“Make Me Even More Prosperous”
[Psalm 71:15–24]
One of the things I felt while attending the presbytery two weeks ago was that, as a pastor, I must end well.
To do so, I realized that from the beginning to the end of ministry, I must maintain a consistent faith, and as time passes, become more and more Christlike through the embodiment of the Word.
Only then can the end of a pastor’s life and ministry be truly beautiful and earn the respect of younger pastors.
While the beginning of ministry is important, I believe the end is even more important.
And in order for that end to be beautiful, I must walk faithfully and humbly from beginning to end—with a consistent heart, and even more so, with a maturing heart that resembles the heart of the Lord.
When I think about the journey of life, Job 8:7 comes to mind:
"Though your beginning was small, yet your latter end would increase abundantly."
Though our beginnings may be small, I hope and pray that our latter end will be exceedingly great.
In today’s passage, Psalm 71:21, the psalmist prays to God, saying, “You will increase my greatness.”
Based on this verse, I would like to reflect on three responsibilities we have if we are to become greater, while asking God for His help, and consider the lessons God gives us through this passage.
First, in order to become greater, we must receive God’s instruction from our youth.
Look at Psalm 71:17:
"O God, You have taught me from my youth; and to this day I declare Your wondrous works."
The psalmist relied on the Lord from his youth (v.5).
Even in situations that seemed hopeless, he was able to say, “I will always have hope,” because from a young age, he had lived under God’s protection, and had been led and delivered by Him up until the time of writing this psalm.
That’s why he confessed, “From birth I have been upheld by You” (v.6).
Having been upheld by the Lord, the psalmist was confident that even in his present suffering, crisis, and despair, God would protect and deliver him.
Gene A. Getz emphasizes three key points in raising children:
-
“Parental example,”
-
“Direct instruction,” and
-
“Encouragement.”
However, he also warns that what can cause anxiety and instability in children is "parental overprotection, over-permissiveness, over-restriction, and over-cautiousness.”
Therefore, as parents, we must teach our children the Word of God from an early age.
As instructed in Deuteronomy 6:4–9, we are to imprint upon our hearts the teaching to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (v.5), and diligently teach it to our children (v.7).
Those who love God from childhood, make Him their refuge, and are upheld by Him will be made great by the Lord.
Second, in order to become greater, we must grow under God's immeasurable grace even in the midst of great and severe suffering.
Look at Psalm 71:15:
“My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your salvation all day long, though I know not how to relate them all.”
Those who have been taught by God from their youth and rely on the Lord need trials in order to grow even more in Him.
Through those trials, they experience God's grace more deeply, broadly, and greatly.
In today's text, Psalm 71:20, the psalmist, now in old age, reflects on his life and says that God allowed him to see “many and bitter troubles” in order to refine him.
Amid those many and bitter afflictions of the past, he experienced the Lord “reviving him again and bringing him up from the depths of the earth.”
And even in the despair he currently faced, he had confidence that the same Lord would deliver him again.
Because the psalmist had experienced God's immeasurable “righteousness and salvation,” he resolved to open his mouth and proclaim them all day long (verses 15 and 24).
He also made this firm commitment:
“I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, O Sovereign Lord; I will proclaim your righteousness, yours alone” (verse 16).
We, too, may fall into discouragement and despair due to severe trials.
However, even in that discouragement and despair, we can always have hope (verse 14),
because the Lord is our hope (verse 5).
Especially, our Lord—who is our hope—is the God of salvation who “revives us again” when we are in despair and “lifts us up again” (verse 20).
He is the God who comforts us (verse 21).
When we fully experience the grace of God—who revives us, lifts us up, and comforts us—we cannot help but praise Him, just like the psalmist did.
Those who grow in God's immeasurable grace through suffering will be made great by the Lord.
Lastly, third, in order for us to become even more glorious, we must pass on the Lord's strength to future generations, even when we are old and gray.
Look at Psalm 71:18:
“Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come.”
This verse clearly shows that the psalmist is an elderly man (according to scholar Yoon-Sun Park).
In addition, verse 9 says,
“Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength is gone,”
which also indicates his old age.
He prays twice in verse 18:
“Do not forsake me even when I am old and gray.”
Why does he pray this way?
Because he wanted to proclaim the Lord’s strength to the next generation (verse 18).
This reveals that the psalmist had a strong desire to witness and evangelize about the Lord, even when his strength had weakened in old age (Yoon-Sun Park).
What a beautiful image of an elderly person this is!
Although physically his strength has weakened and continues to weaken, even so, the psalmist devoted himself to proclaiming the strength of the Lord.
What a beautiful image of an elderly person this is!
In the later stage of life, what could be called the final part of life, the psalmist looked back on his life and remembered the immeasurable grace God had bestowed upon him.
Especially, he could not bear to remain silent without proclaiming that he had carried out “the Lord’s decrees” (verse 19).
Our God is a God who works great things in our lives with faithfulness (verse 22).
Also, God truly reveals His greatness and majesty through us, who are so very small, so that ultimately He causes us to praise Him:
“My God, I will praise you with the harp,
I will sing praise to you with the lyre,
O Holy One of Israel,
my lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you,
and my soul, which you have redeemed” (verses 22–23).
This morning, during the early morning prayer meeting, I prayed for my eldest son Dillon, who was celebrating his birthday.
After the prayer meeting, I wanted to write a birthday card for my beloved son, so I poured my heart into a short letter on the card.
Later in the afternoon, while driving Dillon home from school, I gave him the birthday card in the car.
Dillon’s response upon receiving the card was “Thank you.”
Afterward, since the card was personal, he covered it from his younger sister Yerim and read it by himself.
At that moment, Yerim asked, “How did Dad draw a heart shape on the card?”
Also, my youngest daughter Yaeun asked me, “Where is Oppa’s birthday present?”
While celebrating Dillon’s birthday, I wrote on the card: “To Dillon, a precious son loved by God,”
and expressed gratitude for “the restorative and healing love God has shown us through you.”
I also told him that Mom and Dad pray that, just as his name “Dillon” means, he will be faithful and truthful before God.
I pray that Dillon will, from a young age, receive God’s instruction, love the Lord, trust Him, and be held fast by Him.
I also pray that, even amid many difficulties and trials in the future, he will grow within God’s immeasurable grace.
And I pray that even when he is old and advanced in years, he will be someone who passes on the strength of the Lord to the next generation.
Though his beginning may be humble, I pray that God will make his later years exceedingly glorious.
“Lord, make us even greater and more glorious.”
Pastor James Kim
(Sincerely celebrating the birthday of my beloved precious son Dillon)