Psalms 71:18 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Psalms 71:18
Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.
old age · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular absolute
God
אֱלֹהִ֪ים'E.lo.Him
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural absolute
forsake
תַּעַ֫זְבֵ֥נִיta.'Az.Ve.ni
H5800
to loosen · verb, qal jussive, 2nd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix
shewed
אַגִּ֣יד'a.Gid
H5046
properly · verb, hiphil imperfect, 1st person common singular
strength
זְרוֹעֲךָ֣ze.ro.'a.Kha
H2220
the arm (as stretched out) · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
generation
לְד֑וֹרle.Dor
H1755
properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
power
גְּבוּרָתֶֽךָge.vu.ra.Te.kha
H1369
force (literally or figuratively) · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
come
יָ֝ב֗וֹאya.Vo'
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Isaiah 46:4 And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver…
Psalms 71:9 Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth.
Psalms 78:4 We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful wo…
Psalms 145:4-5 One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.
Psalms 78:6 That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children:
Exodus 13:14-17 And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the LORD b…
Psalms 22:31 They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.
1 Samuel 4:18 And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck b…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 71:14–end
David is here in a holy transport of joy and praise, arising from his faith and hope in God; we have both together Psa 71:14, where there is a sudden and remarkable change of his voice; his fears are all silenced, his hopes raised, and his prayers turned into thanksgivings. "Let my enemies say what they will, to drive me to despair, I will hope continually, hope in all conditions, in the most cloudy and dark day; I will live upon hope and will hope to the end." Since we hope in one that will never fail us, let not our hope in him fail us, and then we shall praise him yet more and more. "The more they reproach me the more closely will I cleave to thee; I will praise thee more and better than…
Now also, when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not,.... A repetition of his request, Psalm 71:9; with a reason annexed to it, suggested in the following words:
until I have showed thy strength unto this generation; or, "thine arm" (e); which sometimes the Messiah, Isaiah 53:1; who is the power of by whom he made the worlds, and in whom all things consist; and who has wrought out the salvation people; and is the arm on which they lean, and they are upheld. And the psalmist may be thought to desire that he might be continued a little longer, and be favoured with the presence of God, and the influences of his Spirit and grace; that he might show forth in prophecy, both by word and w…
Psalm 71:17-19
17. O God! thou hast taught me from my youth; and hitherto will I announce thy wondrous works. 18. And still, O God! when I am old and grey-headed, forsake me not, until I declare thy strength to the generation, and thy power to all who are to come. 19. And thy righteousness, O God! Is very high: for thou hast done great things: O God! who is like thee?
17. O God! thou hast taught me from my youth. The Psalmist again declares the great obligations under which he lay to God for his goodness, not only with the view of encouraging himself to gratitude, but also of exciting himself to continue cherishing hope for the time to come: which will appear from the following verse. Besi…
The Church Fathers
Hear now also the Son's statements about the Father: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor." He speaks of himself likewise to the Father in the psalm: "Forsake me not, until I have declared the might of your arm to all the generations that are to come." Also with the same substance in another psalm: "O Lord, how many are they that trouble me!" But almost all the psalms that prophesy of the person of Christ, represent the Son as conversing with the Father—that is, represent Christ [as speaking] to God. Observe also the Spirit speaking of the Father and the Son, in the character of a third person: "The Lord said to my Lord, Sit on my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool." Likewise in the words of Isaiah: "Thus says the Lord to the Lord my anointed."
"And even unto oldness and old age." These are two terms for old age, and are distinguished by the Greeks. For the gravity succeeding youth hath another name among the Greeks, and after that same gravity the last age coming on hath another name; for πρεσβύτης signifieth grave, and γέρων old. But because in the Latin language the distinction of these two terms holdeth not, both words implying old age are inserted, oldness and old age: but ye know them to be two ages. "Thou hast taught me Thy grace from my youth; and even until now;" after my youth, "I will tell forth Thy wonderful works," because Thou art with me in order that I may not die, who hast come in order that I may rise: "and even unto oldness and old age," that is, even unto my last breath, unless with me Thou shalt have been, there will not be any merit of mine; may Thy grace alway remain with me. Even one man would say this, thou, he, I; but because this voice is that of a certain great Man, that is, of the Unity itself, for it is the voice of the Church; let us investigate the youth of the Church. When Christ came, He was crucified, dead, rose again, called the Gentiles, they began to be converted, became Martyrs strong in Christ, there was shed faithful blood, there arose a harvest for the Church: this is Her youth. But seasons advancing let the Church confess, let Her say, "Even until now I will tell forth Thy wonderful works." Not only in youth, when Paul, when Peter, when the first Apostles told: even in advancing age I myself, that is, Thy Unity, Thy members, Thy Body, "will tell forth Thy marvellous works." What then? "And even unto oldness and old age," I will tell forth Thy wonderful works: even until the end of the world here shall be the Church. For if She were not to be here even unto the end of the world; to whom did the Lord say, "Behold, I am with you always, even unto the consummation of the world"? Why was it necessary that these things should be spoken in the Scriptures? Because there were to be enemies of the Christian Faith who would say, "for a short time are the Christians, hereafter they shall perish, and there shall come back idols, there shall come back that which was before. How long shall be the Christians?" "Even unto oldness and old age:" that is, even unto the end of the world. When thou, miserable unbeliever, dost expect Christians to pass away, thou art passing…
Dictionary and topics
Psalms, Book Of — The present Hebrew name of the book is Tehill’im, “Praises;” but in the actual superscriptions of the psalms the word Tehillah is applied only to one, (Psalms 145:1) ... which is indeed emphatically…
Affliction, Consolation Under · Under the infirmities of age — Under the infirmities of age
Hair, The · White or gray: A token of age — White or gray: A token of age
Missionaries, All Christians Should Be As · In old age — In old age
Old Age · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
In view of Psa 40:15 (Psa 70:3), Psa 35:4, Psa 35:26; Psa 109:29, and other passages, the reading of יכּלמוּ, with the Syriac, instead of יכלוּ in Psa 71:13 commends itself; but there are also other instances in this Psalm of a modification of the original passages, and the course of the thoughts is now climactic: confusion, ruin (cf. Ps 6:11), and in fact ruin accompanied by reproach and shame. This is the fate that the poet desires for his deadly foes. In prospect of this he patiently composes himself, Psa 71:14 (cf. 31:25); and when righteous retribution appears, he will find new matter and ground and motive for the praise of God in addition to all such occasion as he has hitherto had. Th…
The psalmist contrasts his own goodness with his enemies’ evil; he centers his life in the Lord, even during hard times (see 9:17-18; 27:13-14).
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 71:18
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.
Now also when I am old and grey headed, O God, forsake me not. There is something touching in the sight of hair whitened with the snows of many a winter: the old and faithful soldier receives consideration from his king, the venerable servant is beloved by his master. When our infirmities multiply, we may, with confidence, expect enlarged privileges in the world of grace, to make up for our narrowing range in the field of nature. Nothing shall make God forsake those who have not forsaken him. Our fear is lest he should do so; but hi…