Psalm 71:17-24 Lexham English Bible
17 O God, you have taught me from my youth,
and up to now I have proclaimed your wonderful deeds.
18 And even when I am old and gray,
O God, do not abandon me
until I proclaim your strength[a] to this generation,
your power to every one that comes after.
19 And your righteousness, O God, is to the height of heaven.
You who have done great things,
O God, who is like you?
20 You who have caused me[b] to see many troubles and evils,
you will again revive me.[c]
And from the depths of the earth
you will again bring me up.
21 You will increase my greatness,
and you will comfort me all around.[d]
22 On my part, I will praise you with a stringed instrument,
and your faithfulness, O my God.
I will sing praises to you with a lyre,
O Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will sing for joy when I sing praises to you,
and my soul, which you have redeemed.
24 My tongue also
will speak of your righteousness all the day,
because they have been put to shame, because they have been humiliated
who seek my harm.
Word of God for the Children of God
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
As you grow older, you may get tired more often than you used to.
Maybe your schedule is less busy than before because you’ve retired and your children are grown. It can be easy to feel like your best days are behind you.
But the truth is, every day of life that God gives you is valuable and full of potential.
Psalm 71:17-18 New Living Translation
17 O God, you have taught me from my earliest childhood,
and I constantly tell others about the wonderful things you do.
18 Now that I am old and gray,
do not abandon me, O God.
Let me proclaim your power to this new generation,
your mighty miracles to all who come after me.
WANTED: MATURE PEOPLE FOR YOUTH MINISTRY!
That’s the message contained in these verses.
The Psalmist exclaims God needs him for youth ministry even though he is an old and gray haired man.
The Psalmist reasons that a person of maturity who has known and benefited, blessed from God’s grace and mercy for a long time is the person best prepared to declare God’s power to the next generation.
It almost seems like the Psalmist is saying that youth ministry is the responsibility of the more mature.
But maybe you think you and your gray hairs are too old for youth ministry.
Now I don’t mean that you have to hold a position as a youth minister in a church.
What I mean is that God needs the older people to testify to the younger people about how God has worked in their lives.
However you choose to do it, God has assigned all us older people to tell the younger people about Jesus.
The younger people need the older people to pass on the message of how Jesus has changed their lives and older people need to be around the younger people to stay young at heart.
Proverbs 22:6 Amplified Bible
6
Train up a child in the way he should go [teaching him to seek God’s wisdom and will for his abilities and talents],
Even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Maybe your youth ministry is telling your own children, your grandchildren, even your great grandchildren about Jesus. Or maybe your youth ministry is working in the nursery or children’s church or with the youth group at your local church or even teaching a Sunday School class for children or youth.
Whatever your youth ministry is and however the Holy Spirit leads guides and directs your steps, you absolutely should be proclaiming the wonderful works of God in your life to the incoming younger generations, to all those youth who are coming after you, because you are never too old to tell people about Jesus!
No matter how old you are, you can still make a positive, eternal impact through your choices.
God is not limited by age, nor are you when you walk with him!
Here are seven reminders that you’re never too old to make an eternal impact.
1. God is Not Finished with You Yet
It’s painful to feel forgotten or overlooked because you’re aging. But God will never forget or overlook you. God sees you, knows you, and is still working through you.
Isaiah 46:4, God says: “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you, and I will carry you.”
God’s purposes for you don’t expire with age.
He doesn’t stop loving or working with any of his children when they grow older.
Some of God’s most significant work can happen in the later chapters of your life.
There are still new lessons to learn, people to love, and ways to serve.
Each day you wake up is a gift and a calling from God.
So be encouraged you are still God’s beloved child, with important work to do.
Ask God daily to help you live into your purpose well, so you can keep shining your light as brightly as possible into the darkness of our fallen world.
Pray specifically about all the ways God wants you to keep loving and serving people, and keep moving forward as God leads you daily.
God is not finished with you yet.
Let every day be a brand new opportunity to walk with God in fresh ways and participate in God’s work, bringing hope to our world.
2. God Still Has Work for You To Do
You may easily assume that getting older means stepping aside from the most critical job in God’s kingdom, but the Bible tells a much different story. God often used older men and women to accomplish something significant. Moses was 80 + years old when God called him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.
Exodus 7:7 reports: “Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.”
Age didn’t disqualify them.
Participating in that vital meeting was part of God’s plan for them.
You may not be leading a nation, but you can lead others in powerful ways through prayer, Scriptural studies wisdom, and Godly encouragement.
Colossians 3:1-4 Amplified Bible
Put On the New Self
3 Therefore if you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, sharing in His resurrection from the dead], keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above [the heavenly things], not on things that are on the earth [which have only temporal value]. 3 For you died [to this world], and your [new, real] life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, [a]appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
You have decades and decades of invaluable life experience that younger people can learn from.
You know how to seek God in both good and bad times.
That kind of faith is valuable in a world that often moves too fast and tends to forget what truly matters. So, set your mind on what has eternal value and let that empower, and inspire you to do whatever work God is leading you to do.
Don’t underestimate the power of any small service projects you take on, or of any times you encourage younger believers as they work in God’s kingdom in their ways.
Philippians 1:6 points out that you can be confident: “… that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Even if your physical strength has changed, your spiritual strength can grow stronger. You can still listen, support, study, teach, and pray. God still has work for you, and the world still needs the contributions that only you can make.
3. Your Wisdom Is a Gift to the Next Generation
One of the most powerful contributions you can make as an older Christian is sharing God’s wisdom and showing those younger people how to be lifelong learners. You have walked with God through all seasons, and that strong faith is invaluable to teach others how to trust God through different seasons in their own lives.
Titus 2:2-3 urges: “Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance. Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live … to teach what is good.”
Your example can help younger believers live wisely by discovering and fulfilling God’s purposes for them day by day.
You know what it means to endure and trust God through years of change. Sharing stories of how God has worked in your life through the years may be the encouragement someone else needs.
Mentoring, teaching a Bible study, or simply listening and advising during conversations are other important ways to share your wisdom with others who can benefit from it.
Don’t worry that you have little to offer; you have plenty of wisdom gained through years of walking with Jesus. You can tell others lovingly about God in ways less experienced people can’t. You can also help younger believers learn how to pray and faithfully wait for God’s answers in all circumstances.
Psalm 92:14 says about righteous people: “They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green.”
Your life will still be fruitful when you share what God has done in your life.
Don’t keep that treasure to yourself!
Your experience holds lessons that younger generations need to hear.
4. Prayer Is a Powerful Ministry
You may not be able to do the same ministry work you did as a younger person, but you can always do something vitally important: pray. Prayer is one of the most powerful and far-reaching ways to serve God.
James 5:16 declares, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
Through fervent meditation and prayer, you can make an eternal impact on people worldwide, and even across time. You can pray for your children, grandchildren, church, community, and others anywhere and anytime!
So, make prayer a high priority in your schedule every day.
Plan to pray regularly at certain times (such as when you start your day in the morning or end your day in the evening at bedtime), but also ponder praying spontaneously whenever a person or a topic crosses your mind. God wants you to pray about everything that concerns you.
Give it all to God and trust God to work in every situation you ask him to help.
Many older people in the Bible served God through prayer.
For example, Anna was an elderly widow who spent her days in the temple worshipping and praying.
Luke 2:37 says: “She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.”
God honored her devotion and allowed her to meet the infant Jesus.
Your prayer life is compelling.
You can pray for countless important topics and those who need your prayer support.
You may never see all the results, but God will always answer your prayers.
Even when you feel unseen, God sees your heart and hears your prayers. You make a positive, eternal impact every time you speak with God through prayer.
5. Your Life Testifies to God’s Faithfulness
Living a long life with God is a powerful testimony.
Every wrinkle and gray hair you have speaks to your life experiences as a person in a long relationship with Jesus.
Psalm 71:18 “Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come.”
You may not always feel strong, but your life proves God keeps his promises.
When you tell others how God carried you through loss or change and met all your needs, you remind them of God’s character. People need to hear stories of lives lived with real authentic trust in God. You have those stories to share.
They‘re more powerful than any sermon because you live them out daily.
When you share your stories of how God has been faithful to you, you inspire people to keep trusting God in all the circumstances they’re going through in their own lives.
You become a living example of how our loving Heavenly Father helps his children with whatever we need.
Your faithful life shows others walking with God through the years is possible and worthwhile.
6. Encouragement Is a Lasting Gift
Encouraging someone in a conversation or through a note or phone call may seem simple, but it can significantly change someone’s life.
Hebrews 3:13 advises: “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called ‘Today,’ so that sin’s deceitfulness may harden none of you.”
As someone who has seen life’s ups and downs, you deeply understand how much a kind word or action can encourage people.
When you encourage people, you remind them they are seen and loved.
You help them keep going.
You can encourage people in various ways, as God leads you.
You can share a Bible verse, listen without judgment, let people know you’re praying for them, help them with a practical need when they’re going through a crisis.
You can also encourage people by showing up and showing more interest in their lives.
People need to know they’re not alone.
Encouragement builds community and strengthens relationships between God’s beloved children.
You can be a part of that excellent work every day, no matter how old you are!
7. Your Legacy Can Point People to Jesus
Leaving a legacy involves passing on love, faith, and values to others after completing your earthly life.
Your Legacy Can Point People to Jesus.
Leaving a legacy involves passing on love, faith, and values to others after completing your earthly life.
Proverbs 13:22 “A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children.”
That inheritance is spiritual.
So, no matter how much money or material things you can give to others when you go to heaven, what matters most is what you leave for people spiritually.
Every act of kindness you do, every lesson you teach, and every prayer you pray adds to the legacy you leave.
You are building something that will outlast your earthly years.
So, do your best daily to live a good life, set a good example after you pass away.
Make choices to help future generations know Jesus better as they remember your life. It’s never too late to build a legacy.
If your life leads even one soul that much closer to Jesus, it will make an eternal impact!
Your age doesn’t have to limit you.
It can be a valuable platform to make an eternal impact in God’s kingdom.
You carry valuable life experience from walking with Jesus for many years, and younger people can benefit from what you share with them. So even when you feel tired or discouraged, trust that God is still working through you.
Keep doing all you can as you can to let your life inspire people and make an eternal difference for the better!
Proverbs 13:22 “A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children.”
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Praying …
Psalm 71 International Children’s Bible
An Old Person’s Prayer
71 In you, Lord, is my protection.
Never let me be ashamed.
2 Because you do what is right, save and rescue me.
Listen to me and save me.
3 Be my place of safety
where I can always come.
Give the command to save me.
You are my rock and my strong, walled city.
4 My God, save me from the power of the wicked.
Save me from the hold of evil and cruel people.
5 Lord God, you are my hope.
I have trusted you since I was young.
6 I have depended on you since I was born.
You have been my help from the day I was born.
I will always praise you.
7 I am an example to many people.
You are my strong protection.
8 I am always praising you.
All day long I honor you.
9 Do not reject me when I am old.
Do not leave me when my strength is gone.
10 My enemies have made plans against me.
They meet together to kill me.
11 They say, “God has left him.
Go after him and take him.
No one will save him.”
12 God, don’t be far off.
My God, hurry to help me.
13 Let them be ashamed.
Destroy those who accuse me.
They are trying to hurt me.
Cover them with shame and disgrace.
14 But I will always have hope.
And I will praise you more and more.
15 I will tell about how you do what is right.
I will tell about your salvation all day long,
even though it is more than I can tell.
16 I will come and tell about your powerful works, Lord God.
I will tell only about you and how you do what is right.
17 God, you have taught me since I was young.
Even until today I tell about the miracles you do.
18 Even though I am old and gray,
do not leave me, God.
I will tell the children about your power.
I will tell those who will live after me about your might.
19 God, your justice reaches to the skies.
You have done great things.
God, there is no one like you.
20 You have given me many troubles and bad times.
But you will give me life again.
When I am almost dead,
you will keep me alive.
21 You will make me greater than ever.
And you will comfort me again.
22 I will praise you with the harp.
I trust you, my God.
I will sing to you with the lyre.
You are the Holy One of Israel.
23 I will shout for joy when I sing praises to you.
You have saved me.
24 I will tell about your justice all day long.
And those who want to hurt me
will be ashamed and disgraced.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 