WARNING: THE STORY OF YOUR LIFE WILL BE PASSED ON TO OTHERS!

April 14, 2017

WARNING: THE STORY OF YOUR LIFE WILL BE PASSED ON TO OTHERS!

Psalm 71

Lonnie Smith

Central Truth

We could pass on empires, wealth, power, prestige, and fame to the generations to come. Yet from an eternal perspective, we'd fail miserably and tragically.

So even to old age and gray hairs,
O God, do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might to another generation,
your power to all those to come.
(Psalm 71:18)

Forsake Me Not When My Strength Is Spent

1 In you, O LORD, do I take refuge;
    let me never be put to shame!
2 In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
    incline your ear to me, and save me!
3 Be to me a rock of refuge,
    to which I may continually come;
you have given the command to save me,
    for you are my rock and my fortress.

4 Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
    from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man.
5 For you, O Lord, are my hope,
    my trust, O LORD, from my youth.
6 Upon you I have leaned from before my birth;
    you are he who took me from my mother's womb.
My praise is continually of you.

7 I have been as a portent to many,
    but you are my strong refuge.
8 My mouth is filled with your praise,
    and with your glory all the day.
9 Do not cast me off in the time of old age;
    forsake me not when my strength is spent.
10 For my enemies speak concerning me;
    those who watch for my life consult together
11 and say, “God has forsaken him;
    pursue and seize him,
    for there is none to deliver him.”

12 O God, be not far from me;
    O my God, make haste to help me!
13 May my accusers be put to shame and consumed;
    with scorn and disgrace may they be covered
    who seek my hurt.
14 But I will hope continually
    and will praise you yet more and more.
15 My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,
    of your deeds of salvation all the day,
    for their number is past my knowledge.
16 With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come;
    I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.

17 O God, from my youth you have taught me,
    and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
18 So even to old age and gray hairs,
    O God, do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might to another generation,
    your power to all those to come.
19 Your righteousness, O God,
    reaches the high heavens.
You who have done great things,
    O God, who is like you?
20 You who have made me see many troubles and calamities
    will revive me again;
from the depths of the earth
    you will bring me up again.
21 You will increase my greatness
    and comfort me again.

22 I will also praise you with the harp
    for your faithfulness, O my God;
I will sing praises to you with the lyre,
    O Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will shout for joy,
    when I sing praises to you;
    my soul also, which you have redeemed.
24 And my tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long,
for they have been put to shame and disappointed
    who sought to do me hurt.

A few months ago, I celebrated birthday number 56. A few things are changing. The gray in my beard is more pronounced; vision challenges make driving at night a real adventure; and if you’re seated across the room from me, chances are I won’t hear a word you say (just ask my wife). It’s happening, I’m getting old.

The psalmist penned Psalm 71 in his declining years. This psalm, perhaps above any other, is especially fitted for old disciples of Jesus Christ. While today’s psalm doesn’t have a designated writer, you can hear David in it (e.g., Psalm 71:1-3 echoes Psalm 31:1-3), and you can feel an urgency in his desire to pass on the story of his relationship with God to the next generation. Each time I read this psalm, I hear the writer declaring, “I have a story to tell, I have something to give away so that the generation to come will find hope in the midst of their own troubles and calamities” (see verse 20).

In verse 18, the psalmist, considering passing on his life of faith, longs to reach “all those to come” with the good news of God’s strength and power in the world. Fact: Believers do not simply pass on their traditions, values, and legacy to flesh and blood, but to every single person whose life they influence. That’s weighty and, for me, becoming more and more time sensitive.

I know I’m going to die. I know I’m going to take my last breath. I know the story of my life in this world is coming to an end. That’s why verse 18 grabs my heart. When the writer says, “do not forsake me, until,” he’s saying, “God, let me live until, with my last breath, I have ensured that I’ve passed along who You are to the generations to come.”

I have a long list of different things I want to leave with the people you see in my bio today, but if I fail to pass on that God is good, faithful, and trustworthy, it’s all meaningless.

1. In your sphere of influence, whom do you need to pray for today that Jesus would be much more than "someone" they've heard about, but a Savior they come to know and trust?

2. Psalm 71:7 says, "I have been as a portent to many." Despite the troubles and calamities (verse 20) in the life of the psalmist, his life was a sign that pointed others to the goodness and faithfulness of God. Despite the circumstances in your life, do you faithfully point those you influence to the God of hope and restoration?

3. Consider the legacy you'll leave. If you were standing in a room full of people you influence, and they were taking turns describing who you are in one word, what are some words you might hear? Loving? Joyful? Patient? Merciful? Kind? Giving? Faithful? Self-controlled? Truth-teller? Courageous? Self-centered? Angry? Disobedient? Dishonest? Liar? Selfish?

4. If you died today, what would the story of your life leave with others?