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| “From birth I have relied on you…” |
| —Psalm 71:6 |
How would you describe your life? I’ve been thinking about this question a lot over the course of the last five months. You see, back in early August, I celebrated my 67th birthday. Even after all this intervening time, I haven’t fully formed an answer yet to the question: “How would you describe your life?”
But, in thinking about this question with respect to Scripture, I’m seriously leaning in the direction of the words of the Psalmist from Psalm 71:6, 8-9:
From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.
I will ever praise you. My mouth is filled with your praise, declaring your splendor all day long.
Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength is gone.
Yes, that sums up the direction I want to pursue, as I consider how to sum up my life so far. I certainly have learned to rely on God. Even as a relatively young boy, I had a sense that God loved me and was in the process of laying out a plan for my life. While I could never have predicted the pathway my life would take, I had a calm assurance that God was preparing a straight path for me to follow.
Then, when my health began to fail and especially when my mobility became more and more impaired, while I didn’t like what was happening to me, deep down in the core of my being I sincerely believed—and continue to believe—that what was happening to me was a part of God’s plan for my life.
Oh, I still complain to Him from time to time—almost every day, in fact. I even become quite ornery that I cannot do the things that I once did with ease. But, underneath all of my disappointment, and even discouragement at times, I still know that God is at work in my life “to will and to do of His good pleasure.”
I want to make certain, particularly in these last years of my life, that my mouth is filled more with praise than with complaining. I want to be quick to acknowledge that all I am and all I have has come to me as a precious gift from God—a gift that, quite frankly, I do not deserve.
May we lift our voices in praise to God this day: first and foremost because of who He is—the all-powerful God of the Universe. And then, let’s praise Him because He loves us and has given us His Son as our Savior and Lord.
Surely, if we praise Him as we should, He will prove Himself gloriously faithful to the end.
