"Down Through The Years, The Lord Has Been Good To Me"

25)I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

The opening words of this verse, in Psalm 37, could have been written by any of us - for they speak a truth that each of us knows all too well. “I have been young and now I’m old.”

Whether we want to admit or not, day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, second by second, you and I are getting old! It’s a reality that many people try to escape or run away from. That’s why you sometimes see old men trying to look and act like young men... and old woman trying to look and act like young women! I’ve seen them in church or on the streets of some of the cities I’ve been called to preach in.

- They’re old, but they try to dress young.

- They’re old, but they try to talk young.

- They’re old, but they try to behave like they’re young.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to keep alive memories of our younger days, when we had plenty of vim and vigor - but sooner or later father time catches up with us and we have to say like the old song says, “The old grey mare, just ain’t what she used to be.”

It tickles me observing people who refuse to accept old age. It’s obvious from the lines on their faces and the furrows in their foreheads that their player and playette days have long been over - but you can’t tell them that they’re not in the game any longer, because they are still trying to convince young girls and young boys that they still got it going on!

I believe that if you’ve gone out of business you ought to take down your sign! There’s no sense in trying to keep the business open if all of your merchandise is stale and out of date.

My brothers and sisters, it’s a "physical" impossibity to escape the reality of old age! Old age is a natural progression of life. I don’t care how many vitamins you take, or how well you watch your diet, or how much you exercise - you can’t stop yourself from getting old!

And then, it’s impossible "mentally." It doesn’t matter how much you exercise your mind, or how many natural herbs you swallow, or how many books you read on memory retention… sooner or later, your thought processes will deteriorate and you won’t be able to remember people’s names or places you’ve been, or even what you went into the other room for!

Old age brings about change!

-They used to call you a chippey… but now they called you Mom-mom or pop-pop!

-You used to be able to stay up all night long…now you have to take a nap after lunch!

-You used to be able to run like a deer… now you move like a snail!

-You used to be able eat anything your little heart desired, without fear of indigestion… but now, when you eat, you have to stay up awhile and let it digest!

-You used to never have to take medicine… but now you have to take a pill for everything!

-Gotta take a pill for it to go down right!

-And then, you have to take a pill for come out right! I tell you ya… things change as you get old.

But David, here, reminds us of one thing that never changes: God never changes! He’s the same yesterday, today and forever! And if look back over your life, you have to recognize that “Down through the years, the Lord has been good to you!”

Help us process it, David. First of all, David speaks of God’s goodness in the past tense of his life: “I have been young…” In other words, God was good to me when I was young. In other words, the places I went, that I could have been killed in, because I was young and foolish and didn’t see the danger that lurked in the club or at the party… but still God had His hands on me!

-The stuff I drank, that could have poisoned me, but because I was young and everybody else was doing it, I didn’t see the danger that too much of anything is no good for you… but still, God had His hands on me!

-The people I hung out with, some of whom meant me no good, but were my friends because at the time I had a little something - but because I was young and didn’t realize that as long as you have something - you have friends, but when you don’t have anything some of your friends will leave you like rats jumping off a sinking ship… when my so-called friends left me… God kept His hands on me!