What does the Bible mean when it says “Thy youth is renewed like the eagle?
Listen: 83 Question 3
Let’s read Psalms 103:1-5, “Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” The usage of an eagle in this psalm is very instructive. The eagle is the strongest, most fearless, and most majestic of all birds. At about five years of age, the eagle will begin going through a molting process where it loses most of its feathers only to be replaced by new feathers. This gives the appearance of renewed youth in the eagle. During this molting process, the eagle will look sickly and weak, but as the process completes the eagle has the look and feel of renewed strength and energy.
This gives us the thought that the true believer on the Lord Jesus Christ retains vigor and zealousness for the Lord as he considers all the wonderful benefits that come from knowing the Lord. King David is expressing how his strength was restored to become like the strength of the eagle. Psalms 92:13-14 says, “Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing.” Just because a Christian grows older, the desire to serve the Lord, the desire to honor Him in all we do, the desire to see precious souls saved does not have to slow down. As we continue with the Lord, our zeal for Him and our spiritual strength will increase until the very day that He calls us home.
It is instructive to consider King David’s words in the previous psalm. Let’s read Psalms 102:1-9, “Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto thee. Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me: in the day when I call answer me speedily. For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth. My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread. By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin. I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert. I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top. Mine enemies reproach me all the day; and they that are mad against me are sworn against me. For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping.” Here, in a day of trouble and despair, David compared himself with the pelican, the owl, and the sparrow. As he took his eyes off his troubles and fixed them upon the Lord, his strength was renewed. He could proclaim as he did in Psalms 103:1-2, “Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.”
We read of Moses in Deuteronomy 34:7 which says, “And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.” What a testimony: at 120 years Moses had not lost eyesight or strength. Joshua said of himself in Joshua 14:11, “As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.” In the spiritual sense, that can also be said of us when we follow the Lord and continue in service to Him. We will retain energy and excitement for the things of the Lord. When we fix our eyes on the Lord and His wonderful benefits towards us, we too will have our youth renewed as the eagle’s.