Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Psalms 71:9 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 9. 9Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Psalm 71:9: Within “Lifelong trust through aging and threat,” the line “Cast me not off in the time of old age” supplies one distinct parallel claim, image, address, or response.
Read It With
- Psalms 71:1–24
Read Psalms 71:9 with 71:1–24. Read alone, “Cast me not off in the time of old age” could lose the individual voice, the parallel line or movement it develops, and the psalm's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Within Psalms 71:1–24, the individual voice carries the movement “Lifelong trust through aging and threat” as part of “Lifelong trust through aging and threat.” Its lament-confidence form and poetic parallelism hold the petitions, images, memories, or praise together before any single line is applied.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Psalms 71:1–24 opens Psalm 71 with “In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion” and establishes the individual voice and “Lifelong trust through aging and threat” movement before later lines develop or answer it. Within that relationship, Psalm 71:9 adds the distinct poetic line “Cast me not off in the time of old age” within “Lifelong trust through aging and threat,” where its parallel neighbors determine emphasis and scope.
Follow the Context
- Identify the individual voice, address, and parallel lines in Psalms 71:1–24; do not make every “I”, “we,” king, enemy, or worshiper interchangeable.
- Within Psalms 71:1–24, the individual voice carries the movement “Lifelong trust through aging and threat” as part of “Lifelong trust through aging and threat.” Its lament-confidence form and poetic parallelism hold the petitions, images, memories, or praise together before any single line is applied.
- This reading does not authorize the following misuse: Aging language honors dependence and testimony; it must not stigmatize disability, promise painless old age, or substitute prayer for care.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
Psalms 71:9 does not allow “Cast me not off in the time of old age” to become an independent promise, command, accusation, doctrine, or authorization. This verse adds the distinct poetic line “Cast me not off in the time of old age” within “Lifelong trust through aging and threat,” where its parallel neighbors determine emphasis and scope. The complete movement is “Lifelong trust through aging and threat.” This reading does not authorize the following misuse: Aging language honors dependence and testimony; it must not stigmatize disability, promise painless old age, or substitute prayer for care.
What Remains True
Because this verse serves “Lifelong trust through aging and threat,” its enduring claim is proportionate: Trust can be voiced within danger and delay without becoming a guarantee of immunity or a reason to reject practical care. Psalm 71:9 adds the distinct poetic line “Cast me not off in the time of old age” within “Lifelong trust through aging and threat,” where its parallel neighbors determine emphasis and scope. The local movement is “Lifelong trust through aging and threat.” The unit's reviewed limit is: Aging language honors dependence and testimony; it must not stigmatize disability, promise painless old age, or substitute prayer for care.
How It Can Shape Life
- Because Psalm 71:9 belongs to “Lifelong trust through aging and threat,” its role must lead the practice: Psalm 71:9 adds the distinct poetic line “Cast me not off in the time of old age” within “Lifelong trust through aging and threat,” where its parallel neighbors determine emphasis and scope. Hold “Cast me not off in the time of old age” as prayerful hope rather than a prediction; take the next safe and truthful action while the outcome remains uncertain.
Teach It Back
Build a short teaching of Psalm 71:9: quote “Cast me not off in the time of old age,” summarize “Lifelong trust through aging and threat,” show the line's role, cite the checked context, preserve one alternative, derive a safe practice, and make this negation explicit: This reading does not authorize the following misuse: Aging language honors dependence and testimony; it must not stigmatize disability, promise painless old age, or substitute prayer for care.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Psalms 71:1–24 — Lifelong trust through aging and threatSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
Where care is needed
Aging language honors dependence and testimony; it must not stigmatize disability, promise painless old age, or substitute prayer for care.
This Lens uses WHO guidance only to avoid unsafe modern communication about distress, isolation, death wishes, or severe loss; it does not diagnose the speaker or replace exegesis and appropriate care.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Psalms 71:1–24, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Psalms
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ps.xml, OSIS 71:1–24
Open the fixed Hebrew Psalms file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Notes: Psalms 1-150
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, current official online edition
Supports: Verse-level controls for poetic syntax, imagery, older KJV language, textual issues, headings, and alternatives in Psalms 71:1–24.
Exact location: Official NET Bible Psalm 71 HTML, translator, textual, and study notes attached to Psalms 71:1–24
Open the official NET Psalms notes ↗modern scholarly book course
Psalms course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, theological themes, and Bible in the world
Fred Gaiser; revised by Nicholas Schaser
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, revised May 2024
Supports: Five-book, genre, poetic, historical, theological, liturgical, communal, and reception synthesis with visible limits.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Psalms course, Introductory Issues: individual and communal lament, from lament to praise, and Bible in the World; applied to Psalms 71:1–24
Open the Enter the Bible Psalms course ↗ancient greek text translation and introduction
A New English Translation of the Septuagint: Psalms
Albert Pietersma
International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies; Oxford University Press, 2009
Supports: Ancient Greek wording, numbering, division, and superscription evidence where it materially clarifies translation or reception.
Exact location: NETS Psalms, Pietersma introduction pp. 542–543 and exact Greek translation headed Ps 71 for Psalms 71:1–24
Open NETS Psalms ↗peer reviewed open access research overview
An Overview of the Study of Imprecatory Psalms: Reformed and Evangelical Approaches to the Interpretation of Imprecatory Psalms
Daniel Simango and P. Paul Krüger
Old Testament Essays 29.3, 2016
Supports: Major historical, literary, covenantal, ethical, and reception approaches to curses and enemy language.
Exact location: Simango and Krüger, 'An Overview of the Study of Imprecatory Psalms,' OTE 29.3 (2016), pp. 581–600, complete approach survey; applied to Psalms 71:1–24
Open the imprecatory-psalm overview ↗peer reviewed open access literary and ethical study
Embracing the Psalter's imprecatory words in the 21st century
Nancy L. deClaissé-Walford
Acta Theologica Supplementum 32, 2021
Supports: Imprecation retained as difficult prayer and communal speech without converting violent wishes into commands or erasing Jewish reception.
Exact location: deClaissé-Walford, 'Embracing the Psalter's imprecatory words,' Acta Theologica Suppl. 32 (2021), pp. 275–292, especially literary, liturgical, trauma, and ethical proposal; applied to Psalms 71:1–24
Open deClaissé-Walford on imprecation ↗public health communication guidance
Preventing Suicide: A Resource for Media Professionals, Update 2023
World Health Organization
World Health Organization, 2023
Supports: Communication safeguards against romanticizing, sensationalizing, diagnosing, blaming, or simplifying despair, isolation, death wishes, and severe loss; not exegesis.
Exact location: WHO, Preventing Suicide: A Resource for Media Professionals, Update 2023, quick guide p. xiii and dos and don'ts pp. 11–16; applied only to modern safety-aware presentation of Psalms 71:1–24
Open the WHO communication guide ↗