Our youth-obsessed culture often suggests that our value ends at 65, or some other arbitrary age. But why wait that long? Our culture also celebrates retiring early—being able to stop “working” by age 45 or 50. The issue is, how shall we use the extra time “retirement” gives us? Psalm 71 offered a different perspective from the investment company ads that picture a kind of perpetual, self-indulgent vacation. The psalmist saw sharing God’s love and power as a lifelong calling, exclaiming, “I’m still proclaiming your wondrous deeds! … even in my old age with gray hair, don’t abandon me, God! Not until I tell generations about your mighty arm, tell all who are yet to come about your strength.”
• Whether you’re 21 or 81, to what extent can you join the psalmist in saying, “You’ve taught me since my youth, God, and I’m still proclaiming your wondrous deeds!”? Whatever your age, find ways of joining the psalmist in resolving, “Lord, I will help others remember nothing but your righteous deeds.”