We're back in the book of Psalms tonight. God has been good to allow me to prepare another Psalm this evening. And this evening we're going to Psalm 71. All right. Let's dig into Psalm 71. And let me begin with a word of prayer and then we'll get into this Psalm. Our Father in heaven, we want to thank you for the truth of your word. And Lord, as we read this Psalm this evening and work our way through these 24 verses. Father, I pray that you would teach us the truth that you have for us. Father, it is a wonderful psalm written by a man who is old and has lived his life for You, and he's praising Your name, Lord, for the consistency that he's seen in You. And Father, may we learn from it this evening. Lord, may those who are older be encouraged. May those that are younger be challenged. And Father, we pray that You will take this and teach us what You have for us tonight. And Father, we thank You for these testimonies and all that You've done. And these things we pray in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. So what we have here in Psalm 71, Spurgeon referred to this as the Psalm of the aged believer. So what we have in Psalm 71 is a man who has lived his life trusting God. And one more time, he's calling out to God for help. And as he does that, he identifies that God has helped him throughout the years. And he now has a mature confidence So this prayer, this psalm is a prayer. This prayer is based on a lifelong trust in God and God's lifelong care for the individual. And so older saints, I want you to be encouraged this evening to keep up the faith. I want you to be encouraged by this psalm. And those that are younger, I want you to be encouraged to stay the course all of your life because I'm here to tell you it is worth it serving the Lord. And this psalm teaches us that. Now we've all known many who have started strong but finished poorly. I think about in the Bible, I think about Hezekiah, a good king. God gave him 15 extra years and there in those 15 extra years at some point he backslid on the Lord so he started strong, finished poorly. I think about Solomon who humbly prayed to God for wisdom and God gave him wisdom and as a result of that, Solomon started strong, built God the temple. In his life he backslid and he ended up straying away from God, building temples to strange gods. I believe at the end of his life he turned around and then wrote the book of Ecclesiastes. But he had started strong and then waned. Even in my lifetime I think about individuals whom I know who have started strong and in their older years tend to either get in a rut or they tend to depend upon their own abilities instead of depending upon God and they didn't finish as strongly as they started. This psalm, I believe it was written by David and I'm going to show that to you as I go through it, but this psalm is about a man or written by a man who started with a dependence upon God and stayed that way all of his life. Look at verse 17, and we have key verses here in verse 17 and 18. It says this, So here's a man. who trusted God and was taught in his youth. And now that he's old and gray headed, he is asking God to allow him to teach what he knows to the next generation. And so these are key verses in this psalm, and it sets the tone of the psalm. So let's begin in verse number one. I would like to read all 24 verses just straight through and then come back and go through it. But with 24 verses, that may take a little time. So I'm just going to jump in in verse one and we're going to go through this verse by verse, but understand where it's coming from and where he's headed. All right. So here's an older saint. And he's in prayer and he says, In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust. Let me never be put to confusion. Let me pause here and talk about that word confusion. Confusion comes when you have contradictory things going on at the same time. They can't be reconciled. Look at the political scene around us in America. There's a lot of confusion right now because there are contradictory thoughts that are being expressed. They cannot be reconciled. And as a result of that, it causes confusion. And the psalmist is saying here, let me never come to that point of conclusion. I want clear truth. He wants consistency from God throughout the remainder of his days. He has seen God work, and his prayer is based on experience. God, I want you to continue to work. I don't want to face confusion. Later in this psalm, he addresses evil people, and he is here saying that he doesn't want their influence because it causes confusion. Okay, now look at verse number two, and the next verse helps clear it up. He says, after he says, let me never be put to confusion, he says, deliver me in thy righteousness and cause me to escape, incline thine ear unto me and save me. Obviously, he's in a point of trouble right now. But he is asking God to deliver him in God's righteousness. That's an interesting phrase. But that is a phrase that answers the confusion in verse number one. follow the righteousness of God. Righteousness, when you think about it in its simplest terms, is the idea of rightness. The idea is embracing what is right. And whenever you embrace what is right, and you approach to righteousness, it means a movement away from sin. And so embracing of righteousness, being delivered by God's righteousness, means a purging of sin out of our life. And when we purge that out of our life, we don't have the contradictory voices going on in our head, THAT CAUSES CONFUSION. ISN'T IT THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS THAT GOD MENTIONS? HE CALLS IT THAT ON PURPOSE. IT GUARDS THE HEART, THE VITAL ORGANS, AND IT SERVES TO PROTECT US. OUR LOINS ARE TO BE GIRDED ABOUT WITH TRUTH. WE'RE TO HAVE ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. AND SO TRUTH GUARDS OUR LOINS. Righteousness guards our heart and vital organs, and these things protect us against the evil and the confusion that can come in our life when sin comes in our lives. Verse number three, he says, Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort. Thou hast given the commandment to save me, for thou art my rock and my fortress. Now he says here, be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort. How often did the psalmist want to resort to God? And the answer is continually. He continually wanted to make God his habitation. He continually wanted to be in God's presence. And when you think about that in light of other psalms that David has written, you see David wanting to be in the house of the Lord. And then he says this, thou hast given commandment to save me. Now that's an interesting phrase. Now let's assume that this is David because I do believe it is because it just fits his life. And so David knows without a doubt that God had a plan for his life. And as a result of that plan, God protected him throughout his life. Go with me to 1 Samuel 16. Keep a finger here. Go to 1 Samuel 16. And in 1 Samuel 16, we have the anointing of David as king. And in 1 Samuel 16, verse number 13, Samuel is at Jesse's house. He has looked at all of Jesse's sons and he said, are there any others? And Jesse said, yes, there's one that's tending the sheep. And Samuel said, come get him. Verse number 13, it says this. And Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brethren. And the spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah. God had just told him in verse number 12, the Lord said, arise, anoint him for this is he. So David had already received the anointing to be king. He knew he was to be king. That's not a statement of pride. That is a statement of understanding God's will for your life and knowing that along with God's will comes God's protection. God will not allow David to be killed until David has fulfilled what God had planned for him to fulfill. Now, I say that, but at the same time, I want to say that David could have jumped out of God's will. He could have denied what God had done for him, and God would have had to have taken him early off this earth. That is biblical principle. But as long as David remained in God's will, God had a plan for David. And let me say it's the same for you and me. You are better off and safer to be in God's will and His plan for your life than anywhere else in the world. We have family that's in Kenya, third world country. They are better off to be in Kenya, in the center of God's will, knowing that God has called them there than they are to be in the United States. Why? Because God has sent forth the commandment for them to be there and to be with them in the work. And so it is with you and me. As long as we are about God's business in God's will, God protects us. Go to 1 Samuel 23. In 1 Samuel 23, look at verse number 17. Now, this is some time later. David is still young. He's not king yet. And let's look at verse 16 to get the context. It says, And Jonathan, Saul's son, arose and went to David into the wood and strengthened his hand in God. This is a godly friend, by the way. Jonathan was a godly friend to David and vice versa. And when David was at a low point as a young man, Jonathan, his godly friend, found him and strengthened his hand in God. He gave him spiritual encouragement. And this is what he said, verse 17. And he said unto him, Fear not, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee, and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee, and that also my father knoweth. Wow, what a statement. Here is the king's own son, knowing that his father was out to kill David, saying that he won't be able to do it. His hand shall not find thee. My father will not be able to harm you. You will be the next king and I'm going to be beside you. Now we know that Jonathan ended up losing his life due to the foolish behavior of his father Saul. But still, Jonathan knew God's plan for David's life. And so when this psalmist says, thou hast given the commandment to save me. It fits, but it fits for all of us. Go back to verse number four, Psalm 71, verse four. It says this, the psalmist continues to pray. He says, deliver me, oh my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous, cruel man. This person is the opposite of God's righteousness. In verse number two, we talked about the righteousness of God that delivers us. and saves us from confusion. Well, this person is unrighteous. This is the opposite. And notice what goes hand in hand with being unrighteous. He says, the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. Once you deny the righteousness of God, you are willing to accept cruelty. We see this in the world around us. Once you reject God, you reject the morality of God, you reject the principles of God, you reject the Word of God. Once you reject those names, you are willing to accept cruelty and we see it all around us. Verse number five and six. For thou art my hope. By the way, this is a really neat portion here, these two verses as we read through it. For thou art my hope, O Lord God. Thou art my trust from my youth. Be by thee have I been holding up from the womb. Thou art he that took me out of my mother's bowels. My praise shall be continually of thee. Assuming this is David, he recognized God in his life from birth up to this point. And now, since we've already read in verses 17 and 18, he's an old man. And he looks all the way back and he says, thou art my trust from my youth. You have taken me out of the womb. You have guided me. You've had a plan for my life. You've never failed me. Young person, let me say this. Please take encouragement from the fact that God can lead you from the time of your birth all the way up to the time you're in His presence. God can do that, and He will. We have young people in this room tonight that can fall into this category. There are some of us in this room this evening who were saved as adults. When I look around this room, I see different testimonies of different people. Many in here were saved as adults. You went through a certain age of your life, living for self, living for the world, and God got ahold of you. You knew you were a sinner. You knew that you had emptiness in your life. You knew that you needed a Savior. God saved you. And now you're saved and you're headed in the right direction. And then on the other side, there are young people in here who have been raised in a Christian family. Reared would be the right word. They've been reared in a Christian family. And they have not been out into the world and experienced the suffering that comes with sinful behavior. And those are the types of individuals that fit within these verses. And let me say, young people, continue in your life for the Lord so that you can say these verses as you get older. And let me say, as we read in verses 17 and 18, one of the things that David is wanting to do is to teach to the next generation the greatness and the goodness of God. And we'll get there in a few minutes, but here is David raised in a home that honored God and God had been a part of his life from birth up till now. When I think about David before He was brought to the kingdom, brought to the king's palace before he killed Goliath. Think about him before he was anointed. He's on the hills around Bethlehem, tending the sheep. He was known as the sweet psalmist of Israel. I mean, he gathered that name later, but he earned that name partially during that period of time of his life, writing the psalms about God. I believe David wrote Psalms all throughout his life, but he learned the experience when he was young, playing the harp, singing to his sheep, no doubt. But as he sung to the sheep, his true audience was God. And that's David knowing the goodness of God from a youth. He killed a lion. He killed a bear by God's strength and power. And he acknowledged that it was God that did it through him. This was a young man that knew, knew his God and trusted in him. And now he's an old man. Polycarp was a martyr in the second century, and he was killed under Roman persecution. Like I said, during the second century, I think it was 150-something that he was killed. And right before he was killed for his acceptance of Jesus Christ, he was asked to deny Christ and to swear by the emperor. And this is what he said. He said, I have served Christ these 86 years, And he hath not once injured me, and shall I now deny him? This was a man who lived practically two centuries ago, not two centuries, two millennia ago from us. Practically thousand years ago, sorry. And yet he understood the importance of Christ throughout his life. It was true when David was alive, it was true when Job was alive. Job comments to the resurrection and the goodness of God. Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him, said Job. Probably the oldest book in our Bible. And here we are today, and it is still true today, in the year 2025. Well, look at verse number seven. He says, I am as a wonder unto many, but thou art my strong refuge. I am as a wonder unto many. What does that mean? That means he was a display of God's grace. Think about this for just a moment. This is David. He saw God throughout his life deliver him and bring him to the point of old age. David could say this. I was a wonder. People looked at him and wondered, how did that man get to where he's at? How come he's still alive? How could David be the man that he is? Think about this. He went from being a shepherd boy to killing the lion and the bear, to killing Goliath, to being the king's armor bearer, to being the king's personal musician, to being the king's son's best friend. That would be Jonathan. And then he went to being hated by the king, to hiding in caves, running for his life, He was anointed to be king of Israel and receiving the promise of, after all of these things, He finally received the kingdom and He received the promise from God of having the Messiah come through His lineage. And then having the title, the throne of David, being the eternal name of the Messiah's kingdom. That was David. I think David could say, I was a wonder unto many. He was a wonder unto himself. There are times he got before God and said, God, who am I? that you would do this for me. I think we need to look at our own lives, and I challenge you this evening, Christian, as we read through this psalm of this person who is now an elderly saint, and we see his testimony, look at our own lives, and let me ask this question. Isn't it a wonder what God has done for us? There are some of us in this room that need to underline this verse, or at least this phrase, I am as a wonder unto many. I think we could all say that, how God has brought us to where we are in our lives. Look at verses eight and nine, we see here his confidence. He said, let my mouth be filled with thy praise and with thy honor all the day. Cast me not off in the time of old age. Forsake me not when my strength faileth. His experience throughout life has shown him that God is faithful, and so here he's calling out to God again. He's calling out to God and young people, it's okay to have adults as spiritual heroes. I think David here is saying, I want to touch the next generation. Young people, it is good to have older saints in your life who would encourage you or just encourage by looking at their lives. In this passage, he's asking God for deliverance once again, but it is based upon a confidence in God. And we get to verse number 10 and he says this, For mine enemies speak against me, and they that lay wait for my soul take counsel together, saying, God hath forsaken him, persecute and take him, for there is none to deliver him. Oh God, be not far from me. Oh my God, make haste for my help. Let them be confounded and consumed that are adversaries to my soul. Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor that seek my hurt. Let me back up to verse number 12. This is the key of these accusations against David. God hath forsaken him. Persecute and take him, for there is none to deliver him. Now folks, that is a bold faced lie. God had not forsaken him, he was there to deliver him, but they based their argument on a false assumption upon a lie. Here is what they're saying, but David knows better. They don't understand God the way that David understands God. Their attacks may be hurtful, but David is reminding God of the core of their persecution, and that is they don't exercise faith in God the way that David does. And David says, confound them. and consume them. I don't want to be confused, he said in the first verse, but they need to be confused. They need to be confounded. I embrace truth and righteousness. They embrace lies and cruelty. Then we get to verse number 14. He said, but I will hope continually and will yet praise thee more and more. There is something in this verse that I want us to grab a hold of. This is an older saint. Okay, so here is, David said, I've been young now, I'm gray-headed. But in verse number 14, he says, I will hope continually, and yet will yet praise Thee more and more. Even in his old age, his praise increases the closer he gets to death and to eternity. I don't know if you all have seen this, I've seen this with several old saints, that the closer they get to eternity, the more focused they become upon God, upon God's goodness, the more fascinated they become with God's word, the more they praise God. It is almost like the things of earth grow dimmer and dimmer, and their eyes are focused more and more on eternity. Have you all ever seen that? I saw that with my dad. As he grew older and as he was suffering from Alzheimer's and as he was facing death, he just wanted to talk about God and he wanted to focus on eternity. Even before he got to the point to where the Alzheimer's pretty much messed his brain up, he would say things to me like, son, I'm just ready to go home. Heaven looks a lot sweeter than this earth does. He would say things like that. My wife saw it with her grandmother. As Lori's grandmother got older, she began to focus more on God and God's word. I think about Liz Berg, I watched her go through that, and Jack White, I watched him go through that. even Lynn Bali in the later days in his prayers. He would say, God, I want, he said, this church is alive, it is active, it's vibrant. I want it to stay relevant. And you could just see more of a focus on eternity and things that have eternal value. And so young people be encouraged when you know that among older saints and older saints be encouraged. You're not alone if that's the way that you are because throughout time that has been even here with David. The closer he got to eternity, the more and more he wanted to praise. Look at verses 15 and 16. Now there's an interesting phrase in here. He says, I think it's at the end of verse number 15, for I know not the numbers thereof. There are two possible meanings to that. I'll tell you what they are and you can decide. He's either referring to the number of his days. He doesn't know how many days he has left. He knows not the number. He's not sure how much time he has left on this earth. So he wants to praise God more and more. Or when he says, I know not the numbers, he's referring to God's blessings. Either one would fit the context and the text isn't quite clear as to which one he's referring to here. But if he's referring to God's blessings, he's basically saying they are without number, I cannot number them. That reminds me of what David wrote in Psalm 139, where he said, how precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God. How great is the sum of them. If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand. Maybe David is talking about the blessings of God and he doesn't know the number because they're innumerable. Or maybe he's talking about his life. Either way, he is praising God. Then we get to verse 17. David sums up his whole life in two phrases. Verses 17 and 18. I have been young and you've taught me. I now am old and I want to teach others. His whole life is summed up in two phrases. It involves praise and responsibility of teaching the next generation. Oh, I wish that we can say that, too. My whole life, God, you taught me when I was young. See, verse 17. Oh, God, thou has taught me from my youth. And hitherto, up to this point, I've declared thy wondrous works. Now that I'm old and gray-headed, O God, forsake me not until I have showed thy strength unto this generation." But if that wasn't enough, he goes on and says, and thy power to everyone that is to come, even the unborn. One generation is to declare the glory of God to the next generation. We have a responsibility. David is saying here, when he says everyone that is to come, he wanted everyone that was born in his lifetime to hear about God's strength. Let me say this, if you're an older saint in this room, never, never retire from bragging about God. Never retire from that. You can make a difference. You can and you must, you have to. We have to touch the younger generation. We have young people in this room that are young enough and some of us are old enough that we have young people in this room that would be the age of our grandchildren. They're young enough to be our grandchildren, maybe young enough to be your daughter or your son. And you have a responsibility to that generation to proclaim the goodness of God. I understand that life can get hard and there are times when as the body wears out. things become more difficult than they used to be. Now, in the book of Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiastes chapter 12, it's almost like as Solomon writes Ecclesiastes chapter 12, you can see him kind of smiling because he writes about old age and all the things that happen to you as you grow older. And it is, of course, the result of a curse on this earth. But even in the midst of those times, if we slow down because we're older, that's OK. Those things happen. But we need to be bragging about God to the generation that is going to carry on after us. Am I right? This Friday there was a first grade boy that came in. This Friday we had Grandparents Day. The kids got up here and sang to their grandparents. It was a great time. You know, the children were up here singing. We packed the gym. people come than what we expected, and so we planned for about 100 people. That included the children that were part of our school. We had more than that. We had somewhere around 112 to 115, I think, something like that, that were here, counting our own staff. And one of them was a little first grade boy. He came in that day. He was going to be singing to his parents or grandparents. He came in with a suit jacket and a tie. And when he came in, he looked at me and he said, Pastor York, he wanted me to see him. Now, you all may not know the history. But the fact is that he wanted me to see him because he was dressed like Pastor York. That was it. Now, folks, I don't mingle a lot with our students. I'm not allowed to. They won't let me do it because I cause trouble and then the teachers have to settle them down. But I interact with them enough to where that I had this young boy's respect. I don't impact their lives nearly as much as our teachers do. Just imagine the influence that they have over the lives of these children. And as they, from day to day, deal with these children, imagine the influence that they have. But I just want to say this. Adults, give the young ones a little attention. and they will look up to you. Just be kind to them, speak to them, give them some attention, and then you have an inroad to talk to them about God. You never know the impact you could make on a person for a lifetime. Take time, adults, to speak to the youngers. Those of you who are older saints, take time to speak to the younger adults that are in our church. Encourage them, let them see a life that is given to God and a life that knows by experience the goodness and the grace of God. They need to see it. Look at verse 19. Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high. Who has done great things, O God? Who is like unto thee? Thou which has showed me sore and great troubles shalt quicken me again and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth. Now there's quite a statement. He says in verse 20, Thou which has showed me great and sore troubles. David understood that life is full of troubles. It is, there's no question about it. We live in a sin-cursed earth. But he looks beyond the moment into the future and he looks to life after death. What he says in verse number 20 is absolutely amazing. He says, you shall quicken me and shall bring me up again from the depths of the earth. What's he talking about? He's talking about the resurrection. Just flip back to Psalm 17. This is a Psalm that we looked at last Sunday night. Psalm 17, let me remind you of what he said in verse number 15. Psalm 17, 15, he says, as for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness. Let me tell you, this is the hope and the encouragement of saints all throughout time, is that one day we will wake up in God's presence. And when our bodies are buried, AND OUR BODIES ARE ALL GONE AND THERE'S NOTHING LEFT OF THIS MATERIAL FLESH. GOD KNOWS HOW TO TAKE THAT, PUT IT ALL TOGETHER, GIVE US A NEW BODY THAT IS SINLESS AND ONE DAY WE WILL STAND IN HIS PRESENCE. AND IT SAYS RIGHT HERE THAT HE WILL QUICKEN US AND BRING US UP FROM THE DEPTHS OF THE EARTH. GOD IS GOOD. Go with me to the book of Daniel please. Daniel chapter 12. We're going to go to the very last chapter of the book of Daniel. Daniel lived considerably later than David. Daniel lived during the time of the Babylonian captivity. Job talks about the resurrection. David talks about the resurrection. We get to Daniel 12, look at verse number 1. He's talking about the end of the tribulation period and he says, "...and many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. We read about that last part this morning, the great white throne judgment. But that first part is God's children, some to everlasting life. Let me tell you, this hope of the resurrection has been the foundation, the anchor for saints all throughout the ages. Job, David, Daniel, Paul, you and me today. If you're a child of God, what do you have to look forward to when this life is over? you have the resurrection and eternal life. And when we think about eternal life, we often think of it as just an extension of life now as we know it. But the eternal life is different. There is no sin. And it is eternal bliss with our Savior. Look at verse number 21. I believe this is looking forward to that eternal state. He says, Thou shalt increase my greatness and comfort me on every side. I will also praise Thee with the psaltery. Even Thy truth, O my God, unto Thee will I sing with the harp, O Thou Holy One of Israel. My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto Thee, and my soul, which Thou hast redeemed. When this body is tired and worn out, and there are some that would probably say, yep, I know what that's like. When this body is tired and worn out, The soul can continue to rejoice in the Lord and to sing his praises. Older saints that are here this evening, isn't that the truth? We can continue. Verse number 24, after all of his reflection of his life, here's the conclusion. My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long, for they are confounded, for they are brought unto shame that seek my hurt. I will continue to praise God while the ungodly are confounded and brought to shame. Two wonderful Psalms over the last two Sunday nights. What a blessing it is to know and serve our God. Our Father, we want to thank You for the truth of Your Word. Lord, we want to thank You for this testimony that we believe was from David. Lord, of the fact that he was young and taught, and then he became old and gray-headed. And Lord, now he wants to declare unto the next generation your faithfulness, your goodness, your greatness. Father, thank you for this testimony. May it be our testimony. Father, we pray, please. And Lord, we ask now that during the invitation, you would accomplish your will in our lives. We ask in Jesus Christ's name. Amen.