“In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion.”
This opening plea that the psalmist not be put to shame in old age establishes the psalm as a prayer of an aging person facing difficulty. The reference to seeking refuge in God throughout life indicates long devotion and reliance. The emphasis on not being abandoned in old age articulates the particular vulnerability of the elderly. This verse establishes the context: an aged person whose lifetime of trust is now being tested.
Church Fathers on Psalms 71:1
1. In all the holy Scriptures the grace of God that delivers us commends itself to us, in order that it may have us commended. This is sung of in this Psalm, whereof we have undertaken to speak....This grace the Apostle commends: by this he got to have the Jews for enemies, boasting of the letter of the law and of their own justice. This then commending in the lesson which has been read, he says thus: “For I am the least of the Apostles, that am not worthy to be called an…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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