Seize the Moment – Day 1183
The Prayer of the Aged Believer!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, June 13.
We live in a culture where influencers are determined by their youth and beauty. Is there a place for the wisdom of the aged in our world today? More than ever, we need the perspective and experiences of our elders. How should the senior saints pray? David modeled for us the prayer of the aged believer in Psalm 71, overtly petitioning God in verse 9, “Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength fails.” Spurgeon insightfully commented on David’s prayer, “Old age robs us of personal beauty, and deprives us of strength for active service; but it does not lower us in the love and favour [sic] of God.”[1]
First, pray with confidence! Even if you, as an aged believer, don’t feel valued by our culture in your old age, never forget that your sufficiency is found in God’s inexhaustible grace, not the energy of your fleeting youth. Second, pray with conviction! David continued in Psalm 71:17-19, calling all senior saints to persevere in the mission of God:
O God, You have taught me from my youth, and I still declare Your wondrous deeds. And even when I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to all who are to come. For Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the heavens, You who have done great things; O God, who is like You?
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 71, meditating upon the reward of your faith – “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7-8).
God bless you!
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YOUTUBE:
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FOOTNOTE:
[1] C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Psalms 56-87, vol. 3 (London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers, n.d.), 209.