The big picture
Psalm 71 lets an older voice speak without treating age as either embarrassment or ornament. The speaker remembers dependence reaching back beyond youth to birth itself and asks that the refuge known across a lifetime remain available when bodily strength fails. Enemies interpret weakness as evidence that God has abandoned him, but the prayer refuses their conclusion and asks for help that would contradict it in practice. Continuing life is then given a purpose larger than self-preservation: the speaker wants to show God's strength to a generation still coming after him. The distinction is deliberate. His own strength is failing, while the strength he wants to declare has not become smaller. The ending gathers instruments, lips, soul, and tongue into anticipated praise. Great troubles remain part of the remembered life, but they do not receive its final sound.
Central truth
Psalm 71 gathers a lifetime of trust into a prayer from old age, asking God not to forsake the worshiper when strength fails so that one more generation may hear of God's righteousness, power, and repeated restoration.
The study notes have a page of their own
The movement by movement analysis, the words to trace, the verse by verse notes and where readers differ are written for someone studying alone. They are on the Deep Personal Reflections page for this chapter. This page is the lesson.
A chapter-specific teaching brief
These anchors come from this chapter itself. They help a teacher use the Level 1 overview, the Level 2 study, and the Scripture text as one lesson.
Open with the chapter’s first image
Psalms 71:1: “In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion.”
Slow down at the turning point
Psalms 71:14: “But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more.”
Keep this word trail visible
righteousness, praise, continually, Deliver, LORD, soul
What to explain, in order
Teach the passage in this order. Each step names the verses it rests on, so every point can be shown in the text before it is applied.
Psalm 71:1-4
A refuge to keep coming back to
Begin with the opening prayer. "In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion." Then 71:3, "Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort". Explain resort as going back again and again to the same safe place. Teach this first so the class sees the psalm is not a first cry for help, but the prayer of someone who has run to the same rock for a whole lifetime and is running there again.
Psalm 71:5-8
From the womb
Read 71:5-8 and mark the life stages: "from my youth" and "from the womb". God held him up before he could know it and has been his hope ever since. Explain verse 7, "I am as a wonder unto many": a sign, possibly of trouble, that others puzzle over, "but thou art my strong refuge". Teach this second because the long memory of God's care is the ground on which the old man stands to make his request.
Psalm 71:9-13
When strength fails
Read 71:9 slowly: "Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth." Let the room feel it, especially older members. Then read the enemies' logic in 71:10-11, "God hath forsaken him". Explain that this is the lie the psalm answers. Teach this step with care, because many fear being set aside when they are weak. The psalmist prays, "O God, be not far from me", rather than accepting the verdict.
Psalm 71:14-18
Hope that does not retire
Read 71:14-18. "But I will hope continually". Point out "more and more", "all the day", and "I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD". Then verse 18: he asks not to be forsaken "until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation". Explain that the gray head has a calling: to tell. Teach this as the heart of the psalm, and invite the class to think of an older believer who taught them about God.
Psalm 71:19-21
Great troubles, greater God
Read 71:19-21. God's righteousness "is very high" and he has done great things. Then the honest line: he "hast shewed me great and sore troubles". Explain that the psalm does not pretend God was absent from the hard years. Then "shalt quicken me again" and "bring me up again from the depths of the earth". Teach this step to hold both truths together: real trouble and real restoration, from the same faithful hands.
Psalm 71:22-24
Harp, lips and tongue
Read the ending. The psaltery and harp, the lips that "greatly rejoice", the soul "which thou hast redeemed", and the tongue that talks of God's righteousness "all the day long". Explain the title "Holy One of Israel", common in Isaiah. Teach this last so the group sees the whole person, including an ageing body, given over to praise. The psalm that began asking not to be ashamed ends with the enemies "brought unto shame".
Where learners get stuck
The misreadings this passage tends to produce, and how to answer each from the text.
"When I get old and weak, God has less use for me."
The psalmist prays from old age and gray hair (71:9, 71:18) and asks for time to show God's strength "unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come" (71:18). His weakness is the setting for his greatest task. Isaiah 46:4 says God will carry his people even to hoar hairs, and Titus 2:2-5 gives older believers the work of teaching the younger.
"If my strength is failing, it must mean God has left me."
That is exactly what the enemies say: "God hath forsaken him" (71:11). The psalm treats it as a lie to be answered in prayer: "O God, be not far from me" (71:12). The psalmist's whole life is evidence against it, from the womb (71:6) to the present. Hebrews 13:5 repeats God's promise, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
"After a lifetime of faith, I should not need to keep hoping."
The old man says "But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more" (71:14). Hope is renewed, not retired. Long experience of God gives more reasons for it, but each day still needs fresh trust. Lamentations 3:22-23 says God's compassions are new every morning, which is why hope can be new every morning too.
"God only gives good things, so the troubles in my life cannot have come under his hand."
The psalm speaks plainly: "Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles" (71:20). It does not explain why, and it does not blame God for wrong. It holds the troubles inside God's purposes and expects the same God to "quicken me again". Let the text stand without forcing an explanation of every suffering; the psalm moves from trouble to trust.
Learning objectives
- Trace the references to womb, youth, old age, gray hairs, and future generations.
- Explain how lifelong trust is used as grounds for present prayer rather than as a claim of personal merit.
- Identify what the enemies say in verses 10–11 and why their interpretation of weakness is dangerous.
- Explain the mission of verse 18: declaring God's strength to the next generation.
- Trace the movement from troubles in verse 20 to renewed life and increased greatness in verses 20–21.
- Identify the instruments and divine attributes named in the closing praise of verses 22–24.
Teacher preparation
- Read the psalm and mark every life-stage term before teaching any single verse.
- Note that Psalm 71 has no superscription in the KJV, so do not assign David or another author as a certainty.
- Prepare to explain 'from my mother's bowels' and 'from the womb' as ancient language for dependence on God from earliest life.
- Write verses 9 and 18 together because both ask not to be forsaken in old age, but verse 18 adds a purpose beyond personal survival.
- Mark the switch from petition to confident future praise in verses 14–24, especially the repeated references to righteousness.
Evidence and interpretation checks
Explicit
Verses 5–6 explicitly say God has been hope and trust from youth and the womb, while verses 9 and 18 explicitly bring old age and failing strength into the prayer.
Scripture-supported
Verse 18 supports the teaching purpose of continued life: the petitioner asks not to be forsaken until God's strength and power are shown to the coming generation.
Strong inference
Because verses 20–21 move from many sore troubles to renewed life and increased greatness, it is a strong inference that the psalm expects restoration without pretending the troubles never happened.
Possible or traditional reading
Tradition often associates Psalm 71 with David because of verbal links with Davidic psalms, but the KJV heading does not name an author.
Limit
Psalm 71 does not promise freedom from aging, permanent physical strength, or exemption from enemies; its request assumes weakness and continued dependence.
Discussion with answer guidance
1. How many stages of life can the class find in Psalm 71?
What a good answer contains
At least four, and each has its verse. The womb: "By thee have I been holden up from the womb" (71:6). Youth: "thou art my trust from my youth" (71:5) and "thou hast taught me from my youth" (71:17). Old age: "Cast me not off in the time of old age" (71:9) and "when I am old and grayheaded" (71:18). The next generation: "until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come" (71:18). A good answer sees that one life of trust is being handed on. A weak answer finds only old age.
Show teacher guidance
Require textual locations: womb in verse 6, youth in verses 5 and 17, old age in verses 9 and 18, and the coming generation in verse 18.
2. What mistake do the enemies make in verses 10–11?
What a good answer contains
They read weakness as proof that God has left. "For mine enemies speak against me; and they that lay wait for my soul take counsel together, Saying, God hath forsaken him: persecute and take him; for there is none to deliver him" (71:10-11). Because his strength fails (71:9), they decide God has gone. A good answer names the mistake: frailty is not abandonment. The psalmist answers with prayer, "O God, be not far from me" (71:12). A weak answer only says the enemies were cruel.
Show teacher guidance
They interpret vulnerability as abandonment by God and conclude the petitioner can be pursued without rescue.
3. Why does verse 14 say 'I will hope continually' after so many years of trust?
What a good answer contains
Because trust has to be renewed every day, even after a long life of it. "But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more" (71:14). The But turns from the enemies' taunt to resolve. Past faithfulness gives reasons for hope; it does not make hope automatic. A good answer notices "more and more": the old man expects his praise to grow, not shrink, and verse 15 admits that God's salvation is beyond counting, "for I know not the numbers thereof". A weak answer treats faith as finished.
Show teacher guidance
Past faithfulness does not make present trust automatic. The psalm keeps hope active rather than treating it as a completed achievement.
4. What is the purpose of not being forsaken in verse 18?
What a good answer contains
So that he can keep telling. "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" (71:18). He does not ask for long life for its own sake. He wants time to pass on what God taught him "from my youth" (71:17). A good answer sees that the purpose of old age here is testimony, and that the elderly have a task in the church. A weak answer reads it only as fear of death.
Show teacher guidance
The petitioner wants time to declare God's strength and power to everyone who is to come, making longevity serve testimony.
5. How do verses 20–21 speak about trouble without allowing trouble the final word?
What a good answer contains
By naming trouble honestly and then naming God's action. "Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth. Thou shalt increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side" (71:20-21). The troubles came under God's hand, and so does the restoring. To quicken means to make alive. A good answer notes the word again, twice: God has restored before and will again. Christian readers hear in "from the depths of the earth" a hope that reaches past death.
Show teacher guidance
Many and sore troubles are named plainly, then God is expected to quicken again, bring up from depths, and increase greatness.
6. Why do the final verses mention both psaltery and harp?
What a good answer contains
Because praise fills the whole person and becomes public. "I will also praise thee with the psaltery, even thy truth, O my God: unto thee will I sing with the harp, O thou Holy One of Israel" (71:22). Then lips, soul and tongue join in: "My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee; and my soul, which thou hast redeemed" (71:23). A good answer sees that the old worshiper, whose strength failed in verse 9, ends with hands on instruments and a tongue that will "talk of thy righteousness all the day long" (71:24).
Show teacher guidance
The closing praise becomes concrete and public: instruments, God's truth, the Holy One of Israel, lips, redeemed soul, and speaking tongue all join.
Responsible application
Heart and habits
Build a timeline from the psalm's life-stage words and use it to identify how remembered grace can strengthen present dependence without becoming nostalgia.
Relationships and community
Use verse 18 to design one way older believers can pass biblical testimony to younger people without requiring younger people to imitate personalities or preferences.
Do not retire the witness
Ask what ongoing purpose the psalm assigns to old age, then compare that purpose with cultural assumptions that usefulness ends when strength declines.
Session plans
Two timings of the same lesson. The shorter keeps the reading, the central discussion and one response; the longer gives the confusions and the application their own time.
45 minutes
A lifetime of trust
Read the psalm through and ask question one. Mark the life stages on a line.
Continually resort
Read 71:1-8 and talk about the long memory of God's care.
God hath forsaken him
Read 71:9-13. Ask question two and take confusions one and two.
Hope continually
Read 71:14-18. Ask questions three and four and take confusion three.
Quicken me again
Read 71:19-21, ask question five and take confusion four briefly.
Harp and tongue
Read 71:22-24 and ask question six.
Handout and prayer
Hand out the sheet, read the key verse together, and pray for older members of the church.
90 minutes
Who taught you
Ask each person to name, if they can, an older believer who taught them about God.
From the womb
Read 71:1-8 and ask question one. Draw a life line with the verses at each stage.
When strength faileth
Read 71:9-13 and Isaiah 46:4. Ask question two and take confusions one and two with Hebrews 13:5.
More and more
Read 71:14-16 and Lamentations 3:22-23. Ask question three and take confusion three.
Unto this generation
Read 71:17-18 and Titus 2:2-5. Ask question four and discuss how the church can make room for older voices.
Great and sore troubles
Read 71:19-21. Ask question five and take confusion four with care.
My soul, which thou hast redeemed
Read 71:22-24 and ask question six. If possible, close the section with a song of praise.
Handout and prayer
Read the key verse together, point to the take-home line, and pray for the older believers named at the start.
Adapting the lesson
Children
Draw a simple line from a baby to a child to a grandparent with gray hair, and put one verse at each place: verse 6, verse 17 and verse 18. Tell the children God cared for them before they were born and will care for them when they are old. Ask them to think of a grandparent or older friend who loves God.
Youth
Ask what older believers have taught them, and what they would want to know from someone who has followed God for seventy years. Read 71:17-18 and point out that the old man wants to tell their generation about God's strength. Encourage them to ask an older Christian this week for their account of God's faithfulness.
Adults
Adults can trace the life stages and the movement from fear to praise. Discuss the enemies' assumption in 71:11 and how churches can quietly treat the frail as finished. Talk about verse 18 as a calling for older members and about how middle-aged adults can prepare now to tell the next generation.
One to one
If the person is elderly, ill or losing strength, read 71:9 and 71:18 with them and assure them that God has not cast them off and that they still have a calling to tell. If they are afraid, pray 71:12 together. Ask them to share one thing God has done in their life, and listen.
Song and video learning lab
A song or video may interpret, compress, or dramatize the text. Its value becomes clearer when its choices are compared with Scripture.
- Before the media: the exact passage and its central movement.
- During the media: the words, people, events, and emotions the artist emphasizes.
- After the media: what it clarifies, what it leaves out, and what belongs back in the biblical text.
Handout
One page for learners to take home. The print button prints this section alone.
Psalms 71:1–24
The passage in brief
Psalm 71 is the prayer of an older believer who has trusted God all his life, from before he was born, through his youth, and now into gray hair. Enemies say God has left him because he is weak, but he keeps hoping and praising God more and more. He asks God not to forsake him until he has told the next generation about God's strength. God brought him through great troubles and will raise him up again.
A verse to keep
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.
Psalms 71:18 · King James Version
Questions to take home
What stages of life does the psalm mention in 71:5-6 and 71:17-18?
What do the enemies say in 71:11, and why are they wrong?
Who could you tell about God's faithfulness this week?
This week
This week, ask an older believer how God has been faithful to them, or tell a younger one how he has been faithful to you.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
