God, you have taught me from my youth, and I still proclaim your wondrous works. Even while I am old and gray, God, do not abandon me, while I proclaim your power to another generation, your strength to all who are to come. (Psalm 71:17, 18 CSB)

“Like sands through the hour glass, so are the days of our lives.” So spoke Macdonald Carey, a.k.a., Dr. Tom Horton, as my mother’s “story” would begin.[i] I watched it with my family as a youth. My grandmother had switched by then to the “stories” on CBS. Well, Dr. H was right. The sands drop through the hour glass. They seem to speed up with the years. Moses put it like this in the only psalm attributed to him: Our lives last seventy years or, if we are strong, eighty years. Even the best of them are struggle and sorrow; indeed, they pass quickly and we fly away (90:10). Indeed.

At age fifty-two with a wife of almost three decades, six sons, and being thankful each day for God’s provision of our daily bread, these are verses that I do not just read, but experience acutely. ( Perhaps you can relate.) God has taught me from my youth. I remember learning Psalms 23 and 100 in fourth grade Sunday School with Mrs. Rickard. And, by God’s grace, 42 years later I have the privilege of reciting those psalms from behind a pulpit and to hospital and hospice patients who are receptive of pastoral care, and at home.

I only have a few gray hairs so far (probably a sign I still have a good deal of wisdom to gain). But I agree whole-heartedly with the psalmist: Even while I am old and gray, God, do not abandon me, while I proclaim your power to another generation. Please, God, I must. And while I would not have expected life to be like it is right now, like Jeremiah I try to throw in the towel, but I am compelled to keep speaking this word. With the prophet I say, “I won’t mention him or speak any longer in his name.” But his message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones. I become tired of holding it in, and I cannot prevail (Jeremiah 20:9). But Moses was right about our days: even the best of them are struggle and sorrow. So what to do? Flee? No, yet I also join Peter, “Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).

PRAYER: Dear Lord, to whom can I turn but you? I thank you for your steadfast love that never ceases and your mercies that never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

[i] However, Socrates was apparently the original source of this quote.