh, the God of Israel: Asaph the chief, and second to him Zechariah, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, with stringed instruments and with harps; and Asaph with cymbals, sounding aloud; with Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests with trumpets continually, before the ark of the covenant of God. Then on that day David first ordained to give thanks to Yahweh, by the hand of Asaph and his brothers. Oh give thanks to Yahweh. Call on his name. Make what he has done known among the peoples. Sing to him. Sing praises to him. Tell of all his marvelous works. Glory in his holy name. Let the heart of those who seek Yahweh rejoice. Seek Yahweh and his strength. Seek his face forever more. Remember his marvelous works that he has done, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth, you offspring of Israel his servant, you children of Jacob, his chosen ones. He is Yahweh our God. His judgments are in all the earth. Remember his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations, the covenant which he made with Abraham, his oath to Isaac. He confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant, saying, “I will give you the land of Canaan, The lot of your inheritance,” when you were but a few men in number, yes, very few, and foreigners were in it. They went about from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people. He allowed no man to do them wrong. Yes, he reproved kings for their sakes, “Don’t touch my anointed ones! Do my prophets no harm!” Sing to Yahweh, all the earth! Display his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, and his marvelous works among all the peoples. For great is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised. He also is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but Yahweh made the heavens. Honor and majesty are before him. Strength and gladness are in his place. Ascribe to Yahweh, you relatives of the peoples, ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength! Ascribe to Yahweh the glory due to his name. Bring an offering, and come before him. Worship Yahweh in holy array. Tremble before him, all the earth. The world also is established that it can’t be moved. Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice! Let them say among the nations, “Yahweh reigns!” Let the sea roar, and its fullness! Let the field exult, and all that is in it! Then the trees of the forest will sing for joy before Yahweh, for he comes to judge the earth. Oh give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever. Say, “Save us, God of our salvation! Gather us together and deliver us from the nations, to give thanks to your holy name, to triumph in your praise.” Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, from everlasting even to everlasting. All the people said, “Amen,” and praised Yahweh.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 17. O God! thou hast taught me from my…
17. O God! thou hast taught me from my youth. The Psalmist again declares the great obligations under which he lay to God for his goodness, not only with the view of encouraging himself to gratitude, but also of exciting himself to continue cherishing hope for the time to come: which will appear from the following verse. Besides, since God teaches us both by words and deeds, it is certain that the second species of teaching is here referred to, the idea conveyed being, that David had learned by continual experience, even from his infancy, that nothing is better than to lean exclusively upon the true God. That he may never be deprived of this practical truth, he testifies that he had made great proficiency in it. When he promises to become a publisher of God’s wondrous works, his object in coming under this engagement is, that by his ingratitude he may not interrupt the course of the Divine beneficence.
Upon the truth here stated, he rests the prayer which he presents in the 18th verse, that he may not be forgotten in his old age. His reasoning is this: Since thou, O God! hast from the commencement of my existence given me such abundant proofs of thy goodness, wilt thou not stretch forth thy hand to succor me, when now thou seest me decaying through the influence of old age? And, indeed, the conclusion is altogether inevitable, that as God vouchsafed to love us when we were infants, and embraced us with his favor when we were children, and has continued without intermission to do us good during the whole course of our life, he cannot but persevere in acting toward us in the same way even to the end. Accordingly, the particle גם, gam, which we have translated still, here signifies therefore; it being David’s design, from the consideration that the goodness of God can never be exhausted, and that he is not mutable like men, to draw the inference that he will be the same towards his people in their old age, that he was towards them in their childhood. He next supports his prayer by another argument, which is, that if he should fail or faint in his old age, the grace of God, by which he had been hitherto sustained, would at the same time soon be lost sight of. If God were immediately to withdraw his grace from us after we have but just tasted it slightly, it would speedily vanish from our memory. In like manner, were he to forsake us at the close of our life, after having conferred upon us many benefits during the previous part of it, his liberality by this means would be divested of much of its interest and attraction. David therefore beseeches God to assist him even to the end, that he may be able to commend to posterity the unintermitted course of the Divine goodness, and to bear testimony, even at his very death, that God never disappoints the faithful who betake themselves to him. By the generation and those who are to come, he means the children and the children’s children to whom the memorial of the loving-kindness of God cannot be transmitted unless it be perfect in all respects, and has completed its course. He mentions strength and power as the effects of God’s righteousness. He is, however, to be understood by the way as eulogising by these titles the manner of his deliverance, in which he congratulates himself; as if he had said, that God, in the way in which it was accomplished, afforded a manifestation of matchless and all-sufficient power.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 71:17 O God, thou hast taught me from…
Psa 71:17 O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.
Ver. 17. O God, thou hast taught me] Happy David in such a school master. All the faithful are taught of God; outwardly by his word and works, inwardly by his Spirit: Et quando Christus magister quam cito discitur quod docetur? Nescit tarda molimina Spiritus Sancti gratia (Aug. Ambrose).
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Taught me; partly by thy word and Spirit, convincing…
Taught me; partly by thy word and Spirit, convincing and assuring me; and partly by my own experience of thy righteousness last mentioned, the wondrous effects whereof I have received and declared from time to time, as it here follows.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain O God, thou hast taught me from my youth,....…
O God, thou hast taught me from my youth,.... The corruption of human nature; the weakness and impotence of it, to everything that is spiritually good; and the need of continual strength and grace from Christ, to go to him for righteousness and strength, life and salvation, and to walk by faith on him; the doctrine of justification by the righteousness of Christ, and the insufficiency of his own; the will, ways, and worship of God; and all the duties of religion, prayer, praise, &c. and whoever were the instruments, or whatever were the means, of teaching David these things, he ascribes it to God. Whether his parents, or the priests and Levites, taught him the sacrifices and ordinances of the law, it was the Lord that blessed instructions to him; and that taught him by providences and precepts, and by his Holy Spirit. And a wonderful blessing it is to be taught of God, and not of men, things relating both to doctrine and practice; and it is an addition to it to be taught these things early, as David was from his youth; and therefore the Lord was so soon the object of his faith and trust, Psa 71:5; and, as Timothy, from a child, was acquainted with the holy Scriptures, and the things contained in them, which are able to make wise unto salvation, Isa 29:13;
and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works: not only of nature and providence, but of grace; the treasuring up of all grace, and the blessings of it in Christ; the work of redemption by him; the work of regeneration and conversion by his Spirit; and the perseverance of the saints by his grace and strength; which are all wonderful and amazing. And as the psalmist saw his interest in these things, and had an experience of them, he declared them to others for their encouragement, and to the glory of all the three Persons; see Psa 66:16.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 17. Thou hast taught me from my youth]…
Verse 17. Thou hast taught me from my youth] I have had thee for my continual instructor: and thou didst begin to teach me thy fear and love from my tenderest infancy. Those are well taught whom God instructs; and when he teaches, there is no delay in learning.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Psa 71:17. O God, thou hast taught me from…
Psa 71:17. O God, thou hast taught me from my youth — By the instruction of my parents, by thy word and Spirit enlightening and convincing me, and also by my own experience, namely, concerning thy righteousness last mentioned, the wondrous effects whereof I have received and declared from time to time. Observe here, reader, as it is a great blessing to be taught of God from our youth, from our childhood to know the Holy Scriptures, and the important truths revealed, the privileges exhibited, and the duties inculcated therein; so those that have been favoured and received good in this way, when they were young, must be doing good when they are grown up, and must continue to communicate what they have received.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain O God, thou hast taught me from my youth…
O God, thou hast taught me from my youth - See Psa 71:5-6. That is, God had guided and instructed him from his earliest years. He had made known to him his own being and perfections; he had made his duty plain; he had led him along the dangerous path of life.
And hitherto have I declared - I have made known. That is, he had done this by public praise; he had done it by his writings; he had done it by maintaining and defending the truth. In all situations of life, up to that time, he had been willing to stand up for God and his cause.
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Thy wondrous works - See Psa 9:1, note; Psa 26:7, note. Doings or acts which were suited to attract attention; to awe the mind by their greatness; to inspire confidence by their wisdom.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 17. From my youth—Again the psalmist reviews the divine…
17. From my youth—Again the psalmist reviews the divine care, as in vers. 5, 6.
Hitherto… I declared—His faithfulness in making known the goodness of God had been co-extensive with that goodness. But the Hebrew punctuation gives the sense,—
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“O God, thou hast taught me from my youth, and until this time;
I will show forth thy wondrous works.”
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 17. thou hast taught me &c.] He has been…
17. thou hast taught me &c.] He has been a life-long disciple in the school of God. Cp. Isa_8:16; Isa_50:4; Isa_54:13.
have I declared] Have I been declaring, habitually and constantly.
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thy wondrous works] A special term for the singular and conspicuous works of God, both in nature (Job_5:9), and in His dealings with His people (Exo_3:20), particularly in the great crises of their history (Psa_78:4; Psa_78:11; Psa_78:32), which declare His power and love, and arouse the admiration of all who behold them. The word includes ‘miracles’ commonly so called, as one limited class of ‘the wonderful works of God,’ but is of much wider application. To recount and celebrate His marvellous works is the duty and delight of God’s saints. Cp. Psa_9:1; Psa_26:7; Psa_40:5.
17–20. Past mercies are the ground of hope alike for the Psalmist and for the nation.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain O God, thou hast taught me from my youth:…
O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works. Hitherto, i.e., have I always had thy guidance and instruction, and hitherto have I always had occasion to praise thy Name. Hence I am confident with respect to the future.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 17. O God, thou hast taught me from…
Ver. 17. O God, thou hast taught me from my youth. It was comfortable to the psalmist to remember that from his earliest days he had been the Lord's disciple. None are too young to be taught of God, and they make the most proficient scholars who begin betimes.
And hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works. He had learned to tell what he knew, he was a pupil teacher; he continued still learning and declaring, and did not renounce his first master; this, also, was his comfort, but it is one which those who have been seduced from the school of the gospel, into the various colleges of philosophy and scepticism, will not be able to enjoy. A sacred conservatism is much needed in these days, when men are giving up old lights for new. We mean both to learn and to teach the wonders of redeeming love, till we can discover something nobler or more soul satisfying; for this reason we hope that our gray heads will be found in the same road as we have trodden, even from our beardless youth.
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Ver. 17. O God, thou hast taught me from my youth. Whence was it that David understood "more than the ancients"? (Ps 119:100.) He had a Father to teach him; God was his instructor. Many a child of God complains of ignorance and dulness; remember this, thy Father will be thy tutor; he hath promised to give "his Spirit to lead thee into all truth" (Joh 6:13); and God doth not only inform the understanding, but inclines the will; he doth not only teach us what we should do, but enables us to do it. (Eze 36:27); "I will cause you to walk in my statutes." What a glorious privilege is this, to have the star of the word pointing us to Christ, and the loadstone of the Spirit drawing! Thomas Watson.
Ver. 17. Thou hast taught me from my youth. If you ask me what were the ways by which David was taught, I might ask you what they were not... God taught him by his shepherd's crook; and by the rod and sceptre of a king he taught him. He taught him by the shouts of the multitude--"Saul hath slain his thousands and David his ten thousands; "and he taught him just as much, if not more, by the contempt he met in the court of the Philistines. He taught him by the arrows of Jonathan, levelled in friendship; and he taught him by the javelin of Saul levelled at his life. He taught him by the faithlessness of Abiathar, and the faithlessness of even his faithful Joab; and he taught him by the faithfulness of Abishai, and the faithfulness of Mephibosheth; and, let me add too, by the rebellion of Absalom, and the selfishness of Adonijah; they were all means, by which the Lord taught this his servant. And be assured, you that are under his teaching, there is nothing in your lives, but he can teach you by it: by comforts and crosses, by your wounds and your healings, by that which he gives and by what he takes away. He unteaches his child, that he may teach him; shows him his folly, that he may make him wise; strips him of his vain confidence, that he may give him strength; makes him know that he is nothing, that he may show him that he has all in the Lord--in Jesus his Beloved one. James Harrington Evans.
Ver. 17. Thou hast taught me from my youth. Youth needs a teacher that it may embrace virtue. Seneca says, Virtue is a hard thing to youth, it needs a ruler and guide; vices are acquired without a master. How prone he was in his boyhood and youth to vices, we may see in Psalm 25. "Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions." Jerome, in his Epistle to Nepotianus, says: "As fire in green wood is stifled, so wisdom in youth, impeded by temptations and concupiscence, does not unfold its brightness, unless by hard work, and steady application and prayer, the incentives of youth are inwardly repelled." Hence it is that almost all nations have provided good and wise teachers of the young. Among the Spartans, one was chosen from the Magistrates and Senators to be paidonomos, rector of the boys... At Athens there were twelve men named Sophronistae, elected by the suffrages of all the tribes, to moderate the manners of youth... God is the teacher of his servants. Plato says, oiden einai yeioteron, that there is nothing more divine than the education of children. Of God the Father, or of the whole Trinity, Hannah, the mother of Samuel, says, 1Sa 2:3: "The Lord is a God of knowledge; "(Scientiarum, Vulg.) that is, as the Chaldee has it, he knows all things... Socrates says, that he is the mind of the universe. Without him, therefore, all are demented; but with him, and through him, in a single moment they become wise. Philo, in his treatise of the sacrifice of Cain and Abel, says, Masters cannot fill the mind of their pupils as if they were pouring water into a vessel; but when God, the fountain of wisdom, communicates knowledge to the human race, he does it without delay, in the twinkling of an eye... His anointing shall teach you of all things. 1Jo 2:27. Thomas Le Blanc.
Ver. 17. From my youth. Is it such "a crown of glory" to be found old in the ways of righteousness? Do you then begin to be godly betimes; that, if you live in this world you may have this crown set upon your heads when you are ancient; for is it not better for you to be plants of God's house, than weeds upon the dunghill? Those that are wicked are but as weeds upon a dunghill, but you that are godly are as plants in God's own orchard. In Ro 16:7, we find that Andronicus and Junia are commended because they were in Christ before Paul: "They were in Christ before me." It is an honourable thing to be in Christ before others; this is honourable when you are young; and then going on in the ways of godliness all your young time, and so in your middle age, and till you come to be old. Jeremiah Burroughs.
Ver. 17. Wondrous works. Observe that he calls the blessing of divine aid so often received in affliction, wondrous works. By this expression, he shows us, with what grievous perils he was tossed; then how he had been snatched from them by the hand of God, contrary to the expectation of all men. Therefore, God is wonderful among his saints. To this end the adversities of the saints tend, that they may show forth in them the wonderful works of God. Musculus.
Ver. 17-18. The integrity of our hearts and ways, in former walkings after God, and service for God, may by faith in Christ, as in all our justification, be pleaded. See also Isa 38:3 and Ps 119:10. The Lord himself maketh it to himself a motive to show mercy to his people (Isa 63:8 Jer 2:2); only we must use this plea more rarely and sparingly, in a self denying way, in faith in Christ's righteousness, as made ours. Thomas Cobbet.
Ver. 17. O God, thou hast taught me. None but God can teach us experimentally; and the lessons he teaches are always useful and important. He teaches all his scholars to know themselves--their depravity, poverty, and slavery. He teaches them his law--its purity, claims, and penalty. He teaches them his gospel--its fulness, freeness, and sensibility. He teaches them to know himself; as a reconciled God, as their Father and faithful friend. His teaching is accompanied with power and authority. We may know divine teaching by its effects: it always produces humility--they sit as his feet; dependence upon him; abhorrence of sin; love to God as a teacher; obedience to the lessons taught; thirst for further attainments; and it brings us daily to Jesus. James Smith.
Psalms 71:18*
Ver. 17-18. See Psalms on "Ps 71:17"
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain O God, Thou hast taught me from my youth:…
Psa_71:17-18
O God, Thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared Thy wondrous works.
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The old mans sermon
His scholarship. O God, Thou hast taught me from my youth.
1. The psalmist was an instructed believer. He had not merely been saved, but taught: conversion had led to instruction. I call the attention of all young Christians to this. How desirable it is not merely that you should be forgiven your sins, and that your hearts should be renewed by the operations of the Holy Ghost, but that you should go to school to Jesus, and take His yoke upon you, and learn of Him.
2. All his instruction the psalmist traced to his God. O God, Thou hast taught me. He had entered Christs college as a scholar. Most wisely had he chosen to learn of Him who was infinite wisdom to impart, and divine skill in communicating it. What a school have some of us passed through, a school of trial and a school of love. We have sat on the hard form of discipline.
3. David also had the privilege of beginning early. O God, Thou hast taught me from my youth. If you would be a good scholar you must be a young scholar.
4. Further, notice David tells us he kept to his studies. He says, O God, Thou hast taught me from my youth, which implies that God had continued to teach him: and so, indeed, He had. The learner had not sought another school, nor had the Master turned off His pupil. Some make slight progress because they seem to begin well, but afterwards turn aside to folly.
II. His occupation. Hitherto have I declared Thy wondrous works.
1. A Divine subject. Did you notice the fifteenth verse, My mouth shall show forth Thy righteousness and Thy salvation all the day? That is the great Christian doctrine--the very pith and marrow of theology--the atonement in which grace and justice unite in the sacrifice of Jesus.
2. The style which David used was very commendable. Declared. Davids teaching about his God had not been with an if, and a but, and a may be, but it had been, Thus and thus, saith the Lord.
III. His prayer.
1. He was not ashamed of his former reliance. He knew the secret springs from which all his blessings had flowed, and he pleads with the Lord never to stop the Divine fountain of self-sufficiency, or he must faint and die.
2. This proves that David did not imagine that past grace could suffice for the present. David acknowledged his present dependence, and it was wise to do so, Men always stumble when they try to walk with their eyes turned behind them.
3. He confessed his undeservingness. He felt that for his sins God might well leave him. But he humbly resolved not to be deserted, he could not bear it, he held his God with eagerness, and cried in agony, O God, forsake me not. His heart was desperately set upon holding to his one hope and consolation, and so he pleaded as one who pleads for life itself.
IV. His wish (Psa_71:18). He had spent a lifetime in declaring Gods Gospel, but he wanted to do it once more. Aged saints are loth to cease from active service. Many of them are like old John Newton, who, when he was too feeble to walk up the pulpit stairs of St. Mary Woolnoth parish church, was carried up to his place and preached on still. His friends said, Really, Mr, Newton, you are so feeble, you ought to give over, and he said, What? Shall the old African blasphemer ever leave off preaching the grace of his Master as long as there is breath in his body? No, never. It is harder work to leave off than to go on, for the love o! Christ constrains us still, and burns with young flame in an aged heart. So here the good man pines to show forth once more Gods strength. And, do you notice the congregation he wished to address? He would testify to the generation that was growing up around him. He wished to make known Gods power to his immediate neighbours, and to their children, so that the light might be handed on to other generations. This should be on the mind of all who are going off the stage of action: they should think of those who are to come after them, and pray for them, and help them. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The training of a nation
This psalm tells the experience of an old man, some grey-haired saint of the Old Testament. He speaks in accents now sad, now joyful, but always trustful. He invokes Gods judgment against his enemies, in the spirit of the Old Testament rather than of the New. But the chief truth and the eternal teaching is, that behind all lifes disciplines and trials he recognizes God as the Guido, the Friend, the Teacher, from whom they have come. And he is sure that God will be with him still, and he will be yet a witness of His righteousness. Jeremiah may have been the writer, or some other saint of his age. For it is said that the exiles were familiar with it. And some say the unknown author is tolling not of himself but of his nation; if so, the true meaning of the text would be, Thou, Lord, hast taught, trained and disciplined this nation from its birth, and, if we follow a more correct rendering of the rest of the verses, and up to this day it has proclaimed and acknowledged, without reserve, the wondrous doings which have marked that history. Such application of the language gives new force and colour to it, whether right or wrong.
I. Hear the voice of our own nation in these words. Trace her history from pro-Roman times, on through the beginnings of Christianity in her midst, by the days of our rude Saxon forefathers who had entered into the fair heritage which Rome had abandoned; how they in their turn bowed before the cross of Christ, and in their turn strove against ruthless Dane and Norseman. And once again foreign rule forced itself on the nation, how on this very spot the Conqueror, first of a long line of kings, was crowned by the tomb of the gentle, unwarlike monarch whose bones still rest amongst us, And we see the gradual fusing of the varied elements into that one hardy race, toiling, fighting, conquering, and being conquered, the memorials of all which are around us. But in and through all these vicissitudes has not God been training this land; might it not take our text for itself?
II. And we may do so, again, in regard to the reign of our sovereign, whose jubilee we have so recently and joyfully celebrated. During these fifty years God has still been teaching this nation by ways and agencies manifold. What material prosperity has been given; for the amelioration of the lot of the poor, what were once the privileges of the few being now the common patrimony of the many; for all just and wise legislation; for the strides with which human knowledge has advanced, for fresh light thrown on history; for the good men and great whom God has raised up for us; for those who are gone and those who are left. And let us, above all, thank Him for those who have died in His faith and fear; and for all who have striven to extend the knowledge of our Father-God and of our Lord Jesus Christ. And let us ask Him not to forsake us now that He has led us so far on in our career. We may not shut our eyes to the perils of the future--the weakness as well as the strength of a world-wide empire; the decay of faith and the turning away from Christ. All the more, therefore, let us pray this prayer, O God, forsake me not. (Dean Bradley.)
The discipline of life
Trace this in the life of David.
I. It begins early.
II. Is conducted through various agencies.
1. Prosperity is one of them. Darwin says in one of his books, speaking of change of instinct in the lower creation, that when bees were carried to Barbadoes and the Western Islands, they ceased to lay up honey after the first year. They found the weather so fine, and the material for honey so plentiful, that they ate up their store, and neglected to provide for the future any longer. Their character degenerated under the influence of their prosperity. Too often it is so among men; and the greater their prosperity, the greater is their deterioration of character. It is said of one of the popes that when he was a poor priest he was regarded as a good man; when promoted to be a cardinal he doubted of his salvation; and when he was raised to the papal chair he despaired of it. Now, that ought not to be the result of prosperity. But it too often is so.
2. Adversity is another. Adversity, says one, is of use to kill those sinners which the summer of prosperity is apt to produce and nourish. I have seen a Christian man accumulate money, and in the process of accumulation begin to love it; and I have observed the wisdom and fatherly kindness of God, in making all his investments profitless, and scattering his little board to the winds like dust, and in the end drawing out his soul in deeper love and desire for the true riches. Affliction is beneficial in perfecting patience, fortitude, and acquiescence in the Divine will. No other form of discipline can so promote growth.
III. Is often very mysterious. See this in history of Joseph. And observation and experience teach the same.
IV. Is perpetual. And--
V. Is regulated by infinite wisdom and love. (William Walters.)
Gods pupil, Gods preacher; an autobiography
I. Think of David as a pupil, God was his Teacher. O God, Thou hast taught me from my youth. This shows that David had a teachable spirit; and if you had asked him where it came from, he would have said that God gave him a teachable spirit. God is not only the Teacher of our spirit, but He gives us a teachable spirit, Have we all received that precious gift? A teachable spirit, although it is despised by many, is a happy spirit; it is a growing spirit; it is a restful spirit; it is a heavenly spirit; and whoever has it, must ascribe the possession of it to the Spirit of God, who leads us into all truth, and makes us willing to be led therein. Oh, that we may have such a spirit, that we shall count it an honour to say, O God, Thou hast taught me! In Davids acknowledgment we learn that God took him very early into His school. Thou hast taught me from my youth. What a mercy it is to begin to know God before we begin to know anything else! Happy shalt thou be if thy first intelligible thoughts shall be of thy Maker, thy Benefactor, thy Friend. There are many aged men who can say with David, O God, Thou hast taught me from my youth. They find themselves learners yet, for they are Unstable, weak, and apt to slide.
II. But now I want you to notice David as a pupil-teacher. While he was a pupil, he was also teaching. He says, Hitherto have I declared Thy wondrous works. Observe, then, that David taught people what he saw. He saw Gods works all around him. Ah! me, that is a great sight. We do not see God as we should, and we shall never teach aright for God, until we have a kind of instinctive feeling of the presence of God, till we are conscious that God is in us, and round about us, and at work for us. Gods work that David saw was very much work in himself, and work for himself, and work in other mens hearts. Being taken into the school of God, he was made to observe things; he had object lessons put before him, and he learned to read Gods work; and as he saw it, he wondered. Hitherto, said he, have I declared Thy wondrous works. He who is a stranger to wonder is a stranger to God, for God is wonderful everyway, and everywhere, and everyhow. We find that David took opportunity to declare Gods wondrous work; sometimes with his pen, writing his psalms; sometimes with his voice, singing those psalms; sometimes talking to a few, sometimes speaking to many. Now, dear friends, what I want you all to do is, if you have seen Gods work, and have been struck with it, you should declare it, tell it to others. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 taught me
taught me
The implied information may be stated clearly. "taught me many things" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
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God, do not forsake me
"God, please do not forsake me"
I have been declaring your strength
The abstract noun "strength" can be translated with a verbal phrase. AT: "I have been telling how strong you are" (See: Abstract Nouns)
to the next generation
"to those who are children today"
your power to everyone who is to come
The omitted information may be stated clearly. AT: "and as I declare your power to everyone who is to come" (See: Ellipsis)
everyone who is to come
This exaggeration refers to everyone the writer can speak to. AT: "so as many people as I can tell will know" (See: Hyperbole and Generalization)
translationWords
declare
amazed
works
forsake
strength
generation
power
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.