The Daily Fountain Daily Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 5 January 2024 – TOPIC: OLD AGE CONCERNS
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THE DAILY FOUNTAIN
DAILY DEVOTIONAL OF THE
CHURCH OF NIGERIA (ANGLICAN COMMUNION)
DATE: FRIDAY, JANUARY 05, 2024
TOPIC: OLD AGE CONCERNS
71:1. In You, O LORD, I put my trust; Let me never be put to shame.
71:2. Deliver me in Your righteousness, and cause me to escape; Incline Your ear to me, and save me.
71:3. Be my strong refuge, To which I may resort continually; You have given the commandment to save me, For You [are] my rock and my fortress.
71:4. Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, Out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.
71:5. For You are my hope, O Lord GOD; [You are] my trust from my youth.
71:6. By You I have been upheld from birth; You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb. My praise [shall be] continually of You.
71:7. I have become as a wonder to many, But You [are] my strong refuge.
71:8. Let my mouth be filled [with] Your praise [And with] Your glory all the day.
71:9. Do not cast me off in the time of old age; Do not forsake me when my strength fails.
71:10. For my enemies speak against me; And those who lie in wait for my life take counsel together,
71:11. Saying, “God has forsaken him; Pursue and take him, for [there is] none to deliver [him.”]
71:12. O God, do not be far from me; O my God, make haste to help me!
71:13. Let them be confounded [and] consumed Who are adversaries of my life; Let them be covered [with] reproach and dishonor Who seek my hurt.
71:14. But I will hope continually, And will praise You yet more and more.
71:15. My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness [And] Your salvation all the day, For I do not know [their] limits.
71:16. I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD; I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only.
71:17. O God, You have taught me from my youth; And to this [day] I declare Your wondrous works.
71:18. 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.
71:19. Also Your righteousness, O God, [is] very high, You who have done great things; O God, who [is] like You?
71:20. [You,] who have shown me great and severe troubles, Shall revive me again, And bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
71:21. You shall increase my greatness, And comfort me on every side.
71:22. Also with the lute I will praise you — [And] Your faithfulness, O my God! To You I will sing with the harp, O Holy One of Israel.
71:23. My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing to You, And my soul, which You have redeemed.
71:24. My tongue also shall talk of Your righteousness all the day long; For they are confounded, For they are brought to shame Who seek my hurt.
THE MESSAGE:
“I have encouraged her to get pregnant and have one or two children that will look after her in old age.” This conversation with someone I believed was ‘a spiritual elder’ got me thinking. Was she really asking this dear sister who was experiencing delay in marriage to look for someone to get her pregnant without being married? Yes, she was doing exactly that! I realised that concerns for old age can make us prepare in some ways that may negate express instructions of the Bible. For some, it may come in the form of insisting the children study particular courses termed ‘lucrative’ in the university; yet for some, it may come like insisting on the children marrying certain suitors that can be an ‘insurance.’
For the Psalmist, this concern was directed to the Lord, and this should apply to us. He prayed: “Do not cast me off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength is spent” (verse 9). Everything else and everybody else can fail, but God never fails. The elderly must look to God, but a responsible Christian should also note that looking after aged relatives is godly and actually expected. Choose to be an answer to the prayers of the elderly.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Am I treating elders around me the way I’d like to be treated when I become an elder?
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