Finishing Well: A Prayer for Senior Adults

Third, relaying God’s greatness means you never stop discipling. The psalmist is committed to passing his godly heritage on to others who will continue the legacy (v. 17). He acknowledges that he was taught about God’s greatness as a child and has faithfully run his leg of the race by proclaiming it during his lifetime. Now, as an aging man, he prays for God’s grace to be faithful to pass the baton of trust in God on to those who will carry it forward (v. 18). One can’t help but think here of Paul’s allusion to carrying the gospel baton in a relay race and passing it on to others (2 Tim 1:3–2:2). Senior adults who finish well are those who continue to disciple younger people and pass the gospel heritage on to them.

Rest in God’s Resurrection

Psalm 71:19-21

The psalmist seems to sigh with relief as he once again finds comfort in God’s nature. God is a resurrecting God, one who lifts up his people even from their deathbed. Specifically, the psalmist finds rest by reflecting on the incomparable nature of God’s righteousness that is beyond human comprehension. He intensifies his acknowledgment of this unparalleled quality, however, with a rhetorical question in the line that follows: “God, who is like you?” (v. 19). The psalmist finds great solace in remembering that God has done something that no other god can or would do: rescue the living from among the dead.

There may very well be an allusion to the exodus, especially in the phrase “Who is like you?” (cf. Exod 15:11), as well as with the picture of deliverance “from the depths of the earth” (cf. Exod 15:5). While it’s not indicated in most English translations, some manuscripts have the aging saint shifting from the singular to the plural in verse 20 (“us” instead of “me”). This could be due to him seeing his dilemma as shared with others in the community of faith. He’s not just expressing confidence in God for himself but on behalf of the whole nation. He’s certain that same unrivaled God who brought the Israelites out of Egypt and through the Red Sea will once again show himself to be the strong deliverer of his people from their current predicament. He will raise them up in similar fashion.

The psalmist continues to rest in the assurance of God’s righteous salvation in verse 20. The “depths” from which God’s people will surely be raised likely refers to the subterranean abysses where masses of water were believed to be stored and where Sheol was located. The psalmist is comparing God’s deliverance of his people with being rescued from the underworld. If God doesn’t intervene, they will be lost forever! But he is confident God will come through (Ross, Psalms, vol. 2, 525).

Surely there’s a foreshadow here of our resurrection in Christ. We are lost in our sins and are objects of the wrath of God. If he doesn’t work on our behalf through the cross, then we are lost forever. Paul says,

But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. How much more then, since we have now been declared righteous by his blood, will we be saved through him from wrath. For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. (Rom 5:8-10)

So now we can say, “Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death, so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead” (2 Cor 1:9). Although God makes us feel the weight of the troubles and calamities that come with being under the sentence of death (Ps 71:20), he delivers us by raising us from the dead in Christ Jesus! This new life alone makes it possible for us to run well and finish well.

The expression of the psalmist’s rest in God’s righteous salvation reaches its pinnacle in verse 21. He’s confident God will not only rescue him from his current difficulty, but he will enable him to share in the honor of being a part of a revived and restored people. God will once again console him as he’s done so many times before. The psalmist is certain God will give him the blissful rest that comes from being under his watchful eye, protecting hand, and resurrecting power.

In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul offers similar assurance to those whose hope is in Christ:

What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor can corruption inherit incorruption. Listen, I am telling you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this corruptible body must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body must be clothed with immortality. When this corruptible body is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body is clothed with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place:

Death has been swallowed up in victory.

Where, death, is your victory?

Where, death, is your sting?

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! (1 Cor 15:50-57)

In what Jesus Christ did when he died on the cross and rose from the dead, this psalm reaches its ultimate reality in the believer’s life. In the gospel and its assurance of victory over death, God will increase our honor and comfort us again!

Rejoice in God’s Deliverance

Psalm 71:22-24

The hope and confidence we have in God’s deliverance provides great reason for worship. A final aspect of finishing well involves rejoicing in the salvation we know is to come. The last three verses of this psalm find the writer doing just that as he anticipates God providing strong deliverance. Kidner says, “So, with his name cleared and his faith confirmed, this veteran can set his mind at rest, and his fingers, lips and heart to the praise of God and the telling of his story” (Kidner, Psalms 1–72, 272). This summary provides a pretty good outline for examining these verses.

First, the psalmist gives himself fully to the praise of God. He praises God by playing instruments, singing, and shouting. Even in his old age, the psalmist will continue to praise his God with every means possible because those who sought his life will be destroyed.

Second, the psalmist will tell God’s story all of his days. He will speak constantly of God’s faithfulness, redemption, and righteousness. To his dying breath, he will never stop telling others about how true God has been and how he has redeemed him from his darkest hour.

Third, the psalmist rests in the fact that his name has been cleared and his faith confirmed (v. 24). In Hebrew “disgraced” and “confounded” use the past tense to indicate the certainty of the fulfillment. The ones who once said, “God has abandoned him; . . . there is no one to rescue him” (v. 11) will have to eat their words because God has come to the aid of his servant. And having already addressed God as the “Holy One of Israel” (v. 22; cf. 78:41; 89:18), he acknowledges that his deliverer is distinct from the gods of the ancient world in his nature and works and that he’s consecrated Israel to himself. The covenant God is the one who’s cleared the psalmist’s name and confirmed his faith.

What a description of the hope that aging saints have in the gospel of Christ! As their lives wind down, they can be confident that the Lord of the church will vindicate them in glory and that all of the enemies of truth will know of his victory (Rev 15:3; 18:20). They can worship him with all their hearts through instruments and songs and shouts. And they can use their voices—however frail and weak—to testify until their last breath how God in Christ has been faithful to all his promises to them, has redeemed them from sin and death through the cross, and has demonstrated his righteous salvation to them over and over again.

Conclusion

As I’ve worked through this passage, many in our denominational camp are still hurting from the news of another one of our leaders who has resigned in the wake of an inappropriate relationship. While this is just one of a way-too-long list of preachers and pastors who’ve lost their ministries amid similar scandals, this one has been particularly painful. This brother is one that so many of us saw as a model preacher, pastor, and kingdom leader. I’ve not been able to avoid the thought that if this can happen to him, it can happen to any of us!

Sexual and financial indiscretions aren’t the only tragedies that can keep senior adults from finishing well. Aging Christians can be plagued by depression, anxiety, self-pity, pride, bitterness, laziness, and many other things that infiltrate their later years and cause them to be immobilized in the Christian life and the advancement of the gospel. Satan has so many ways he wants to attack older believers in order to undermine the many faithful and fruitful years they’ve served our Lord. But by God’s grace older saints have so much to offer God and his people. Ross gets it right when he says,

Blessed indeed is the congregation that has men and women who have walked with the Lord all through their lives. While it is important to bring young people, young families, into the Church to build for the future, that future will be shaped to a large degree by mature believers. And so it is encouraging to find a psalm that was written by a believer approaching old age who had trusted in the Lord all his life and continued to trust. His psalm draws on past experiences to build confidence for his prayer in the current crisis; and he draws on that confidence for his praise when the prayer is answered. (Ross, Psalms, vol. 2, 526–27)

As opposed to seeing Christian senior adults as liabilities and just anxiously waiting for them to die off, we need to learn from and lean on their faith. Our faith is strengthened by the testimony of these saints who’ve walked with God for many years and experienced his faithfulness time and time again. Security in our spiritual lives, stability in our congregations, and our faithfulness to the practice of desperate prayer all largely will hinge on the mature faith of these aging saints.

Reflect and Discuss