Original: September 19, 2007
Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength is gone. Psalm 71:9
My dad once told me that a man is at his strongest when he is 40. From personal experience I see some truth in this statement. At over 40 years old with what my boys call "old man strength" my muscle mass is more fully formed than in my youthful years. Weighing 250 pounds I can do nearly 20 pull ups and in the summer of 2008 (at age 42) did three sets of 20 repetitions with 225 pounds on the bench press.
Several years ago, however, I was hiking in the mountains of the Central Coast with my cousin Darby and heard quite another perspective. I was in my mid 30’s at the time and Darby being nearly five years older had just turned 40. As we spoke about aging, strength, and life in general he shocked me when he said, "I have aged more between 35 and 40 than any other time in my life."
I laughed it off, teased him about still having “old man strength” to his advantage, and basically ignored his statement. Ignored it until several years ago when I turned 40! In hindsight I can now say he was definitely right. Between 35 and 42 I have gone bald, had 5 kidney stones, borderline high blood pressure, fatty liver, high uric acid levels, borderline blood sugar levels, and lower energy.
No wonder the elderly take so many pills!
Psalm 71:9 reminds us that there is a constant battle between strength and age.
On a surface level age has the definite advantage and will ultimately defeat strength, but a closer look may prove otherwise. Is it possible that age does not defeat strength but is the transition between this age and the age to come? Is it possible that age is the crossing guard between the shadow lands we call earth and paradise that we will call home? Is it possible that the climax of our age, our dying moment, is actually our crescendo moment of time that we are ushered into heaven by the great "cloud of witnesses" (Hebrew 12:1-2) and life, real life, and the most amazing life beyond our wildest dreams. John wrote, “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)
Maybe Paul understood the battle between strength and age when he said, "though outwardly we are wasting away but inwardly we are being renewed day by day." (2 Corinthians 4:13)
Are we getting closer to death as we age or are we actually getting closer to life?
