Declaring your Power

2 Samuel 17; Psalms 71; Matthew 26 

“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;…Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come.”

Psalm 71:9-12, 18

Some of David’s greatest tests came in his old age. His sons feuded with each other and Absalom led a rebellion. The whisper campaign against David sought to undermine people’s belief that the Lord was still with David. Everyone knew that it was the presence of the Lord that gave David his strength. His age was secondary.

Do we, too, feel forgotten or undermined by others?

The world counts beauty, physical strength, or our earning power as the source of our value. David would tell us our value comes from the Lord. As we grow old, our accumulated experience of God’s faithfulness and power in our lives gives us something to pass on to the next generation.

Are we declaring God’s power to the next generation?

“Lord God, your power and faithfulness are my testimony, for your glory.”