“In you, O Lord, I take refuge, let me never be put to shame.
Be a rock where I can take shelter, a mighty stronghold to save me.”
The psalmist’s cry is one that deepens with age. In youth we take refuge in our strength, in our plans, in the swiftness of the mind and the will. But as the years pass and the body weakens, the soul is stripped of such illusions. The psalm becomes no longer a song of choice but of necessity. The Lord alone remains the rock, the stronghold, the enduring shelter when flesh and spirit falter.
Old age brings a kind of poverty that is both bitter and holy. The body, once vigorous, now groans under its burdens. The mind tires, memory fades, and energy wanes. Illness becomes a daily companion. The psalmist’s plea not to be rejected in old age is not born of fear alone but of longing—that the flame of desire for God not be extinguished by the chill of frailty. “Do not cast me off in the time of old age, do not forsake me when my strength fails.”
In these words there is the humility of one who has lived long enough to know his own weakness. Life’s weariness becomes a teacher, urging the heart to rest only in the mercy of God. The outward man diminishes so that the inner man might be renewed. Even as sight dims, a new vision awakens within: the awareness that love alone endures, that faithfulness alone has meaning.
May the aging heart not retreat into bitterness or despair. Let the waning of strength become the deepening of trust. The decline of the flesh is not God’s abandonment but His gentle invitation to lean entirely upon His grace. As the limbs grow heavy, the soul must learn the lightness of surrender. As the world narrows, heaven draws near.
O Lord, let my desire for You not wither with the years but burn more brightly, purified of vanity and fear. Let this body, now weak and slow, become the vessel of patient praise. Let my final strength be the strength of love, my final act the surrender of all to You. For though the flesh may fail, the heart that clings to You shall never be rejected, and though the night of age deepens, the dawn of Your mercy is everlasting.
No comments:
Post a Comment