David – Ending Well

David – Ending Well

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David–Living Purposefully Psalm 71

David: Ending Well by— Living Purposefully

Psalm 71

Transcript

Let’s open our Bibles to the 71st Psalm. As you’re turning there, Jesus has given all of us something to look forward to, and I hope that you’re meditating on that, and living for that, and pondering that this morning.

Jesus said that at the end of our lives, we have the opportunity to have Him look at us and say to us, well done, good and faithful servant. Now, that is something to look forward to, to have the Creator Himself, the king of glory, assess us with such an honor. He didn’t say it just once. He said it more than once, and it is truly the theme of what Paul said he labored for. So, to think about how to do that, Christ’s well done is what any of us would call ending well. If you end well, you end with His well done, and that would be something we would all want.

As we look at Psalm 71 this morning, we’re opening to the words of someone who ended well. That’s why we have the Bible. The Bible is the record of God’s dealings with individuals, showing us how they properly responded and improperly responded. It is the revelation of God’s truth through the lives of individuals as He works in this world. He shows us His plan, His truth lived out in individuals. So, this is something recorded for us about the life of someone who ended well. God prompts them to pause and look back over their life.

The setting of this 71st Psalm is someone who is old, who is writing it. It’s someone who has already lived through so much, and some of it is pain and struggle. But now in the 71st Psalm, not only are they looking back over what they’ve lived through, but because they’re at the end of their life, they’re saying there’s more ahead. What’s ahead is they’re now facing the weaknesses of old age, the challenges of old age, as well as the blessings and curses of old age, and they’re all chronicled in these 24 verses.

But the key to finishing life well, the 71st Psalm tells us, is cultivating proper responses. What we might call good habits, godly habits, prepare us for how we’re going to respond when those challenges come. So, I love the 71st Psalm because life is a constant stream of choices, and every choice we make has a consequence. The consequence of good choices is good. The consequences of bad choices are bad. It’s that simple. That’s what we have to think about this morning. There is for us a really simple life, and that ends well. David, in our Psalm, describes that.

Reading Psalm 71 is probably listening to the voice of God, pointing out the resolves that David lived by. In fact, this Psalm has 12 positive, present-tense resolves, and then it has about 11 future tenses. I will, I will, I will, I will, I will, I will type of resolves. They are the operating system that got him to this point, and then he continues those and reflects on the future. This morning, we’re going to look at the present tense ones, this evening, we’re going to look at the future tense ones, because there are so many of them that I want to cover each one individually. But since it doesn’t say at the beginning of the 71st Psalm, you look at the 70th, it says the Psalm of David, but you look at the 71st and it’s blank. So, some have speculated that maybe David didn’t write this. If David isn’t the author, maybe the one that God used is Samuel. In fact, that’s what a group of people believe: that David wrote Samuel, his mentor, the prophet who anointed him. Samuel’s reflections on life. That’s very possible.

The only problem with that is if Samuel wrote this, it quotes from 18 of David’s Psalms that go to the end of his life. This Psalm quotes more from other Psalms than any other Psalm. It opens with the first three verses of Psalm 31. It quotes extensively from 18 other Psalms of David. That’s why most believe that David wrote this. But if it wasn’t Samuel, and if it wasn’t David, it could be Jeremiah who lived after David’s time, because Jeremiah also, like David, had an awful hard life. We’ve chronicled that. In fact, when you get to the third chapter of the laments of Jeremiah or Lamentations, the first several verses of the third chapter give a horror list of all the troubles that Jeremiah went through. But then you get to the 23rd verse, and he says, great is Thy faithfulness. So, if that’s it, then great. Jeremiah or Samuel. But David is probably the strongest case for the authorship. It’s almost universally agreed upon from ancient times.

In fact, the Bible that Jesus carried, which He quoted from most in His ministry, is called the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew manuscripts. The Bible very clearly, in the 71st Psalm says a Psalm of David. So, in Jesus’ time, in the apostles’ time, it was universally accepted that David wrote this. Also, in the Hebrew Bible, the Bible of Jesus, there was the joining together of the 70th and the 71st Psalm. They’re actually a continuous Psalm in the Hebrew manuscript. They are not separate like they are in ours, so that’s another reason why we believe that David wrote this. Of course, as I mentioned before, the first three verses of the 71st Psalm are actually the opening verses of the 31st Psalm that we studied last time when David was fleeing from Absalom. So, there are just a lot of reasons that we would think that this Psalm was written by David.

But no matter what channel God chose to deliver this Psalm to us by, it’s a powerful testimony of the God we can trust in all seasons of life. The God we can trust even at our weakest times when age, infirmity, and incapacity are mounting, and we are feeling the toll of the years going by. Even then, our great God is faithful and will not fail us even when we fail Him.

But lest some of you that are younger and don’t think you’re nearing the end, check out that it’s also, in the first half, an incredible Psalm of what someone who has lived life says are the best ways to live life. So, if you’re young and you don’t feel any infirmities and you are just really feeling your oats, as we used to say. When my dad would let me feed the horses when I was younger, he’d say, watch out. They really are feeling their oats. If you’re feeling your oats these days, there’s still a message in here. The resolves that David lived by.

Much like the books written by the titans of business or finance that give their leadership secrets. There are a lot of these. When Jack Welch finished at General Electric, he gave his secrets. And all these titans of business and finance, they write these books that tell how they did it. Much like the 71st Psalm contains the principles that drove David, the principles that guided, and the principles that gave him resolve to serve God all of his life. Through the infinite Spirit of God, as David’s testimony guided by the mighty hand of God was breathed out in the 71st Psalm, it’s worth repeating and receiving in our lives.

So, even if you are young and the weaknesses of old age are far away, this Psalm has something even for you. It’s the call to live life intentionally, to live each day purposefully so that when the days speed by, and you finally realize your life is not as long ahead as it is behind, that you are not looking back with sorrow, saying, I wish I had lived my life differently. In the 71st Psalm, we’re only going to read the first half this morning.

So, let’s stand together for the reading of God’s Word. Follow along as I read verses 1 through 13 as we look at the present tense in David’s life. Psalm 71, verse 1, in You, oh Lord, I put my trust. Do you remember that from Psalm 31? He didn’t say, I put my trust in You, oh Lord. He starts with the Lord. In You, oh Lord. Do you remember that total paradigm shift? He thought of God before himself. In You, oh Lord, I put my trust. Let me never be put to shame. Deliver me in Your righteousness, cause me to escape. Incline Your ear to me and save me. Be my strong refuge to which I may resort continually. You have given the commandment to save me, for You are my rock and my fortress. Deliver me, oh my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and the cruel man, for You are my hope, oh Lord God, for You are my trust from my youth.

Verse 6, by You I’ve been upheld from birth. You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb. My praise is continually of You. I’ve become a wonder to many, but you are my strong refuge. Let my mouth be filled with Your praise and with Your glory all the day. Do not cast me off in the time of old age. Do not forsake me when my strength fails. For my enemies speak against me, and those who lie and wait for my life take counsel together, saying God has forsaken him. Pursue and take him, for there is none to deliver him. Oh God, do not be far off from me. Oh my God, make haste to help me. Let them be confounded and consumed who are adversaries of my life. Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor who seek my hurt.

Let’s bow before the Lord in prayer. Father, we’re so thankful that David lived his life for You in the present tense. He believed that You were his constant refuge, shield, and protector. You had kept him from his mother’s womb when he was totally, totally unprotected, and so vulnerable. You provided someone to nurture and care for him and feed him when he wasn’t even conscious of it. He said that the same God who took me from my mother’s womb will take care of me to my last breath. May we also choose to live life purposefully, that we might end well, that we might lay hold of You to our last breath. That we might lay hold of You with our every breath. That we would live in the present tense as David did and then resolve for the future tense that we will, as we have, continue following You. Lord, there is a great message here, but there are many distractions in our lives. We often are tempted to only focus on my life, my problems, my goals, my desires, my needs, instead of seeing the other part of life, which is Your plan, Your will, Your direction, and Your purpose for each of us. We make choices every day about where to focus our lives. May we take the focus off ourselves this hour and put our focus on You and begin cultivating that as a habit, to actually see our daily struggles in life from your perspective, as David does. That’s only possible by Your Spirit’s power. So, we yield to You now. Be exalted as You open our eyes, as You touch our wills, and as we choose to follow You more fully this morning. In the name of Jesus, we pray, Amen.

You may be seated. As you’re seated, I was thinking about the aimless culture we live in. We live in a constant wave of one fad after another, as our culture just embraces the latest and the newest, and everyone just charges off in that direction. It is just so amazing to watch that. But we can also see those trends in the Church, as there are fads and events that shape our lives as believers that kind of sweep through the Church one after another.

One trend that I like to watch is which books become mega-bestselling books across Christendom. And since I was old enough to be reading, I’ve in my mind thought about the books that everyone talked about, and everyone was involved in. When you see that, when you see those books that make big splashes, if you step back, bestselling books among Christians are indicators. They’re indicators, often of desires that permeate the personal lives of believers. That’s why some of the mega-selling Christian books are something we should take note of because they’re the heart cries, the deep desires of believers out there.

Just for example, I want to point out five of the bestselling books written by Christians over the last 30 years. No matter what you may think about those people or their books, they do reveal the longings, the deep longings of the hearts of believers. When I was young, Ken Taylor in 1971, published his Living Bible. It was astounding. It sold 40 million copies just like that. That was interesting. I grew up hearing Billy Graham every time he preached, always saying, if you’ll write to me, Billy Graham, Minneapolis, Minnesota, he didn’t even give a zip code, and he didn’t even give a street address. It was just Billy Graham, Minneapolis, Minnesota. If you ask for it, I will give you a copy of Living, whatever he was promoting, letters or Living Epistles, or Living Gospels, or whatever it was.

What does that represent? It was a statement that many people really wanted to understand the Bible. That’s what the Living Bible is. It’s what people wanted to understand, and they wanted it so simple that they could understand it.

The same year, another incredible selling book by Hal Lindsey broke, The Late Great Planet Earth. The same year that Ken Taylor was selling 40 million living Bibles, Hal Lindsey sold 28 million copies. Overnight, he became one of the wealthiest Christians because he sold so many books, and it shaped the rest of his life. But that book was an indicator that many believers also wanted to understand the future as God has laid out in His Word. That was the hunger of their hearts. That became a passion across the Church as that prophetic movement hit the Church.

More recently, in 1995, Tim LaHaye’s Left Behind series was a renewed statement of a new generation of people who wanted to know what God’s Word says about the future. To date, 62 million copies of that Left Behind series have sold. That’s a strong statement. People are interested in what God says about the future.

It was even more surprising when the year 2000 came. Not only did the world continue, but also a book that sold. Some of you don’t even remember this, but in 2000, Bruce Wilkinson, the Walk Thru the Bible man, published a little sleeper book out there. It was called The Prayer of Jabez, and it sold almost 20 million copies overnight. People just debated about how you could write a whole book about one verse in the Bible. Actually, that prayer of Jabez that overnight sold so many copies was a cry from many believers that they really wanted to get into experiencing prayer.

In fact, this past August, I was at a Bible conference. I spoke all week long, and at the end, people were invited by the director to stand up and give testimonies. One woman stood up in the back, and she said, I have prayed the prayer of Jabez over my family for the last five years, and that’s all I knew how to pray until this week. Now, she said, and she held out her little card, How to Pray for Your Children. She said, now I have verses to put with my prayer of Jabez. I thought there was an example of the heart cry of people who want to know how to experience prayer, and they were praying the prayer of Jabez.

Finally, in recent years, Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life, released in 2002, sold an astonishing 24 million copies immediately. Amazing. It was a statement from many people that they’re really interested in finding out how to live life for what matters to God.

That brings me to the sixth book, the greatest bestselling book of all time, because this book contains the answers to all of those deepest heart cries. As the bestselling book in the history of the world, God’s Word, the Bible, gives us the truth we need to answer these and any other cries of our hearts.

The 71st Psalm that we’re going to walk through this morning is David answering those deepest heart cries that all of us in enough years are going to face because they’re universal to us. Life is a collection of problems and troubles that are always with us. Either we’re just getting through some or right in the middle of some, or we’re headed into some troubles. That’s just how life is. In fact, Job, 5,000 years ago, says that man is born for trouble as sparks fly upward on a campfire. What he’s saying is just as much as the physical laws of the universe say the things that are hot rise and that hot air rises and that those sparks are carried aloft, he said just so much in the spiritual world, God has ordained in His creation that in His creations that bear His image when they go through life, they’re born for troubles and they can’t escape it.

I watched the bees and the butterflies yesterday. I was out trimming the roses, and I thought about how carefree their lives are. They were going from one pretty flower to another. They were drinking water out of the pool and then drinking water and nectar from the flowers, and they were just unconcerned about anything, and they just spun back to their little home with all their friends and went back and forth all day long. I thought, and here I am worried if I’m going to get all this trimmed in the little time I have before winter comes. We are born for trouble. That’s part of life. But the scriptures tell us that every day we have a choice either to focus on ourselves and live thinking about my troubles, my problems, my misfortune, my woes, or there will always be some. If you look hard enough, you’ll find them. Or to focus on God, His plans, His promises, His purpose, His faithfulness to guide our lives to the end.

Now, some people have said that life is a collection of mountains and valleys. Have you ever heard that? That idea that either you’re up here and everything’s going great, or you’re down here and everything’s not. But that’s not really a biblical perspective on life. Although God does say that He is the God of the mountains and the God of the valleys. But that’s because the context was that they thought false gods were working more in one place or the other. God just said, I work everywhere, but our life is not a mountaintop sometimes, and valleys other times. Actually, our life seems to be a parallel track of problems and God’s wonderful plans. We can either focus on this side or on that side. So, basically, we have a choice in life. God wants us to look at life and all of its struggles through the lens of His Word. He wants us to see Him and His plans being worked out in our lives as we go through each day. That’s what David shows us.

Now, first of all, and I want you to survey this with me, and you might want to write this down or mark it in your Bible or take notes or something. Or just sit back and really try to soak it in. David first surveys for us the unending struggles that lie ahead for most of us. Now, a few in this room are already in the thick of this, but for the rest of us, here’s what’s ahead. Okay? And he tells us, first of all, in verses 1 and 2. David begins this Psalm, reminding us that when we get older, confusion increases. Look what he says. He says in You, oh Lord, I put my trust. Don’t let me be put to shame. Deliver me, let me escape. Incline Your ear to me. What he’s saying is, I don’t know where to go. I don’t know. Don’t let me do something wrong.

It reminds me so much of older people. They have friends who, when they get older, start doing things that they shouldn’t do, they lose track, and they’re not aware of what they say. We call it Alzheimer’s today. They used to call it senility. There are all kinds of things, and they just say, oh, I don’t want to be put to shame. Do you know what David says? He says confusion is going to increase. The older we get, the slower our minds go, the easier it is for us to get confused. Life continues to move fast. We slow down. Our minds and bodies can’t keep up the pace, and this prompts confusion.

On highway 51, some of those entrance ramps are so short when you’re going toward downtown. Have you ever had an older person in a gigantic car, kind of not know what to do? They just can’t seem to get onto that highway, and the cars pile up behind them. It’s just life is too fast. That reminds me of the bottleneck that goes through many people’s minds. Life continues to go at highway speeds, but my car isn’t, my mind can’t. So, we get confused. With too many choices, too fast a pace, too short a time period to process all the above, makes for freezing up of our ability to make decisions, and this confuses us about what we should do. So, David says, the older you get, the more confusion increases. The little confusions you have when you’re little get bigger and bigger and bigger when you’re older.

So, when confusion increases, what should we do? Look what David does. He declares his unwavering choice, his godly habit. He says this in verse 1, in Thee, oh Lord, I put my trust. David learned to flee to the Lord instead of living in confusion. When he couldn’t remember what he should do, he just fled to the Lord. He says in Thee, oh Lord, I put my trust. I don’t know what to do. Don’t let me be put to shame.

Now, I’ve told you this story so many times. I love it. Amazing Grace, John Newton. He had what we would call Alzheimer’s the last two years of his life. He was the most well-known man in the British Isles, the chaplain to the queen. He lost his mind, we would say. They had to keep him in bed. They had to watch him so he wouldn’t wander. In his bed, he would sit, and all the royalty and all the nobility and all the common people would stream through his house. His biographers tell us that he said the same thing to everyone who came to his bed. He said, I don’t know who you are. I don’t know who I am, but this I know: I was a great sinner. Jesus is a great Savior. Now, I hope I play that record when I lose my mind and when I can’t remember, and I hope you do too. If in Thee, oh Lord, I put my trust, He’ll never let us be put to shame. That was David’s hope. He learned to flee to the Lord instead of living in confusion.

Look at the second verse. David learned to cry to the Lord before giving up to his troubles. He said, deliver me in Your righteousness, cause me to escape. Incline your ear to me. Save me. They’re a whole successive staccato of his cries to the Lord. So, when confusion came, David fled to the Lord instead of living in confusion. He cried to the Lord before he gave in to his troubles.

But he gives a second challenge. Look, starting in verse 3. Another challenge of growing older that David points out is that he reminds us that insecurity increases. Insecurity. Think about that. It’s like confusion. Insecurity shows up here and there for us in childhood. It gets bigger and bigger, the older and weaker we get. Older people feel like they’re no longer needed and that they are in the way. You remember Barzillai, the Gileadite? When David wanted to honor him, Barzillai was 80.  Barzillai said, no, I don’t want to come to Jerusalem. He said, I’ll just be in the way. Isn’t that what so many older people feel? I just am not needed anymore. Let me just quietly back out. I don’t want to be in the way.

Often combined with all the other weaknesses of life, insecurities just increase and increase. David warns us that God will not allow us to persist in the sins that come of insecurities in old age. When you’re insecure, you have a lust for comfort. If I can’t do anything else, I’m going to make sure I am comfortable. We have a lust for convenience. We have greed for recognition or covetousness for security. If you’re insecure, then all of a sudden, all you think about is security, and you begin just coveting it and wanting it by any means possible. Those are the enticing sins of old age. God uses David to remind us that the sins of old age could erase from us Christ’s well done. We should remember Solomon, who started so well but failed in the end because he refused to obey God in the last lap of his life. In his old age, his heart went away from the Lord, and he lost his well done.

All the increasing insecurities of old age are prompted by fears. Why is it that the most repeated negative prohibition in the Bible is fear not. Because all of us are assaulted by fears, and the older we get, the fears just come on strong. Fears like the fear of pain or the fear of abandonment and rejection or the fear of death, or the fear of losing control of things in our life, or the fear of failure, or the fear of the future, the fear of shame and embarrassment, or the fear of strangers, or the fear of loss, or the fear of what people think of you or the fear of aging. Now, all those fears are around, but they just come like a pack of wolves and like a swarm of piranhas. The older you get, the more those fears just start eating away.

So, how does God deliver us from fear? God wants to deliver us by a greater fear, the fear of God, and that’s what David exhibits in these verses 3 through 8. What is the fear of the Lord? A description of what the fear of the Lord is can be distilled from the many times that the fear of the Lord appears throughout the Psalms. Basically, if you took all the times the fear of the Lord is reflected in the Psalms and also in the wisdom literature in general, you’d find there are four broad categories. The fear of the Lord is having reverence and respect for God as the all-powerful leader of all else. In other words, he is over everything else, so why fear the lower when the higher is overall. He, we must realize, is the ruler overall, talking about His great power and His sovereignty.

Also, the fear of the Lord is having the certainty of the inescapable accountability of our behavior before God. That means I fear Him because I know I’m going to stand before Him. I know I’m going to answer to Him. So, I know I’m going to be accountable, I know He’s told me not to fear. So, I make a choice to believe Him and not fear.

Thirdly, the fear of the Lord is practicing the personal awareness of the presence of a holy God. Just knowing He’s with us. I love doing this all the time. I went to see my dad for his 91st birthday this week. I flew in one day and left early the next morning. I got to Michigan, and someone said, did anybody travel with you? I said, yes, the Lord did. They stepped back, and they said, oh, I know that. But they don’t really acknowledge that in their daily lives. They think that they go in the car alone. They think that they go to work alone. They think that they go to school alone. They think they go off to college in the fall all alone. They don’t acknowledge that there is this presence of the holy infinite God that goes with us, and we should acknowledge that. That’s what the fear of the Lord is for me: to practically, by personal awareness, experience the presence of God.

Finally, the fear of God is humbly following His leadership by obeying His Word. God has already revealed what He wants. He has already told us what His personal intentions are for us, and we should be exposed to them. We should have a lifelong habit of finding what it is God wants and saying, Lord, yes, Lord, yes. To Your will, to Your way, to Your Word. That’s what I want.

So, when insecurity increases, what should we do? Look what David says. Look at verse 3. He says, I will learn to resist fear by running into God’s refuge. I will trust God’s Word more than my fears. That’s what he’s saying in verse 3. I will run to You. I will trust you more than my fears. When the fear of aging or the fear of death, or the fear of losing control, or the fear of what people think of me, or whatever fear it is, hits me, instead of me trying to overcome that fear, I’ll make a choice. Look what he says. Be my strong refuge to which I may resort continually. I’m going to constantly run to You.

I used to love thunderstorms. When we first moved here, we lived in a little duplex. It was called a step saver. I could sweep the entire duplex standing in one place, right there in Broken Arrow. It was the neatest thing. I said, honey, as long as we live here, I’ll do all the sweeping because I just stood in one central location, did the whole thing, put the sweeper away. It was neat. But what was also neat about it was when those big window-shaking thunderstorms came through, all the kids would come to our room. They would all quietly come, and it would end up that they were all lying on our bed. It was the funnest time because we love to protect them. We love for them to flee to us when they’re afraid of those big thunderstorms. God says, I want to be the refuge that you can trust me more than your fears.

Secondly, look at verse 4. When fears and insecurities increase, what should we do? David learned to ask God for help before he became bitter. See, bitterness is awful. It’s an infection. It says in Hebrews 12 that it defiles. It’ll spring up everywhere in your life. You let it in one place, it’ll just come up everywhere. It’ll defile all the parts of our life. So, when we are insecure and become embittered that someone took something from us or whatever that made this happen, or someone did something to us, we have to ask God for help before we become bitter. Verse 4, he says this, deliver me, oh my God, out of the hands of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous, the cruel, whatever it is that we feel insecure about. We go to the One who is our security. David learned to ask for God’s help before he became embittered and paralyzed by his fears.

Look at verse 5. David learned to keep remembering the faithfulness of God. That’s a sure way to overcome insecurity. Verse 5, You are my hope, oh Lord God. You are my trust for my youth. He says, I’m going to keep remembering. You took care of me at birth. You took care of me when I didn’t even know I needed care. You made sure I was fed, You made sure I was protected, You made sure I was surrounded by loving parents that raised me in the way that You wanted them to raise me, and You are the one. I’m just going to remember that, and I’m going to trust You more.

 

Look at verse 6. David learned to remember to praise God and remember that He had a plan for his life. He says in verse 6, by You, I have been upheld. Now, Americans would say, I have been upheld by You. You notice that David consciously reverses the order. God becomes first in his thinking. By You, I have been upheld. It’s conscious. Do you see what I mean about these being habits? He even alters the way he looks at life. He alters the way he explains life. In You, Oh Lord, I put my trust instead of I trust You, oh Lord. It was a conscious God before me. God before my fears. God, before my insecurities. God before my troubles. So, in verse 6, he learned to remember to praise God, that He had a plan for his life.

Look at verse 7. David learned to let his life be a testimony for the Lord. I’ve become a wonder to many. But You are my strong refuge. People are wondering how I’m holding up under Absalom’s onslaught. That’s the context of this. His own son was trying to kill him. You talk about an ultimate stress, his own son stalking to kill him with the army of Israel. David says in verse 7, I’ve become a wonder to many, but I’m going to let my life be a testimony for You, but You, You first are my refuge. God, before his problems.

Verse 8, he continues. David had learned to praise God so much that he didn’t have any time left for complaints. He says in verse 8, let my mouth be filled with Your praise and with Your glory all the day. He said, I want to praise You so much that I don’t have any space, I don’t have any bandwidth to go around bellyaching and complaining and moaning and whining. He says, I have a conscious choice what I can do with this mouth. He says, I have chosen to let my mouth be filled, verse 8, with Your praise. If there’s nothing to praise God about in the present, then he just says, then I just praise You for your plan, even though I don’t understand it. But I can surely look back and see a whole lifetime that I will praise You for. He says, I will let it fill my day.

Thirdly, look at verse 9. David talks about how his confusion increases, and his insecurity increases. Now, he says in verse 9, that weakness increases. That’s the third area that you have to look forward to the older you get. As we grow older, how true this is. Our finances weaken and deplete, as does our physical strength. Our emotional strength weakens. Our mental strength weakens. Our senses dim. Our minds get dull. Our hopes diminish.

Do you ever think about that? Older people are not planning. When you get to a certain age, you don’t plan to go skiing at Aspen anymore because you’d break every bone in your body. You don’t water ski anymore. You’re afraid of boats going fast. Do you remember what Ecclesiastes 12 says? That you’re afraid of heights, you’re afraid of depths, you’re afraid of sounds, you’re afraid of going outside. That’s weakness increasing, and he’s reflecting that. Everything in our physical world weakens from our bones to our teeth, from our circulation to our stamina, our sight, and our hearing. There’s nothing in our physical world that escapes slow or rapid decline. By the way, that’s in the plan. God says, as you weaken, you flee more often to your strength, to your refuge, to your strong tower, to your hope. That’s His plan.

John Wesley, a giant among the 18th century servants of the Lord, wrote this on his 86th birthday. Wesley was a real blogger. He blogged in his diary. It was a book he wrote in with a pen, and he just carried that with him his whole life. It’s still with us, by the way, which, one good electromagnetic meltdown will ruin all this electronic stuff. So, I’m so glad he wrote this on paper. On his 86th birthday, this is what he said, June 28th. This day I entered, by the way, that was 1789, the year of our constitution and all the big stuff here in America.

June 28th, 1789. This day I enter my 86th year. I now find I grow old. Huh! Wow. He isn’t old till he is 86. This is what he said: Three things. My sight is decayed, so I cannot read small print unless in a strong light. Number two, my strength has decayed. I walk much more slowly than I did some years ago. But he’s still walking and riding horseback and preaching at the mouths of coal mines to tens of thousands of people. But his strength was diminished. Number three, my memory of names, whether a person’s or places, has decayed until I stop a little to recollect them. So, those were his three little things. This is his conclusion because in his journal would reflect, and then he’d make a method. That’s why they’re called Methodists. He always would have a little method. What should I be afraid of if I look for the morrow that my body should weigh down my mind and create either stubbornness by the decrease of my understanding or peevishness by the increase of my bodily infirmities? No, Thou shalt be my answer, oh Lord my God. Then he signed it. John Wesley. It kind of sounds like David. It sounds like what we should be doing.

Another realm that David mentions is in verse 10. Not only does weakness increase but look at verse 10. He says, troubles increase. David notes that his enemies were as much present at the end of his life as they were at the start and all the way through. You know what David notices? His enemies aren’t abating. His strength is abating. His security is abating. His awareness of what to do is abating, but his enemies aren’t. So, that causes him to see that his troubles are increasing. When he was stronger, he could hold him further away, but he’s weaker, and they’re coming closer. That is how life is; we discover the older we get. From troubles with mobility to troubles with relationships, life just fills with troubles. It becomes hard to get up, hard to get around, hard to sleep, hard to hear, hard to remember, hard to trust.

So, do you know what happens? Troubles multiply. Anxiety seems easily accessed. Bitterness always seems near at hand. Fears multiply. Enemies imagined, and enemies experienced, all run together. There begin to be emotional troubles. Some struggle with lifelong depression. Financial troubles. Some have constant financial needs and hardships. There are family troubles. Some have hurtful children or burdensome and ungrateful parents for many years. I read a biography this week of someone whose mother lived till they were 66 years old, and it said that she was the most ungrateful and unthankful person for all their care, all of her declining years. But all these troubles get heavier to bear the weaker we are.

So, look at verse 9. When weakness and troubles increase, David declares that He has an unwavering choice. In the present tense, this is what he has chosen to do. Verse 9. He learned to trust God to the end of his life. He said this, do not cast me off in the time of old age. Don’t forsake me when my strength fails. He said, based on Your past track record, You’ve been with me from birth. Then don’t cast me off. He was renewing his contract. He says, I want You to know I can trust You to the end of life. I want You to help me to know that, oh God.

Look at verse 10. David learned to take his fears to God in prayer. It reminds me of the hymn, Take it to the Lord in Prayer. Do thy friends despise and forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer. He learned to do that. Look at verse 10. For my enemies speak against me, and those who lie in wait for my life take counsel, saying God has forsaken him. But look at verse 12. Here’s his prayer. He took each of his fears to God in prayer. If you want to neutralize, if you want to zap them like bugs. Have you ever had one of those glowing purple things that have electric wires in them, and the bugs go in, they go [zapping sounds]. It’s really fun to watch, but bad for the bug. If you want to zap your fears, look what he does. Verse 12, oh God, do not be far from me. Oh my God, make haste to help me.

In a modern sense, David trusted God as much as people trust dialing 911 these days. As much as people trust those little things, you can wear around your neck, and you can push that buzzer, and someone will come help you. Older people get that around their neck, and they feel secure. They get a sure way they can buzz 911. They feel better when the God of the universe stands right beside them and says, let Me zap your fears. Just pray your fears to Me. Verse 12, God, don’t be far from me. Do you think God won’t answer that prayer? Let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God that passes understanding will keep your heart and mind. Make the request known. Let your fears be known. He says, oh God, don’t be far. Make haste to help me.

Here’s the last one. Look at verse 11. Finally, David notes starting in verse 11, that not only does confusion increase and weakness increase and troubles increase, but aloneness increases. In our younger years, there seemed to be endless avenues to pursue. Time just flies, friends flow around us. Plans are laid out far into the future for this and that. Life is filled with classrooms, with bus and car rides, with work meetings and gatherings as parents, as members and participants of this and that, and we just can’t keep up with it all. We have so much going on. But then slowly the calendar clears, the friends decrease, the travel abates, and we find ourselves increasingly alone. Being alone is a lifelong condition, but it seems to sting more when coupled with troubles increasing, insecurities increasing, weaknesses, and confusion.

Some people, as they age, choose to look back on their past when they’re all alone, and they only remember what they had and lost or what they never had and wanted. That’s very debilitating when you’re alone, to only look back at what you don’t have any more or what you always wanted to have. That’s debilitating. Some people in the present, they use it as a basis to complain and bewail all their aches and pains and problems. That’s a debilitating choice, too. Other people, they choose to look at their future, but they really don’t want to look at their future because they fear death and they’re afraid of dying. So, they won’t even look ahead. They don’t even want to talk about the future because they don’t want to talk about the end.

But in Psalm 71, David looks back at the past, and all he sees is God’s hand of faithfulness and power even when he’s alone. He looks at the present, and he sees God’s plan for him, and he starts anew and afresh, declaring that is what he will do. He’s going to do it until the end of his days. We’re going to see that tonight, his forward look, his future plans, the I wills of David’s life, starting in verse 14. He looks ahead to the future, and he sees all God wants him to do until he goes home to dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

How’d he do that? Verse 13. When aloneness increases, what should we do? David declares his unwavering choice, this godly habit he had. Verse 13, David decided he would never give up, even when he was all alone, even when he was neglected, even when he was sick, ignored, rejected, maligned, and forgotten by everyone in the world except God.

Remember, I got off the plane in Michigan, and someone said, oh, did you travel alone? I said, no, the Lord came with me. Do you really believe that? Do you really acknowledge that? Do you really say, I’m all alone? I’m neglected. I’m forgotten by everyone except God. See, we need to remember that.

Look what he says in verse 13. Let them be confounded and consumed. Who are the adversaries of my life? Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor who seek me. Verse 14, we’re crossing the line into tonight. But look at this, but I will hope continually. In other words, what he says is, I’m going to keep up this track record. I’m going to keep trusting your faithfulness, but he doesn’t stop there. Look at the rest of verse 14, and I’ll praise You yet more and more. He says I’m going to keep up this track, but I’m just going to increase it. The longer I live, the further I go toward the beginning of real life. I’m just going to be more and more thankful and praising You.

This evening, we’ll see in Psalm 71:14-24 how David shifts his focus from all his troubles and turns the spotlight on that other track of life. That was why, at the end of his life, when God wrote his epitaph, which is how we started this in January and began looking at David’s life, God wrote his epitaph in chapter 13 of Acts and said that David served God’s purpose in his generation.

What was his purpose? To lay down a life, an entire life that has every conceivable problem. He had one of his sons raping one of his daughters. That’s a problem. He had another son murder one of his other sons. He had another son trying to murder him. In the midst of it, he’s having an adulterous, immoral affair and kills this woman’s husband. On top of that, he is a religious leader and songwriter. He has every possible stress in life there is, and he, in every setting, fulfills God’s purposes to the end. That’s ending well.

God wants us to end well. Ending well by living purposefully means I make some choices in the power of God’s Spirit; I form some holy habits like these. Here are the nine resolves I just read to you from David’s life, and we could put them in I will form. Number one, I will flee to God for help and hope as my troubles threaten to drown me. Number two, I will cry to God for help before I give in to temptation. Number three, I will trust God’s Word over my fears before I get paralyzed by them. I will seek the Lord about my hurts before they make me bitter. Number five, I will keep reminding myself of God’s faithfulness for all of my life to this moment. Number six, I will seek God’s plan for my life every day to the end. I will not launch out on any day alone. I will take Him with me. Number seven, I’ll use my mouth so often for praise that I will have no room left to complain. Number eight, I will trust the Lord’s ability to rescue me more than the EMS, the doctors, or calling 911, which doesn’t mean you become a Christian scientist and disavow medical advice, but you seek God first and the physicians, the EMS, and 911. But you have the calm, peaceful assurance that you’ve gone to the greatest source, to the greatest hope, to the greatest help first. Finally, number nine, David said, I will never give up even when I’m all alone, forgotten by most, and out of circulation for the rest of my days, because I have you. Oh my God, in You, oh Lord, I put my trust.

Let’s bow before the Lord in prayer. Father, may those words David breathed out in Psalm 31 when Absalom was hot on his trail, those words he breathes out again in Psalm 71 as he reached the end of his trail, be the words that we embrace today, because only You know how long our trail is. We want to in You, oh Lord, put our trust. We want to end well and hear You’re well done. We want to hear that we were a good and faithful servant because we lived purposefully. We lived with these holy habits that David, in this first half, shares in the present tense, and then transforms into future resolves of I will. I pray we will, by Your grace, live this way. Father, for anybody who’s here this morning who doesn’t even get this this morning because they don’t even know that You’re with them because they’ve never met You. I pray that today, while they’re listening, their hearts would be convicted, that they can’t make it without You, that they are weighed down by their load of sin, and that You are offering today the forgiveness of sins. Oh, Lord Jesus, I pray that You would be at work in all of our hearts. For any that need to know You, I pray that You would just convict them and bring them to Yourself. May they cry out to You right where they are and ask for Your cleansing and forgiveness. And for us that know You may we go out of here deciding in you, oh Lord, I put my trust. In the name of Jesus, and all of God’s people said, Amen. God bless you. See you back tonight.

Notes

Jesus gave all of us something to look forward to. He told us what He would like to say to each of us when we arrive safely home to dwell with Him forever–“Well done good and faithful servant”!

Christ’s well done is what any of us would call, ending well.

As you open to the 71st Psalm, you are opening to the words of someone who ended well. God’s prompts them to pause and look back over their life. They are old, have already lived through so much pain—and now are facing the weaknesses of old age, its challenges, blessings and curses.

But the key to finishing life, or ending well is the long term cultivation of godly habits.

Life is a constant stream of choices. Each choice we make has a consequence. The consequences of godly habits are good, the consequences of ungodly habits are bad. Life is really that simple and David in our Psalm this morning knows that.

Reading Psalm 71 is probably listening to the voice of God pointing out David’s resolves for life.

But if it isn’t David the only other authors that may be the ones God used are Samuel and Jeremiah. If it was Samuel then again it was most likely David who captured these thoughts from his wonderful mentor and friend and put them down on parchment to sing of God’s Great Faithfulness. If it was Jeremiah then there is also a hint of the troubles Jeremiah confesses in Lamentations combined with the hope Lamentations 3:23 which declares Great is Thy Faithfulness.

David is the strongest case for authorship and almost universally agreed upon from ancient times. The Bible of Christ’s day called the Septuagint says so, as do most Jewish sources. In the Hebrew Bible Psalm 71 is joined to Psalm 70 also written by David. Also the first three verses of Psalm 71 are taken directly from Psalm 31 which David wrote while fleeing from Absalom.

Most amazing though is the fact that Psalm 71 quotes over 50 times from 26 other Psalms, 18 of which are Psalms that David wrote. This Psalm quotes Psalms 3, 5, 7, 18, 22, 23, 31, 32, 34-36, 40, 51, 56, 57, 60, 63, and 86. So we would conclude it is written by David.

So no matter what channel God chose to deliver this Psalm, it is a powerful testimony to the God we can trust in all seasons of life. And even at our weakest times, when age, infirmity and incapacity are mounting—even then our great God is faithful and will not fail us even when we fail Him.

But there is even more than just a strong comfort for the years ahead in this Psalm, Psalm 71 is also the distillation and crystallization of some underlying resolves or purposes that David had learned to live by in his long and eventful life.

Much like the books written by the titans of business and finance that give the leadership “secrets” and principles that drove these men and women to great successes in their careers—Psalm 71 is David’s testimony guided by the Mighty Hand of God, through the Infinite Spirit of God of what in life is worth repeating.

David distills the purposes of his life. David confesses those underlying truths that guided him well and keep him strong no matter what else he faces to the end of life.

So even if you are young and the weaknesses of old age are far away—this Psalm has something for you too. It is the call to live life intentionally, to live each day purposefully so that when the days speed by and life is getting short you and I can say that we are ending well because we have lived purposefully.

Please stand with me as we read the first half of Psalm 71 verses 1-13 and then pray.

We live in an aimless culture driven by the latest fads and events. We also can see trends in the church by the fads and events that we as believers reflect. One trend that I watch is what books make big splashes. If you step back, best selling books among Christians are indicators of needs and desires that permeate the personal lives of believers. That is why some mega-selling Christian books point to deeper needs being expressed.

Just for example let me point out five of the biggest selling books, written by believers, of the last thirty years. No matter what you may think about the authors or their books—they do reveal where believers are in their spiritual pilgrimages.

• In 1971, Ken Taylor’s Living Bible selling over 40 million copies, was a big statement that many people really wanted to understand the Bible.
• The same year, Hal Lindsey’s Late Great Planet Earth that sold 28 million copies was an indicator that many believers also wanted to understand the future as God had laid it out in His Word.
• In 1995, Tim La Haye’s Left Behind Series was a renewed statement of a new generation of people wanting to know what God’s Word says about the future, selling over 62 million copies and counting.
• Likewise the surprise of the year 2000 was Bruce Wilkinson’s book The Prayer of Jabez that overnight sold over 13 million copies; those sales were a cry from many believers that they really wanted to experience prayer. This summer at a Bible conference I spoke at a woman stood at the final meeting and gave a public testimony. She said I have been praying the Prayer of Jabez over my family for years but now I have verses from the Bible to use to focus my prayers for my family.
• And finally, in recent years Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life released in 2002 and selling an astonishing 24 million copies is a statement that many people are really interested in finding out how to live life for what matters to God.

And the best selling book in all the history of the world, God’s Word the Bible gives us the truth we need to answer these and any other of the deepest cries of our hearts.

The 71st Psalm first of all contains some of the realities that come with life on planet earth. Life has a collection of problems or troubles that are always with us. Either we are just getting through some, just in the middle of some, or just headed into some— troubles! Man is born for troubles as sure as the sparks in a campfire rise up in the smoke and heat, Job told us almost five thousand years ago.

So every day we have a choice to either focus on ourselves–my troubles, my problems, my misfortunes, my woes (and there will always be some); or to focus on God–His plans, His promises, His purposes and His Faithfulness to guide our lives to the end.

Someone has well said that life is not really mountains and valleys where we have all good times (mountains) and all bad times (valleys); rather life is more life a parallel line of railroad tracks. One side is my own personal set of burdens, weakness, problems, and troubles. The other side is all of God’s goodness, His promised faithfulness, His perfect plans and purposes He is working out in my life.

God wants us to look at life with all its struggles, through the lens of His Word. He wants us to see Him and His plans being worked out in our life as we go through each day. That is exactly what David shows us in this Psalm.

So this morning, in Psalm 71 David first surveys the challenges that will face each of us as we get older. He reflects these problems of getting older in a series of verses that blend together God’s Faithfulness and promises with each of those troubles.

David begins this Psalm noting the unending struggles that lie ahead for most of us.

First, in Psalm 71:1-2 David reminds us that as we get older confusion increases. The older we get, the slower our minds, the easier it is to get confused. Life moves fast, we are slowing and our minds and bodies can’t keep us the pace at times. This prompts confusion. Too many choices, too fast a pace and too short a period to process all of the above makes for a freezing up of the ability to make a decision and thus confusion as to what to do.

When confusion increases what should we do? David declares his unwavering choice, his godly habit.

• David had learned to flee to the Lord instead of living in confusion. Psalm 71:1 In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion.

• David had learned to cry to the Lord before giving up to troubles. Psalm 71:2 Deliver me in Your righteousness, and cause me to escape; Incline Your ear to me, and save me.

Secondly, another challenge of growing older David points out is in Psalm 71:3-8 where he reminds us that insecurity increases. Like confusion, insecurity shows up here and there from childhood, it just gets bigger and bigger the older, weaker we get. Older people feel like they are no longer needed, and often that they are in the way. Combined with all the weaknesses of life that breeds increased insecurity.

David warns us that God will not allow us to persist in the enticing sins of old age: a lust for comfort and convenience, a greed for recognition and covetousness for security. God uses David to remind us that the sins of old age can erase Christ’s well done. We should remember Solomon who started well and failed in the end because he refused to obey God at the end of his life.

All of these increasing insecurities of old age are prompted by fears. Like the Fear of Pain, the Fear of Abandonment or Rejection, the Fear of Death, the Fear of Losing Control, the Fear of Failure, the Fear of the Future, the Fear of Shame and Embarrassment, the Fear of Strangers, the Fear of Loss, the Fear of What People Think of You, and the Fear of Aging.

How does God deliver us from fear? God wants to deliver us by a greater fear—the Fear of God. And what is the fear of the Lord? Below is a description of what the fear of the Lord means, distilled from references to the fear of the Lord that appear throughout Psalms.

1. Having reverence and respect for God as the all-powerful Leader of all else.

2. Having certainty of inescapable accountability for behavior to God.

3. Practicing the personal awareness of the presence of a Holy God.

4. Humbly following His leadership by obeying His Word. 1

When insecurity increases what should we do? David declares his unwavering choice, his godly habit.

• David had learned to resist fear by running into God’s Refuge – thus trusting God’s Word more than his fears. Psalm 71:3 Be my strong refuge, To which I may resort continually; You have given the commandment to save me, For You are my rock and my fortress.

• David had learned to ask for God’s help before he became bitter. Psalm 71:4 Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, Out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.

• David had learned to keep remembering the faithfulness of God. Psalm 71:5 For You are my hope, O Lord God; You are my trust from my youth.

• David had learned to remember to praise God that He had a plan for his life. Psalm 71:6 By You I have been upheld from birth; You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb. My praise shall be continually of You.

• David had learned to let his life be a testimony for the Lord. Psalm 71:7 I have become as a wonder to many, But You are my strong refuge.

• David had learned to praise God so much — no time was left for complaints. Psalm 71:8 Let my mouth be filled with Your praise And with Your glory all the day.

Thirdly, David also notes in Psalm 71:9 that weakness increases as we grow older. How true this is. Finances decrease and deplete as does physical strength, emotional strength, mental strength. Our senses dim, our minds dull, and our hopes diminish. Everything in our physical world weakens from bones to teeth, from to circulation to stamina, and sight to hearing. There is nothing in our physical world that escapes the slow or rapid decline.

John Wesley (1703-1791) a giant among the 18th century’s servants of the Lord, wrote this on his 86th birthday in a diary he kept for most of his adult life:

June 28. This day I enter on my eighty-sixth year. I now find I grow old:

1. My sight is decayed, so that I cannot read a small print, unless in a strong light.

2. My strength is decayed, so that I walk much slower than I did some years since.

3. My memory of names, whether of persons, or places, is decayed, till I stop a little to recollect them.

What I should be afraid of, is, if I took thought for the morrow, that my body should weigh down my mind, and create either stubbornness, by the decrease of my understanding, or peevishness, by the increase of bodily infirmities; But thou shalt answer for me, O Lord my God. John Wesley.

Another realm David mentions in Psalm 71:10 is that he sees that trouble increases. David notes that his enemies were as much present at the end of his life as they were at the start and throughout. So we also discover the older we get. From troubles with mobility to troubles with relationships, life just fills with troubles. It becomes hard to get up, hard to get around, hard to sleep, hard to hear, hard to remember and hard to trust.

Anxiety seems easily accessed, bitterness seems near at hand, and fears seem to multiply. Enemies imagined and enemies experienced all run together.

There are emotional troubles (some struggle with life long depression), financial troubles (some have constant financial needs and hardships), family troubles (some have hurtful children or burdensome and ungrateful parents for many years)—all of these troubles are heavier to bear the weaker we get.

When weakness and trouble increases what should we do? David declares his unwavering choice, his godly habit.

• David had learned he could trust God to the end of life. Psalm 71:9 Do not cast me off in the time of old age; Do not forsake me when my strength fails.

• David had learned to take his fears to God in prayer (“do thy friends despise, forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer. In His arms He’ll tend and shield thee – thou shalt find a solace there!) Psalm 71:10 For my enemies speak against me; And those who lie in wait for my life take counsel together, 11 Saying, “God has forsaken him; Pursue and take him, for there is none to deliver him.” 12 O God, do not be far from me; O my God, make haste to help me!” In a modern sense David trusted God as much as in 911!

Finally David notes in Psalm 71:11-13 that aloneness increases. In younger years there seems to be endless avenues to pursue. Time flies, friends flow around us and plans are laid out far into the future for this and that. Life is filled with classrooms, bus and car rides, work meetings, gatherings as parents, as members and participants and we just can’t keep up with it all.

But slowly the calendar clears, the friends decrease, the travel abates and we find ourselves increasingly alone. Being alone is a lifelong condition, but it seems to sting more when coupled with troubles increased, insecurities increased, weaknesses increased, and confusion increased.

Some people as they age choose to look back on their past life and only remember what they had and lost or never had and wanted. That is such a debilitating choice. Some aged people look on their present life as a basis to complain and bewail their aches, pains, and problems. That is also such a debilitating choice. And others in their elderly years choose to not look at their future because they fear death and are afraid of dying. That is such a debilitating choice.

In Psalm 71, David looks back at the past and sees God’s Hand of faithfulness and power; he looks around in the present and sees God’s Plans for him and starts anew and afresh declaring that is what he will do; and then he looks ahead to the future and sees all that God wants him to do until he goes home to dwell in the house of the Lord forever. That is the way to end well by living purposefully!

When aloneness increases what should we do? David declares his unwavering choice, his godly habit.

David had learned to never give up – even when alone, neglected, sick, ignored, rejected, maligned, and forgotten by everyone in the world —– EXCEPT GOD! Psalm 71:13 Let them be confounded and consumed Who are adversaries of my life; Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor Who seek my hurt. 14 But I will hope continually, And will praise You yet more and more.

This evening we will see that in Psalm 71:14-24 David shifts his focus from his troubles of life and turns the spotlight on that other track of life. In the first 13 verses David uses the present tense 23 times2. But in those final verses David uses the future tense 12 times in 11 verses! He declares his intentions in a “from now on I will” form saying—I will trust, I will rest, I will believe in the God who has promised to care for me. God is faithful in the past, for the future and most of all in this present moment.

But what does it mean to end well? Is it being healthy to the last breath? No. Does it mean being surrounded by comforts to the last moments? No. Does it mean getting everything done that we wanted to do? No.

Ending well is defined by David as being able to keep that focus on the other rail that we travel through life upon—God’s plans for us that are good, God’s promises that are sure, and God’s Presence that is real.

May I remind you of a fellow believer who ended well? David Livingstone (1813-1873) had come to the end of his life. He was deep in the swamps of Africa, alone with a few native carriers. His feet were covered with bleeding ulcers, his body was completely exhausted, he was bleeding internally and as a doctor he knew his end was near. In his journal his last entry was simply: “Knocked up quite”. But he was not alone and he knew it. A lifetime of godly habits led him to still end his day in prayer no matter how ill he felt.

As the darkness fell over that swamp that night, the shadow of a sixty-year-old man was silhouetted against the canvas of his tent. The flickering candle cast a golden aura inside as he knelt beside a small wood and canvas cot. Rhythmic tropical rain lightly pelted the tent as he prayed beside his bed. The prayer was one he had written out in his journal the many years before. If you were able to hear that night what God heard it would have sounded much like this:

O Lord since Thou hast died, To give Thyself for me, No sacrifice would seem to great, For me to make for Thee.

I only have one life, and that will soon be past; I want my life to count for Christ, What’s done for Him will last.

I follow Thee my Lord, And glory in Thy Cross; I gladly leave the world behind, And count all gain as loss.

Lord send me anywhere, Only go with me; Lay any burden on me, Only sustain me. Sever any tie, Save the tie that binds me to Thy heart. Lord Jesus my King, I consecrate my life Lord to Thee!

Outside the native porters, guides and cooks who had followed this man for nearly 20 years through the jungle heard the low sound of his voice communing with God as he always had done before bed. Then the candle flickered out and they also retired to sleep through the rainy night.

The next morning the cold and stiff body of David Livingstone was still kneeling beside the cot when his beloved native brothers found him. He was so thin from the countless bouts with malaria, his skin darkened by the years of Equatorial African sun was loosely draped over the bones of his earthly tent now vacant. His spirit had soared immortal, making its flight from the darkness of a disease ridden, weak and failing body to the realm of light and life in the presence of Jesus his King to whom he had consecrated his life.

That is ending well.

It has nothing to do with comfort, health or security. It has everything to do with godly habits empowered by the Holy Spirit. Had God let David Livingstone down by allowing him to die alone, sick, and in such desperate conditions? No, a thousand times no! Into that tiny tent as Livingstone weakly knelt by his tiny cot the Good Shepherd had come to take His faithful servant home. As David Livingstone prayed those gentle everlasting arms had wrapped around him, and into his ears were whispered I will never leave you or forsake you. And then David Livingstone heard Him say, it is time for you to come home. I’ll carry you there, we’ll go through that valley of darkness, but don’t fear any evil because I am with you. You are coming to dwell in my house forever. Well done My good and faithful servant!

David Livingstone looked at life through the lens of Scripture. He believed God, trusted His Word and found both to be true every time he tested them. Livingstone looked at all his pains and struggles as part of God’s plan. That’s why after his faithful friends, the native porters, carried his body 1,500 miles to the coast and sent it by steamer back to England. That is why one of them stood at his funeral in Westminster Abbey. And that is why these words were engraved upon Livingstone’s tomb stone:

“For thirty years his life was spent in an unwearied effort to evangelize the native races, to explore the undiscovered secrets, to abolish the desolating slave trade of Central Africa.”3

So we conclude that Psalm 71 is David’s prayer and testimony of how to be a godly servant of the Lord to the end of life.

We don’t know how long before our Master returns. Jesus said we must do His work until He comes. The best way to do that is to start living right now the way we want to have Him find us at the end when He comes (rapture) or calls (death). I call this some specific Plans for Growing Old in Godliness. These can all be found in Psalm 71. Let’s conclude there.

Ending well by living purposefully means that I make some choices, and in the power of God’s Spirit, form some holy habits like these. Here are the nine resolves found in the first half of Psalm 71. Think of them as saying—“I will…”

1. Flee to God for hope as my troubles threaten to drown me.

2. Cry out to God for help before I give in to temptations.

3. Trust God’s Word over my fears before I get paralyzed by them.

4. Seek the Lord about my hurts before I get bitter.

5. Keep reminding myself of God’s faithfulness for all of my life to this moment.

6. Seek God’s plan for my life each day.

7. Use my mouth so often for praise, no room will be left to complain.

8. Trust in the Lord’s ability to rescue me more than EMS, the doctors, or calling 911.

9. Never give up even when all alone, forgotten by most and out of circulation for the rest of my days.

Psalm 71 Other Psalms v. 1-3 Psalm 31:1-3 1 In You, O Lord, I put my trust; Let me never be ashamed; Deliver me in Your righteousness. Bow down Your ear to me, Deliver me speedily; Be my rock of refuge, A fortress of defense to save me. 3 For You are my rock and my fortress; Therefore, for Your name’s sake, Lead me and guide me.

v.3 Psalm 71:3 Be my strong refuge, To which I may resort continually; You have given the commandment to save me, For You are my rock and my fortress.

Psalm 90:1 A Prayer of Moses the man of God. 1 Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.

Psalm 91:9 Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place,

Psalm 7:6 Arise, O Lord, in Your anger; Lift Yourself up because of the rage of my enemies; Rise up for me to the judgment You have commanded!

Psalm 42:8 The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, And in the night His song shall be with me—A prayer to the God of my life.

Psalm 18:2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

v.4 Psalm 71:4 Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, Out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.

Psalm 140:1, 4 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. 1 Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men; Preserve me from violent men, 4 Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; Preserve me from violent men, Who have purposed to make my steps stumble.

v.5 Psalm 71:5 For You are my hope, O Lord God; You are my trust from my youth.

Psalm 39:7 “And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You.

Psalm 22:9 But You are He who took Me out of the womb; You made Me trust while on My mother’s breasts.

v.6 Psalm 71:6 By You I have been upheld from birth; You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb. My praise shall be continually of You.

Psalm 22:9-10 But You are He who took Me out of the womb; You made Me trust while on My mother’s breasts.10 I was cast upon You from birth. From My mother’s womb You have been My God.

Psalm 34:1 A Psalm of David when he pretended madness before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed. 1 I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

v.7 Psalm 71:7 I have become as a wonder to many, But You are my strong refuge.

Psalm 61:3 For You have been a shelter for me, A strong tower from the enemy.

v.8 Psalm 71:8 Let my mouth be filled with Your praise And with Your glory all the day.

salm 63:5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.

Psalm 96:6 Honor and majesty are before Him; Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.

Psalm 104:1 Bless the Lord, O my soul! 1 O Lord my God, You are very great: You are clothed with honor and majesty,

v.9 Psalm 71:9 Do not cast me off in the time of old age; Do not forsake me when my strength fails.

Psalm 92:14 They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing,

v.10 Psalm 71:10 For my enemies speak against me; And those who lie in wait for my life take counsel together,

Psalm 56:6 They gather together, They hide, they mark my steps, When they lie in wait for my life.

Psalm 31:13 For I hear the slander of many; Fear is on every side; While they take counsel together against me, They scheme to take away my life.

Psalm 83:3 They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, And consulted together against Your sheltered ones.

v.11 Psalm 71:11 11 Saying, “God has forsaken him; Pursue and take him, for there is none to deliver him.”

Psalm 3:2 Many are they who say of me, “There is no help for him in God.” Selah

Psalm 7:2 Lest they tear me like a lion, Rending me in pieces, while there is none to deliver.

v.12 Psalm 71:12 O God, do not be far from me; O my God, make haste to help me!

Psalm 10:1 Why do You stand afar off, O Lord? 1 Why do You hide in times of trouble?

Psalm 22:11, 19 Be not far from Me, For trouble is near; For there is none to help.

19 But You, O Lord, do not be far from Me; O My Strength, hasten to help Me!

Psalm 35:22 This You have seen, O Lord; Do not keep silence. O Lord, do not be far from me.

Psalm 38:21-22 Do not forsake me, O Lord; O my God, be not far from me! 22 Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!

Psalm 40:13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; O Lord, make haste to help me!

v.13 Psalm 71:13 Let them be confounded and consumed Who are adversaries of my life; Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor Who seek my hurt.

Psalm 35:4, 26 Let those be put to shame and brought to dishonor Who seek after my life; Let those be turned back and brought to confusion Who plot my hurt. 26 Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion Who rejoice at my hurt; Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor

Psalm 40:14 Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion Who seek to destroy my life; Let them be driven backward and brought to dishonor Who wish me evil.

Psalm 109:29 Let my accusers be clothed with shame, And let them cover themselves with their own disgrace as with a mantle. Who exalt themselves against me.

v.14 Psalm 71:14 14 But I will hope continually, And will praise You yet more and more.

Psalm 130:7 O Israel, hope in the Lord; For with the Lord there is mercy, And with Him is abundant redemption.

v.15 Psalm 71:15 My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness And Your salvation all the day, For I do not know their limits.

Psalm 35:28 And my tongue shall speak of Your righteousness And of Your praise all the day long.

Psalm 96:2 Sing to the Lord, bless His name; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.

Psalm 40:5 Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works Which You have done; And Your thoughts toward us Cannot be recounted to You in order; If I would declare and speak of them, They are more than can be numbered.

v.16 Psalm 71:16 16 I will go in the strength of the Lord God; I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only.

Psalm 106:2 Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? Who can declare all His praise?

Psalm 51:14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, The God of my salvation, And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.

v.17 Psalm 71:17 O God, You have taught me from my youth; And to this day I declare Your wondrous works.

Psalm 26:7 That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving, And tell of all Your wondrous works.

Psalm 40:5 Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works Which You have done; And Your thoughts toward us Cannot be recounted to You in order; If I would declare and speak of them, They are more than can be numbered.

Psalm 119:27 Make me understand the way of Your precepts; So shall I meditate on Your wondrous works.

v.18 Psalm 71:18 18 Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, Until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come.

Psalm 32:11 Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous; And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

Psalm 78:4, 6 We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done. 5 For He established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children; 6 That the generation to come might know them, The children who would be born, That they may arise and declare them to their children,

v.19 Psalm 71:19 19 Also Your righteousness, O God, is very high, You who have done great things; O God, who is like You?

Psalm 36:6 Your righteousness is like the great mountains; Your judgments are a great deep; O Lord, You preserve man and beast.

Psalm 57:10 For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens, And Your truth unto the clouds.

Psalm 126:2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter, And our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”

Psalm 35:10 All my bones shall say, “Lord, who is like You, Delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him, Yes, the poor and the needy from him who plunders him?”

v.20 Psalm 71:20 20 You, who have shown me great and severe troubles, Shall revive me again, And bring me up again from the depths of the earth.

Psalm 60:3 You have shown Your people hard things; You have made us drink the wine of confusion.

Psalm 80:18 Then we will not turn back from You; Revive us, and we will call upon Your name.

Psalm 85:6 Will You not revive us again, That Your people may rejoice in You?

Psalm 119:25 My soul clings to the dust; Revive me according to Your word.

Psalm 138:7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand Against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me.

Psalm 86:13 For great is Your mercy toward me, And You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

v.21 Psalm 71:21 21 You shall increase my greatness, And comfort me on every side.

Psalm 18:35 35 You have also given me the shield of Your salvation; Your right hand has held me up, Your gentleness has made me great.

Psalm 23:4 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

Psalm 86:17 Show me a sign for good, That those who hate me may see it and be ashamed, Because You, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

v.22 Psalm 71:22 Also with the lute I will praise you— And Your faithfulness, O my God! To You I will sing with the harp, O Holy One of Israel.

Psalm 33:2 Praise the Lord with the harp; Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings.

Psalm 81:2 Raise a song and strike the timbrel, The pleasant harp with the lute.

Psalm 144:9 I will sing a new song to You, O God; On a harp of ten strings I will sing praises to You,

Psalm 147:7 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; Sing praises on the harp to our God,

Psalm 78:41 Yes, again and again they tempted God, And limited the Holy One of Israel.

Psalm 89:18 For our shield belongs to the Lord, And our king to the Holy One of Israel.

v.23 Psalm 71:23 23 My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing to You, And my soul, which You have redeemed.

Psalm 5:11 But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; Let those also who love Your name Be joyful in You.

Psalm 32:11 Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous; And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

Psalm 132:9, 16 Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness, And let Your saints shout for joy. 16 I will also clothe her priests with salvation, And her saints shall shout aloud for joy.

Psalm 34:22 The Lord redeems the soul of His servants, And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.

Psalm 55:18 He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, For there were many against me.

Psalm 103:4 Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,

v.24 Psalm 71:24 24 My tongue also shall talk of Your righteousness all the day long; For they are confounded, For they are brought to shame Who seek my hurt.

Psalm 35:28 And my tongue shall speak of Your righteousness And of Your praise all the day long.

 

1 Jan David Hettinga, Follow Me: Experience The Loving Leadership of Jesus, (Colorado Springs, Co: NavPress, 1996, Pages 193194 and 218-219.

2 This morning look back and note in your Bible these 23-present tense requests David makes in Psalm 71:1-13, that flow from living each day aware that God is working out His plan through the struggles of life v.13a.

1. v.1a In You, O Lord, I put my trust;

2. v.1b Let me never be put to shame.

3. v.2a Deliver me in Your righteousness,

4. v.2b and cause me to escape;

5. v.2c Incline Your ear to me,

6. v.2d and save me.

7. v.3a Be my strong refuge,

8. v.3b To which I may resort continually;

9. v.3c You have given the commandment to save me, For You are my rock and my fortress.

10. v.4 Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, Out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.

11. v.5a For You are my hope, O Lord God;

12. v.5b You are my trust from my youth.

13. v.6a By You I have been upheld from birth;

14. v.6b You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb.

15. v.6c My praise [is( NASB)] shall be continually of You.

16. v.7 I have become as a wonder to many, But You are my strong refuge.

17. v.8 Let my mouth be filled with Your praise And with Your glory all the day.

18. v.9 Do not cast me off in the time of old age; Do not forsake me when my strength fails. 10 For my enemies speak against me; And those who lie in wait for my life take counsel together, 11 Saying, “God has forsaken him; Pursue and take him, for there is none to deliver him.”

19. v.12a O God, do not be far from me;

20. v.12b O my God, make haste to help me!

21. v.13a Let them be confounded

22. v.13b and consumed Who are adversaries of my life;

23. v.13c Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor Who seek my hurt.

3 Douglas, J. D., Comfort, Philip W. & Mitchell, Donald, Editors, Who’s Who in Christian History, (Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1992, electronic edition, in loc

Slides

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