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18 Now that I am old and my hair is gray,[a]
    do not abandon me, O God,
until I have extolled your might
    to all the generations yet to come,
your strength 19 and your righteousness, O God,
    to the highest heavens.
You have done great things;
    O God, who is there who is like you?
20 You have shown me many afflictions and hardships,
    but you will once again revive me.
From the depths of the earth[b]
    you will once again raise me up.

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 71:18 Youth . . . old and . . . gray: this passage can be applied without difficulty to Israel to whom the Prophets apply images of youth (see Jer 2:2; Hos 2:15) and old age (see Isa 46:4; Hos 7:9; see also Ps 129:1f). Might: literally, “arm,” a prophetic image (see Isa 51:9; 53:1), used often with respect to the miracles of the Exodus. This passage (see Pss 22:31f; 78:5f; 102:19) shows how conscious the psalmists were of being bearers of tradition.
  2. Psalm 71:20 From the depths of the earth: the realm of the dead, which is entered by the grave (see note on Ps 30:2).