August 18

READ Psalm 92:10–15. 10 You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox; fine oils have been poured on me. 11 My eyes have seen the defeat of my adversaries; my ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes. 12 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; 13 planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. 14 They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, 15 proclaiming, “The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”

FRESHNESS WITH AGE. Verse 10 speaks of a “horn,” a symbol of strength, being anointed, a symbol of refreshment. Only through worship are we restored to vigor from the exhaustion and burnout of seeking our own glory. And if we maintain fellowship with God over the years (verse 13), there is a kind of “freshness” that can come with increasing age. It is not the naïveté of perpetual spiritual adolescence. It is the spiritual vigor that grows only out of years of trusting God in prayer, coupled with the wisdom that comes from a treasure chest of rich memories, both sorrowful and sweet. “Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16).

Prayer: Lord, as I age let there be a flourishing of my faith and a liveliness to my worship that I didn’t have in earlier years. Make me stronger in spirit the weaker I become in the flesh. Amen.