Adding Life To Your Years

Psalm 91 closes with God’s personal assurance of satisfaction.

“Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

Look at that promise! The key here, as in verse one where we dwell and abide, is that we hold fast to Him in love. If we do that, He promises to deliver us, to protect us, to answer us, to be with us in trouble—notice, He doesn’t promise to keep us from trouble, but to be with us in trouble, to rescue us, to honor us, to satisfy us with long life, and to show us His salvation. What more could we ask of Him?

Notice verse 16—this doesn’t mean that God promises to add years to all of our lives, but it does mean He will add life to all of our years. I’d rather live a complete life full of service to God and go to Heaven at a young age than to live to 100 and look back with regret! Only one life, twill soon be past, only what is done for Christ will last.

John Paton lived to be 83—he suffered much for the kingdom. God protected him in supernatural ways, He used Him to accomplish supernatural things, but he also suffered much in the journey. At the end he wrote,

“Oh that I had my life to begin again! I would consecrate it anew to Jesus in seeking the conversion of the remaining cannibals on the New Hebrides. But since that may not be, may He help me to use every moment and every power still left in me to carry forward to the uttermost that beloved work.”

Go and read Psalm 91 and pray it. Quit asking for the safe and easy way—embrace the cross and follow Jesus. The only question we must ask of our lives and of the lives of our children is what is God calling us to do?

We must repent of the desire for safety.

We must repent of the desire for comfort.

We must repent of the selfish desire to keep everyone close and under our control and seek to live under the King’s command and if that means that we or our children will go to the Nation’s then hold your head high—we are soldiers of the Cross!

When we consider eternity—when we consider that to die is gain—when we consider that to die to self is to live in Christ, then we know that verse 16 is true—He will satisfy us with long life—eternal life, and in that eternity, He will show us His salvation and we will dwell in His shelter and abide in His shadow forever and no one will be able to snatch us out of His hand.

CS Lewis said, “Die before you die. There is no chance after.” Another said, “You cannot avoid death, but you can avoid the death after death. Paul said, “Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him.” There is nothing to lose and everything to gain!