A common misinterpretation views the plea as invoking the psalmist's personal righteousness to demand deliverance, twisting God's character into an obligation responder rather than a sovereign deliverer; others treat it as a standalone formulaic incantation guaranteeing instant escape from any trouble, ignoring the broader context of lifelong faithfulness and persecution in Psalm 71, or apply it selfishly to material prosperity without spiritual repentance.
Psalms 71:2
King James Version (1769)
2 Deliver me in thy righteousness, and cause me to escape: incline thine ear unto me, and save me.
This verse captures the psalmist's desperate plea for God to deliver and rescue him based on God's own righteousness, not his own merits, underscoring a profound trust in divine justice and mercy amid affliction; by asking God to incline His ear, the psalmist models humble dependence on God's attentive intervention for salvation and escape from peril.