– Pastor Bimbo Animashaun
In Psalm 90:14-15, we have the prayer offered to God by Moses for Israel, and the words of this petition can be applicable to two generations, in terms of experience.
PSALM 90:14-15
14 O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil.
In modern application, verse 14 prayer belongs to THE YOUNGER GENERATION while verse 15 prayer belongs to THE OLDER GENERATION.
It is the younger generation who pray that God should satisfy them early with mercy because they still have “days” ahead of them.
But when it comes to the older generation, they can’t pray that prayer, “technically speaking” because they’re not in their early years.
If somebody is already in his 80s or 90s, he doesn’t pray that God should satisfy him early with mercy. Why? He’s not in his early years but latter years.
So, verse 15 prayer will suffice here:
PSALM 90:15
15 Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil.
If such a person had not properly and intelligently managed his early years, then he can pray for redemption of times and restoration of THE JOY the early years were designed to bring.
Now that prayer will not make a 90 year old man to become 30 but God can restore THE JOY of those years.
There’s nothing DOCTRINAL in this piece; we’re just learning lessons from Scriptural patterns, so we should put that in context.
Once upon a time, God told Joshua as a young man who just took over the baton of leadership from Moses, who died at 120:
JOSHUA 1:3-7
3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.
4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.
5 There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee
6 Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.
7 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.
Joshua received these words as a visionary young man who was vibrant, but then, at the latter stage of his ministry, the same God told him:JOSHUA 13:1
Now Joshua was old and stricken in years; and the LORD said unto him, Thou art old and stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed.
This episode is instructive enough. A young minister should learn to pray verse 14 prayer early in ministry so that he will not have to pray verse 15 prayer in his old age.
The thought is that if you’re satisfied early with mercy and you maximize your youthful period well, when you grow old, you will not have to be praying that God should compensate you for the years that you have seen evil and affliction.
It can be something delicate to talk about but the Spirit of God is sounding the alarm on the mountains of Zion to take our calling seriously and give it the best shot.
Today, the irony is that older ministers in our country are digging continually and stretching themselves while some young folks in ministry are sitting on the fence.
Just check the work schedule of fathers of Faith in this country who are above 60 and compare that to yours, then you will learn wisdom.
If fathers of Faith are burning the midnight oil in their latter years despite the fact that many of them properly maximized their younger years in ministry (that’s why we’re all following their footsteps), now think about you dear young minister who is in your early years.
The kind of devotional life and ministry schedules they keep should tell you that there’s something they have seen ahead, and as a young minister, this is the time to maximize your early years while your strength and vitality is at the peak.
Therefore wake up and stir yourself in the Holy Ghost, for time is running out and you’re racing against time.
Pray for early satisfaction of mercy now and work in line with the consecration of your calling so that in your latter years, you will not have to be praying for restoration of years.
May the Lord give us understanding!
Amen!!
I trust this made little sense Sirs and Mas?
Shalom!!
Aphorism CITY 