Psalm – Psalm 69-71

I was sharing with the Youth Theological Students that I have a ‘bagful’ of hymns and Christian songs which I keep close to my heart.  And at different circumstances and times of my life, I would be able to reach into this bag and pull out an appropriate hymn or song to raise my spirit, to encourage, comfort and even admonish myself.

Reading today’s passages in Psalms makes me feel like the Psalmist as they seemed to always have a song about every circumstance in their life as well.  The difference between me and them is that they are able to write and sing the Psalms.  Me?  I can only sing it. 🙂

Bible Passage:  Psalm 69-71

Psalm 69 is one where King David agonizes over his own “foolishness” (Psalm 69:5).  We are not sure about the exact circumstances of this but many people think that this refers to him taking a census of the people (2 Sam 24).  Whatever it is, this Psalm shows that one person’s sin can affect countless others.

One of the shortest Psalm is found in Psalm 70.  This is an urgent plea for God’s help and quick rescue.  Sometimes this Psalm reminds me of the prayer of Peter when he was sinking into the waters and called out, “Lord, save me!”.  The response to this desperate plea for help by Peter was the Lord stretching out His loving hands to save him.  The Psalmist must have longed for the same response when he sang this.

And Psalm 71 is, what you might call, a Psalm for the Elderly.  This is a prayer of an aging believer who has spent many years in the faith.  As he looked back at God’s faithfulness in the past, he also looks forward to making an impact to the remainder of his life and leaving a powerful legacy for those who follow.

What Am I Going To Do With The Rest Of My Life?

This is a question that has been running through my mind a lot recently?  While I do not have a definitive answer to this, reading Psalm 71:18 gives me further clarity …

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.

Some of us are just starting our careers and the world of opportunities lies ahead.

Some of us have reached retirement age and the prospect of having years ahead of us with more time on our hands than we know what to do with scares us.

Some of us are at our middle age, and we start to wonder what will we achieve in the second half of our lives, especially if we have already met or exceeded our career goals.

Or some of us have been affected by the financial crisis and now, the future is uncertain and we are not sure what is it that we are going to do.

No matter which stage we are in, I do believe for many of us, there is a longing for our lives to have a significance:  “What am I ging to do that matters?”

David’s words in Psalm 71:18 should inspire us to our old age.

David was determined to declare the Lord not only to his own generation but also to the later ones as well.  He asked God for continued strength to be able to do that.

My wife and I had dinner with one sister after our mass tracting last night and somehow the conversation turned to making testimonies for the Lord.  One culture I noticed in some of the Churches I visited overseas is that the senior members were all very willing to share with you their personal testimonies of how God led them to Church, how God saved them from an accident, or how God healed them. Many of them shared even without prompting.

I also recalled that when I visited UK many years ago before I was married, an elderly sister bore testimony about how she did her part to ensure that the faith remains in her family by insisting that ALL her children and grandchildren marry within the Lord.

Although I have heard this message many times from the pulpit, this message by the elderly sister still rings loudest in my heart.

In order to be of greater significance in my life from now onwards, I want to make a conscience effort to declare the Lord to this generation.  And I want to make sure that I continue and do so for the next generation as well.

May the Lord have mercy on all of us as we strive to be examples and shine as lights for the Lord Jesus.

Cry Out To Jesus

As I read today’s passage, I was also reminded of one of the songs that I taught in Youth Theological called “When I Lift Up My Eyes”.  This is a lovely song that was inspired from Psalm 121 and verse 1 says:

I will lift up my eyes to the hills—
From whence comes my help?

Psalm 121:1

Both Psalm 69 and Psalm 70 were calls to God for help.  I was searching for this song online to share with you all because it is such a great song but unfortunately I could not find it (Theolo Students – if you are reading this and you found it, please let me know!).

But there is always a silver lining….

I found this song “Cry Out to Jesus” which I shall now add in my bag of songs.  I love especially the chorus and the situations described in a song are also very real around us.  This song was often sung after the Hurricane Katrina great disaster and is rather poignant.

But is tells us that we have someone whom we can cry out to all the time in whatever circumstance we may be in – Jesus!

And for that, I am eternally grateful.