My Goal in Life

Psalm 71:14–18

My Goal in Life

But as for me, I will always have hope;

I will praise you more and more.

My mouth will tell of your righteousness,

of your salvation all day long,

though I know not its measure.

I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, O Sovereign LORD;

I will proclaim your righteousness, yours alone.

Since my youth, O God, you have taught me,

and to this day I declare your marvellous deeds.

Even when I am old and grey,

do not forsake me, O God,

till I declare your power to the next generation,

Your might to all who are to come. 

t’s no sin to grow old, but it sure is inconvenient.  This was a bit of folk wisdom often recited by my dad.  At the time he provided this folksy insight, I now know that he was feeling keenly the cumulative effects of advancing age.  The loss of strength, the increased risk of health problems, the loss of visual acuity and diminished range of hearing … all create anxiety in each of us with advancing age.  Though all of us have such fears as we age, not all of us express these fears openly.  The writers of Scripture were not unaffected by such fears, but they did face their fears frankly and realistically.

I recall a man led to faith during his last hospitalisation in New Westminster.  After being saved, he began to read the Word of God.  He would tell me especially how much he loved reading the “Palms”.  They were an accurate expression of his fears and sorrow, though expressing confidence in the Lord.  The Psalms are prayers from the heart of the Psalmists, each expressing pain and fears or joy and confidence instead of denying such heartfelt emotions with pious platitudes in an effort to affirm courage unfelt.

My goal in life, and I would suppose that your goal in life as well, is to grow more Christlike as the time for our transition nears.  Each of us who are children of the Living God shall fully and accurately reflect our divine parentage eventually.  My goal is to reflect that divine parentage with increasing fidelity as this life progresses.  I know that I shall be like Him, because I shall see Him as He is [cf. 1 John 3:2], but I long to see Him reproduced in me ere my days in the flesh are ended.  Join me in exploring the Psalmist’s prayer for such a goal.  Join me in formulating a godly goal for our lives.

The Psalmist begins this beautiful prayer with an affirmation that he has taken refuge in the Lord.  Based upon that avowal, he pleads for deliverance from shame.  Pleading for God’s deliverance from the wicked — from evil and cruel men, he acknowledges that he has been dependent upon the Lord God since his birth and that he has walked in confidence in the Lord since his youth.  His life, and in particular the multiplied instances of God’s deliverance in his life, has caused many to marvel at him … he was a portent to others because God was his strong refuge, his shelter from danger.  Based upon God’s presence throughout the many years of his life, his mouth was filled with praise as he declared God’s splendour all day long.

Pause for a moment to reflect on God’s presence in younger days.  I rejoice at each individual who comes to faith … whether in old age or in youth.  Yet those who come to faith in youth have such a rich heritage as a result of God’s presence and power.  Billy Sunday, the greatly used evangelist of an earlier era, responding to his wife’s query about a particular evening’s meeting, stated that the church had received one and one-half converts.  She was confused and pressed him somewhat harder for an explanation.  The church had received a child and an older man who came confessing Christ.

“Oh,” said Ma Sunday, “you should not feel so badly that a child responded.  You should not call that child half a convert.”

“The boy is a full convert with a full life ahead of him,” responded the great evangelist.  “That older man has wasted his life living for the devil and the Lord had graciously saved him in his old age, but he has little left to give God.”

John, in his first epistle, speaks of the growth of the child of God.

I write to you, dear children,

because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.

I write to you, fathers,

because you have known him who is from the beginning.

I write to you, young men,

because you have overcome the evil one.

I write to you, dear children,

because you have known the Father.

I write to you, fathers,

because you have known him who is from the beginning.

I write to you, young men,

because you are strong,

and the word of God lives in you,

and you have overcome the evil one.

[1 John 2:12-14]

As dear children, we walk in joy which attends the forgiveness of sin, known by and knowing the Father.  As young men, in the vigour of manly strength, we stand fast against the enemy, resisting the evil one with the Word of God.  Though still engaged in the fray as old men, we recognise our utter reliance upon Him who is from the beginning.  Our strength which was once our pride is a distant memory, and now we become wholly dependent upon His grace.  It is His power which must be seen in us, if strength is to be seen at all.  Isn’t this the same thing the Wise Man says in Proverbs 20:29?

The glory of young men is their strength,

grey hair the splendour of the old. 

The Psalmist avows that throughout his youth, God has been his shelter from danger.  Throughout the years of his pilgrimage, God has walked with him as his strong protector.  He has resorted to Him, and his enemies have been confused.  He has retreated to Him, and those about him have often wondered at His deliverance.  In fact, the many instances of deliverance he has experienced serve as a sign of God’s grace and mercy.

Do you question what God can do?  Ask the elderly among you.  They have seen the hand of the Lord bringing deliverance again and again.  Their many experiences can serve as a source of courage for the timid.  They are able to speak from experience of God’s mercy and of His grace to encourage the trembling heart within the assembly.  That spiritual man or that godly woman who has walked with the Lord through many years whilst resisting the power of wickedness which operates within this fallen world can turn the eyes of the weak and the timid to Christ as can no other person.

Now comes the transition of the Psalm in which the Psalmist speaks realistically of his fears and concerns for the future.  Though the past is a reservoir of memories of God’s great deliverance, the fear of the moment is nevertheless very real.

Do not cast me away when I am old;

do not forsake me when my strength is gone.

For my enemies speak against me;

those who wait to kill me conspire together.

They say, “God has forsaken him;

pursue him and seize him,

for no one will rescue him.”

Be not far from me, O God;

come quickly, O my God, to help me.

May my accusers perish in shame;

may those who want to harm me

be covered with scorn and disgrace.

[Psalm 71:9-13]

The fear of the elderly saint is very real.  The world belongs to the young, as has always been true to a degree.  The Governor of Colorado some years ago spoke in his arrogance and said that the elderly had an obligation to die.  I note with some amusement that he has failed to embrace his own philosophy, though the depth of his wickedness is becoming more apparent with each passing year.  He spoke from the polluted pool of his own wicked heart and not from any considered thought which would honour God.

Just this week past an elderly couple were attacked by a pack of savage animals in Langley.  Ten males and two females spit on the woman, kicked and punched the man until they knocked him to the ground and then ran as such jackals always run.  The elderly among us are too often frightened.  Such a craven pack would not likely attack a man in the prime of life, but a weakened old man serves as prey for such hyenas.

As we age, our enemies – real and imagined – do multiply.  We would that they would cease their attacks or that they would even be removed from our presence, but they persist in their opposition to us; and in our weakness we are compelled to resort to God.  That is precisely the direction the old saint of God turns in this Psalm.  His plea is less a cry of fear that God might desert him then it is an appeal born of his deep desire to see God continue His work in him.  Those who hated him were growing bold in their slander against him and in assailing him.  He was thus compelled to beg that God become his defender.  No longer was it sufficient that God serve as His refuge, now the Lord God of Heaven and earth must be his active defender.  Pick up the text at that point.

Plea for God's Presence —

Even when I am old and grey,

do not forsake me, O God.

Clearly the Psalmist feared being alone.  Isn’t that true of each of us?  Too many of the visitors to this congregation are widows or widowers, bereft of the companionship of the husband or wife of their youth.  I recall that on the first Wednesday evening after my arrival as we hosted Bible study we had two elderly saints from Great Britain join us in our study of God’s Word.  These two men were widowers who in their loneliness united to share in travel since their companions of many years had been taken within the previous year.  Since that time there has been but few services which did not witness the presence of men and women now called to walk along the path of life alone.

Spend time with these elderly saints, as I have spent time with them, and you will discover all too often that loneliness is their greatest fear.  Any of us can stand against the assaults which define this life … if only we have someone who cares standing with us.  Illness and the prospect of surgery hold far less terror for us, if the threats of hospitalisation or extended illness are but shared by one who loves us.  The old saying reminds us that joys shared are doubled whilst burdens shared are halved.

Joys are intensified when they are shared with one we love.  Years ago I travelled widely on behalf of the theological school for whom I laboured.  I recall on one occasion my wife voicing her frustration at being restricted to our home with three small children.  “You see so many interesting places and so many beautiful sights while I am stuck at home,” she complained.  She had a point.  She was stuck at home, and it surely wasn’t all that interesting to share each day with three children ages one, four and eight.

However, I responded to her complaint by gently pointing out that it was not what she imagined on the road.  I saw the inside of airports, motels and church buildings, all blending into a homogenous sameness.  If I did see a beautiful sight, it was meaningless since there was no one to share it with.  If I did visit an interesting place, it meant nothing since I had no one to share it with.  Without my wife and children, all those places held no interest for me.  As an aside of no small importance to those who invite Bible teachers, evangelists or missionaries to visit in your church – pay the extra charges involved and bring that man’s wife with him.  Without doubt the service that man provides will be of greater value to you since he shares it with his companion in life.  You’ll honour God and prove to be a blessing to one of His choice servants.

You might be inclined to rebuke the Psalmist by saying that he wasn’t alone.  Hasn’t God promised?

Never will I leave you;

never will I forsake you.

[Hebrews 13:5]

The issue is not that the Psalmist was deserted, but rather that he feared loneliness.  Assuming that David wrote this Psalm (which is likely), one might be inclined to imagine that he was straying from God, that he was somehow losing faith in the Lord with whom he had walked throughout the long years of life.  You will recall that he wrote at an earlier age the words of the beloved Twenty-third Psalm.

Even though I walk

through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

…

Surely goodness and love will follow me

all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

[Psalm 23:4,6]

Indeed, to whom shall we turn when we age?  Whither shall we turn as we approach the transitions of life?  When loved ones and life companions begin to be removed one-by-one, we will feel keenly the separation.  It is not that we turn from God, but we feel deeply the hurt of separation.  How precious are the words of Isaiah 46:3,4.

Listen to me, O house of Jacob,

all you who remain of the house of Israel,

you whom I have upheld since you were conceived,

and have carried since your birth.

Even to your old age and grey hairs

I am he, I am he who will sustain you.

I have made you and I will carry you;

I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

The Psalmist speaks honestly of his fears, but by doing so he is providing the means for his victory.  Confessing his weakness, he is prepared to resort to the strength of the Lord.

Purpose for Continued Life —

Even when I am old and grey,

do not forsake me, O God,

till I declare your power to the next generation,

your might to all who are to come.

The Psalmist longs for God’s presence, not because he is fearful of an uncertain future, but because he has an unfulfilled purpose in life.  This is a truth which we need to seize upon, for when the evil time comes we need to draw courage from the knowledge that we do have purpose in life.  Our family has a dear friend living his last years on the Coast.  For more than eighteen years we have accepted this elderly man as a family member.  He essentially has no family and we adopted him as a surrogate grandfather for our children.  They still call him Grandpa James and think of him as their grandfather.

Courtney is quite aged now and extremely fragile.  He is dying.  His transition is not a question of if; it is a question of when.  This past spring, in preparation for our move to Jasper, I visited Courtney at length.  Repeatedly he voiced his discouragement, that he felt himself to be a burden and worthless to anyone.  I spent considerable time with him to encourage him to lift his eyes from himself and to the heavens.  He needed to again discover that his life had purpose.  Each of us needs to believe that we have purpose.

The Psalmist longs for continued life so that he might fulfil his purpose of declaring the power of God to the next generation.  The young among the people of God would know nothing of the power of God unless there was one to speak of that power and might.  One of the saddest, most disturbing verses in all the Word of God is Judges 2:10.  After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel.

What could have happened?  How had an entire generation been neglected?  Where were those who had seen Joshua and Caleb standing with Moses against the united rage of all Israel?  How was it that those who had marched over the Jordan dry shod, who had seen God topple the walls of Jericho, make the sun stand still in the Valley of Aijalon, and conquer every foe, had failed to tell their own children of these feats?  Surely the parents must have spoken of God’s might and power!  Surely the grandparents had related God’s mighty acts to their grandchildren!

The same questions might be asked of us.  Britain once had its Spurgeon, its Sangster, its Lloyd Jones – mighty men of God all.  How is it that few in the present generation seem to have heard of them and that fewer still are emulating their godliness?  The United States had its Truett, its Torrey, its Moody– powerful men who touched a world for the good of all.  How is it that so few in the present generation have heard of them and fewer still emulate their adherence to the Lord God of Heaven and earth?  Where are the Oswald Smith’s for the present generation in this nation?  Who forgot to speak of his power and righteousness to the present generation?

Throughout the last century and the early half of this present century, giants walked the earth.  But they are no longer with us!  Those godly men and women who resisted evil and dared insist on righteousness are no longer with us.  Worse yet, their successors are but pale imitations of them in the realm of courage and righteousness.  Noisy crusades opposing this social evil or demanding this legislative change are a far cry from the power of one godly life.  When national leaders wallow in the muck of tawdry human lust and mislead the populace while silence reigns within the church, I suggest that someone forgot their purpose.  When parliaments and legislatures legalise immorality and churches refuse to discipline their own members who vote for such wickedness, I suggest that someone has forgotten their purpose.

In the main I am speaking to men and women who are Christians.  Most of you know — or you should know — the power and might of the Lord our God.  Which of your children know of God’s power and might … not because of a rumour, but because they have heard you speak with authority?  Which of your grandchildren long to know God in power because they hear the thrill in your voice as you recall His mighty deeds?  If you have no mighty deeds to relate, begin now to seek His presence and His power that you will have something to relate to the next generation.  If you have failed your children and your grandchildren to this time and they are living for the moment, go to them confessing your sin and asking that they forgive you for your failure.  It is not too late!

Listen again to this Psalm and let the horror of the Psalmist’s words sink into your consciousness.

O my people, hear my teaching;

listen to the words of my mouth.

I will open my mouth in parables,

I will utter hidden things, things from of old—

what we have heard and known,

what our fathers have told us.

We will not hide them from their children;

we will tell the next generation

the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD,

his power, and the wonders he has done.

He decreed statutes for Jacob

and established the law in Israel,

which he commanded our forefathers

to teach their children,

so the next generation would know them,

even the children yet to be born,

and they in turn would tell their children.

Then they would put their trust in God

and would not forget his deeds

but would keep his commands.

They would not be like their forefathers—

a stubborn and rebellious generation,

whose hearts were not loyal to God,

whose spirits were not faithful to him. 

The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows,

turned back on the day of battle;

they did not keep God’s covenant

and refused to live by his law.

They forgot what he had done,

the wonders he had shown them.

[Psalm 78:1-11]

Something akin to this tragedy has occurred in our day.  It is apparent that those following us are ignorant of God and of His mighty works.  The youth of our nation and the youth of our world have forgotten the power and might of our God and the wonders He has shown.  Is not the education of our youth the responsibility of the people of God?

What shall we tell the generation to come?  Shall we speak of signs and wonders?  Many imagine these to be the most important aspect of God’s work among us?  Shall we speak of miracles and healings?  Of our experiences in the realm of the spiritual?  No!  Should we not speak of God’s character?  Of that which defines Him as very God?  Should we not speak authoritatively of the grace and mercy of our God?

Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;

his greatness no one can fathom.

One generation will commend your works to another;

they will tell of your mighty acts.

They will speak of the glorious splendour of your majesty,

and I will meditate on your wonderful works.

They will tell of the power of your awesome works,

and I will proclaim your great deeds.

They will celebrate your abundant goodness

and joyfully sing of your righteousness. 

The LORD is gracious and compassionate,

slow to anger and rich in love.

The LORD is good to all;

he has compassion on all he has made.

All you have made will praise you, O LORD;

your saints will extol you.

They will tell of the glory of your kingdom

and speak of your might,

so that all men may know of your mighty acts

and the glorious splendour of your kingdom.

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

and your dominion endures through all generations. 

The LORD is faithful to all his promises

and loving toward all he has made.

The LORD upholds all those who fall

and lifts up all who are bowed down.

The eyes of all look to you,

and you give them their food at the proper time.

You open your hand

and satisfy the desires of every living thing. 

The LORD is righteous in all his ways

and loving toward all he has made.

The LORD is near to all who call on him,

to all who call on him in truth.

He fulfils the desires of those who fear him;

he hears their cry and saves them.

The LORD watches over all who love him,

but all the wicked he will destroy. 

My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD.

Let every creature praise his holy name forever and ever.

 [Psalm 145:3-21]

I should tell of God‘s grace and mercy, which are powerful indeed.  I should tell of God’s compassion, of His steadfastness, of His glory and splendour.  I should speak of God’s faithfulness, of His goodness, of His righteousness.  These are the very aspects of God which are unknown in our world today and for which we are responsible.

Praise for Answered Prayer —

I will praise you with the harp

for your faithfulness, O my God;

I will sing praise to you with the lyre,

O Holy One of Israel.

My lips will shout for joy

when I sing praise to you—

I, whom you have redeemed.

My tongue will tell of your righteous acts

all day long,

for those who wanted to harm me

have been put to shame and confusion. 

With songs, with shouts of joy, with tongue and pen, the Psalmist will speak of God’s deliverance.  He is not insensible of difficulty.  He had seen troubles — not a few.  He knew that God had permitted all that he had witnessed, and that the troubles through which he had passed were many and bitter.  Yet he was confident that God would restore his life and again lift him up.  In fact, the Psalmist expressed his confidence that God would restore his honour and that He would again comfort the ageing saint.

By the lateness of the hour I am compelled to draw the message to a conclusion.  The Psalmist speaks of answered prayer.  One of the great condemnations against the church of this day is a lack of answered prayer.  What a rebuke are James’ words to us!  You want something but don’t get it.  You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want.  You quarrel and fight.  You do not have, because you do not ask God.  When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God?  Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.  Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?  But he gives us more grace.  That is why Scripture says:

“God opposes the proud

but gives grace to the humble” [James 4:2-6].

We no longer know how to pray.  We are so consumed with self that we cannot ask for that which glorifies the Lord our God.  We are self-centred, focused on pleasing the world about us which is tantamount to hatred toward God.  We are proud and unwilling to humble ourselves before the Living God.  This, then, is what we must do.  Submit yourselves, then, to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Come near to God and he will come near to you.  Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  Grieve, mourn and wail.  Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.  Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up [James 4:7-10].

This is the point of the message: I am responsible to so live that I glorify the Lord my God.  I have a purpose in life, and that is to declare His praise to the next generation.  If our church has no youth among us, we are failing before God in achieving our purpose.  If our church is not reaching the next generation, it is dying.  If our church is not exciting the generation to follow with an open revelation of the majesty of the Living God, we are simply marking time until we are buried.

I suggest some appropriate issues to address.  First, if we wish to declare the praise of God to the next generation, we must know God.  If we are only playing church, we must be confronted by the knowledge that we neither know the Living God nor are we known by Him.  If we will praise Him to the next generation, we must submit ourselves to Him to insure that He does work among us.  If we merely tell others that we know of God, but we are unable to speak personally of His might and power, we are at best ignorant and at worst liars.  If we will praise Him to the next generation, we must prepare ourselves to reach that generation.  This means that we will endeavour to communicate to them, preparing the church to welcome them.  We cannot effectively declare His praise if we commit ourselves to programs which ministered to us in our own youth thirty years ago.  We must prepare to minister to those living on the cusp of the twenty-first century instead of continuing to believe that we are working in the twentieth century.

I challenge each of us to first submit ourselves to God.  For some of us this will mean that we must confess that we have sinned against Him by becoming so caught up in the affairs of this dying world that we have no time for Him.  For others of us it will mean that we must again do those things which reveal our love for Him, returning to our first love.  I challenge us to seek God’s presence among us that we may speak experientially of His grace and mercy, of His glory and majesty, of His power and might.  This will mean that we are responsible to do something more than continue with the status quo [Latin for the rut we are in].  I challenge us to determine that we will look at our ministry with a critical eye, asking how we may speak to that next generation.

Look at our facilities.  Do they provide a warm, welcoming environment for the youth of our day?  Are we prepared to communicate to those youth?  Are we willing to be inconvenienced in order to fulfil God’s purpose for us?  Are we willing to accept those youth as a product of their generation instead of insisting that they become like us first?  Let the word go forth from this day that we will seek the face of the Lord our God, that we will seek His glorious presence among us, that we will give ourselves to do that which honours Him through winning the coming generation.  Amen.