From Spring Chicken to Fall Turkey - Fly

“Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.” (Ps 71:20 AV)

David is speaking of revival in his later years.  He is certain the God who brought him through hard times will revive him one last time so He could do a work for the LORD.  The God who has been with David from the lion and bear all the way to Absalom will be there in his last few years of service.  There are a couple of truths of note here.

First, let us consider service to the LORD can bring one down to the depths of the earth.  David uses the words ‘…depths of the earth.’  The word for ‘…depths…’ means the abyss.  It means the deep sea or the subterranean waters.  That is indeed deep.  One can ask a good question here.  If the LORD is on David’s side, how did he get so deep?  In fact, it is the troubles which the LORD shewed David that brought him to the abyss.  The cause of the abyss was the LORD.  It was the hand of God which brought David to the very end of his strength.  This is noteworthy because many of God’s people will not allow the LORD to do just that.  They will not allow the LORD to show them the depths of the end of their own strength.  They will not allow the LORD to push them to the limit.  They quite far too soon.  This is really an unfortunate thing.  It is at the end of ourselves that we begin to realize where God starts.  It is at the end ourselves that we see just how little these troubles are to an almighty God.

The most important truth here to see is that God does not want to leave us in that abyss.  He wants to bring us back from the depths of the earth.  It really is up to us.  David does not want to stay all used up.  He wants revival.  This is the whole theme of this Psalm.  It is David’s prayer in his older years.  He knows that his strength is diminished.  He knows that he is not a spring chicken anymore.   It is unrealistic to ask for strength of a man half his age.  But that does not mean strength itself is impossible.  He is stating what he knows to be true.  He knows that God will revive him because he has the desire to be revived!  God will bring him back up because earlier in the Psalm he speaks of ministry to a younger generation.  There is still work to do.  God will, and does, revive a used-up generation if they still have the desire to make a difference.  The choice is ours!