Psalm 71:17

Psalm 71:17, in plain English

God has been teaching you since childhood, and that education has stuck with you—you're still declaring what God has done, and you haven't stopped.

Why it's here

The psalmist is highlighting continuity: from youth to old age, the same God, the same message, the same commitment. This isn't a new development; it's the full arc of a life.

Who's speaking

An older person reflecting on a lifetime of learning from God.

Where it sits in the story

Moses did this for 40 years, Simeon and Anna did this in Jerusalem, and Paul did this until his death. Teaching others what you've learned from God is a lifetime assignment.

The scholarly reading

The psalmist testifies that God has educated him since youth in divine realities, and he has remained consistent in proclaiming God's mighty deeds throughout his lifetime.

Language and setting

The verb 'taught me' (לִמַּדְתָּנִי, limmadtani) suggests that God's pedagogy has been experiential—the psalmist learned God's character through lived encounters, not merely intellectual instruction. The claim to have proclaimed God's 'marvelous deeds' (נִפְלְאוֹתֶיךָ, nifleotecha) throughout life establishes his consistency: he has been a faithful witness across decades.

Voice

The aged believer offering his entire biography as testimony to God's educational sovereignty—his suffering is not aberration but the latest chapter in a long narrative of learning and proclamation.

Significance

This becomes the template for Christian witness: a life progressively shaped by divine instruction, visible in the arc from conversion to maturity. Augustine's *Confessions* exemplifies this model—the self as text that God has been writing across time.

15My mouth will declare Your righteousness and Your salvation all day long, though I cannot know their full measure.

16I will come in the strength of the Lord GOD; I will proclaim Your righteousness—Yours alone.

17O God, You have taught me from my youth, and to this day I proclaim Your marvelous deeds.

18Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, until I proclaim Your power to the next generation, Your might to all who are to come.

19Your righteousness reaches to the heavens, O God, You who have done great things. Who, O God, is like You?

Read all of Psalm 71 — From youth to gray hairs, the psalmist has known God's faithfulness. Now aging and weak, he asks: do not forsake me when my strength is spent.