Do not discard me in my old age; do not forsake me when my strength fails.
Parallel translations
- WEB Don’t reject me in my old age. Don’t forsake me when my strength fails.
- KJV Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth.
- NKJV Do not cast me off in the time of old age; Do not forsake me when my strength fails.
- NASB Do not cast me away at the time of my old age; Do not abandon me when my strength fails.
- NLT And now, in my old age, don’t set me aside. Don’t abandon me when my strength is failing.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The psalmist prays that God would not cast him off in old age or forsake him when his strength fails. It is a moving plea for God's faithfulness in life's later years.
Overview
As his strength wanes with age, the psalmist asks God not to reject or abandon him. This tender prayer voices the concern of the elderly believer for God's continued nearness. God's promise is to carry his people even to old age and gray hairs (Isaiah 46:4), assuring that those in Christ are never forsaken at any stage of life.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- 2 Tim 1:12For this reason, even though I suffer as I do, I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day.
- Isa 46:4Even 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.
- Ps 71:18Even 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.
- Ps 90:10The length of our days is seventy years—or eighty if we are strong—yet their pride is but labor and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
- Ps 92:13–15Planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God.
- Eccl 12:1–7Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of adversity come and the years approach of which you will say, “I find no pleasure in them,”
- 2 Tim 4:18And the Lord will rescue me from every evil action and bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom. To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
- Ps 73:26My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
- 2 Sam 19:35I am now eighty years old. Can I discern what is good and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats or drinks? Can I still hear the voice of singing men and women? Why should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king?
- 2 Sam 21:15–17Once again the Philistines waged war against Israel, and David and his servants went down and fought against the Philistines; but David became exhausted.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 71:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.