Joy in the Journey (62) - When Jesus prayed Psalm 71

Many of the psalms have very specific fulfilment in the life and experiences of our Lord Jesus. Psalm 16, for example, is regularly used in the New Testament in that way. Yet, in a larger sense, we can reflect on how these songs would have been experienced by him, because, in common with his people, our Lord was familiar with the whole psalter; they were his prayer book.

(The confessions of sin, of course, are not his own but taking those words upon his lips would have been part of his identification with the sorrows and struggles of sinful people, part of his growing into the faithful high priest who is touched by the feeling of our infirmities.)

Psalm 71 is a good example of how we might engage in that kind of reading. Thinking about how these very words would have spoken to the experience of our Lord, how his own Spirit would have sustained him through them, as he expressed his confidence in his Father ("In you, LORD, I have taken refuge") and the sure and certain hope of rescue from all that evil could do to him ("you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up.").

Reading a psalm in this way is not an academic exercise in drawing lines of connection to our Saviour. Rather, it is learning to see our own experiences appropriated and absorbed by our Lord. It is seeing, through his own eyes, the outworking of atonement in our place.

And, in seeing, we are drawn into worship and reverence for the Lord Jesus Christ. Here is love, vast as an ocean. Seeing what was ahead of him, feeling constantly the opposition of sin and, with the oppression of darkness marking his every step, he walked into the furnace in our place and, having suffered to untold depths, emerged with victory assured in the blaze of resurrection light.

He has indeed become a sign, a marvel, to many - to us (v.7).

A sign through which we can learn what it means to walk by faith and not by sight, as we cast our all upon our Father in heaven, knowing that what was true for his dear Son will also be true for his sons and daughters, adopted freely by grace. Knowing that he is the rock of refuge to whom we can always go (v.3). And finding our mouths filled with his praise, declaring his splendour all day long (v.8).

Our Saviour sang Psalm 71 and invites us to join him.

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Come down, O Love divine,
Seek Thou this soul of mine,
And visit it with Thine own ardour glowing;
O Comforter, draw near,
Within my heart appear,

And kindle it, Thy holy flame bestowing.

O let it freely burn,
Till earthly passions turn
To dust and ashes, in its heat consuming;
And let Thy glorious light
Shine ever on my sight,
And clothe me round, the while my path illuming.

Let holy charity

Mine outward vesture be,

And lowliness become mine inner clothing;

True lowliness of heart,

Which takes the humbler part,

And o'er its own shortcomings weeps with loathing.

And so the yearning strong,

With which the soul will long,
Shall far outpass the power of human telling;
For none can guess its grace,
Till he become the place
Wherein the Holy Spirit makes His dwelling.

(Bianco da Siena, tr. Richard Littledale, 1833-90)

For a lovely version of this hymn, click here.