July 12, 2024 • 38 mins
Welcome to another episode of Current Events and Christian Expectations. Today, we delve into the intriguing topic of aging and its implications. We begin with a reading from Isaiah 46:3-4 and explore various scriptures to understand the significance of age in leadership and wisdom.
The discussion addresses current debates about the ages of President Biden and President Trump, drawing parallels from biblical figures like Samuel, Joshua, and David. We consider the wisdom and responsibilities that come with old age, the societal expectations, and the biblical perspective on when one should step down from positions of power.
Join us as we reflect on the importance of aging gracefully, the wisdom that comes with years, and the role of the elderly in guiding the younger generation.
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Music.
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Good day to you, brothers, sisters, friends, and new faces, and welcome to Current
Events and Christian Expectations.
And today in this podcast, we're going to be talking about how old is too old.
We'll lead off with Isaiah 46, verses 3 and 4.
We'll have many other scriptures that we reference and read today,
and we'll put those in the overview. you.
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But with the age of being old at the center of our conversation, let's just dig right in.
Well, good day or evening, as the case may be to everybody out there in podcast land.
When is old too old? That's a debate going on right now concerning the age of
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President Biden as well as President Trump. They're both up there. They're both up there.
Here's a quote Wrote from Robert Browning about getting old. Grow old along with me.
The best is yet to be. The last of life for which the first was made.
Well, is that true? Is that the way it is with old age? That's some of the things we're looking at.
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Concerning old age, I'm familiar with it because in 50 years plus of ministry,
I have been in nursing homes, I don't know, I've lost count.
Countless times. Countless times. times and know people in the various stages
of old age and how they respond, how they act.
Sometimes it's hilarious and sometimes it makes you cry.
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Mr. Trump is 78 years old. Joe Biden is 81.
I'm 79. So I'm right in the middle. You're right in the middle.
To look behind me and look ahead and figure it out. Right.
How old does one have to be to be president? Well, Constitution says 35.
And Theodore Roosevelt still remains our youngest president at the age of 42.
Here's a good question for constitutional scholars. Why was there no terminus
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age limit in the Constitution?
You got to be at least 35, but there's nothing said about the outer limits.
Well, think about this. In 17th century, 18th century, 1700s,
colonial America, life expectancy was 35.
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You get to be president and drop dead. That's right. If you can make it. Yeah, exactly.
So there are, of course, exceptions. Benjamin Franklin lived to be a good old
84 and was still fairly coherent from what I've read.
So that's what we're looking at. Where to begin about this debate over how old
is too old, especially to hold a responsible position in government or in culture?
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Listen to Isaiah 46, verses 3 and 4.
Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel,
who have been born by me from before your birth, carried from the womb.
Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you.
I have made, and I will bear, I will carry, and will save.
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Yes, he'll take care of us as newborn or as an oldie.
The importance of this declaration by God through Isaiah is basically this.
Surely as the child in the womb is vulnerable, that's a key word here,
and just as the newly born starting its journey vulnerable, so it is on the
far end of life's journey, we become vulnerable again.
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At the extremes of life's calendar, God will be with us.
But what if in my old age, my memory is gone? God will be with us just as when
as a baby and we had no consciousness of God, God was with us.
But what about our responsibility in this matter of growing old?
Well, here's the difference.
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There's no expectations of a baby about his or her relationship with God or
what to do about that young age.
But with growing older, as we will see, according to the Bible,
there are, especially if we are at a place where we know we're growing old.
First of all, just as a general orientation, what is the deportment of those
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who are older supposed to be according to Scripture?
Listen to this from Titus 2, the first three verses.
But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.
Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled,
sound in their faith, in love, and in steadfastness.
Older women, and likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine.
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They are to teach what is good. Yes, and there's more that Paul has to say about
that if you want to look through Titus chapter 2.
Of course, there are fun times and playful times to be had when older,
but Paul's point is this.
It's very important as we get older to be an example to the younger generation.
It's an example that says there is a seriousness to the arc of life.
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The key is to be serious as we age without becoming cheerless.
The generation that raised me would say this, and I heard this growing up, there goes old Jones.
He sure knows how to age gracefully. And this is some of what Paul is talking about.
However, arriving at that place where we've got to face the exit music is challenging.
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Let's start with 1 Samuel 8, verse 1.
When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel.
He became old, and he decided he needed...
He needed some delegation of his authority.
So he made his sons over Israel. Getting older, we delegate.
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It should be a natural process.
Sometimes the years, though, dim our perspective, and we become old in a way
that we haven't realized. So listen to verse 3.
Yet his sons did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after gain.
They took bribes and perverted justice.
Samuel was no longer able to see what was going on.
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Older age will do that. So what happens, of course, the elders of Israel come
to him and in verses four or five, they say to him,
Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah
and said to him, Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways.
Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.
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Right. And we know the outcome come to this. They have rejected God as their
king, as the Lord makes clear later on in that chapter in his conversation with Samuel.
Later, Samuel announces his retirement, relinquishing his position as leader to Saul the king.
And here's what he says when that takes place. 1 Samuel 12, verses 1 and 2.
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And Samuel said to all Israel, Behold, I have obeyed your voice and all that.
Yes.
His declaration is, I've done what you've asked. I've always conducted my life
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openly and clearly before you.
I'm now old and gray, and my life is an open book.
My sons are here basically Basically, to testify to that. They may be corrupt,
but they can say, Dad did what was right.
Yeah. And I have walked before you and for my God from my youth until this day.
So Samuel acknowledges his age and accepts his altered state among the people of Israel.
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Sometimes we get old and we just can't let go of power and authority.
Yes. He will, of course, serve God and Saul as well in a downsized way for a
few more years before he passes and he is mourned and buried.
Joshua also experienced old age and gave a final charge before he passed on.
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Listen to this from Joshua 23 verses 1 and 2.
A long time afterward, when the Lord had given rest to Israel from all their
surrounding enemies, and Joshua was old and well advanced in years,
Joshua summoned all Israel, its elders and its heads, its judges and officers,
And said to them, I am now old and well advanced in years.
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Some of it might be stating the obvious, right? You get older too.
You'll notice how getting old, you have repetition. It starts off with Samuel
was old. And then he says, I am old.
It's the law of Moses. You establish something in two or three witnesses.
It's repeated twice. It's repeated twice here at Joshua.
Notice it says that he's well-advanced in years. Remember that phrase?
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Because he is 110 when he finally dies. That's well-advanced. That's well-advanced.
Keep that word advanced because we're going to compare it with some other adjectives
applied to other people here shortly.
So he doesn't want to wait to be too old or to be told that he's too old.
So he's ahead of the game. Joshua 23, 14.
And now I'm about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts
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and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that
the Lord your God promised concerning you.
All have come to pass for you, not one of them has failed. Okay,
I've completed my task, my purpose before God.
I have this intuitive sense, as Psalm 90 will say as we read it in a little bit, fly away. way.
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So this knowledge has encouraged him to give that farewell speech to Israel.
And we won't repeat the whole thing here, but the famous line, Joshua 24, 15.
And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will
serve, whether the gods of your fathers served in the region beyond the river
or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.
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But as for me in my house, we will serve the Lord.
Absolutely. So, good example of how to deal with getting old age,
giving up authority, saying your final word with Joshua.
There's a fellow also, this is interesting, Barzillai, and he's a good example of aging gracefully.
This takes place when, as we see, David and his entourage is leaving Jerusalem
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because there's been a coup in the the kingdom.
So listen now first to verses 32 and 33 of 2 Samuel 19.
Barzillai was a very aged man, eighty years old.
He had provided the king with food while he stayed at Mahanim,
for he was a very wealthy man.
And the king said to Barzillai, Come over with me, and I will provide for you with me in Jerusalem.
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Take a note of the description of Barzillai here. A very aged man, eighty.
Joshua was well advanced in years. He dies at 110.
But now we're at a little later down the pike, and things are moving more toward
this 70 years or 80, maybe, that we find in Psalm 90.
He's now described as very aged at the age of 80.
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So he's not advanced in years, but he's an aged man.
Now we're going to come back to that. Now David's son, Absalom, has usurped the throne.
David's on the run when he meets up with Berzillai, and he encourages him to
join the entourage leaving Jerusalem.
But Barzillai declines for the following reasons, which Randy is going to read.
Each one of these reasons is the problem that comes with old age, verses 34 and 35.
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But Barzillai said to the king, How many years have I still to live that I should
go up with the king to Jerusalem?
On this day, eighty years old, can I discern what is pleasant and what is not?
Can your servant taste what he eats and what he drinks? Can I still listen to
the voice of singing men and singing women.
Why then should your servant be an added burden to my Lord the King?
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Yes, I've taken care of you by providing for you, but I'm not going to ask you
to carry me in old age. That's a whole nother ball game.
So, Brazillai begs off. He's got one foot in the grave. He says,
my discernment, I don't have my judgmental skills with me like I used to. Taste?
Well, old age can do it. I had COVID that did it for me. Hearing? What?
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Hearing. How many times do I get an ad for Dubai hearing aid in the mail since
the four years I've been here? Yeah, every day. Every week.
Yeah, every day. Yeah. Come down here and get fitted for a hearing aid.
No, Varzilli says, I'll just be on the way. And he wants to go and die in familiar places and memories.
So he gives his servant, David. David, this is how he delegates his authority
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as a trustworthy replacement, which David accepts. Listen to verses 36 through 38.
Your servant will go a little way over the Jordan with the king.
Why should the king repay me with such a reward?
Please let your servant return that I may die in my own city near the grave
of my father and my mother.
But here is your servant Chinim. Let him go over and my Lord,
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the king and do for him whatever seems good to you.
And the king answered, Chinnam shall go over with me, and I will do for him
whatever seems good to you, and all that you desire for me I will do for you.
Great example. He's a good pattern for handling old age. He's downsizing,
retiring from public service, putting his house in order because he knows his days remaining are few.
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We see that the elderly now, so far in these examples, when they're told they're
old, they take the truth to heart and start a lifestyle change.
Leaving positions of responsibility is at the top of the list for these changes.
Now, is there a cutoff at any certain number of years? Or is there a place in
the Bible where you've got to be a certain age to do something,
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and then at a certain age, you've got to stop doing it?
Interesting. We have this, and it's interesting to look into.
Let's hear Randy read from Numbers 4, 1st verses 1 through 3.
The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, Take a census of the sons of Kohath
from among the sons of Levi, by their clans and their fathers' houses,
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from thirty years old up to fifty years years old, all who can come on duty
to do the work in the tent of meeting.
Okay. So here you have to be 30, not 25, not 29.
You've got to be 30 years old to do this kind of work, taking care of the tabernacle,
putting it up, taking it apart, covering it up and all that.
And at 50, after that, you're done. You retire. Okay.
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So what is this all about? Let's continue with verse 15.
And when Aaron and his sons had finished covering the sanctuary and all the
furnishings of the sanctuary, as the camp sets out, after the sons of Kohath
shall come to carry these.
But they must not touch the holy things lest they die.
These are the things of the tent of meeting that the sons of Kohath are to carry.
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So this is serious business.
Serious business. The same age requirement is mandatory for the sons of Gershon,
who also have their particular assignment to take care of the tabernacle,
and the sons of Mirai as well.
They were given responsibilities concerning the tabernacle, but you know,
they, they can't do it until they reach that, that age.
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Randy just read, they got to be 30 years old at least, but at 50, they got to quit.
It's a serious assignment. So why do we have these particular beginning dates and ending dates?
Because number one, you have to be mature enough to know the seriousness of your assignment.
And this was the age they picked, interestingly enough, 30, 30.
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And you still got to be young enough to carry the equipment and not stumble
and fall and shuffle around with it. Yeah, you still got that physical strength.
Yeah. So at 50, it's over.
It's sort of like commercial airline pilots have to be retired at 65.
There's been some debate about that, but as far as I know, it's still 65.
What is the norm? We have the norm in Psalm 90, and Randy's going to read verse 10.
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The years of our life are 70, or even by reason of strength, 80.
Yet their span is but both toil and trouble. They are soon gone,
and we fly away. Wow, and that's the truth.
Note well, the new English translation on that phrase, even by reason of strength
80, they translated, if one is especially strong, you make it to 80.
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And the span of our years, it means the best of our years, we still have issues and problems.
And we get to 70, we've made it. If we get 80, it's by strength of years that
we have the strength that's left.
This is interesting because many years ago when I was still young,
I read a book about getting older because you're in a ministry,
you counsel and all that.
And the fellow who wrote it said, you must understand that there is a world
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of difference between being 60 and being 80.
Where I was at that time, I thought, well, that's interesting.
Couldn't be that much. Yeah. Now, three months will be an 80.
I can look back and say, whoa, there is a great difference between 60 and 80.
Yeah. And I can add to that book.
There is a great difference between 70 and 80.
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Big difference. You can tell the diminishing of the strength.
God bless us. You still have strength. And Lord willing, I'll get there at 80 in three months.
But absolutely, this psalm resonates with me completely.
We watched the Capitol Fourth Celebration this past couple of weeks on TV,
and one of the guests singing was Smokey Robinson.
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Speaking of aging.
He's now 83, and he was out there, and it wasn't recording. He used his own voice.
Clearly, he doesn't have the resonance that he used to, but it was his voice.
It sounded good, and he could move around a little on stage.
It's great. Great, but he's not going to venues now of thousands of people every
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night for three hours at a time. That's over. That's not going to happen.
Some of us hit 80 when we're 60. I've seen that in rest homes time and time again.
I've seen people then like good old Edna, who was over 100, bent over in her
wheelchair, could not come up straight, almost deaf because I had to talk to her like this and blind.
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But her mind till the day she died finally the 103 or 104 was as sharp as a
tack i could miss a week of visiting her and she could pick up the conversation where we left,
There's all kinds of parameters of getting old. Well, what if we were considering
an age limit for the presidency?
Well, the psalm tells us 70 might be a good cutoff date because it takes strength to get to 80.
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And even if you're good at 70, there's no guarantee when you hit 80,
you're going to be like you were when you're 70. Lots of things can happen.
And no one in a position of great authority should have to be told,
you're old, but you're not gold. old.
I had an interesting thing when I was in my 60s, back when I was still ministering
in Ohio, and I was performing a wedding for my nephew and his soon-to-be wife.
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And my brother-in-law was there. We hadn't seen each other for 20 years.
And he was in a wheelchair at this time. His health was not good.
He was obviously older than I was by probably, let me think, 15, 20 years.
So I came over to see him and and
been over and understand in Kentucky I
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was called Gary over here in Ohio down here in Tennessee it's Jim or
James but I won't go and explain that it's a long story anyway
his name was Dutch so I said hello Dutch and he lifted up his head and he had
this expression of surprise on his face he said Gary you're old and I thought
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well yeah yeah I'm not going to say anything about you right now.
But yeah, you're right. You're right. It happens.
You can't stop it. And Aaron was 123-year-old when he died, according to the Bible.
Another exception was Jehoiada, the priest who served Joash the king.
Listen to his old age, 2 Chronicles 24, 15 and 16.
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But Jehoiada grew old and full of days and died.
He was 130 years old at his death, And they buried him in the city of David
among the kings, because he had done good in Israel and toward God and his house. Right.
Seeing the role he played in the young life of King Joash, preserving him, he was the last...
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Good hope of the king on the throne of Judah and Jerusalem. And of course,
he had his evil grandmother to contend with, and Jehoiada took care of all that.
So, God apparently extended his life to complete that task.
Now, one might think that David, too, would have lived to a ripe old age,
and as described by the Scripture, he did.
But there is a catch here. Listen to this. First, let's start with 1 Kings 1,
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excuse me, 1 Kings 1, first three verses.
Now, King David was old and advanced in years, and although they covered him
with clothes, he could not get warm.
Therefore his servants said to him, Let a young woman be sought for my lord
the king, and let her wait on the king and be in his service.
Let her lie in your arms, that my lord the king may be warm.
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So they sought for a beautiful young woman throughout all the territory of Israel,
and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king. Yes.
He was old and advanced in years, but not like Joshua, as we're going to find
out. Joshua lived to be 110.
We're going to find out that's different with David. And we need to discuss a little bit.
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He was old and advanced in years. What does that mean? Because we're going to see he died at 70.
All right. Now, Barzillai was old in years at 80.
And now he's, well, we'll show how he gets to be 70 dies. But let's take a look at verse 15 now.
So Bathsheba went to the king in his chamber. Now the king was very old,
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and Abishag the Shunammite was attending to the king.
Very old. Yes. And the point here is, when you get older, heat leaves your body.
Heat leaves your body. And the first place you notice it is in your feet. You get cold feet.
So he couldn't keep warm. And some older people have that problem.
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And so they had this young lady who apparently was a very warm person share the body heat.
Well, David sounds like he would be Brazilized age, right?
We've already discussed he would be 80. So how old was David when he died?
Well, we got to put a couple of scriptures together, but it's all interesting
and tells us something about aging and how we live our lives.
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1 Kings 2, verse 11. And the time that David reigned over Israel was forty years.
He reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.
All right, so that's forty years. Okay, now let's take a look at 2 Samuel 5, verses 4 and 5.
David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
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At Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and at Jerusalem
he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years. All right. So he was 70.
He was 70 when he died.
But yet he is said to be really old, very old.
Okay, so how do we reconcile this? Now let's go to 1 Chronicles 29, verses 26 through 28.
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Thus David, the son of Jesse, reigned over all Israel. The time that he reigned
over Israel was 40 years.
He reigned seven years in Hebron and 33 years in Jerusalem.
Then he died at a good age, full of days, rich in honor, and Solomon,
his son, reigned in his place.
He died at a good age, and I would say a good age for him, full of days.
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So how are we going to understand this? Is 70 a good old age to die? Here's the key.
He was full of days. What does he mean by this?
Here's a clue from one of my favorite films, Raiders of the Lost Ark.
There's a scene in the Raiders of the Lost Ark where Well, where Marion is attending
to the wounds of Indiana Jones, Indy, and conversation has started.
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And she says to him, you're not the man I knew 10 years ago.
And Indy says, it's not the years, honey, but the mileage.
And that's why David was full of days. He had mileage on him.
Think of all the battles he was in. He was a man of war. He had blood on his
hands. That is why he couldn't build the temple.
First Chronicles 28, verses 2 and 3. Then King David rose to his feet and said,
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Hear me, my brothers and my people.
I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of
the Lord and for the footstool of our God.
And I made preparations for building.
But God said to me, You may not build a house for my name, for you are a man
of war and have shed blood.
There you go. Now, someone might say, But didn't God direct him in those wars?
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Some of them. But if you read 1 Samuel carefully and Kings and all that,
you will find sometimes David went out on his own. and just took out people,
whether he was justified or not.
But God's point was, you've done a lot of killing, and therefore you can't do it.
So by the time he hit 70, he is worn out. He is worn out.
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So what happens is, in this old age situation he's in, full of days,
he was roused from his old age, cold, dying life, to tend to the possible coup
that would keep Solomon from becoming king. You can read all about this in 1 Kings 1.
And that's his last duty. So, with some clever help from his courtly circle,
he takes care of that and then gives Solomon the final charge of how to take
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care of business, how to tie up loose ends.
It reads something like a godfather kind of conclusion.
So, he dies. David dies. 1 Kings 2, verse 1 and 10.
When David's time to die drew near, he commanded Solomon his son,
saying, Then David slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David.
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Yes, I'm about to go the way of old all earth, he says, and he fell asleep.
So David ends his life full of days, but he had aged considerably more than
others because of, and he was no longer really competent to lead because he's
got to spend time getting warm.
They had to look for him. They have to rouse him up when it looked like they're
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going to have this possible coup, and he has to come forth and be alert.
And he does accomplish that, and then he passes away.
So how does Solomon fare? Now, here's a case where when you're looking at scriptures
for a particular reason from a different slant, things stand out like they didn't before.
It was so with me with this passage, because I'm familiar with this passage,
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I've read it before. But listen to this, 1 Kings 11, first four verses.
Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh.
Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning
which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, You shall not enter into marriage
with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn your heart away after other gods.
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Solomon clung to these in love. He had seven hundred wives, who were princesses,
and three hundred concubines.
And his wives turned away his heart.
For when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods.
And his heart was not fully true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.
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When Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart after other gods.
And it is so with some men, they get to be, I think the culture term is sugar
daddies or whatever you want to call it, but they indulge the women in their
life and are not as, or silly said, I can't discern now between this and that.
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I don't have that kind of perspective anymore. And Solomon was.
Let that happen. He lost that discerning. Because in old age,
he should have had more sense, but he didn't.
He failed. He invited the fox of idolatry into the hen house.
And it wasn't until he was old that he was undone. And as he got old and older,
he gave into the wiles of his wives, who were the gods they loved.
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Now, here's a proverb, not the Bible, but I've heard it all my life, and it's so true.
There's no fool like an old fool, except the old fool who is a fool doesn't know he's a fool.
Solomon should have listened to the psalmist of Psalm 71.
It's a great one. I recommend reading the whole thing, but we're just going to do verses 17 and 18.
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O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
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.
The final living witness to those who will journey the path of decline.
God's might will be with you. That's what he wants to proclaim.
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He's heard the preacher, that's the man from Ecclesiastes, who in his final
chapter says, from your youth, young people, you should be doing this.
Listen to Ecclesiastes 12, verse 1.
Remember also your creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years Yeah.
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Evil days, meaning you begin to shut down. I have no pleasure in them.
And the rest of that chapter is one of the best descriptions in ancient literature
of old age falling apart.
And I remember when Edna, the lady I mentioned earlier, passed away when I did her funeral.
That's the passage I read. It's the only time ever during a funeral I read that
because she fit it. She had declined, nothing to work anymore.
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God bless her. And then she flew away.
Well, those of us moving toward the Davidic magic number of 70,
and if by strength we have it to reach to 80,
we need to heed this truth that we just heard in Psalm 71. That's the Christian expectation.
If we do, this can be the outcome. And this is regularly in the Psalm,
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my prayer life, and my wife and I, we have our prayers.
We reference this frequently in Psalm 92, and these are the verses I'm referring to, 12 through 15.
The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
They are planted in the house of the Lord. They flourish in the courts of.
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They are like green trees, palm trees, and they're full of sap.
Some of us are more full of it than others.
And we're green, and we have this testimony. The Lord is upright.
He is my rock. There's no unrighteousness in Him. Because by the time you reach
that age, that should be clear as a bell.
And that's your testimony in that age.
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What is the main blessing of old age that everybody should aspire to? Wisdom.
Wisdom. Job 12, verses 11 through 13. Does not the ear test words as the palate tastes food?
Wisdom is with the aged, an understanding and length of days.
With God are wisdom and might. He has counsel and understanding.
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Right. Wisdom is available for all. And, of course, as we grow older,
we need to be incorporating into our lifestyle, searching for wisdom.
Proverbs 2, verses 1 through 5, listen to this.
My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you,
making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding.
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Yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding,
if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures,
then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.
Absolutely. It's a treasure hunt, and it takes exertion and effort and sweat
and tears, but you form that going through life, and it will be a blessing as you get older for sure.
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And of course, as always, James 1.5, that if you're stumped,
ask for wisdom and God grants it. just make sure you follow through.
James makes that clear. He says, don't be like waves that are tossed to and fro.
Don't be doubting. If you ask for wisdom, expect to get it and act accordingly.
Psalm 90, verse 12, the verse is right after that verse that Randy read earlier,
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that the days of our years are 70, or if by strength, 80.
The best of them have toil and trouble, and soon we fly away.
The next one is, teach us, therefore, to number our days.
That's the best wisdom of all, number our days so we can know what number day we're in.
But what is the grief of old age, as we can come to a conclusion here, when it comes to wisdom?
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People, especially younger people, don't listen.
These days, of course, in a culture devoted to youth and lust,
elderly wisdom is a joke.
Well, hold on. It was in Solomon's time a joke as well.
Listen to this, 1 Kings 12, first five verses.
Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.
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And as soon as Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, heard of it, for he was still in
Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon.
Then Jeroboam returned from Egypt, and they sent and called him.
And Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and said to Rehoboam,
Your father made our yoke heavy.
Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on
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us, and we will serve you.
He said to them, Go away for three days, then come again to me.
So the people went away. All right.
So what is it they want? They don't want any more hard service.
Now, to know what he's talking about are those people there when they talk to
Rehoboam, just go back and read the first Kings chapter five,
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especially verses through 13 through 18.
Solomon impressed people. He drafted them into the service of labor for his
extensive building programs.
And they got more grand and bigger and bigger.
And it took a lot. Yeah, it took a lot of hard labor.
So Rehoboam does the good thing. All right. All right, gonna go talk to the old guys.
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Old guys, old heads, they know what's happening. All right, listen to this.
1 Kings 12, verses six and seven.
Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men who had stood before Solomon
his father while he was still alive saying, how do you advise me to answer to this people?
And they said to him, if you will be a servant to this people today and serve
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them and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants forever.
So, the old guys say, the elders, the people of wisdom, which Job says that's
what old life is. If you're paying attention, you get wisdom.
No radical changes. Get to know the people. Then do what's good.
Find it out and do it. Be proverbial. Be patient. Listen. Be just.
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Micah, in his book, says it very easily, very little later. Do what's right.
Be merciful. That's what they're asking for.
Mercy. Because Solomon in the later years was not merciful.
And walk humbly with your God.
Now, Solomon started out humble. Remember, he said, I'm but a child,
Lord, so give me wisdom. But as we see, that's not where he ended up.
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So what did he do?
Let's look at 1 Kings 12, verses 8 and 9.
But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him and took counsel with
the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him.
And he said to them, What do you advise that we answer this people who have
said to me, Lighten the yoke that your father put on us?
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Yes. And then the next few verses, basically, he says, My dad used whips on you.
I'll use scorpions on you. you know you thought
he was tough you thought he was tough you haven't seen tough yet you
haven't seen hard labor yet and so verse 13 and
the king answered the people harshly and forsaking the counsel that the old
man had given him yeah he forsook the wise counsel of the old guys and split
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the kingdom the kingdom split and headed toward the inevitable judgment of god
the old man I am sure, wept.
So how old is too old?
When we, by God's grace, come to know it's time to give up some things and let others step in.
And in my life, I've seen that's hard to do.
Guys get older driving cars. When the time comes, you realize I should stop this. You got to stop it.
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Have been those who won't give up the keys. Then you have to deal with it.
Now, my father, he just came to me one day and he was driving pretty good and
he was 90, but his hearing was going so he couldn't, the traffic.
So he just came in the keys and said, drive, you drive from now,
I'm done, I'm done. And that's the way you should do it. So how old is too old?
Well, we've got to ask God to give us insight, wisdom.
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If we have family, faithful family and friends, they will Well, tell us.
But the beauty of old age is the wisdom of understanding of seeing one's life
that has been moved through the providence of God.
That's my testimony. It's a great and grand satisfaction.
Listen to this, Proverbs 16, 9, which I have shared with more than one person
in the last two, three years.
The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.
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Yes. Or as the NLT says, we can make our plans, but the Lord decides our steps.
And when I look back on my life, that's absolutely the case.
And there is so much wisdom to be gained from that.
To arrive at the termination date of Psalm 90, 70, or if by strength of years,
80, and to be able to look back and see the footsteps of Jesus guiding ours
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is to see a pattern of wisdom carrying us to old age and beyond.
Buzz Lightyear, to infinity and beyond.
A wisdom that we can share with the next generation, a wisdom that is the power
of God. And that's the Christian expectation.
Well, thanks, Jim. And by the way, you're not old.
I'm feeling fairly young right now. Good, good, good.
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Young at heart. And perhaps you might have questions or comments about our episode today.
If you would like, please shoot us an email at eventsandexpectations at gmail.com
or put the question in the comments.
We will always answer you. This has been Current Events and Christian Expectations,
and until next time, keep looking up.
Music.
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Good day to you, brothers, sisters, friends, and new faces, and welcome to Current
Events and Christian Expectations.
And today in this podcast, we're going to be talking about how old is too old.
We'll lead off with Isaiah 46, verses 3 and 4.
We'll have many other scriptures that we reference and read today,
and we'll put those in the overview. you.
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But with the age of being old at the center of our conversation, let's just dig right in.
Well, good day or evening, as the case may be to everybody out there in podcast land.
When is old too old? That's a debate going on right now concerning the age of
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President Biden as well as President Trump. They're both up there. They're both up there.
Here's a quote Wrote from Robert Browning about getting old. Grow old along with me.
The best is yet to be. The last of life for which the first was made.
Well, is that true? Is that the way it is with old age? That's some of the things we're looking at.
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Concerning old age, I'm familiar with it because in 50 years plus of ministry,
I have been in nursing homes, I don't know, I've lost count.
Countless times. Countless times. times and know people in the various stages
of old age and how they respond, how they act.
Sometimes it's hilarious and sometimes it makes you cry.
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Mr. Trump is 78 years old. Joe Biden is 81.
I'm 79. So I'm right in the middle. You're right in the middle.
To look behind me and look ahead and figure it out. Right.
How old does one have to be to be president? Well, Constitution says 35.
And Theodore Roosevelt still remains our youngest president at the age of 42.
Here's a good question for constitutional scholars. Why was there no terminus
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age limit in the Constitution?
You got to be at least 35, but there's nothing said about the outer limits.
Well, think about this. In 17th century, 18th century, 1700s,
colonial America, life expectancy was 35.
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You get to be president and drop dead. That's right. If you can make it. Yeah, exactly.
So there are, of course, exceptions. Benjamin Franklin lived to be a good old
84 and was still fairly coherent from what I've read.
So that's what we're looking at. Where to begin about this debate over how old
is too old, especially to hold a responsible position in government or in culture?
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Listen to Isaiah 46, verses 3 and 4.
Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel,
who have been born by me from before your birth, carried from the womb.
Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you.
I have made, and I will bear, I will carry, and will save.
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Yes, he'll take care of us as newborn or as an oldie.
The importance of this declaration by God through Isaiah is basically this.
Surely as the child in the womb is vulnerable, that's a key word here,
and just as the newly born starting its journey vulnerable, so it is on the
far end of life's journey, we become vulnerable again.
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At the extremes of life's calendar, God will be with us.
But what if in my old age, my memory is gone? God will be with us just as when
as a baby and we had no consciousness of God, God was with us.
But what about our responsibility in this matter of growing old?
Well, here's the difference.
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There's no expectations of a baby about his or her relationship with God or
what to do about that young age.
But with growing older, as we will see, according to the Bible,
there are, especially if we are at a place where we know we're growing old.
First of all, just as a general orientation, what is the deportment of those
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who are older supposed to be according to Scripture?
Listen to this from Titus 2, the first three verses.
But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.
Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled,
sound in their faith, in love, and in steadfastness.
Older women, and likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine.
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They are to teach what is good. Yes, and there's more that Paul has to say about
that if you want to look through Titus chapter 2.
Of course, there are fun times and playful times to be had when older,
but Paul's point is this.
It's very important as we get older to be an example to the younger generation.
It's an example that says there is a seriousness to the arc of life.
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The key is to be serious as we age without becoming cheerless.
The generation that raised me would say this, and I heard this growing up, there goes old Jones.
He sure knows how to age gracefully. And this is some of what Paul is talking about.
However, arriving at that place where we've got to face the exit music is challenging.
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Let's start with 1 Samuel 8, verse 1.
When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel.
He became old, and he decided he needed...
He needed some delegation of his authority.
So he made his sons over Israel. Getting older, we delegate.
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It should be a natural process.
Sometimes the years, though, dim our perspective, and we become old in a way
that we haven't realized. So listen to verse 3.
Yet his sons did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after gain.
They took bribes and perverted justice.
Samuel was no longer able to see what was going on.
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Older age will do that. So what happens, of course, the elders of Israel come
to him and in verses four or five, they say to him,
Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah
and said to him, Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways.
Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.
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Right. And we know the outcome come to this. They have rejected God as their
king, as the Lord makes clear later on in that chapter in his conversation with Samuel.
Later, Samuel announces his retirement, relinquishing his position as leader to Saul the king.
And here's what he says when that takes place. 1 Samuel 12, verses 1 and 2.
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And Samuel said to all Israel, Behold, I have obeyed your voice and all that.
Yes.
His declaration is, I've done what you've asked. I've always conducted my life
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openly and clearly before you.
I'm now old and gray, and my life is an open book.
My sons are here basically Basically, to testify to that. They may be corrupt,
but they can say, Dad did what was right.
Yeah. And I have walked before you and for my God from my youth until this day.
So Samuel acknowledges his age and accepts his altered state among the people of Israel.
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Sometimes we get old and we just can't let go of power and authority.
Yes. He will, of course, serve God and Saul as well in a downsized way for a
few more years before he passes and he is mourned and buried.
Joshua also experienced old age and gave a final charge before he passed on.
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Listen to this from Joshua 23 verses 1 and 2.
A long time afterward, when the Lord had given rest to Israel from all their
surrounding enemies, and Joshua was old and well advanced in years,
Joshua summoned all Israel, its elders and its heads, its judges and officers,
And said to them, I am now old and well advanced in years.
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Some of it might be stating the obvious, right? You get older too.
You'll notice how getting old, you have repetition. It starts off with Samuel
was old. And then he says, I am old.
It's the law of Moses. You establish something in two or three witnesses.
It's repeated twice. It's repeated twice here at Joshua.
Notice it says that he's well-advanced in years. Remember that phrase?
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Because he is 110 when he finally dies. That's well-advanced. That's well-advanced.
Keep that word advanced because we're going to compare it with some other adjectives
applied to other people here shortly.
So he doesn't want to wait to be too old or to be told that he's too old.
So he's ahead of the game. Joshua 23, 14.
And now I'm about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts
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and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that
the Lord your God promised concerning you.
All have come to pass for you, not one of them has failed. Okay,
I've completed my task, my purpose before God.
I have this intuitive sense, as Psalm 90 will say as we read it in a little bit, fly away. way.
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So this knowledge has encouraged him to give that farewell speech to Israel.
And we won't repeat the whole thing here, but the famous line, Joshua 24, 15.
And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will
serve, whether the gods of your fathers served in the region beyond the river
or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.
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But as for me in my house, we will serve the Lord.
Absolutely. So, good example of how to deal with getting old age,
giving up authority, saying your final word with Joshua.
There's a fellow also, this is interesting, Barzillai, and he's a good example of aging gracefully.
This takes place when, as we see, David and his entourage is leaving Jerusalem
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because there's been a coup in the the kingdom.
So listen now first to verses 32 and 33 of 2 Samuel 19.
Barzillai was a very aged man, eighty years old.
He had provided the king with food while he stayed at Mahanim,
for he was a very wealthy man.
And the king said to Barzillai, Come over with me, and I will provide for you with me in Jerusalem.
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Take a note of the description of Barzillai here. A very aged man, eighty.
Joshua was well advanced in years. He dies at 110.
But now we're at a little later down the pike, and things are moving more toward
this 70 years or 80, maybe, that we find in Psalm 90.
He's now described as very aged at the age of 80.
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So he's not advanced in years, but he's an aged man.
Now we're going to come back to that. Now David's son, Absalom, has usurped the throne.
David's on the run when he meets up with Berzillai, and he encourages him to
join the entourage leaving Jerusalem.
But Barzillai declines for the following reasons, which Randy is going to read.
Each one of these reasons is the problem that comes with old age, verses 34 and 35.
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But Barzillai said to the king, How many years have I still to live that I should
go up with the king to Jerusalem?
On this day, eighty years old, can I discern what is pleasant and what is not?
Can your servant taste what he eats and what he drinks? Can I still listen to
the voice of singing men and singing women.
Why then should your servant be an added burden to my Lord the King?
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Yes, I've taken care of you by providing for you, but I'm not going to ask you
to carry me in old age. That's a whole nother ball game.
So, Brazillai begs off. He's got one foot in the grave. He says,
my discernment, I don't have my judgmental skills with me like I used to. Taste?
Well, old age can do it. I had COVID that did it for me. Hearing? What?
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Hearing. How many times do I get an ad for Dubai hearing aid in the mail since
the four years I've been here? Yeah, every day. Every week.
Yeah, every day. Yeah. Come down here and get fitted for a hearing aid.
No, Varzilli says, I'll just be on the way. And he wants to go and die in familiar places and memories.
So he gives his servant, David. David, this is how he delegates his authority
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as a trustworthy replacement, which David accepts. Listen to verses 36 through 38.
Your servant will go a little way over the Jordan with the king.
Why should the king repay me with such a reward?
Please let your servant return that I may die in my own city near the grave
of my father and my mother.
But here is your servant Chinim. Let him go over and my Lord,
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the king and do for him whatever seems good to you.
And the king answered, Chinnam shall go over with me, and I will do for him
whatever seems good to you, and all that you desire for me I will do for you.
Great example. He's a good pattern for handling old age. He's downsizing,
retiring from public service, putting his house in order because he knows his days remaining are few.
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We see that the elderly now, so far in these examples, when they're told they're
old, they take the truth to heart and start a lifestyle change.
Leaving positions of responsibility is at the top of the list for these changes.
Now, is there a cutoff at any certain number of years? Or is there a place in
the Bible where you've got to be a certain age to do something,
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and then at a certain age, you've got to stop doing it?
Interesting. We have this, and it's interesting to look into.
Let's hear Randy read from Numbers 4, 1st verses 1 through 3.
The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, Take a census of the sons of Kohath
from among the sons of Levi, by their clans and their fathers' houses,
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from thirty years old up to fifty years years old, all who can come on duty
to do the work in the tent of meeting.
Okay. So here you have to be 30, not 25, not 29.
You've got to be 30 years old to do this kind of work, taking care of the tabernacle,
putting it up, taking it apart, covering it up and all that.
And at 50, after that, you're done. You retire. Okay.
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So what is this all about? Let's continue with verse 15.
And when Aaron and his sons had finished covering the sanctuary and all the
furnishings of the sanctuary, as the camp sets out, after the sons of Kohath
shall come to carry these.
But they must not touch the holy things lest they die.
These are the things of the tent of meeting that the sons of Kohath are to carry.
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So this is serious business.
Serious business. The same age requirement is mandatory for the sons of Gershon,
who also have their particular assignment to take care of the tabernacle,
and the sons of Mirai as well.
They were given responsibilities concerning the tabernacle, but you know,
they, they can't do it until they reach that, that age.
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Randy just read, they got to be 30 years old at least, but at 50, they got to quit.
It's a serious assignment. So why do we have these particular beginning dates and ending dates?
Because number one, you have to be mature enough to know the seriousness of your assignment.
And this was the age they picked, interestingly enough, 30, 30.
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And you still got to be young enough to carry the equipment and not stumble
and fall and shuffle around with it. Yeah, you still got that physical strength.
Yeah. So at 50, it's over.
It's sort of like commercial airline pilots have to be retired at 65.
There's been some debate about that, but as far as I know, it's still 65.
What is the norm? We have the norm in Psalm 90, and Randy's going to read verse 10.
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The years of our life are 70, or even by reason of strength, 80.
Yet their span is but both toil and trouble. They are soon gone,
and we fly away. Wow, and that's the truth.
Note well, the new English translation on that phrase, even by reason of strength
80, they translated, if one is especially strong, you make it to 80.
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And the span of our years, it means the best of our years, we still have issues and problems.
And we get to 70, we've made it. If we get 80, it's by strength of years that
we have the strength that's left.
This is interesting because many years ago when I was still young,
I read a book about getting older because you're in a ministry,
you counsel and all that.
And the fellow who wrote it said, you must understand that there is a world
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of difference between being 60 and being 80.
Where I was at that time, I thought, well, that's interesting.
Couldn't be that much. Yeah. Now, three months will be an 80.
I can look back and say, whoa, there is a great difference between 60 and 80.
Yeah. And I can add to that book.
There is a great difference between 70 and 80.
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Big difference. You can tell the diminishing of the strength.
God bless us. You still have strength. And Lord willing, I'll get there at 80 in three months.
But absolutely, this psalm resonates with me completely.
We watched the Capitol Fourth Celebration this past couple of weeks on TV,
and one of the guests singing was Smokey Robinson.
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Speaking of aging.
He's now 83, and he was out there, and it wasn't recording. He used his own voice.
Clearly, he doesn't have the resonance that he used to, but it was his voice.
It sounded good, and he could move around a little on stage.
It's great. Great, but he's not going to venues now of thousands of people every
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night for three hours at a time. That's over. That's not going to happen.
Some of us hit 80 when we're 60. I've seen that in rest homes time and time again.
I've seen people then like good old Edna, who was over 100, bent over in her
wheelchair, could not come up straight, almost deaf because I had to talk to her like this and blind.
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But her mind till the day she died finally the 103 or 104 was as sharp as a
tack i could miss a week of visiting her and she could pick up the conversation where we left,
There's all kinds of parameters of getting old. Well, what if we were considering
an age limit for the presidency?
Well, the psalm tells us 70 might be a good cutoff date because it takes strength to get to 80.
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And even if you're good at 70, there's no guarantee when you hit 80,
you're going to be like you were when you're 70. Lots of things can happen.
And no one in a position of great authority should have to be told,
you're old, but you're not gold. old.
I had an interesting thing when I was in my 60s, back when I was still ministering
in Ohio, and I was performing a wedding for my nephew and his soon-to-be wife.
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And my brother-in-law was there. We hadn't seen each other for 20 years.
And he was in a wheelchair at this time. His health was not good.
He was obviously older than I was by probably, let me think, 15, 20 years.
So I came over to see him and and
been over and understand in Kentucky I
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was called Gary over here in Ohio down here in Tennessee it's Jim or
James but I won't go and explain that it's a long story anyway
his name was Dutch so I said hello Dutch and he lifted up his head and he had
this expression of surprise on his face he said Gary you're old and I thought
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well yeah yeah I'm not going to say anything about you right now.
But yeah, you're right. You're right. It happens.
You can't stop it. And Aaron was 123-year-old when he died, according to the Bible.
Another exception was Jehoiada, the priest who served Joash the king.
Listen to his old age, 2 Chronicles 24, 15 and 16.
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But Jehoiada grew old and full of days and died.
He was 130 years old at his death, And they buried him in the city of David
among the kings, because he had done good in Israel and toward God and his house. Right.
Seeing the role he played in the young life of King Joash, preserving him, he was the last...
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Good hope of the king on the throne of Judah and Jerusalem. And of course,
he had his evil grandmother to contend with, and Jehoiada took care of all that.
So, God apparently extended his life to complete that task.
Now, one might think that David, too, would have lived to a ripe old age,
and as described by the Scripture, he did.
But there is a catch here. Listen to this. First, let's start with 1 Kings 1,
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excuse me, 1 Kings 1, first three verses.
Now, King David was old and advanced in years, and although they covered him
with clothes, he could not get warm.
Therefore his servants said to him, Let a young woman be sought for my lord
the king, and let her wait on the king and be in his service.
Let her lie in your arms, that my lord the king may be warm.
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So they sought for a beautiful young woman throughout all the territory of Israel,
and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king. Yes.
He was old and advanced in years, but not like Joshua, as we're going to find
out. Joshua lived to be 110.
We're going to find out that's different with David. And we need to discuss a little bit.
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He was old and advanced in years. What does that mean? Because we're going to see he died at 70.
All right. Now, Barzillai was old in years at 80.
And now he's, well, we'll show how he gets to be 70 dies. But let's take a look at verse 15 now.
So Bathsheba went to the king in his chamber. Now the king was very old,
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and Abishag the Shunammite was attending to the king.
Very old. Yes. And the point here is, when you get older, heat leaves your body.
Heat leaves your body. And the first place you notice it is in your feet. You get cold feet.
So he couldn't keep warm. And some older people have that problem.
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And so they had this young lady who apparently was a very warm person share the body heat.
Well, David sounds like he would be Brazilized age, right?
We've already discussed he would be 80. So how old was David when he died?
Well, we got to put a couple of scriptures together, but it's all interesting
and tells us something about aging and how we live our lives.
(22:24):
1 Kings 2, verse 11. And the time that David reigned over Israel was forty years.
He reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.
All right, so that's forty years. Okay, now let's take a look at 2 Samuel 5, verses 4 and 5.
David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
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At Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and at Jerusalem
he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years. All right. So he was 70.
He was 70 when he died.
But yet he is said to be really old, very old.
Okay, so how do we reconcile this? Now let's go to 1 Chronicles 29, verses 26 through 28.
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Thus David, the son of Jesse, reigned over all Israel. The time that he reigned
over Israel was 40 years.
He reigned seven years in Hebron and 33 years in Jerusalem.
Then he died at a good age, full of days, rich in honor, and Solomon,
his son, reigned in his place.
He died at a good age, and I would say a good age for him, full of days.
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So how are we going to understand this? Is 70 a good old age to die? Here's the key.
He was full of days. What does he mean by this?
Here's a clue from one of my favorite films, Raiders of the Lost Ark.
There's a scene in the Raiders of the Lost Ark where Well, where Marion is attending
to the wounds of Indiana Jones, Indy, and conversation has started.
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And she says to him, you're not the man I knew 10 years ago.
And Indy says, it's not the years, honey, but the mileage.
And that's why David was full of days. He had mileage on him.
Think of all the battles he was in. He was a man of war. He had blood on his
hands. That is why he couldn't build the temple.
First Chronicles 28, verses 2 and 3. Then King David rose to his feet and said,
(24:22):
Hear me, my brothers and my people.
I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of
the Lord and for the footstool of our God.
And I made preparations for building.
But God said to me, You may not build a house for my name, for you are a man
of war and have shed blood.
There you go. Now, someone might say, But didn't God direct him in those wars?
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Some of them. But if you read 1 Samuel carefully and Kings and all that,
you will find sometimes David went out on his own. and just took out people,
whether he was justified or not.
But God's point was, you've done a lot of killing, and therefore you can't do it.
So by the time he hit 70, he is worn out. He is worn out.
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So what happens is, in this old age situation he's in, full of days,
he was roused from his old age, cold, dying life, to tend to the possible coup
that would keep Solomon from becoming king. You can read all about this in 1 Kings 1.
And that's his last duty. So, with some clever help from his courtly circle,
he takes care of that and then gives Solomon the final charge of how to take
(25:28):
care of business, how to tie up loose ends.
It reads something like a godfather kind of conclusion.
So, he dies. David dies. 1 Kings 2, verse 1 and 10.
When David's time to die drew near, he commanded Solomon his son,
saying, Then David slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David.
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Yes, I'm about to go the way of old all earth, he says, and he fell asleep.
So David ends his life full of days, but he had aged considerably more than
others because of, and he was no longer really competent to lead because he's
got to spend time getting warm.
They had to look for him. They have to rouse him up when it looked like they're
(26:09):
going to have this possible coup, and he has to come forth and be alert.
And he does accomplish that, and then he passes away.
So how does Solomon fare? Now, here's a case where when you're looking at scriptures
for a particular reason from a different slant, things stand out like they didn't before.
It was so with me with this passage, because I'm familiar with this passage,
(26:30):
I've read it before. But listen to this, 1 Kings 11, first four verses.
Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh.
Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning
which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, You shall not enter into marriage
with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn your heart away after other gods.
(26:54):
Solomon clung to these in love. He had seven hundred wives, who were princesses,
and three hundred concubines.
And his wives turned away his heart.
For when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods.
And his heart was not fully true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.
(27:15):
When Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart after other gods.
And it is so with some men, they get to be, I think the culture term is sugar
daddies or whatever you want to call it, but they indulge the women in their
life and are not as, or silly said, I can't discern now between this and that.
(27:36):
I don't have that kind of perspective anymore. And Solomon was.
Let that happen. He lost that discerning. Because in old age,
he should have had more sense, but he didn't.
He failed. He invited the fox of idolatry into the hen house.
And it wasn't until he was old that he was undone. And as he got old and older,
he gave into the wiles of his wives, who were the gods they loved.
(28:02):
Now, here's a proverb, not the Bible, but I've heard it all my life, and it's so true.
There's no fool like an old fool, except the old fool who is a fool doesn't know he's a fool.
Solomon should have listened to the psalmist of Psalm 71.
It's a great one. I recommend reading the whole thing, but we're just going to do verses 17 and 18.
(28:23):
O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
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.
The final living witness to those who will journey the path of decline.
God's might will be with you. That's what he wants to proclaim.
(28:45):
He's heard the preacher, that's the man from Ecclesiastes, who in his final
chapter says, from your youth, young people, you should be doing this.
Listen to Ecclesiastes 12, verse 1.
Remember also your creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years Yeah.
(29:07):
Evil days, meaning you begin to shut down. I have no pleasure in them.
And the rest of that chapter is one of the best descriptions in ancient literature
of old age falling apart.
And I remember when Edna, the lady I mentioned earlier, passed away when I did her funeral.
That's the passage I read. It's the only time ever during a funeral I read that
because she fit it. She had declined, nothing to work anymore.
(29:30):
God bless her. And then she flew away.
Well, those of us moving toward the Davidic magic number of 70,
and if by strength we have it to reach to 80,
we need to heed this truth that we just heard in Psalm 71. That's the Christian expectation.
If we do, this can be the outcome. And this is regularly in the Psalm,
(29:50):
my prayer life, and my wife and I, we have our prayers.
We reference this frequently in Psalm 92, and these are the verses I'm referring to, 12 through 15.
The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
They are planted in the house of the Lord. They flourish in the courts of.
(30:20):
They are like green trees, palm trees, and they're full of sap.
Some of us are more full of it than others.
And we're green, and we have this testimony. The Lord is upright.
He is my rock. There's no unrighteousness in Him. Because by the time you reach
that age, that should be clear as a bell.
And that's your testimony in that age.
(30:42):
What is the main blessing of old age that everybody should aspire to? Wisdom.
Wisdom. Job 12, verses 11 through 13. Does not the ear test words as the palate tastes food?
Wisdom is with the aged, an understanding and length of days.
With God are wisdom and might. He has counsel and understanding.
(31:02):
Right. Wisdom is available for all. And, of course, as we grow older,
we need to be incorporating into our lifestyle, searching for wisdom.
Proverbs 2, verses 1 through 5, listen to this.
My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you,
making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding.
(31:26):
Yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding,
if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures,
then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.
Absolutely. It's a treasure hunt, and it takes exertion and effort and sweat
and tears, but you form that going through life, and it will be a blessing as you get older for sure.
(31:51):
And of course, as always, James 1.5, that if you're stumped,
ask for wisdom and God grants it. just make sure you follow through.
James makes that clear. He says, don't be like waves that are tossed to and fro.
Don't be doubting. If you ask for wisdom, expect to get it and act accordingly.
Psalm 90, verse 12, the verse is right after that verse that Randy read earlier,
(32:12):
that the days of our years are 70, or if by strength, 80.
The best of them have toil and trouble, and soon we fly away.
The next one is, teach us, therefore, to number our days.
That's the best wisdom of all, number our days so we can know what number day we're in.
But what is the grief of old age, as we can come to a conclusion here, when it comes to wisdom?
(32:33):
People, especially younger people, don't listen.
These days, of course, in a culture devoted to youth and lust,
elderly wisdom is a joke.
Well, hold on. It was in Solomon's time a joke as well.
Listen to this, 1 Kings 12, first five verses.
Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.
(32:57):
And as soon as Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, heard of it, for he was still in
Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon.
Then Jeroboam returned from Egypt, and they sent and called him.
And Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and said to Rehoboam,
Your father made our yoke heavy.
Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on
(33:20):
us, and we will serve you.
He said to them, Go away for three days, then come again to me.
So the people went away. All right.
So what is it they want? They don't want any more hard service.
Now, to know what he's talking about are those people there when they talk to
Rehoboam, just go back and read the first Kings chapter five,
(33:40):
especially verses through 13 through 18.
Solomon impressed people. He drafted them into the service of labor for his
extensive building programs.
And they got more grand and bigger and bigger.
And it took a lot. Yeah, it took a lot of hard labor.
So Rehoboam does the good thing. All right. All right, gonna go talk to the old guys.
(34:01):
Old guys, old heads, they know what's happening. All right, listen to this.
1 Kings 12, verses six and seven.
Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men who had stood before Solomon
his father while he was still alive saying, how do you advise me to answer to this people?
And they said to him, if you will be a servant to this people today and serve
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them and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants forever.
So, the old guys say, the elders, the people of wisdom, which Job says that's
what old life is. If you're paying attention, you get wisdom.
No radical changes. Get to know the people. Then do what's good.
Find it out and do it. Be proverbial. Be patient. Listen. Be just.
(34:45):
Micah, in his book, says it very easily, very little later. Do what's right.
Be merciful. That's what they're asking for.
Mercy. Because Solomon in the later years was not merciful.
And walk humbly with your God.
Now, Solomon started out humble. Remember, he said, I'm but a child,
Lord, so give me wisdom. But as we see, that's not where he ended up.
(35:06):
So what did he do?
Let's look at 1 Kings 12, verses 8 and 9.
But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him and took counsel with
the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him.
And he said to them, What do you advise that we answer this people who have
said to me, Lighten the yoke that your father put on us?
(35:27):
Yes. And then the next few verses, basically, he says, My dad used whips on you.
I'll use scorpions on you. you know you thought
he was tough you thought he was tough you haven't seen tough yet you
haven't seen hard labor yet and so verse 13 and
the king answered the people harshly and forsaking the counsel that the old
man had given him yeah he forsook the wise counsel of the old guys and split
(35:53):
the kingdom the kingdom split and headed toward the inevitable judgment of god
the old man I am sure, wept.
So how old is too old?
When we, by God's grace, come to know it's time to give up some things and let others step in.
And in my life, I've seen that's hard to do.
Guys get older driving cars. When the time comes, you realize I should stop this. You got to stop it.
(36:20):
Have been those who won't give up the keys. Then you have to deal with it.
Now, my father, he just came to me one day and he was driving pretty good and
he was 90, but his hearing was going so he couldn't, the traffic.
So he just came in the keys and said, drive, you drive from now,
I'm done, I'm done. And that's the way you should do it. So how old is too old?
Well, we've got to ask God to give us insight, wisdom.
(36:44):
If we have family, faithful family and friends, they will Well, tell us.
But the beauty of old age is the wisdom of understanding of seeing one's life
that has been moved through the providence of God.
That's my testimony. It's a great and grand satisfaction.
Listen to this, Proverbs 16, 9, which I have shared with more than one person
in the last two, three years.
The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.
(37:08):
Yes. Or as the NLT says, we can make our plans, but the Lord decides our steps.
And when I look back on my life, that's absolutely the case.
And there is so much wisdom to be gained from that.
To arrive at the termination date of Psalm 90, 70, or if by strength of years,
80, and to be able to look back and see the footsteps of Jesus guiding ours
(37:29):
is to see a pattern of wisdom carrying us to old age and beyond.
Buzz Lightyear, to infinity and beyond.
A wisdom that we can share with the next generation, a wisdom that is the power
of God. And that's the Christian expectation.
Well, thanks, Jim. And by the way, you're not old.
I'm feeling fairly young right now. Good, good, good.
(37:52):
Young at heart. And perhaps you might have questions or comments about our episode today.
If you would like, please shoot us an email at eventsandexpectations at gmail.com
or put the question in the comments.
We will always answer you. This has been Current Events and Christian Expectations,
and until next time, keep looking up.
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