Text: Psalm 71:14-18
Michael Jordan, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther, , Mark Twain,. What do all of these names have in common? Because they are all so vastly different. Normally you don’t compare these people, because they did different things. I mean what could Michael Jordan possibly have in common with Mark Twain, or Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther. Well the one thing that they all had in common is that they left a legacy. Well what is a legacy. It something that someone leaves behind to help future generations. Sometimes its material things, but other times its more than that. Each of the names I said above left a legacy behind. I mean even if you don’t know what they did or who they are necessarily you have probably heard their names before. But what did they leave behind?
Michael Jordan was one of the greatest basketball players to ever play the game. If you grew up watching him play then you probably just sat there with your mouth wide open at the sheer skill he showed every single game. And know when you mention his name he is said to be THE greatest basketball player of all time. His legacy was that of changing the game of basketball. You see before it was a big mans game and Michael Jordan came in and showed that a point guard could change everything.
Abraham Lincoln was one of many presidents of the United states so what makes him special. Well he was president during the time of the Civil War in the US and wrote one of the most quoted speeches of all time the Emancipation Proclamation. He was known for helping turn this country around in a time where we were fighting each other and creating freedom for African Americans living in the US.
Martin Luther is known for posting his 95 theses on a church door. Why is that significant? He was challenging the way religion was doing things back in the 1500s. Specifically the Christian/Catholic church. He knew what they were doing was not right and he stood up and challenged them for what they were doing and broke off which created a domino affect of later people following in his footsteps
Mark Twain which is a name many of us since he is from the state of Missouri. But Mark twain was left behind a legacy of creativity and writing. He wrote things that are required reading in most schools and the stories he wrote promote creativity and are beautifully written. I mean he is known as the father of American literature.
Each of these people left a legacy behind. Something for future generations to look at and be inspired by. Something that is proclaimed to generation after generation. They left behind something that has even changed some's lives.
And I think that is something that we all desire in life. To leave a lasting legacy behind for future generations. Maybe not to the extent that Michael Jordan or Abraham Lincoln left behind, but we still want to have an impact for generations to come. We want future generations to remember us for something. We want to leave behind something that inspires and is positive. Because lets be honest its just as easy to leave behind a legacy that is negative. There are plenty of people throughout history that did not leave a good legacy behind. So how can we just being regular people leave behind a lasting lasting positive legacy. Because you know we are Michael Jordan or Mark Twain or even Abraham Lincoln. So how can we leave a good legacy behind for future generations. Well the Bible kind of gives a clue on what kind of positive legacy we need to leave behind. You see we are going through a series called o my soul and in this series we are going through the book of Psalms and looking at what the authors were going through and how we can relate to what they are talking about. And in Psalm 71 we read a little bit about what kind of legacy we should be leaving behind and how we can leave a positive legacy behind. So if you want to turn their in your bibles to Psalm 71:1-18.
So from reading here we get to know a little bit about the author of this Psalm. He has lived a long life and here in his old age he is once again going through a problem in his life. We get the idea that this problem the author is facing is people coming against him and trying to kill him. People seeking after his life. Which would be terrifying. Our natural response if we knew people were coming after us to take our life we would be fearful right? We would be scared. But the author here doesn't seem to wallow in self pity or give up on God or abandon God. He continually talks about God being his refuge, protection, deliverance, hope, and confidence. How can he do that? How can this author in the face of death still have confidence, still have hope, still believe they can be delivered. Well along with the long life the author has lived they have seen many things. They have seen how God has been faithful to them since they have been born. Read verse 6. The author says that since birth God has been faithful and he will praise God for His faithfulness. We get this repetition of praising God over and over again. The author says several times how they will praise God and praise God and praise God. They can praise God because they know that God is faithful. That God will provide and God will be there no matter what. They have this confidence in God that we sometimes lack. Then in verses 14-18 we read a little bit about the legacy that the author wants to leave behind and what we should leave behind as well.
The legacy of God. The author says that they will tell of God’s righteous deeds. And that there are so many he doesn't even know how he is going to be able to tell them all. Then he says he is going to proclaim God’s mighty acts and God’s righteous deeds and marvelous deeds and God’s power. The idea of proclaiming something is to announce it publicly. To let everyone know. The only thing that this author wants left behind in life is God. Their only desire is for the future generations to know who God is and His faithfulness, His power, His righteous, mighty, and marvelous deeds. The author here doesn't say I want to be known for letting others know who Jesus is. They say I just want you to be known and that is enough. All that matters is that the story of God and Jesus is told. That future generations know that God is faithful and in Him we can find confidence, and hope, and refuge, and peace, and comfort and the list goes on and on. The authors legacy is that of God. It wasn’t look what I am doing for God is was Look at what God has done for me and He will do the same for you. The author in the face of death and fear doesn’t give in but goes to God because they know how God has always been faithful and they can always rely on that.
Is that the kind of legacy we are leaving behind. A legacy of God. A legacy of reliance on God. Are we proclaiming what God has done and will do to the next generations. Are we telling of the amazing things God has done for us. The amazing love that God shows, the amazing gift that God gives. Are we proclaiming Christ. Is our legacy God or is it us. When we think of legacy we think of how I want to be remembered. But honestly what really need to think about is how can God be remembered in my life. Its not about how we can be known its about how God can be known. That's the legacy we need to leave behind. The legacy of God. The author time and time again praises God in the midst of struggle and problems. The author time and time again points to God and who He is. He never pointed to himself and said look what I am doing. He pointed to God and said look at what he has done, what he is doing, and what he will do.
That's the kind of legacy we should strive to leave behind. That in every circumstance in every moment of second of our lives God was praised and God was at the center. That God was pointed too. God is the legacy that will last forever. Listen we can do great things and be remembered for those great things, but eventually those things fade. However, God can make a lasting impact on generation after generation. Its not about what we did for God that should be our legacy, its what God did for us that should be our legacy.
