Psalm 102:24

Psalm 102:24

Do not take me away!

Yesterday, we reflected on the hopelessness of this life if all we have to rely upon is our own mortality. Illness, disability, suffering and pain, all these things are a familiar part of being human. Our bodies are mortal, our brains may be affected by mental illness, dementia and many other negative influences. However young and fit we consider ourselves to be, at some point we have to face the facts, we are going to die! 

It seems, from today’s verse, that the writer had been hit by illness and physical sickness at middle age, long before he assumed that these things would happen. He now pleads with the Lord to not take him away in the midst of his days. I’m sure that it is bad enough to face our mortality when we are old and have lived a fulfilling life, but to sense death approaching in early or mid-life can be a source of great anguish. So, the writer kind-of tries to do a deal with the Lord. “Look, Your years go on forever, You are able to watch whole generations come and go, You have the keys to eternity, please don’t let me die before my time – or what I consider to be my time. Let me have some more years, don’t take me just yet!” This kind of plea is probably not familiar to most of us, it can only come from the lips of one who has faced similar circumstances. What is eye-opening, is that we are allowed to have these conversations with the Lord, we can plead and hope that He will be merciful and grant us “more time.” Who knows what happened to the psalmist, I have a feeling that his request was heard and granted, don’t you? 

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