Psalms 71: 9-16….The old are not to forget or be forgotten.

Do not cast me off in the time of old age;
forsake me not when my strength is spent.
For my enemies speak concerning me;
those who watch for my life consult together
and say, “God has forsaken him;
pursue and seize him,
for there is none to deliver him.”
O God, be not far from me;
O my God, make haste to help me!
May my accusers be put to shame and consumed;
with scorn and disgrace may they be covered
who seek my hurt.
But I will hope continually
and will praise you yet more and more.
My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,
of your deeds of salvation all the day,
for their number is past my knowledge.
With the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD I will come;
I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.

Comment: The young David becomes older. He, in spite of lost strength, has gained experience and with increasing knowledge he has become wiser! But now there are people from a younger generation wanting to push him aside and take his place. His hope is in God’s faithfulness and promises God that he, David, will continue to remind people of what God has done for him and them. The upcoming younger ones seek to want everything today! Truly eventually the old have to stand aside but their faithfulness to the end, their memories and their telling of God’s dealings in their’s and society’s past is very usable by God. Persistence until the end is one of the things the scriptures underlines and repeatedly emphasizes!

Prayer: Help me through all the changes of growing old, to be courageous in my declining years and faithful to You.