Five Minute Friday :: Youth

God satisfies you with good as long as you live
and renews your youth like the eagle's. Psalm 103:5
• Five Minute Friday :: Youth Linkup

Psalm 103:1-5

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless God's holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all God's benefits—
God forgives all your iniquity, heals all your diseases,
God redeems your life from Sheol, and crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
God satisfies you with good as long as you live and renews your youth like the eagle's.

It feels as if we never stop hearing this is a youth-oriented society (whatever that means). What is it about youth that people sometimes envy and aspire to recapture? An individual doesn't need to achieve much chronology to realize how clueless they themselves were only a few years ago. Even if someone had a sharp, inquisitive mind, why would anyone want to go back to a state of relative lack of information and paucity of wisdom? After all, a few years and a variety of experiences almost always makes a person wiser.

Besides, anyone who's taught middle school or high school, has had teenaged offspring, has ministered to church youth groups (maybe all three of those categories apply to you?!), can describe many many aspects of those years that are anything but enviable.

Although there are plenty of good looking older people, in general relatively younger does seem to equal relatively more attractive, and that's a plus. In addition, aches, pains, and creaky joints often are part of the aging process; just about everyone would like those to depart.

Psalm 103 announces God renews our "youth like the eagle's." What does that mean? Is it about God restoring the intellectual, physical, and social attributes [often extremely polite and considerate, sometimes anything but] of young people? Although I haven't researched what the tradition says, I'll suggest – and even claim – it's about receiving God's benefits the psalm lists: forgiveness; healings; redemption; love, mercy, and goodness. Wouldn't you like to order from that menu?

Psalm 103 begins with "Bless the Lord." What does it mean to bless God? How about letting God crown you with all those good gifts? God would glory to receive that gift from us!

Textual note: surprisingly, steadfast love in verse 4 isn't the familiar chesed; it's plain old everyday garden-variety "love."

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