What Does Psalm 71:9 Mean in the King James?
Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The verse gives a name to the fear of being discarded precisely when strength runs out.
THE MEANING
Age and failing strength are named without disguise, and the fear of being thrown away is brought directly to God. This is a prayer for God’s presence precisely when personal capacity runs out. It lets dependence be voiced without treating diminished strength as diminished worth.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
When my strength fails, I lose the right to ask God not to leave me.
THE ROOT
תַּשְׁלִיכֵנִי
tashlikheni
GROWS FROM
שלך
š-l-k
To throw, cast, or fling away.
“Cast me off” in this verse is tashlikheni. The verb carries the force of being thrown away, not merely feeling lonely. It makes the fear concrete: that age might make the speaker seem disposable.
ALSO GROWS
hishlikh: He threw or cast.
הִשְׁלִיךְ
This verbal form keeps the physical force of the plea visible: the speaker fears being cast away.
shlikhah: Throwing or disposal.
שְׁלִיכָה
This noun makes the image of being discarded explicit.
כְּכַלּוֹת
kekhalot
GROWS FROM
כלה
k-l-h
To finish, come to an end, or be spent.
“Faileth” in this verse is kekhalot. The phrase pictures strength reaching its end, not simply having a weak moment. The plea names the point when the speaker’s capacity is spent.
ALSO GROWS
kalah: To be finished or come to an end.
כָּלָה
The verb shows the ending built into the phrase about failing strength.
killayon: Destruction or complete consumption.
כִּלָּיוֹן
This noun carries the root’s sense of something reaching a total end.
תַּעַזְבֵנִי
ta'azveni
GROWS FROM
עזב
ʿ-z-b
To leave, abandon, or relinquish.
“Forsake me” in this verse is ta'azveni. Alongside the image of being thrown away, the verse names the fear of being left when help is most needed. The two pleas hold together active rejection and abandonment.
ALSO GROWS
ʿazuvah: Forsaken or abandoned.
עָזוּבָה
This form from the same root names the condition the speaker fears.
ʿazuv: Abandoned or left behind.
עָזוּב
This branch makes the plea’s fear of being left explicit.
THE PATTERN
Bodily decline does not erase the possibility of continuing care and fruitfulness.
And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.THE THREAD
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.Verse 18 repeats עזב (ʿazav, leave or abandon), the root behind “forsake” in verse 9, and names old age directly. It extends the plea toward the next generation, where God’s strength is still to be made known.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us