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Psalm 71 · a question people ask

Who prays Psalm 71, and is he old?

In the text

Psalm 71 has no title, so it names no one and no occasion, and the New Testament doesn't name anyone for it. The psalm before it is titled "By David" (Psalm 70:1); this one isn't, and these notes don't give it a name. What the psalm does say is that the one praying has trusted God "from my youth" (71:5) and even "from the womb" (71:6). It speaks of old age as a prayer: "Don’t reject me in my old age" (71:9), and "even when I am old and gray-haired, God, don’t forsake me" (71:18). It doesn't say how old he is when he prays it.

The verses

“For the Chief Musician. By David. A reminder. Hurry, God, to deliver me. Come quickly to help me, LORD.”
Psalm 70:1 · World English Bible
“For you are my hope, Lord GOD, my confidence from my youth. I have relied on you from the womb. You are he who took me out of my mother’s womb. I will always praise you.”
Psalm 71:5-6 · World English Bible
“Don’t reject me in my old age. Don’t forsake me when my strength fails.”
Psalm 71:9 · World English Bible
“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.”
Psalm 71:18 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Psalm 71

Psalm 71: Even when I am old

The Hebrew word ziqnah, old age, is in the Psalms only twice, and both are here (71:9, 71:18). In 71:18 it stands beside gray-haired, the same pair God uses in "Even to old age I am he, and even to gray hairs I will carry you" (Isaiah 46:4). And a psalm that opens "Never let me be disappointed" (71:1) ends "they are disappointed" (71:24), one Hebrew verb.

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions