2. “The Lord Helped Me in the Past” (vv. 5-13). When you are discouraged and worried, look back and count your blessings. Remind yourself of the faithfulness of the Lord. Like Samuel, erect your own “Ebenezer” and say, “Thus far the Lord has helped us” (1 Sam. 7:12 nasb). From conception to birth, and from birth to young manhood, the Lord had been with the psalmist, and He was not about to abandon him now or in his old age (22:9-10; 37:25; 92:14; 139:13-16). Hope doesn’t end with retirement (vv. 5, 15)! (See 1 Tim. 1:1; Col. 1:27; Heb. 6:18-19; 1 Peter 1:3.)

The word portent (niv) means a sign or wonder, a special display of God’s power, such as the plagues of Egypt. Sometimes the Lord selected special people to be signs to the nation (Isa. 8:18; Zech. 3:8), and sometimes those portents were messengers of warning (Deut. 28:45-48). Paul saw himself and the other apostles as “portents” to honor the Lord and shame the worldly believers (1 Cor. 4:8-13). The writer of this psalm must have been a high-profile person because people knew him well and saw the things that happened to him. Apparently he had endured many troubles during his life but didn’t falter or deny the Lord. His entire life was a wonder, a testimony to others of the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord (vv. 20-21). His enemies were sure the Lord would forsake him, but he was sure the Lord would never forsake him (Heb. 13:5). His enemies tried to bring reproach on him, but he trusted the Lord to uphold him and to turn their reproach back upon them.