The Perspective of Bifocals - Psalm 71

Introduction

Dallas Willard says that it’s the task of every disciple of Jesus to live our lives as Jesus would if He were us. That the task that’s before us is not to necessarily learn every task that Jesus did, as the purpose and mission of our lives may be very different. Rather, it’s to learn how to do all the tasks that God has put before us to do in the way that Jesus himself would do them. If Jesus played quarterback on the football team, how would he play the position and utilize the influence? If Jesus were a doctor or a lawyer or a teacher, what type of doctor or lawyer or teacher would He be?

To that end, I’ve always thought it would be helpful to have been able to see Jesus up close living across the various life cycles. It would be helpful to read about him as a teenager working through puberty or as a young man establishing himself as a carpenter. And, zeroing in even more on where I want us to be this morning, it would have been helpful to see Jesus age, to see him as an example of what it should look like as our bodies diminish and hair grays and our eye sight fails. His mission didn’t allow for us to see it; yet, that’s the call that’s on every life that God allows today. Each of us are to age, and we are tasked with aging in the way that Jesus would have aged.

God’s Word

If God allows us the grace, we’re all going to age, and we must not take the aging process for granted. We must not waste our aging. There’s two misconceptions that must both be dispelled as we look at Psalm 71, and this Psalm obliterates them both. Someone in their most vital years might think that it’s too early for them to be concerned with aging in the way that Jesus would. And, to that, the Psalmist will say that you’re already aging, and you’re already establishing the habits and rhythms that you’ll carry into your golden years. So, you better be intentional now about who you intend to be then. Another person, already in the their golden years, might say that for them it’s too late. But, God’s mercies that were new this morning when you woke up with breath in your lungs undermines that from the start. It’s never too late to pursue the way of Jesus for your life.

The psalmist here, and most agree that it’s David, is writing this Psalm from the perspective of a long life looking back. So, he’s looking both at his present circumstances and his lifetime of experience through his bifocals — up close and far off at the same time. And, that’s what I want us to see this morning — Looking at Providence through Bifocals (headline): (so we can the target for the young and the responsibility of the aged)

Age teaches who to “trust.”

Lifelong refuge

Psalm 71:1-3 “In you, O Lord, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame! In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me, and save me! 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.”

I thought that I’d be farther along by now that I am. I thought that by 35 I wouldn’t struggle as much to pray or still care so much about what people thought of me. I still find myself praying many of the same prayers now as I did 21 years ago when I first became a Christian. And, what the psalmist is showing us is that this is how we will always feel, even to the end of our lives. Much of Psalm 71 is found directly in other psalms. For instance, these first three verses are almost identical to the first three verses of Psalm 31. So, what we’re seeing here is that this has been a common prayer in his life, that the pathway that leads from his troubles to his refuge is well worn. You’ll notice this in verse three especially. He says, “continually”, repeatedly, day after day, year after year, he has found God to be his “rock of refuge”, the one beneath whom he could find shelter, rest, and protection.

One of the only differences between Psalm 31:1-3 and Psalm 71 is the phrase “rock of refuge”. There’s actually one letter difference in the word used in Psalm 71 than in 31, which would translate most accurately as “rock of habitation”. Or, my dependable, safe, restful “home.” When he’s with the Lord, he’s at home. I can think of the times in my life when I’ve been most afraid, and every time, I just wanted to be at home. Fearing death in the back of 15 passenger van, I thought, “If I can just get home.” Some of the difficult days early in ministry, “If I can just get home.” And, that’s what age is meant to teach us, that’s what this psalmist had learned. Our home isn’t just with God; it is God. He doesn’t just provide us with a shelter; He himself is the fortress that secures his people. So, we don’t run to another relationship or try to perfect physical fitness or to the bottom of a bottle when we face pain or even death; we run home. We run down that well-worn path to our refuge in prayer again, in confession again, in need again.

Lifelong relationship

Psalm 71:4-6 “Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man. For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth. 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.”

But, the comfort here isn’t just that God has been a lifelong refuge under which to rest but also a lifelong relationship upon which he could lean. Now, notice this because it’s a powerful challenge and hope for us. Upon whom does He “lean”? He leans upon the one he knows, the one who is close by and within arm’s reach, the one who has always been there! Notice that he’s talking about “my” God/hope/trust. It’s personal. It’s possessive. His hope isn’t just a promise; it’s a person. His God isn’t just a refuge; He’s a relationship. It’s a relationship that’s developed over the whole of his life, “from my youth.” David isn’t calling out to some strange, distant power; he’s calling out to a God he knows intimately and personally.

That’s the experience of age talking. Age teaches you who to trust. Age teaches you how weak and dependent you are. We think of maturity very often as the ability to become more and more independent, but, in reality, it’s to realize more and more that you’re just as dependent upon the Lord today as you were when you were born. So, to those who are younger, the Lord is inviting you to establish “from (your) youth”, from your earliest days a relationship with him. He’s inviting you to find your home in him so that you’ll be ready for the harder days that lie ahead. And, they do lie ahead. And, to those who are further down life’s road, He’s reminding you that you can always come home. In fact, you must. You must lean upon your God, your Savior, your Friend as finish your race. Dale, it’s our responsibility to continually remind the congregation who they can trust and where they should run.

Age presents unique “challenges.”

Age threatens us to blame God.

Psalm 71:7-8 “I have been as a portent to many, but you are my strong refuge. My mouth is filled with your praise, and with your glory all the day.”

David’s relationships with people had been much different than his relationship with God. It seems that every chapter you turn to David is betrayed by someone that he loved. His family is an abject disaster. In fact, he says in verse 7, “I have been as a portent to many.” That is, to people it’s like David is cursed from God, so much so, that other people worry about being associated with him in fear of his curse wiping off on them. Think of how much pain that is. It reminds us of Job’s wife who sees her husband, now a shell of his former self, and say, “Curse God, and die.” The difficult truth this morning is that the longer you live the more pain you will know. Years are a gift from the Lord, but we must not forget that they are lived out in a broken world. A long life may cause you to experience the abandonment of a child or even their death. It may mean that you have to watch your spouse of many decades wither with cancer right before your eyes. It may mean that you live during the worst of wars or economic collapse. It may mean that you outlive your ability to provide for yourself. And, if you’re unprepared, it can turn your heart cold and hard. Pain either soften us or it hardens us. It either gives us reason to draw near to God or to resent him. Decide even, now, before you’re in the valley of the shadow of death that you’ll draw near to the Lord, that your heart will become softer. The world cursed David, but David chose to praise the Lord. That’s the way.

Age threatens us with irrelevance.

Psalm 71:9 “Do not cast me off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength is spent.”

David had spent his most vital years fighting on behalf of the Lord. But, he wasn’t strong any more. Years of fighting matched with natural decline had taken their toll. And, you can hear the voice of his battle scarred conscience whispering in his ear, “God has no use for you now. You have nothing to offer anyone around. You no longer matter. God’s surely to forsake you now.” This is one of the most common lies of age. Ready yourself for it. “You can’t cook Thanksgiving any more, what do you matter?” “You don’t have enough health to teach any longer, what purpose do you have?” “You need help, what a burden you’ve become.” But, I want you to pray what David is praying. I want you to tell that depressed voice that keeps creeping up that you have exactly the same offering to make to God that you made when you were 25 or 45 — your life as God has given it. God never valued you for your strength; He valued you as his child. And, God never used you because of your strength; He used you by his grace. So, you’re both as loved and as useful as ever. Prayer isn’t worthless. Encouragement is priceless. Wisdom is a treasure. We need you. I need you.

Age leaves us feeling vulnerable.

Psalm 71:10-11 “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.””

David’s at a weakened state in his life, and his enemies are having a conversation. “Now, we can get him. Now, we can overcome him. Now, we can destroy him.” In his weakness, David feels vulnerable. But, age doesn’t so much as make us vulnerable as it does reveal how vulnerable we really are. All of us are vulnerable, but physical vitality and youthful bravado have a way of deceiving us into believing that we’re stronger than we actually are. But, as we age, it’s as though we can hear the enemies licking their chops waiting to attack us. Social enemies try to scam and take advantage. Physical enemies promise to cripple our bodies and usher us into death. Spiritual enemies are always at play to remind us of why we should be worried and depressed.

But, vulnerability is an opportunity for God’s faithfulness to shine. Vulnerability is reminder to run back home to our refuge and our friend. In fact, that’s what all of these challenges invite us to do at whatever age we encounter them. They invite us to trust the Lord and draw near to the Lord and to find our hope in the Lord. They invite us home. Dale, as elders, we join our brothers and sisters in the unique struggles that age brings. We sit with them, pray with them, and remind them of God’s promises.

Age bears greater “responsibility.”

Psalm 71:17-18 “O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. 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.”

Get to know the Lord.

“from my youth you have taught me”

There’s a progression of responsibility that we can see in verses 17-18 that should happen over the course of a person’s life. First, you’ll see that your youngest years are meant to be formative for your faith. David learned about God’s faithfulness as a young man in the field long before he knew that he’d need to trust on it to defeat the giant or to endure his own son’s betrayal. It’s easy to think that you’ll get to know the Lord later in your life because right now, honestly, it doesn’t feel like you need him very much. You’re making it fine. Your friends seem to be making it fine. But, a heart that is nurtured in the Lord as a youth will not wilt in the world as an adult. And, I’m not talking about knowing all the stuff, though I think you should. I’m talking about getting to know Jesus personally. Getting to know him. Walking with him. Seeing how He triumphs in your struggles right now, because a storm is coming. And, when the storms of life come, your friends who seem okay right now will call you for help when they’re over their heads. Get to know the Lord with all your might because life and tears and pain and hardship are on the way.

Stay faithful to the Lord.

“I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.”

After you begin walking with the Lord, your responsibility is to keep walking with him. And, that sounds so simple doesn’ it. But, as the years roll on, I become more and more awestruck by steady faithfulness. I think of those of you who have been with me for the last nine years, and I praise God for you. You’ve been knocked flat, many of you. And, that’s your responsibility in the Lord. The word “still” implies endurance, doesn’t it? That’s the responsibility here. Love the Lord. Serve the Lord. But, above all else, endure! “My marriage knocked me flat, but I will still praise the Lord.” “My child is special needs, but I will still trust the Lord.” “My health failed and now I’m disabled, but I will still love the Lord.” In fact, that’s the meat of what David prays in verses 12-16. I’ll be chased and knocked down and beaten up and betrayed, but, "But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more.” Keep going, young man. Keep going, mom. Keep pressing through middle age.

Pass down your faith.

“do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation”

But, there is a culminating responsibility found in verse 18, and I think we should see that it’s meant to naturally correspond with age. Once you’ve gotten to know the Lord, once you’ve gotten through some stuff, once you’ve witnessed God’s sustaining grace firsthand, it’s your responsibility to make sure that the rest of us get it and the rest of us keep going. Hear David’s prayer, and pray it yourself: “Do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation.” “God, keep me on this earth until my kids are rooted in their faith. Keep me here until the baton of the gospel is faithfully passed on in my church. God keep me teaching and keep me helping and keep me pressing on until I’ve let those behind me exactly how good and how faithful you are.” Age brings with it a mission, not uselessness. In fact, it’s the valuable mission of all — passing down the faith. Your usefulness doesn’t decrease with age; it increases. We need you to keep coming and keep living and keep speaking the truth into our lives. Dale, this is the prayer of the elder. “Lord, don’t let me leave them until I’ve taught them. Help me prepare them for when I graduate to heaven.”

Age requires daily “faith.”

Psalm 71:19-24 “Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is like you? 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. You will increase my greatness and comfort me again. 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. My lips will shout for joy, when I sing praises to you; my soul also, which you have redeemed. 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.”

“You will SO I will”

Here’s the honest truth from the Scripture: Aging is going to require faith. It isn’t going to be easy. It’s going to be filled with hard days and disappointments and heartbreak. There are going to be times in which we feel forgotten or worthless or useless. But, it’s those days that call for us to remember who God is and what God has promised. Notice the progression of David’s thought here: “You will be faithful. You will protect me. You will comfort me again and again. You will bless me.” SO, “I will keep singing. When my life is in shambles, I’ll sing. When my loved ones die, I’ll sing. When my body gives out, I’ll sing.

Singing is an act of faith for Christians. We sing in defiance of the devil, and we sing out of confidence in God. I thought about that as I watched a group of Ukrainian Christians singing “He Will Hold Me Fast” while bombs were crashing in their country. What do we do when bombs are exploding all around us? We sing because we know that God is still good and trustworthy and true. Singing reminds us that we have a home and we have a friend. So, look back over your life and the providence of God through your bifocals, and keep singing. Dale, we lead them to sing.