Summary: We trust that God, who has been faithful in our past, will remain faithful in our present and our future. Why? Because we have three assurances.

I God Sustains Us at All Times (Psalm 71:17-18)

1 God Remained with Us in Our Youth (71:17)

‘O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds’ (v. 17).

2 God Remains with Us in Our Age (71:18)

‘So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come’ (v. 18).

II God Sustains Us in Our Present Time (Psalm 71:19-20a)

1 We Experience Life’s Unrelenting Trouble (71:20a)

‘You…have made me see many troubles and calamities… (v. 20a).

2 We Experience God’s Unfailing Faithfulness (71:19)

‘Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is like you? …[You] will revive me again’ (vv. 19, 20a).

III God Sustains Us in the Time that Is to Come (Psalm 71:20b-21)

20b ‘From the depths of the earth you will bring me up again. 21 You will increase my greatness and comfort me again’ (vv. 20b-21).

“For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:52).

Therefore…

• We may expect in the coming year, just as in years past, to witness “many troubles and calamities.” The Apostle Peter says, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12).

• Despite the troubles we face, God will prove, in the present and future as He has in the past, to be faithful to His promises.

• A day is coming when “the Lord Jesus Christ…will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:21) and when God “will wipe away every tear from [our] eyes, and death shall be no more, neigher shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more, for the former things [will] have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).