Psalm 71:16: “I will go in the strength of the Lord God; / I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only.”

March 17th, 2024 by Pastor Ed in devotional

According to this psalm, wise travelers are well prepared before they leave on a journey. As believers, we are in fact travelers and we are to go, prepared for our journey, by abstaining from fleshly lusts. We find the same concept in the New Testament: “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul” (1 Pet. 2:11). The word stranger carries with it the idea of a person who lives for an extended time in a land that is not their own. They are not there long enough to need a house to live in, so they do not become permanent residents. Therefore, they are strangers, exiles, living in a foreign land.

David said he would “go in the strength of the Lord,” and would not even mention righteousness except for the righteousness of God. Paul the Apostle wrote something similar in Philippians 3:9: “and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.” David had a clear picture of his own need to rely on God’s righteousness, not his own. Someone said God never alters the robe of righteousness to fit man but changes the man to fit the robe.

“LORD, please change us a little bit more this day, conforming us into Your image.”