Psalms 71:6 · Bible study
Psalms 71:6 Commentary: Relied on from the Womb, Always Praise
Hebrew · 9 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
God's faithful care from birth grounds the psalmist's trust and praise, even in old age and danger.
Research Summary
- Meaning: The psalmist grounds his present plea in God’s faithful care from the moment of birth, using the vivid image of God cutting the umbilical cord.
- Key words: nismakhti (I supported myself on), gazah (cut off), tehillati (my praise), tamid (continually).
- Main debate: Whether gazah describes physical cutting of the cord (Gill, Keil-Delitzsch) or more generally being drawn out (some English translations).
- Theological theme: God’s providential care precedes and sustains human consciousness; lifelong trust is built on his prior faithfulness.
- Best use: Encouragement for those facing the frailty of old age or feeling abandoned; a reminder that God’s history with us is longer than our memory of it.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
I have leaned on You since birth; You pulled me from my mother’s womb. My praise is always for You.
WEB World English Bible 2000
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.
KJV King James Version 1769
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.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
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.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
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.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
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.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
He shall come down like rain upon the fleece; and as showers falling gently upon the earth.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Por ti he sido sustentado desde el vientre: de las entrañas de mi madre tú fuiste el que me sacaste: de ti será siempre mi alabanza.
Tenho me apoiado em ti desde o ventre de minha mãe; das entranhas dela me tiraste; eu louvo continuamente a ti.
Dès le ventre de ma mère je m’ appuie sur toi;
Auf dich habe ich mich verlassen von Mutterleibe an; du hast mich aus meiner Mutter Leib gezogen. Mein Ruhm ist immer von dir.
Op U heb ik gesteund van den buik aan; van mijner moeders ingewand aan zijt Gij mijn Uithelper; mijn lof is geduriglijk van U.
Tu sei stato il mio sostegno fin dal seno materno, sei tu che m’hai tratto dalle viscere di mia madre; tu sei del continuo l’oggetto della mia lode.
Na tobiem spoległ zaraz z żywota; tyś mię wywiódł z żywota matki mojej; w tobie chwała moja zawżdy.
Он сойдет, как дождь на скошенный луг, как капли, орошающие землю;
我從出母胎 被你 扶持；使我出 母 腹 的是你。我必常常 讚美 你！
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.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Psalms 71:6
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that this verse anchors the psalmist's present pleas in God's faithful care from the very beginning of life. Barnes notes that God sustained him from his earliest years, giving ground to pray that God would keep him still in old age. Gill connects the Hebrew verb gazah (cut off) to the cutting of the navel string, marking God as the one who safely brought the psalmist into the world. Keil and Delitzsch call this a felicitous modification of the parallel in Psalm 22:9-10, where the verb gachah (draw out) is used; here the image is more surgical, God severed the cord and sustained the child. The Cambridge Bible observes that the same word for stayed myself (nismakhti) appears in Psalms 3:5 and 51:12, carrying the sense of leaning entirely on God. All see this lifelong dependence as the foundation for the vow that ends the verse: my praise shall be continually of you.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: God has sustained the psalmist from the moment of birth, and this history of faithfulness demands a response of perpetual praise, regardless of present circumstances.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Authorship and occasion | Most interpreters read the psalm as David’s prayer in old age, possibly during Absalom’s revolt (Calvin, Barnes, Matthew Henry). | Some question Davidic authorship because the psalm lacks a title and borrows from other psalms; Lange and others attribute it to an unnamed Israelite poet of the exile period. |
| Relationship to Psalms 22:9-10 | All commentators note the strong verbal parallel: the psalm is a free adaptation of the earlier passage (Cambridge Bible, Keil-Delitzsch). | Interpreters differ on whether the change from <em>gachah</em> (draw out) to <em>gazah</em> (cut off) is stylistic or theological. Keil sees it as a felicitous variation; Gill stresses the physical precision of cutting the cord. |
| Meaning of the verb <em>gazah</em> | The word is rare (only here and Psalm 90:10) and suggests a severing action. | Jewish commentators (Targum) and some Christian readers see it figuratively as ‘benefactor’ or ‘protector.’ Gill, Keil, and others maintain the literal sense of cutting the navel string. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Psalm 71 carries no title, but Calvin (following general consent) ascribes it to David, likely during Absalom’s rebellion when David was old and his strength failing. The psalm repeats and adapts whole passages from earlier psalms: verses 1-3 from Psalm 31, verses 4-6 from Psalm 22. This is not sloppy borrowing but a poet’s deliberate reuse, a prayer already proven in trouble is offered again in new distress.
Verse 6 sits at the end of the first strophe that moves from plea to confidence. The context is urgent: enemies conspire (v.10), and the psalmist fears being forsaken in old age (v.9). But before listing threats, he plants his feet on God’s past faithfulness. The Hebrew verb gazah (to cut) appears only here and in Psalm 90:10. Gill and others take it as the cutting of the umbilical cord, God was the psalmist’s midwife. The womb was not a place of hiddenness from God but of divine support, as he was already stayed (nismakhti) on God there. The ancient world saw childbirth as a time of mortal danger; God’s rescue from the mother’s inward parts (mi-me’ei immi) was a specific, bodily act of deliverance.
This verse functions as a hinge: from it the psalmist pivots to renewed petition (vv.9-13) and a threefold vow of praise (v.8, v.14-15, v.22-24). The poet uses his own birth story to argue that God has never once let go, a claim that silences the charge that God has abandoned him (v.11).
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for this verse. The Hebrew word gazah is unique in this form and its meaning is debated, but the manuscript tradition is stable.
Reception History
Psalm 71:6 has been read across Christian traditions as a prayer of lifelong trust. The Targum paraphrases the final clause as “in Your Word my praise is continually.” Early church fathers saw the verse as prefiguring Christ, who was “taken out of the womb” of Mary by God’s plan. In the medieval period, the verse appeared in the Daily Office (the Psalter for Prime) and was sung in hymns that trace God’s faithfulness from birth to old age. Reformers like Calvin used it to illustrate the believer’s confidence in providence, while Puritan commentators (Gill, Henry) dwelt on the physical detail of God cutting the cord as proof of his intimate involvement. In modern hymnody, it has been set to music as a testimony for aging believers.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- God’s faithfulness has no starting point after birth. From the womb, before a single conscious decision, the psalmist was “stayed” on God (nismakhti). This is not earned trust but given stability.
- God’s past deliverance is a template for present hope. If God brought David safely through the birth canal, he can bring him safely through old age and conspiracy. Barnes notes this is the explicit logic of the psalm.
- Praise that looks back naturally becomes praise that looks forward. The vow “I will always praise you” (tehillati tamid) flows from memory. Gratitude for a delivered birth fuels confidence for a delivered death.
Five-point outline
- The foundation: God is the author of life (v.6a).
- The metaphor: God as the one who “cut me out” (v.6b), a knife-edge of rescue.
- The span: from my mother’s womb to old age (vv.6, 9, 18).
- The response: praise that has no end (v.6c, v.14, v.23).
- The application: when others say “God has forsaken him” (v.11), my story says otherwise.
Illustration hooks
- A worn baby blanket kept into adulthood, a tangible reminder that someone has held you from the very start.
- The feeling of being steadied by a parent’s hand as a toddler learning to walk; the psalmist describes the same steadying from God before he could walk.
- An elderly person recounting the moment they were told “you were a surprise” or “we almost lost you” and seeing God’s hand in the narrow escape.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Can I really say God has been with me since birth if I don’t remember any of it?
- What do I do when the people who were with me in childhood are gone, and I feel alone in old age?
- How do I keep praising God when the troubles I face in the present seem louder than his past help?
Leading a Discussion
This verse takes the psalmist’s entire life, even the part before memory, as evidence of God’s unwavering care. The group will explore how a past we cannot recall can still shape our present faith. Begin by reading Psalm 71:1-8 aloud together.
Discussion questions
- What does the psalmist say God did for him from the womb? Why does he begin his prayer so far back?
- The Hebrew verb gazah means “to cut off.” Gill and others connect it to cutting the umbilical cord. How does that specific image change how you imagine God’s involvement at birth?
- Compare Psalm 71:6 with Psalm 22:9-10. What words are similar? What words are different? What might the psalmist be doing by adapting an older prayer?
- How does remembering God’s help before you could help yourself change the way you face a current difficulty?
- The verse ends with a vow of continual praise. In what circumstances do you find it hardest to sustain praise? What might help you stay in that posture?
- Verse 11 records enemies saying “God has forsaken him.” Have you ever felt that accusation? How does verse 6 answer that charge?
- How can a church community help older members connect their lifelong history with God to ongoing hope and praise?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Psalms 22:9 | But you brought me out of the womb. You made me trust while at my mother’s breasts. |
| Psalms 22:10 | I was thrown on you from my mother’s womb. You are my God since my mother bore me. |
| Psalms 34:1 | By David; when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed. I will bless Yahweh at all times. His praise will always be in my mouth. |
| Psalms 71:14 | But I will always hope, and will add to all of your praise. |
| Psalms 139:15 | My frame wasn’t hidden from you, when I was made in secret, woven together in the depths of the earth. |
| Psalms 139:16 | Your eyes saw my body. In your book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there were none of them. |
| Psalms 145:1 | A praise psalm by David. I will exalt you, my God, the King. I will praise your name forever and ever. |
| Psalms 145:2 | Every day I will praise you. I will extol your name forever and ever. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
9 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes observes that the psalmist grounds his prayer for continued protection in old age on God's past care, which began from the moment of birth. The reasoning is that since God has sustained him from the very start of life, there is solid reason to ask for that same help to carry him through to the end.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin observes that this psalm closely follows Psalm 31, which David wrote during Saul's persecution. The distinctive feature is that David adapted the earlier prayer to his later crisis by adding references to his old age, showing how faith reuses past expressions of trust for new trials.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The commentary points out that the Hebrew behind the phrase "thou art he that took me" uses a different, uncertain word from a similar phrase in another psalm. A better rendering, "thou hast been my benefactor from my mother's womb," preserves the poetic parallelism and clarity of the verse.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
Vpon thee haue I beene stayed from the wombe: thou art he that tooke me out of my mothers bowels: my praise shalbe alwaies of thee.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill highlights a rare Hebrew word that appears only here and in Psalm 90:10, where it means “cut off.” He takes it as God being the one who cut the navel cord and safely brought the psalmist into the world, then sustained him ever since. That personal providence grounds the psalmist’s resolve for continual praise.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB observes that the psalmist traces God's care all the way back to early infancy, making every past deliverance a reason for both present praise and future confidence. The phrase "my praise of thee" is understood as praise that comes from God himself or is offered through him.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch observes that the psalmist freely reworks phrases from Psalms 31 and 22, making bold modifications like calling God a "rock of habitation" rather than a "rock of refuge." They highlight the word "guzi" as a deliberate choice to describe God separating the child from the womb at birth.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange sees Psalm 71 as a later composition that freely reuses and adapts phrases from older psalms, especially Psalms 31, 35, and 22. He rejects interpreting the speaker as the nation or church personified, insisting instead that a single aged Israelite prays in a time of personal crisis, with no historical event or named author clearly identifiable.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Matthew Henry focuses on how David repeatedly professes his trust in God as the very basis for his prayer, not as a mere introduction. His point is that a believer may boldly plead the confidence God himself has given, because God will never put to shame a hope that he himself has raised.