The Wisdom of Age

There are lots of fools in this world and three quickly come to mind:

• Those who drive over the speed limit endangering others and their bank balance.

• Those who constantly speak ill of others (for we know they speak ill of us when we are not in the room!)

• Those who refuse to listen to people who are, let’s say, older.

When I was younger, I was that type of fool. My grandmother delighted to share stories and jokes and yes, they were often the same stories and jokes I had heard before. But she was sharp of mind and wit and I realise now that had I paused to listen a bit more, I would have been the better for it. She may not have been able to work out the air conditioning or start Netflix on the TV but she had the wisdom of age. 

My thinking on the wisdom of age was sharpened last week when I was reading Psalm 92:

12 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
    they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
13 planted in the house of the Lord,
    they will flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They will still bear fruit in old age,
    they will stay fresh and green,
15 proclaiming, “The Lord is upright;
    he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”

The pursuit of righteousness is not a young person’s game, you do it through all of life. And as you bear fruit into old age, you stay fresh and green, growing, useful, and beautiful in the eyes and hands of the Lord. Your flesh may crease and your legs may fail but those who are righteous are fresh and green and we need you. Those who feel they might be in that “older category”, you are not on the scrap heap and no one should treat you as such—in fact, we need you to keep bearing fruit for the Lord and showing us how to serve the Lord. We need to learn from you. So keep going!

Second, and following on from that, given how confusing life can be and how difficult it is to navigate, you would be a fool not to look to and listen to those who are bearing fruit in their old age. If you want to know how to work well, relate to others well, speak well, church well, do life well, look to older fruit bearers! Google has nothing on a senior saint who has trusted the Lord through all the ups and downs of life and culture, politics and wars. So before you look up the Wikipedia article on parenting, find a fresh and green believer and ask them. You might just be surprised.     

Third, alongside the fruit being born into old age, goes the delight of sharing the good news of God. You see there in v15 that those who remain fresh and green still have their mouths open proclaiming the Glory of God and their confidence in him as their Rock. I think this underlines the reality that evangelism and encouragement is not a young person’s game, it too is for all of life. So no matter who you are, open your mouth, proclaim the wisdom of the Lord, encourage us with his faithfulness to you and share of his good deeds. And those who are younger, be eager to listen. 

So with all that in mind, what might you do today to encourage or be encouraged? 

Senior Saints, speak up!

Junior Saints, listen up!