Psalm 71:18

Translations

Modern

Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, until I proclaim Your power to the next generation, Your might to all who are to come.

Traditional

Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.

Literal

Indeed, when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your arm to a generation, Your strength to everyone to come.

Latin

Et usque in senectam et senium, Deus, ne derelinquas me, donec annuntiem brachium tuum generationi omni quæ ventura est, potentiam tuam,

Original

Hebrew

English

Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, until I proclaim Your power to the next generation, Your might to all who are to come.

Notes

Psalms 71:9–18

The aging believer turns to the Lord for hope. As questions from his adversaries get under his skin and his own strength fails, he asks God to answer his prayers. He does not seek answers to prayer for himself but so that he can tell the story to the next generation.

Psalms 71:1–24

This untitled lament by an aging believer is more a confession of confidence and hope than a cry of abandonment by God. The psalmist experienced God's power and protection in his youth (Psalm 71:5–8) and now prays for rescue from enemies who pursue him in his old age (Psalm 71:9–13).

Even in danger, he continues to speak of God's past faithfulness and looks forward with hope to sharing with the next generation that God is faithful and righteous.

Psalms 69:1–72:20

These last four psalms of Book Two contrast with the earlier psalms that describe God’s mighty acts in creation and redemption, ending with God’s march to Zion (Psalms 65–68). Psalms 69–71 describe the king's suffering, and Psalm 72 responds with a prayer for God to bless the king.

Theme notes and profiles

David

Related verses

Isaiah 46:4
Even to your old age, I will be the same, and I will bear you up when you turn gray. I have made you, and I will carry you; I will sustain you and deliver you.
Psalm 78:4
We will not hide them from their children but will declare to the next generation the praises of the LORD and His might and the wonders He has performed.
Psalm 71:9
Do not discard me in my old age; do not forsake me when my strength fails.
Psalm 145:4–5
One generation will commend Your works to the next, and will proclaim Your mighty acts—
Psalm 78:6
…that the coming generation would know them—even children yet to be born—to arise and tell their own children
Psalm 22:31
They will come and proclaim His righteousness to a people yet unborn—all that He has done.
Exodus 13:14–17
In the future, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you are to tell him, ‘With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
Isaiah 51:9
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD. Wake up as in days past, as in generations of old. Was it not You who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced through the dragon?
1 Samuel 4:18
As soon as the ark of God was mentioned, Eli fell backward from his chair by the city gate, and being old and heavy, he broke his neck and died. And Eli had judged Israel forty years.
Exodus 13:8
And on that day you are to explain to your son, ‘This is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.’
1 Samuel 4:15
Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his gaze was fixed because he could not see.
Genesis 27:1
When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.” “Here I am,” Esau replied.

Glossary

David Gray Imprecatory Psalms Music Psalms, Book of

Topics

Age and Wisdom All Christians should be As Missionaries in Old Age Consolation Under Affliction: Under the Infirmities of Age Elderly Generation to Generation Mentoring Old Age: General Scriptures Concerning Prayer: Pleas offered In Religious Zeal: Exemplified Senior Citizens Testimony: Religious, Exemplified The Hair: White or Gray: A Token of Age

Psalm 71:18

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