Psalm - 71:6



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.

Verse In-Depth

Explanation and meaning of Psalm 71:6.

Differing Translations

Compare verses for better understanding.
By thee have I been holden up from the womb: thou art he that took me out of my mother's bowels: my praise shall be continually of thee.
By thee have I been confirmed from the womb: from my mother's womb thou art my protector. Of thee shall I continually sing:
On thee have I been stayed from the womb; from the bowels of my mother thou didst draw me forth: my praise shall be continually of thee.
By thee have I been sustained from my birth: thou art he that brought me into life: my praise shall be continually of thee.
By Thee I have been supported from the womb, From my mother's bowels Thou dost cut me out, In Thee is my praise continually.
By you have I been held up from the womb: you are he that took me out of my mother's bowels: my praise shall be continually of you.
You have been my support from the day of my birth; you took me out of my mother's body; my praise will be ever of you.
Upon Thee have I stayed myself from birth; Thou art he that took me out of my mother's womb; My praise is continually of Thee.

*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.


Historical Commentaries

Scholarly Analysis and Interpretation.

Upon thee have I been sustained from the womb. This verse corresponds with the preceding, except that David proceeds farther. He not only celebrates the goodness of God which he had experienced from his childhood, but also those proofs of it which he had received previous to his birth. An almost similar confession is contained in Psalm 22:9, 10, by which is magnified the wonderful power and inestimable goodness of God in the generation of men, the way and manner of which would be altogether incredible, were it not a fact with which we are quite familiar. If we are astonished at that part of the history of the flood, in which Moses declares (Genesis 8:13) that Noah and his household lived ten months amidst the offensive nuisance produced by so many living creatures, when he could not draw the breath of life, have we not equal reason to marvel that the infant, shut up within its mother's womb, can live in such a condition as would suffocate the strongest man in half an hour? But we thus see how little account we make of the miracles which God works, in consequence of our familiarity with them. The Spirit, therefore, justly rebukes this ingratitude, by commending to our consideration this memorable instance of the grace of God, which is exhibited in our birth and generation. When we are born into the world, although the mother do her office, and the midwife may be present with her, and many others may lend their help, yet did not God, putting, so to speak, his hand under us, receive us into his bosom, what would become of us? and what hope would there be of the continuance of our life? Yea, rather, were it not for this, our very birth would be an entrance into a thousand deaths. God, therefore, is with the highest propriety said to take us out of our mother's bowels To this corresponds the concluding part of the verse, My praise is continually of thee; by which the Psalmist means that he had been furnished with matter for praising God without intermission.

By thee have I been holden up from the womb - From the beginning of my existence. The "idea" in all this is, that, since God had sustained him from his earliest years - since he had shown his power in keeping him, and manifested his care for him, there was ground to pray that God would keep him still, and that he would guard him as old age came on. The sentiment in this verse is substantially the same as in Psalm 22:9-10. See the notes at that passage.
My praise shall be continually of thee - My praise shall ascend to thee constantly. I will not cease to praise thee. Compare the notes at Psalm 22:25.

By thee have I been holden up from the womb,.... Supported in being, upheld in life, and sustained with food and raiment, and followed with the mercies and blessings of life from thence to this present moment; which the psalmist takes notice of, as he does of what goes before and follows after, to encourage his faith and hope in God as to present deliverance;
thou art he that took me out of my mother's bowels; See Gill on Psalm 22:9; the Syriac version is, "thou art my hope from my mother's bowels"; the Arabic version, "thou art my helper"; and the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions, "thou art my protector"; the word is only used here, and in Psalm 90:10; and is there rendered "cut off"; the Lord was, as it were, his "cutter off" (t); that cut the navel string, and loosed him from his mother, and safely brought him into the world, and preserved him ever since: wherefore he adds,
my praise shall be continually of thee; as the God of nature and providence; and also as the God of grace, who had blessed him both with temporal and spiritual blessings; and these being continued with him, he determines that God should be the subject of his praise always. The Targum is,
"in thy Word my praise is continually.''
(t) "excisor meus", Gejerus.

His history from early infancy illustrated God's care, and his wonderful deliverances were at once occasions of praise and ground of confidence for the future.
my praise . . . of thee--literally, "in" or "by Thee" (Psalm 22:25).

*More commentary available at chapter level.


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