INTRODUCTION
The scripture reading that I chose will be the text that I will introduce this series of lessons with today, and it will be our scripture reading for the duration of the lessons. I would encourage you as we go through this month of lessons to write this passage down or to meditate on it.
Psalm 92 is given the title, “A Song for the Sabbath Day.” This is one of the few psalms assigned to a particular occasion, and the only one assigned to be used on a specific day. Whenever God’s people came together on the day of rest, they would use this psalm to remember God’s works that He has done for them. This psalm begins and ends with confession or declaration of the Lord and what He has done, and then shows contrasts between the lives of the foolish man and the righteous man. In verses 6-7 we see that the fool has no knowledge and understanding to declare. They may flourish for a short time like grass, but their time will end in destruction.
In contrast, we see in verses 12-15 that the righteous grow and flourish, not like grass, but like palm trees and cedars which can withstand the harshest weather that comes at them. They are long lasting and bear fruit for many decades after they have been planted, and their flourishing lasts much longer than the unrighteous.
I would like to spend time today focusing on verses 12-15. From this text in Psalm 92, I would like to make three points in our lesson:
1. Fruitful Young People make Fruitful Old People
2. God Expects His Older Saints To Be Fruitful
3. God’s Older Saints Declare Him
FRUITFUL YOUNG PEOPLE DEVELOP INTO FRUITFUL OLD PEOPLE
Being fruitful as an older person doesn’t happen by mistake. There may be those select few that become Christians at an older age and become fruitful, but most of the time it takes a lot of hard work for many years to get to the point where you can be fruitful in old age. Verses 12-13, I believe, show us this idea:
12 The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree, He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon. 13 Planted in the house of the LORD, They will flourish in the courts of our God (NASB)
We see a process in these two verses. The process begins with planting, moves to growing, then to flourishing and becoming strong. The psalmist says that the righteous are planted in the house of the Lord, which is probably speaking of living in His presence and under His protection in a place where one can come to know Him and grow. The righteous are like a tree that is planted where it can receive the greatest amount of nutrients so it can bear fruit and flourish. This same concept is given to us in Psalm 1:3.
“He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.” Psalm 1:3
God’s desire for us is this: as we live before Him and come to know Him as we study His word, we will receive all that we need to be nourished, to grow, and to be fruitful. And the natural thing that will happen is that as one grows older they will continue to bear the fruits that they had borne all along.
Many of the decisions we make now will affect how we are whenever we grow old (if the Lord wills that happens). We see in scripture how God worked in the lives of His servants in their younger years to make them who they were in their oldest years.
Moses: Moses made the decision when he was younger to be identified alongside with God’s people instead of enjoying the extravagant living befitting a prince. This decision would lead him down a path where God would work on him for 40 years as he cared for Jethro’s flock as a shepherd to prepare him to be a shepherd to Israel when He was 80 years old.
Daniel: Daniel made the decision to not be defiled by the world and by what the king offered him when he was taken into captivity. He learned to habitually pray as a younger man to His God. His decisions and habits in his earlier years prepared him to have the kind of trust in the Lord that he needed as he, along with the rest of the empire, received the edict not to pray to any god or man but the king. His many years of being fruitful to the Lord prepared him for one of his biggest tests. He passed the test, was thrown into the lions’ den, and then was delivered by God because of his faith.
Moses and Daniel could have made decisions that took them down a completely different path when they were younger, but they didn’t. They instead were planted in the presence of God, they grew and flourished, and God used their decisions to use them to bring glory to Him in their older years as well.
This should teach us an important lesson: Today is the day to begin our growth so we can be people who can be fruitful in our service to God in old age. We who are younger right now need to be thinking and praying now about the possibility of growing to the point of being elders and deacons in the Lord’s church here. If we start examining ourselves when we are older, it may be too late.
GOD EXPECTS HIS OLDER SAINTS TO BE FRUITFUL
The fact that God says that the righteous will “still bear fruit in old age” means that this is something He expects of the one who has grown as a disciple from their early years. It is the natural thing that should happen! The standard for faithfulness to God does not change based on age.
Many people have a goal in life to work hard so that they can have a good and satisfying retirement. They spend decades planning for this time. Some start saving right when they start working so they can have this time in the future that they no longer have to work; when they can relax and do whatever they want that interests them. All of this sounds nice. Preparing for the future is a Biblical concept and it is spoken of in many passages. But we need to make sure as Christians that we do not fall into a mindset that we are just going to sit back and relax when we get old. There is no spiritual retirement in this life! I have been around a few brethren since I have become a Christian who seemed to me by their actions to believe that there is a spiritual age of retirement; a time in which they could say, “I have put my time in. Now I can sit back, relax, and let others do the work of the kingdom.” We must do what we are able to do for the Lord even when we get old. With whatever strength and wisdom that the Lord gives us, we will need to use to do God’s work in the kingdom. There is a great need for fruitful, godly, older people who can work for the Lord in preparing the next generation to do the work of the Lord.
A study was done by Oregon State University on how older people are perceived in our society. It showed that “our society devalues old age in many ways, and this is particularly true in the United States, where individualism, self-reliance, and independence are highly valued… Almost every stereotype we associate with being elderly is something negative, from being [difficult to please or irritable] and unwilling to change” or pleased with the status quo. It is unfortunate that older people are characterized this way. But unfortunately it is the case that many older people are this way. It is even more unfortunate when older people who are Christians are characterized like other older people in society and act like other old people in our world: as those who are easily irritated or impatient, never willing to change, unapproachable, stubborn and self-reliant. These are not attitudes that should characterize an older person who has been recreated in the image of Christ if they want to be fruitful for the Lord.
“that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; 3 the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things…” (Titus 2:2-3).
For some of us it may be in our later years of life that the Lord uses us the most for His kingdom. This is certainly something that we see in scripture with Moses. It was God’s will to use Moses to lead His people when he was old. He probably did more for the Lord is his last 40 years than he did in his first 80. And good thing that God waited till Moses was much wiser and humble. It probably would have been a much greater challenge for him to lead the stubborn generation that he led if he had less wisdom and patience. When you are older may be the time in which you may have more influence on more people just because you have been around for so long, or because you may have more time compared to many other people to encourage others. Some of the most encouraging stories I have heard from brethren is how those who are older have impacted their lives, even more so when that person is unable to do a lot physically because of disabilities or the consequences of old age. Yes, there may come the day in which we do not take as much pleasure in our days as the Ecclesiastes writer spoke about because our bodies begin to stop working in ways they do now in our younger years, but even in these times, there will still be things we can do to be fruitful to the Lord.
Older people can do a lot of things for the Lord. They need to do what they can:
• Pray
• Give financially to the Lord’s work
• Send encouraging letters, cards, emails, etc.
• Invite people to your home, even if it is just to talk, read scripture together, etc.
• Allow others to serve you!
FRUITFUL OLDER PEOPLE DECLARE YHWH
One such thing that older people can do, even when they are not in their best state physically, is to do as the psalmist says in verse 15:
“To declare that the LORD is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.”
One of the best tools that the old person has to encourage others is their mouth. They can tell of their experiences with the Lord and give so much great wisdom about how the Lord works in our lives. Older people have so much more practical wisdom and experience to help us younger folks with issues in our lives and to help us better glorify the Lord:
• Wisdom about marriage
• Wisdom about raising children
• Wisdom and help in overcoming sin
• Wisdom in doing God’s work
• Wisdom in helping solve problems amongst God’s people
True, godly wisdom cannot be learned in colleges and universities. Gaining wisdom requires time and it requires a lot of experiences doing the right and wrong things.
“Wisdom is with aged men, And with length of days, understanding. Job 12:12
The church here has understood the teachings of scripture about the importance of getting wisdom from older godly people. Since this church began, we have invited many older men to come and teach and to give us wisdom. We need to continue to be reaching out to those who are older than us to help us grow in our service to God. And those who are older, godly people need to try to be observant in seeing the needs of God’s people and offer teaching and wisdom to those who need it. Older men need to be equipping the younger men in the church so they can be ready to be the next generation of godly leaders. Older women are commanded in Titus 2 to be teachers of good things and to admonish the younger women to be godly wives and mothers. The Lord’s church needs godly older people to be fruitful and to help those who are younger to grow and be fruitful also; to give to others what the Lord has given them.
Look at what the psalmist says about his desire in his old age:
“O God, You have taught me from my youth; And to this day I declare Your wondrous works. 18 Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, Until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come” (Psalm 71:17-18).
Does this describe who you are or who you want to be as an older person? It should.
CONCLUSION
“The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. 13 Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. 14 They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing, 15 To declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him” (Psalm 92:12-15).
OLD AGE: ENEMY OR FRIEND?
Many people want to put off growing old as long as they can, as though old age is an enemy. They have “Peter Pan” syndrome; they never want to grow old, or even at times, grow up. But old age is not our enemy. Proverbs 16:31 says that growing old as a righteous person is a glorious thing. Old age is a blessing from God. Old age is only our enemy if we are drawing close to the end of our lives not being where we need to be in our relationship with God.
