They still bear fruit in old age. They’re ever full of sap and green to declare that the Lord is upright. He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
– Psalm 92:14–15
I love this picture at the very end of Psalm 92. It’s talking about verse 12, says, “The righteous flourish like the palm tree, grow like a cedar in Lebanon, planted in the house of the Lord, flourishing in the courts of our God.” And then you get to verse 14, that says, “They still bear fruit in old age.” Talking about the righteous, “They are ever full of sap and green.” And based on this picture, I want to lead us to pray today for brothers and sisters in Christ who are in old age, which may be you, as you’re listening to this right now.
Psalm 92:14–15 teaches us about lifelong fruitfulness and strength in Christ.
Obviously, all of it is relative, but when you hear Psalm 92:14, “They still bear fruit in old age,” you might think, “Oh God, I pray for that in my life as I grow older. I want to bear fruit.” And I want us to pray this over older sisters and brothers in Christ that we know in our lives, that we know in our churches, that we would pray specifically in light of Psalm 92:14–15, for they are fruit-bearing in even greater ways in older age than in younger ages, that they would be ever full of sap and green, and that they would declare that the Lord is upright.
That with the unique opportunities that old age affords, whether it’s wisdom learned over time or even thinking about for many, at least in my country, and opportunity to retire and to have extra time, more flexible time to make the good news of God’s grace and glory known in the world, resources that may have been built up over time that can be used to make the grace and glory of God known in the world.
Let’s pray for fruit-bearing in old age for brothers and sisters in Christ who are older than us. Even as we pray that in every one of our lives that the older we get, that we would bear more and more fruit.
Psalm 92:14–15 helps us to pray for enduring fruitfulness as we age.
Oh God, we pray for this. We pray this, yes, for every one of our lives. God, we pray that as we grow older and even as, just thinking about Paul writing about our outer self wasting away, but our inner self being renewed day by day.
Lord, we pray for that reality in all of our lives that the older we grow, that we would be ever full of sap and green and bearing fruit, walking with you and bearing fruit through our prayers, through our resources, through our time, through our gifts, through the opportunities we have, God, to make your love known in the world, to declare to the world around us and far from us that you are upright, that you are our Rock, and that you are righteous.
God, may it be so in all of our lives that we pray specifically right now for brothers and sisters in Christ and old age who are in our lives and in our churches. We will just pray Psalm 92:14–15 over them. May they still bear fruit in old age, and may they be ever full of sap and green. May they declare that you, oh Lord, are upright, that you are their rock, that there is no unrighteousness in you.
Prayer for the Andean People
God, we pray that even as we think about people in old age, among unreached people groups who are facing eternity right now without ever having even heard the good news of your love in Jesus. God, we pray for the spread of the gospel to them, and we pray today, oh God, for the Andean people of Russia, for the small Muslim people group, God, knowing there are no known believers among them.
There are men and women in old age among the Andean who have never heard the good news of your love in Jesus and many others like them in unreached people groups. God, we pray that you would bless those in old age who know the gospel for the spread of the gospel to their peers and unreached people groups.
God, please guard all of us and specifically those in old age from thinking, “Okay, only a smaller number of years left on the earth, so let me live it up here.” God, guard us from that kind of mentality. Help us to live for the spread of the gospel to people for their eternal salvation. Help us to live for that with every breath we have, the little bit of time we have here. God, we pray all of this in light of Psalm 92:14–15. In Jesus’ name, may we, may those who’ve gone before us bear fruit in old age and declare Your name around them and to the nations. In Jesus’ name, we pray, amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
