When I am Old and Gray

Psalm 71:18 “Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come.” (NIV)

As a new grandparent I am thrilled to spend time with Gracie, my granddaughter. Gracie will be ten months old soon and she is growing stronger and more alert with those things around her each and every day. It is such a joy to see children grow up and take on their own personality.

But all of us, no matter how young or old we are physically, are children of God. God loves us and cares for us as if we were all young babies just starting out in life. I am now 66 years young and my mother reminded me the other day of my first spoken sentence: “Momma see the plane.” Although I’m yesterday’s child, it was as if I was still that young child so many years ago. My mother will never give up on me or let me go as long as there is breath in her body. Even now I am concerned about my own grown children, because they will always be my children regardless of how old they grow or gray they become.

Time is relative and never absolute in relationships because we know that God is in control and he alone knows our days of life on this earth (Psalm 139:15). As we age we begin to lose our dexterity and strength, and sometimes our ability to remember and relate to others. As I grow older, I have found a new more profound respect for those who have aged gracefully before me, because it is not an easy thing to accept without the grace of God’s patience imparted to our lives.

And so we come to our devotional text, where we find the aging David contemplating what these changes will mean in his life. David had relied on God his entire life, and this reliance upon and confidence in God both characterized and distinguished his entire person and life. Notice how David’s prayer is worded and what it says about him. David pleads in his prayer that God not depart from him or forsake him as he grows old and gray, since he no longer has the capacity to do everything he was capable of years ago. David’s request was not selfish in that he did not simply ask God that he might hang around for his own comfort, ease, and pleasure. No, David’s specific request was for God to enable him to declare the power of God to the next generation and his might to all who are to come.

The purpose of growing old is not to retire, setback, and sleep in the afternoons, although that is a blessing of old age; but, rather to have God use us to teach his will and purpose to the next generation. The older we grow, the stronger we should become with the help of Jesus Christ’s inexhaustible power. We must finish strong in this life as Paul did (2 Timothy 4:7-8), and as the prophet Daniel did well into his eighties. When God gives us long life, we have an obligation to pass on all that we have gleaned in our walk with Jesus Christ to today’s children. God desires to get our very best from us all the way until He takes us home in death, for our good and His glory. The greatest thrill of yesterday’s child is to point today’s child to the presence, power, provision, and love of our great God!

FATHER, I VOW TO STAY STRONG IN MY DAILY WALK WITH YOU, AND TO FAITHFULLY WITNESS TO THE NEXT GENERATION YOUR POWER AND MIGHT. AMEN!

Guest post by Mike White.

You are invited to worship at the Summit church of Christ in Cold Spring, KY.