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Psalm 71:18
Yes, even when I am old and gray-haired, God, don’t forsake me, until I have declared your strength to the next generation, your might to everyone who is to come.
16I will come with the mighty acts of the Lord GOD. I will make mention of your righteousness, even of yours alone.
17God, you have taught me from my youth. Until now, I have declared your wondrous works.
18Yes, even when I am old and gray-haired, God, don’t forsake me, until I have declared your strength to the next generation, your might to everyone who is to come.
19God, your righteousness also reaches to the heavens. You have done great things. God, who is like you?
20You, who have shown us many and bitter troubles, you will let me live. You will bring us up again from the depths of the earth.
Notice
Gray hair and the next generation meet in a prayer that faces the fear of being forsaken while still seeking to declare God’s strength.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What would you want someone younger to know about God’s strength from what you have witnessed?
Write on thisWhat words would you add to this plea for God’s presence in old age?
Write on thisConnect
Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Isaiah 46:4Even to old age I am he, and even to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear. Yes, I will carry, and will deliver.Both name old age and gray hair: the psalm asks God to remain near, and Isaiah promises God’s sustaining care.
Deuteronomy 4:9Only be careful, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; …Both look toward younger generations who need to hear what God has done from those who have witnessed it.
Psalm 92:14They will still produce fruit in old age. They will be full of sap and green,Both describe purpose in old age: declaring God’s strength in Psalm 71 and continuing to produce fruit in Psalm 92.
Psalm 37:25I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his children begging for bread.Both speak from old age about being forsaken: one asks God for continued presence, while the other recalls his care.
John 15:16You didn’t choose me, but I chose you and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you will ask of …Both link prayer with a desired outcome: declaring God’s strength to future generations and bearing fruit that remains.
Psalm 71:9Don’t reject me in my old age. Don’t forsake me when my strength fails.Both prayers ask God not to forsake the speaker in old age, with verse 9 naming failing strength.
Psalm 78:4We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, his strength, and his wondrous deeds that he has done.Both name God’s strength as something to declare to the generation to come.
Joel 1:3Tell your children about it, and have your children tell their children, and their children, another generation.Both look beyond present hearers, seeking to pass an account onward through generations.
Exodus 13:14–17It shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you shall tell him, ‘By strength of hand the LORD brought us out from Egypt, …Both connect telling the next generation with God’s strength; Exodus names deliverance from Egypt as the account to tell.
1 Samuel 4:18When he made mention of God’s ark, Eli fell from off his seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck broke, and he died, for he was an old man and …Old age is the narrow connection: the psalm asks for God’s presence, while the account describes the aged Eli’s death.
Isaiah 51:9Awake, awake, put on strength, arm of the LORD! Awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Isn’t it you who cut Rahab in pieces, who …Both appeal to God’s strength, with the psalm looking toward future generations and Isaiah recalling generations of ancient times.
2 Peter 1:15Yes, I will make every effort that you may always be able to remember these things even after my departure.Both speakers want their testimony to reach beyond the present, through future generations or remembrance after departure.
Where this verse fits
Aging. retirement or purpose. fear for the future.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The speaker still needs God’s help after a lifetime of knowing him. Your need for his presence has a place in prayer at every age.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 71:18. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).