Psaumes 71 Jérémie 4.1-18 Galates 3.15-22 Jean 4.43-54
The writer of Psalm 71 was clearly someone fairly advanced in years, able to look back on the many occasions when he had had to take refuge in the Lord. Although he knew that he had this sanctuary available, and had never been failed by the Lord, he was still worried by the fact that his enemies were still there, and still out to get him. He views the onset of old age and increasing weakness with trepidation, and has to make a determined leap of faith to retain his trust in God.
This sensation is one which many of us feel as we get older and become more aware of our human frailty and the inevitable end. The old enemies don’t go away, either, whether they be spiritual or human. For me this feeling has been compounded in the last eighteen months by the deaths of three people I regarded as my contemporaries – up till now most of those I mourned the loss of were parents, or of that generation. Like the psalmist we have to make an effort to put our confidence in the Lord, even as we grow older and greyer, declare His power to the next generation and praise Him at all times and in all circumstance. (Though in my own case it’s probably best if I avoid the use of musical instruments!)
Carol de Lusignan
'Hope' by Watts, George Frederick, 1817-1904. From Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.
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