Psalm 71 "Cast Me Not Off in Time of Old Age!"

 

Dennis Edwards

Are you getting on in your years? Have things not worked as you had hoped and you don’t have anything set aside for the days of retirement? Are you estranged from your family and friends, and you wonder who will help you as you look down the path leading to death? Fear not. God has promised to supply all your needs according to His riches and glory and not according to the plans of man which often go astray. Let us read Psalm 71 and reflect on the goodness of God. Let us mediate on His sure promises and receive faith and hope for the future, no matter how dark it may seem at the moment.

Psalm 71:1 “In You, O Lord, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion.”

It’s interesting that the psalm uses the word “confusion.” Confused is how we may be tempted to feel as we look into the future with all its uncertainties. We may look back into our past and have regrets over the decisions of our youth, but God’s word tells us to, “forget the things that are behind and reach forth to the things that are before,” Philippians 3:14. We can’t change the past, but we can decide to trust God in the present, and by trusting Him now, we can change our present course and ultimate future. The future is as bright as the promises of God, no matter what has happened or what will happen. God is not the author of confusion, but of peace. He promises to impart to us His peace as we abide in Him through prayer and through meditating and obeying His word.

“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You: because he trusts in You,” Isaiah 26:3. “In returning and rest shall you be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength,” Isaiah 30:15b.

If you are feeling confused and in despair over the present or the future, take time with God. Jesus said, “Come unto Me, all you that labour and are heavy laden (and are confused and in despair), and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly of heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light,” Matthew 11:28-30.

God has a solution. Don’t lose courage and fall into confusion of heart and mind. Come into the arms of Jesus where you will find rest for your soul. He will see you through the storm and bring the solution that you seek. Look to Him.

Psalm 71:2 “Deliver me in Your righteousness, and cause me to escape: incline Your ear unto me, and save me.”

God has promised to save us. He has promised to hear us when we call. All we need to do is spend the time with Him in prayer and quiet meditation on His word. We need to spend time counting our blessing and being thankful. “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save: neither His ear heavy, that He cannot hear,” Isaiah 59:1. Let’s read another promise from Isaiah.

“He gives power to the faint; and to them that have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint,” Isaiah 40:29-31.

It’s in that coming to Jesus and waiting on Him in quiet prayer and reflection, and reading His word, that we will find the strength we need for today, and the faith and hope for tomorrow.

Psalm 71:3 “Be my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: You have given commandment to save me; for You are my rock and my fortress.”

Apostle Paul has taught us that the Lord Jesus is the Rock, the firm foundation of our faith, the cornerstone which the builders, the Jewish religious leaders, rejected. Apostle Peter, likewise, wrote,

1 Peter 2:6-10 “Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious: and he that believes on Him shall not be confounded. Unto you, therefore, which believe He is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders’ disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner. And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.”

Psalm 71:4-6 “Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. For You are my hope, O Lord God: You are my trust from my youth. By You have I been holden up from the womb: You are He that took me out of my mother’s womb: my praise shall be continually of You.”

God is our creator and, thus, we should “offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name,” Hebrews 13:15b.

Psalm 71:7 “I am a wonder unto many; but You are my strong refuge.”

The Lord is a strong refuge to those that trust in Him. He says, “I am your refuge and your strength, a very present help in time of trouble,” Psalm 46:1. “For You have been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat,” Isaiah 25:4a. Our God is not far off. If we seek Him, we will find Him, for through “Him we live, and move, and have our being,” Acts 17:28.

Psalm 71:8 “Let my mouth be filled with Your praise and with Your honour all the day long.”

For, “From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord’s name is to be praised,” Psalm 113:3. Praise is the victory. It is through praise and thanksgiving that we enter into God’s presence. If we want Him to abide with us throughout the day, the fruit of our lips should be continually giving praise to His name.

Psalm 71:9 “Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength fails.”

The fear of not having your needs met in old age can be a very real one. The fear of being left destitute, or homeless, without an income, and without anyone to help you, even happens in the present modern world.

Psalm 71:10-11 “For my enemies speak against me, and they that lay wait for my soul take counsel together, saying, God has forsaken him: persecute and take him, for there is none to deliver him.”

In moments of despair, we can feel as if we have been abandoned by God, friends, and family; because of our sins, mistakes, and failures. We can fall into the valley of despondency, and feel forsaken.

Psalm 71:12 “O God, be not far from me: O my God, make haste to help me.”

When we pass through that Valley of Baca, the valley of suffering, or spiritual dryness, or feeling long from God, it can seem endless. The hand of the Lord may seem slow in responding, but faint not. “Though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry,” Habakkuk 2:3b.

Psalm 71:13-14 “Let them be confounded and consumed that are adversaries to my soul; let them be covered with reproach and dishonour that seek my hurt. But I will hope continually, and will yet praise You more and more.”

As Christians our continual hope comes through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. “Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.” It is He that gives us hope, and that hope makes us carry on in the face of difficulties and even rejoice. “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation works patience, and patience experience; and experience, hope: and hope makes us not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts,” Romans 5:3-5a.

Psalm 71:15 “My mouth shall show forth Your righteousness and Your Salvation all the day; for I know not the numbers thereof.”

God has called us to be faithful witnesses even to our death. “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you a crown of life,” Revelation 2:10b. “There is no man that has power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither has he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war,” Ecclesiastes 8:8. Our times are in His hands, Psalm 31:15.

Psalm 71:16 “I will go in the strength of the Lord God: I will make mention of Your righteousness, even of Yours only.”

Our own righteousness stinks. It filthy menstrual rags, Isaiah 64:6. By our faith in Christ and our obedience to His word, God has imputed unto us the righteousness which is in Christ. We have put on the Lord Jesus Christ and are covered with His robe of righteousness. “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,” Isaiah 61:10a.

Psalm 71:17-18 “O God, You have taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared your wonderous works. Now also when I am old and grey headed, O God, forsake me not; until I have shown Your strength unto this generation, and Your power to everyone that is to come.”

If we have faithfully served the Lord and shared His truth and love to the lost, we can expect that He will also not forsake us when we are old and grey headed. He will give us strength to continue to witness to the next generation. We can claim the promise found in Isaiah 46:4. “And even in your old age; I am He; and even to your grey hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.”

Psalm 71:19 “Your righteousness also, O God, is very high, who has done great things: O God, who is like unto You?”

There is no god likened unto our God. He is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. “Who is like unto You. O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” Exodus 15:11.

Psalm 71:20 “You, which has showed me great and sore troubles, shall quicken me again, and shall bring me up again from the depths of the earth.”

Job had said something similar to his wife who had told him to “curse God and die,” when Job went through his testing. He answered her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. What shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” Job 2:10a. Through life we do pass through “great and sore troubles,” but our hope is in the resurrection, that He “shall quicken us once again, and bring us up from the depths of the earth.”

Job also had that same hope. “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my death worms shall destroy this body, yet in my (new) flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another; though my organs be consumed within me,” Job 19:25-27.

Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life: he that believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever lives and believes in Me shall never die,” John 11:25-26.

Our hope comes from Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. “He is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the pre-eminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell; and having made peace through the blood of the cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now has He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight; if you continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you have heard,” Colossians 1:18-23a.

Psalm 71:21 “You shall increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side.”

If we are faithful to God, He will be faithful to us and supply all our needs according to His riches and glory, Philippians 4:19. “Let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season, you shall reap, if you faint not,” Galatians 6:9.

Psalm 71:22 “I also will praise You with the psaltery, even Your truth, O my God: unto You will I sing with the harp, O You (the) Holy One of Israel.”

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” John 14:6. “For the law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ,” John 1:17. When Jesus walked the earth, the demons knew and cried out that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed “the Holy One of God.” And the unclean spirit cried out, “Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Are You come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God,” Mark 1:24 and Luke 4:34.

Jesus is the Holy One of Israel found in the Old Testament. “For your Maker is your husband, (and we are His bride); the Lord of hosts is His name; and your Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall He be called,” Isaiah 54:5.

Psalm 71:23-24 “My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto You; and my soul which You have redeemed. My tongue also shall talk of Your righteousness all the day long: for they are confounded, for they are brought unto shame, that seek my hurt.”

Looking back over our lives, we can see that God has kept us. We can rejoice in the victories He has brought us through. In His righteousness and goodness, He has redeemed us and given us victory over our enemies.

“He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of His people shall He take away from off the earth; for the Lord has spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation,” Isaiah 25:8-9.

“Rejoice in the Lord always: and again, I say, Rejoice,” Philippians 4:6. “In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you,” 1 Thessalonians 5:18. “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord,” Psalm 150:6.

Originally published September 21, 2025