Aging can be difficult, but aging is a natural part of life. And there is wisdom in the psalms for those approaching the sunset years.[1] It seems that David wrote Psalm 71 after his son, Adonijah, tried to steal the throne (1 Kgs 1). David’s life and legacy had been endangered and his heart broken by betrayal. So he looks back, as an older man, on his lifelong faith: “For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth. . . . O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds” (Ps 71:5, 17). Even as a shepherd boy, David loved the Lord and composed many songs while watching his father’s sheep (1 Sam 16:1-13). God empowered young David to fend off wild animals and to help him slay Goliath (1 Sam 17). So, David kept his trust in God as he ascended to the throne.
Yet now, David is an old man approaching his final years: “Do not cast me off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength is spent” (Ps 71:9). He prays for God’s faithfulness “even to old age and gray hairs” (v. 18). Perhaps today, you’re not quite in the casket, but you have more gray hairs than ever before (or less hairs overall). Your body is not as strong as in younger days, while you experience limited mobility and increasing ailments (e.g., Gen 27:1; 1 Sam 4:15; 1 Kgs 1:1; 15:23). Your mind is less sharp and your memory more forgetful (e.g., 2 Sam 19:35). And you worry about the way you’ll be remembered. Aging comes with its own unique concerns. But know that the Christian life is a life of faith from beginning to end.
God is Our Refuge Since Birth (vv. 1-8)
David pleads with God who has been his refuge since birth: “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. Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man” (Ps 71:1-4). David tells God what he wants: Snatch me from the jaws of the wicked. Usher me to safety from the place of danger. Save me fully and completely. Hide me in your mountain stronghold. Yet David also tells God what he doesn’t want: Let me not be put to shame. Don’t hand me over to cruel and unjust enemies. Then, as he prays, David repeatedly affirms the character of God: Righteous, Refuge, Deliverer, Rescuer, Savior, Fortress, Rock. God’s person and his promises bolster David’s faith: “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” (vv. 5-6). The Lord was David’s refuge even before he became aware of it. God knit him together in his mother’s womb and cradled him at first breath (139:13-16). Like a midwife, God cut the umbilical cord so that David would depend only on his Maker.[2]
One advantage of growing older is the perspective of seeing God’s faithfulness in your life. How amazing that you were once nourished through a disposable cord of flesh and found safe refuge in the delicate walls of your mother’s womb (22:9-10). How wonderful that your Creator knew your every thought and word and deed before they ever came to be (139:1-4). As Job testifies of God, “You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews. You have granted me life and steadfast love, and your care has preserved my spirit” (Job 10:11-12).
God cared for David from his birth, yet still the king laments: “I have been as a portent to many” (Ps 71:7a). A “portent” can describe both astonishing wonders as in the exodus and astonishing judgment to warn the disobedient (Deut 28:46). For as the king, David is a figurehead. If he is struck down, the nation is humiliated. If he is banished, the whole nation suffers exile. If Adonijah seizes his father’s throne, it does not bode well for Israel. So, David is a portent of things to come—a sign that God’s righteous king will be a suffering servant who represents God’s people. Even while persecuted, though, David praises God: “But you are my strong refuge. My mouth is filled with your praise, and with your glory all the day” (vv. 7b-8). He glories in the God who made him and rejoices in his afflictions. For how can God be David’s Refuge unless David is in trouble? How can God be Savior unless David needed saving? Every affliction we face in life is an avenue to know God better (119:71).
We must keep on praising God even when people gossip behind our back—when a coworker steals the credit—when we’re diagnosed with stage-4 cancer and given months to live. We still pray, “God, be glorified in my suffering” when our bones creak and our muscles ache—when all the world forgets our accomplishments and we no longer feel respected in society. If we can still praise God when the leaves are falling off our tree, then God receives even greater glory than in the springtime of our youth. So, look to the past for strength in the present. Recall how God has been your refuge from birth and, as a youth, how you placed your hope in him (Eccl 12:1). Rejoice in your conversion story and recount God’s faithfulness ever since. For the longer you walk with God, the greater history you will have of his comforting presence, his steadfast faithfulness, and his blessings in your life. Every weakness in your aging body then gives you opportunity to glory in the strength of Christ (2 Cor 12:9-10).
God is Our Strength in Old Age (vv. 9-19)
A lifelong faith begins from youth, but continues into old age. The psalmist expresses his concern: “Do not cast me off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength is spent” (Ps 71:9). In societies that worship youth, the aged are forgotten—brushed to the side when it seems they have nothing left to give. Perhaps you worry also: Can I keep up with my younger colleagues? Do people still respect me though my best years have been spent? Will my husband love me with all my wrinkles or trade me in for a newer model? Will my children still visit once they start their own families and careers? Old age comes with increased fears of being cast off and forsaken: “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’” (vv. 10-11). Sadly, life’s problems do not diminish with age. Instead, David’s enemies seem to multiply like sharks smelling blood in the water. They view him as a defenseless, doddering old man whose throne is ripe for the taking. They plot behind his back and watch, like vultures, for any sign of weakness because they think that God has discarded his servant.
So, David implores, “O God, be not far from me; O my God, make haste to help me! May my accusers be put to shame and consumed; with scorn and disgrace may they be covered who seek my hurt” (vv. 12-13). These terms, “cast off” and “forsake,” refer to the covenant curses for disobedience (Deut 28:20; 29:28). So, David reclaims the covenant blessings by calling on his personal relationship with “my God.” He trusts God’s promise that one of his offspring would reign upon the throne forever (2 Sam 7:12-13; see Isa 46:3-4). And he determines to keep his faith in God: “But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more. My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge. With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come; I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone. 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. Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is like you?” (Ps 71:14-19). David focuses his praise on God’s righteous character and saving deeds. Who is like God? The answer, of course, is no one!
When you wonder if your life truly matters, let God’s judgment be the measure. For God remembers all the times you have been faithful and forgives you for the times you weren’t. He gets it right even when others misjudge you, so do not fear what people say. Instead, trust the all-wise God and obey his will until he can say of you, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Matt 25:21, 23). Then, tell this good news to everyone who will listen (Ps 71:14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 22-24). Instead of complaining about your loss of strength, proclaim God’s goodness to the coming generations. Declare his glories to your children and your children’s children. Raise up worshipers within the gathered church as young and old rejoice together. Then, sing to God as long as you have breath and share the gospel every chance you get. For we must boast in Christ no matter what mortal strength remains (1 Cor 1:31). Psalm 71 laments the many “hardships” of old age: loss of dignity (vv. 1, 21); weakened strength (v. 9); vulnerability (vv. 4, 11, 18); dependence on others for protection (vv. 6, 9, 18); fear of death (vv. 10-11, 20); forgotten legacy (v. 7); loneliness as you say “goodbye” to many lifelong friends (v. 11). Getting old is not for the faint of heart, but God doesn’t want you wringing your hands with grief. You must not turn into a grumpy old man or a griping old woman. Instead, old age is a gift to glorify God and to faithfully serve others. So, never stop praising God. For although your physical body wastes away, your soul keeps growing into eternity (2 Cor 4:16-18).
And never stop serving God until your final day. Ministry may slow down with age, of course, and look different in your later years, but you never retire from Christian ministry. Even if you no longer have the energy to run with youth, you can pray for college students or prepare a meal for young adults. You can have conversations over coffee or encourage newlyweds with your words. You can pass along your lifelong faith through the counsel of your wisdom (Job 12:12). The young will benefit from seeing wrinkled hands turn the pages of well-loved Bibles. So, instead of wasting away, pour your life into future generations. Always be discipling in every season as you accomplish Christ’s Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20). Physically, your strength will fade, but spiritually you must keep on serving. For gray hairs do not disqualify from ministry, but serve as your credentials: “Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life” (Prov 16:31). Age shouldn’t be a hindrance to the gospel, but a resource for discipleship. So, steward your faith as long as God grants you life. Then, as you age with grace, keep on revealing the God who never grows old.
God is Our Life in Death (vv. 20-24)
Our God is our refuge since birth and our strength in old age. Then finally, God is our life in the face of death: “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” (Ps 71:20). Throughout the psalms, David affirms the future resurrection of the saints (16:10; 18:4-5, 16; 30:3; 49:15). For death is real: “The depths of the earth” (Sheol) describes the grave (63:9). Yet David trusts God to revive his life again, for death is not the end of life nor the grave our final resting place (71:21). Instead, our living hope is in the resurrection (1 Pet 1:3). For David’s lifelong faith reminds us of the coming Christ who would prophesy of his own death and resurrection: “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise” (Mark 9:31). Then, as David foretold and as Christ fulfilled, we too live with hope in our future resurrection: “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” (Rom 8:11).
David then concludes the psalm by worshiping God: “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” (71:22-24). God puts his enemies to shame just as David requested (v. 13). God consistently judges rightly just as David acknowledged from his youth (vv. 2, 15, 16, 19, 24). And just as David cried out for deliverance, he now praises God for delivering on those promises (vv. 1-3, 22-24). For God is the Redeemer of David’s soul and the Holy One of Israel. So today, we praise the Lord with our voices, instruments, and with every breath. We shout for joy and talk of God’s righteous help all day long. We are satisfied in our souls as we sing with praise:
“Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness!”
Morning by morning new mercies I see:
All I have needed thy hand hath provided—
“Great is thy faithfulness,” Lord, unto me![3]
Life Application Study:
- What tempts you to grumble as you grow older? How can you cultivate continual prayer (Ps 71:3), continual praise (vv. 6, 8), and continual hope in God (v. 14)?
- What problems in life seem to increase with age? How can you glorify God today in ways you could not in your youth? How have you grown in godly wisdom (Job 12:12)?
- Memorize Psalm 71:5, then recount how God has been faithful to you in the past. What strength does this give you for present difficulties?
- What does the Bible teach about the church’s future resurrection? What implications does that hold for your life in Christ today?
- How can you intentionally disciple the coming generations of believers? In what ways will you make your life and ministry count until the end?
- One counterintuitive way to disciple others is to humbly ask for help and give them the joy of serving you. How does the humility to depend on others serve to cultivate a healthy church?
- Reflect on John Piper’s “Resolutions on Growing Old with God,” Desiring God (blog), March 24, 1993, accessed at https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/resolutions-on-growing-old-with-god.
- Pray Psalm 71 back to God as you contemplate a lifelong faith:
- O Lord, be my Refuge as you have been since my youth (vv. 1-8).
- Don’t let me become cranky in old age or fearful in a fallen world (vv. 9-13).
- Instead, I resolve to continually hope in you and to praise you all my days (v. 14).
- Remind me often of your righteous character and saving deeds (vv. 15-17).
- Give me breath, O Lord, to proclaim your goodness to the coming generations (vv. 18-24).
[1] “We have here the prayer of the aged believer who in holy confidence of faith, strengthened by a long and remarkable experience, pleads against his enemies and asks further blessings for himself” (C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, vol. 2a, Psalms 58–87 [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1968], 206).
[2] Verse 6 can be translated, “from my mother’s womb you cut me loose.”
[3] Thomas O. Chisholm, “Great is Thy Faithfulness” (1923).
