“And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him (Moses) in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.” Acts 7:30
Abraham was ninety-nine years old when the Lord revealed Himself to him as “the Almighty God,” with the promise that He would establish a covenant with Abraham. From a human standpoint, we might ask if Abraham is too old at this point in his life to enter into a new, or broader, and more glorious covenant, one that would touch nations, kings, even generations. Is age the issue?
When Moses was in the wilderness, and the Lord revealed himself to him in a burning bush, calling him to go and deliver the people of Israel from the tyranny of Egypt. Moses was eighty years old. Moses had spent forty years in the courts of Pharaoh in Egypt, then forty years in a wilderness, learning to herd sheep. Now, when he is eighty years old, God comes to him, to call him to an endeavor and mission that is so vast, intricate, impossible from a human standpoint, and yet, it is God’s perfect time, and Moses is at the exact age he needs to be. Is age the issue? It would be if God were not in the calling.
When the ancient John the Apostle wrote the gospel of John, Christianity had been spreading for sixty or seventy years. It would be in the latter years of his life, that John, now very old, would write the gospel, his epistles (letters), and finally the Revelation. One would think that his great works should have been in the early years of his life, but those years leading up to the great, fathomless, and unique gospel to John, would be years of preparation, of painstaking dealing with the truth, being led by the Spirit, and putting down in writing that which he felt and knew to be the absolute truth concerning Christ, His work, and “things to come.” Old age here is not a deterrent to blessing, but the culminating qualification for the realization of blessing.
What are some of the guidelines for the older saints, those whose time is shorter than most, and also, strength limited? In Psalm 71, we find that the Psalmist fills his song with declarations of just who God is, and what He is to him. In the midst of communicating the difficulties and trials of his time, which are caused by his enemies, there is a clear declaration of that which is most important to him. There is first that pledge of trust to, and in, the Lord of his trust, and the prayer for God to never let him be put to confusion, disorientation, or shame. Then there rises the song, and theme of his heart: “Let my mouth be filled with Thy praise, and with Thy honor all the day.” (v.8) Why does he write this? It is because of worth, the very worth of knowing his God, the One to whom he belongs.
He will speak also of his resouces in God, in order to show forth God’s righteousness and salvation, “…all the day.” He writes: “I will go in the strength of the Lord God: I will make mention of Thy righteousness, even of Thine alone.” (v.16) It is then that the old psalmist brings his readers to understand the present, and dominating bent of his heart and mind, even in his old age. He writes in the form of a prayer: “Now also, when I am old, and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed Thy strength unto this generation, and Thy power to every one that is to come.” (v.18) Here is a man who has experienced many years of life, and many experiences. He has learned to live by the strength and power of the living God, by trusting Him according to His word. His goal now is to show to future generations that God specifically strengthens, and gives power to live, to all who trust Him.
Dear Father, Strengthen and empower us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.