I’m Not Done Yet

And even when I am old and gray, God, do not abandon me, until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to all who are to come.  Psalm 71:18  NASB

Until – When is it over?  Ah, you know there’s no such thing as retirement in this Kingdom.  It’s not over until the fat lady sings.  When you die.  But when is that?  No, I’m not asking from prognostication, and I’m not asking about some end-times eschatology.  I’m asking about purpose.  When do you know that you’ve finished?  Is it just endless perseverance?  “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14 NASB).  When does Paul’s other vision become a reality?  “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;” (2 Timothy 4:7).

Or maybe you’re like me.  You just don’t want to think about it.

I’m not, of course, going to give you anything you can mark on the calendar.  I can’t even do that for myself, and I certainly have enough spiritual humility (or maybe it’s conviction) not to attempt any forecast of the general end.  If the Messiah didn’t know, how can we ever suppose that we could?  No, what I want to point out is that there is some timeframe involved here, something you can sort of use as a measuring rod to tell how close you are to the the finish line.  It’s the Hebrew word ʿad, once again.  We found this word in the previous verse, remember?  It was squeezed between ve(“and”) and hēnnāh (“I” – emphatic).  ve-ăd- hēnnāh.  “and still I (exclamation) will declare Your wonderous deeds.”  Now the poet uses the same word for a different purpose.  (Isn’t it nice that Hebrew words can often mean multiple things?).  Now it means, “until.”  The poet pleads that God won’t abandon him until . . .  until when?  Until he has declared God’s greatness to all those who are to come.  There’s your clue.  God won’t let him go until he’s announced the message to everyone who has yet to be born.  How long will that take?  Oh, easy.  As long as he’s got.

Okay, wait.  I know, it’s just more word plays.  But seriously, there is a real message here.  Since ʿad means both “still” and “until,” we can draw the following conclusion.  As long as I remember to act according to God’s purposes (still), I will keep pressing toward the finish line (until).  My goal is that everyone know Him, and I will do all that I can while I can to make sure that happens.  So, there is no end in sight here, but that doesn’t really matter because there is no end to the purposes of God either.  I will never run out of things to do or say about Him, and that means that He will stick around while I spend myself on His behalf.  I’m not looking for retirement.  In fact, I’m not even looking for the end of the race.  I’m alive because the race goes on . . . and on.  And what a great time it is to be alive because God allows me to be a part of His purposes, His never-ending creative processing that will eventually sweep up all who are yet to be born.  Oh, by the way, ʿad can also mean “yet.”

Topical Index:  until, still, yet, ʿad, purpose, finish, end, Psalm 71:18