Psalm 71:14 – 18
14 As for me, I will always have hope;
I will praise you more and more.
15 My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds,
of your saving acts all day long—
though I know not how to relate them all.
16 I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, Sovereign LORD;
I will proclaim your righteous deeds, yours alone.
17 Since my youth, God, you have taught me,
and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.
18 Even when I am old and gray,
do not forsake me, my God,
till I declare your power to the next generation,
your mighty acts to all who are to come.
I read Psalm 71 the other day, and this is the portion of Scripture that jumped out at me. The first 13 verses are David crying out to God because of his troubles and his enemies and such. I believe this is something most of us can understand. We’ve all got issues. Financial, family, work, overweight, don’t exercise enough, friends, etc. Some people seem to have it worse than others, but we’ve all got problems. And so did David. But these 5 verses are a reminder of how we should be responding. These 5 verses layout the kind of life I hope to live during my remaining time on this earth.
Check out verse 14. Can you say this? When your problems are at the worst, can you truly say this? If not, you need to read your Bible more … pray more. You will be able to say this no matter what kind of problem you are experiencing IF you are daily getting into God’s Word and growing in your knowledge of who God is and how God works.
I love verse 15! I must admit I do not share my faith anywhere near as much as I wish I was sharing my faith. I hope this will change in me as I go forward. But verse 15 screams out even more to those of us that say (or think) "I can’t share my faith because I want know what to say." David says he’s going to proclaim it even "though I know not how to relate them all." Just tell them what you know and you have experienced. Leave the results up to God.
Verse 18 is for the older people. Although many of my friends and family are calling me old now that I’ve turned 40, I realize I still have much time left on this earth. But as my children grow and leave the home, and as they begin to have children of their own, I am reminded that my days of declaring God’s glory go on until I am dead. I have a responsibility of declaring God to my grand children and other people that God will bring my way as I continue through life.
My prayer is that I will be declaring God’s glory on my deathbed. I truly hope that as I lay at that moment of life ending here on earth and soon beginning in Heaven, that God will give me something to say that will truly encourage someone who remains here on earth.
Go with God,
Donald B
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