The route to glory

“Do not take me away, my God, in the midst of my days; your years go on through all generations." Psalm 102.24

Composing under the influence of the Holy Spirit, could the Psalmist be referring to Jesus? 70 was the lifespan aspired to in Old Testament times (three score years and ten), though life expectancy would have been significantly less. The "midst of my days" would therefore have taken the Psalmist to their mid-30s, the age that Jesus reached when he was crucified. For Jesus, there was no avoiding the cross; it stood between him and his mission to redeem the world. It was part of God's plan - to offer his perfect life as the once-for-all sufficient sacrifice to atone for the sins of the world - and so it must be faced.

Jesus has cleared the way, yet he warns that way still involves suffering. To a greater or lesser extent, we must all shoulder our crosses. Unlike Jesus, though, we shall not have to face the prospect alone: Jesus will be there and the power of God within. In midst of his mid-life crisis, the Psalmist reminds themself and us that God is immortal. Applying that insight into what we now know through the New Testament, we can invest our trust in Jesus and his death in the certain hope that we shall inherit his resurrection and eternal life.