Psalm 71 is a prayer of an older believer who has trusted God for a lifetime and now asks not to be abandoned in the years ahead. These study questions are for small groups, Sunday classes, and personal reading who want to move through the chapter one section at a time. Each set of questions is paired with suggested answers and discussion notes so a leader can use them without preparing from scratch.
Psalm 71 at a Glance
The psalm opens with a plea for refuge and rescue (verses 1-4), then looks back over a whole life of trust that began in the womb (verses 5-8). From there the writer describes enemies who think God has abandoned them and asks for help now (verses 9-13). The final section turns to praise and a vow to keep declaring God’s righteousness to the next generation (verses 14-24).
Observation Questions
Use these first to make sure the group has read the text carefully before anyone offers an interpretation. Ask people to point to the actual words on the page and resist the urge to explain yet.
Psalm 71:1-3
1 In you, the LORD, I take refuge. Never let me be disappointed. 2 Deliver me in your righteousness, and rescue me. Turn your ear to me, and save me. 3 Be to me a rock of refuge to which I may always go. Give the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.
(WEB)
This opening cry establishes the whole psalm’s posture of trust and begins the request for rescue. Reading it first sets the tone for everything that follows in the chapter.
Psalm 71:5-6
5 For you are my hope, Lord the LORD; my confidence from my youth. 6 I have relied on you from the womb. You are he who took me out of my mother’s womb. I will always praise you.
(WEB)
These verses name God as the writer’s hope from youth and from the womb. Reading them aloud helps the group hear the length of the relationship the psalmist describes.
Psalm 71:9
Don’t reject me in my old age. Don’t forsake me when my strength fails.
(WEB)
This short plea for God not to reject the writer in old age speaks directly to later life. It is a good verse for groups that include older members or anyone facing aging.
Psalm 71:19-21
19 Your righteousness also, God, reaches to the heavens; you have done great things. God, who is like you? 20 You, who have shown us many and bitter troubles, you will let me live. You will bring us up again from the depths of the earth. 21 Increase my honor, and comfort me again.
(WEB)
These verses lift up God’s greatness and then remember bitter troubles followed by restoration. Reading them together shows the movement from wonder to honest hardship to hope.
Psalm 71:23-24
23 My lips shall shout for joy! My soul, which you have redeemed, sings praises to you! 24 My tongue will also talk about your righteousness all day long, for they are disappointed, and they are confounded, who want to harm me.
(WEB)
The chapter ends with joyful praise that lips and tongue will carry all day long. Reading it last gives the group a closing note of thanksgiving before prayer.
Memory Verse for Psalm 71
Psalm 71:14
But I will always hope, and will add to all of your praise.
(WEB)
This verse captures the psalmist’s commitment to hope and continued praise even under pressure. It is short enough to memorize and useful to repeat during hard seasons.
A Closing Prayer for the Group
Father, we thank you that you are our refuge and our rock, and that you have been faithful to us from our earliest days. We bring to you the places where we feel forgotten or pressed by others, and we ask that you would not be far from any of us. Make us people who keep hoping and keep praising, even when the way is hard. Help us to tell the next generation about your strength and your righteousness, and give us words of testimony that outlast our own strength. Let what we have studied today take root in how we speak and live this week. Amen.
