Age and Power

“Even when I am old and gray, God, do not abandon me. Then I will proclaim Your power to another generation, Your strength to all who are to come.” (Psalm 71:18 CSB)

David saw the inevitable coming. As he began to age he foresaw the time when he would become old and gray. Along with that thought came some unwanted companions, thoughts about losing power, about being discarded, about being crushed by enemies who concluded that God had abandoned him. David had been a winner all his life, and he feared the thought of losing anything. But particularly, he feared the loss of strength. He thus reminded himself in Psalm 71 that the Lord was the true Source of his strength, his Rock, his Fortress. He prayed that God would not abandon him in his old age, so that he would have the strength to point the next generation to the power and strength of God.

God, of course, was not about to abandon his servant David. In rational terms, David knew that, but fear, more often than we prefer, sometimes overwhelms rational thought. The fear of being abandoned, of being relegated to insignificance, generated more fear. That is how a downward spiral begins.

As people grow older, they sometimes come face to face with this same fear, the fear of loss of significance, the loss of influence. It is honest and genuine to pray, “God, please don’t let my life become insignificant. Please use my life for continued good.” But then, we also do the same thing David did and allow truth to displace that fear. He reached the point of trusting God to continue using Him, and he went on to ask God to give him the opportunity to proclaim His power to another generation, so that all who were to come would know God.

Having a significant life – at any age – means influencing those who are coming along, to help point them toward the Lord as the true Source of their strength. One of the greatest opportunities an older believer has in this life is to help a younger believer understand and experience and trust the power and strength of God, the Almighty One.

Lord, Give us the wisdom today to understand the power of influence, and may the influence of each of our lives serve as an encouragement to someone else. Amen.