Why read Psalm 70?
Psalm 70 is a prayer for support throughout life, including the frailty of old age. Remembering God's care from youth sustains the request not to be abandoned and the desire to proclaim His righteousness.
You can read this psalm when its themes speak to your circumstances, or as part of your regular reading of the Psalter. This explanation draws on the text itself; the psalm is not reserved for one particular need.
Psalm 70 — "In Thee, O Lord, have I put my trust; let me..." — is the prayer through which the Psalmist sets before God the living of a whole hour of life. It belongs to the Tenth Kathisma and has 27 verses, which you will find below in full text.
The text of Psalm 70
1. In Thee, O Lord, have I put my trust; let me never be put to shame.
2. Deliver me in Thy righteousness and set me free; bow down Thine ear unto me and save me.
3. Be Thou unto me a defending God and a place of strength, that Thou mayest save me;
4. For Thou art my support and my refuge.
5. O my God, deliver me out of the hand of the sinner, out of the hand of the transgressor and of the unjust,
6. For Thou art my patience, O Lord; the Lord is my hope from my youth.
7. By Thee have I been made firm from the womb; from my mother's womb Thou art my protector; in Thee is my praise continually.
8. As a wonder have I been made unto many, and Thou art my mighty helper.
9. Let my mouth be filled with Thy praise, that I may sing of Thy glory, all the day long of Thy majesty.
10. Cast me not off in the time of old age; when my strength faileth, forsake me not.
11. For mine enemies have spoken against me, and they that lay wait for my soul have taken counsel together,
12. Saying: God hath forsaken him; pursue and take him, for there is none to deliver.
13. O God, depart not from me; O my God, give heed to help me!
14. Let them be put to shame and perish that malign my soul; let them be clothed with shame and confusion that seek after my hurt.
15. But as for me, I will hope in Thee continually, and will add to all Thy praise.
16. My mouth shall declare Thy righteousness, Thy salvation all the day, whose names I do not know.
17. I shall enter into the power of the Lord; O Lord, I shall make mention of Thy righteousness only.
18. O God, Thou hast taught me from my youth, and even now do I proclaim Thy wonders.
19. Even unto old age and grey hairs,
20. O God, forsake me not,
21. Until I proclaim Thine arm unto every generation that is to come,
22. Thy power and Thy righteousness, O God, even unto the highest, the great things which Thou hast done. O God, who is like unto Thee?
23. Many tribulations and evils hast Thou sent upon me; yet, turning toward me, Thou hast given me life, and from the depths of the earth hast Thou brought me up again.
24. Thou hast multiplied Thy magnificence toward me, and turning Thou hast comforted me, and from the depths of the earth hast Thou brought me up again.
25. For I will confess Thee with instruments of psalmody, O God, of Thy truth; unto Thee will I sing with the harp, O Holy One of Israel.
26. My lips shall rejoice when I sing unto Thee, and my soul which Thou hast redeemed.
27. Moreover, my tongue also shall meditate on Thy righteousness all the day, when they shall be put to shame and confounded that seek after my hurt.
When Psalm 70 is read
- in old age and in new beginnings.
- At the end of each psalm, the tradition adds: "Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen."
Neighbouring psalms
The numbering follows the Orthodox Psalter (Septuagint). The same psalm may have a different number in other Bible editions.
