Psalm 71 was written by an older man. He is an old man with many trials and problems, but he is obviously a joyful man who is able to put his focus on the Lord in the midst of these trials.
For many of us, most years of our younger lives, we always wanted to be old enough to be able to ….go to school, drive a car, live on our own, get married, have children, etc. Then when we turn the magic age of ___, (probably a different age for all of us!), and we start feeling as if we were actually younger than we really were and we definitely looked younger than our actual age. Shortly after the “magic age” hit, the inevitable begins to set in: bifocals, gray hair sprouted, extra weight, regular doctor appointments, you know the picture. So, the obvious question arises to all of us that hit that “magic age,” “What should I be doing now, however old I am, to prepare for old age?”
The answer is that it is what we should be doing our entire lives. In this scripture, God advises us that, “The fact is, you will be then (old) what you are becoming now. If you are not becoming a person of faith now, you will not be a person of faith then. If you are a negative, grumpy person now, you will not be a positive, cheerful person then. If you aren’t developing a walk with God now, you won’t have one when you are old.” The reason that the psalmist could handle his problems so well as an old man was that he had developed a walk with God in the years leading up to this time. He had a proven resource in the Lord which enabled him to be strong inside, even though his body was growing weaker and his enemies were powerful.
God’s way to grow old is to develop a walk with Him now by doing the following:
- We need to develop a deep knowledge of God.
- We need to develop the godly habits of trust, praise, and hope.
- We need to develop a lifestyle of ministry for God.
Consider where you are now in your life and describe your current spiritual lifestyle. Life on earth is not guaranteed, but your afterlife is, if Christ is your Savior. If something happened to you tomorrow, would you be where you want to be before leaving your earthly home and meeting up with God? What changes would you make and how would you go about making those changes? Who could you talk to in order to develop a better relationship with God? May the Lord bless you with the desire to know Him, trust others, be a happy, hopeful, positive person, and to develop a ministry for God with others.
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