REFLECTIONS

Aging in Grace

“Old age is not something our generation likes to talk about very much, at least not in realistic categories. We talk about preparing for retirement, but only with the greatest reluctance do we prepare for infirmity and death. Very few talk about these matters openly and frankly-without, on the one hand, dwelling on them (which shows they are frightened by them), or, on the other hand, suppressing them (which again shows they are frightened by them).

It is much more responsible to learn how to age faithfully, to learn how to die well. This the psalmist wanted. “Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength is gone…Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come” (Ps. 71:9, 18). From his youth, he knew, God had taught him (71:17). Now he prays against abandonment in old age.

At one level, the psalmist is primarily asking that God will protect him against outside attacks when he is too old and inform to resist (71:10ff). This would be a special concern if the author of this particular psalm is David or some other Davidic king. A nearby nation that would dare attack Israel when David was forty might be emboldened when David was pushing seventy. Though most of us are not kings, it is right and good to ask god for special protection when we grow so elderly and inform that it is easy for others to take advantage of us.

But David’s vision is more comprehensive than mere protection. He wants so to live in old age that he passes on his witness to the next generation. His aim is not to live comfortably in retirement, but to use his senior years “to declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come.” That is a prayer eminently worth praying. Should not senior saints be praying for grace to pass on what they have learned to a new generation? Perhaps this will be one on one, or in small groups. Perhaps one of them will take under his or her wing some young Christian or abandoned waif. Perhaps some experienced prayer warrior will teach a young Christian leader how to pray. And when there is too little strength even for these things, we shall pray that God’s grace will so operate in our weakness that God will be glorified in us: perhaps we shall teach younger Christians how to persevere under suffering, how to trust in the midst of pain, and how to do in the grace of God.”

-D.A. Carson Theologian and Professor  1946-

REFLECTIONS

Which voice to hear and obey?

“In almost every generation there are both true voices and false. How can one discern between the two?

The question cannot be comprehensively answered by referring to only one passage. For instance Deuteronomy 13 provides one framework that should be carefully thought through, but it is not the only one. Here in Ezekiel 13 the matter is cast not so much as a set of points to help the righteous discern between true prophet and false, but a denunciation of all that is false. In doing so God provides a partial profile of false prophets.

(1) False prophets speak out of their own spirit, out of their own imaginations. They may think they have something form the Lord, but they do not. “Their visions are false and their divinations a lie” (13:6). This is not so much a principle that the onlooker can use, as a warning to the false prophets themselves. False prophets may deceive other people, they never deceive God. And it is to God that we will one day have to give an account (13:8-9).

(2) They do not deal with fundamental issues of sin, corruption, injustice, and covenantal faithfulness. To use the metaphor of a walled city, instead of repairing the ‘wall’ they merely cover it with whitewash, so that it looks sturdy enough to the casual observer even though it is hopelessly compromised. “You have not gone up to the breaks in the wall to repair it for the house of Israel so that it will stand form in the battle on the day of the Lord” (13:5), Ezekiel writes. A good storm strips away the whitewash and discloses the horrible weakness. The false prophets deal in omens and end-times fancies and promises of revival, but they do not declare the holiness of God and the odiousness of sin; they fail to bring people to repentance, faith and obedience.

(3) They are more interested in auguries, telling personal fortunes, serving as ‘prophetic’ personal hope-spinners, than in conveying the word of the Lord. They are not really serious people-except for their seriousness when it comes to getting paid (13:17-19).

(4) One of the larger effects they have is to discourage the genuine people of God. Too many false voices in a culture and many people become confused, disheartened, disoriented. Instead of maintaining a moral standard that reinforces righteousness, builds character, and encourages godliness, these people pronounce their curses and taboos on people God Himself has not condemned, and exonerate the wicked so that they do not turn from their evil ways and so save their lives (13:20-23).

Where in our culture do these characteristics thrive? Where do they thrive in the professing church?”

-D.A. Carson Theologian and Professor  1946-