Vol. 17 No. 12 | March 25, 2014
David says, “I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be a blessing.” (Psalm 37:25-26, NIV) Truths I see in these two verses:
Truth #1: I was young and now I am old. That is not a bad thing. That is not a good thing. It is just a thing. It is a part of life. There are many things about being young that makes me glad I am no longer young. There are many things about being old that makes me wish I were still young. There are many things about being old that make me really glad that I am no longer young. The truth is I was young and now I am old.
Truth #2: I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. I have seen righteous people suffering and wondered if they had been forsaken. In my attempts to live a righteous life I have sometimes felt forsaken. I have seen some of the children of some righteous people who have struggled to make a living and struggled to provide for themselves and struggled to find their way through life. I have seen righteous people who felt that they had been forsaken, and their children struggle through life, but later both came to realize that God had walked with them every step of their journey and that He had sustained them even during those dark, frightening, and confusing days.
Truth #3: I have seen the righteous be very generous. Many times in my life I have been the recipient of very generous gifts from very righteous people. I cannot recall meeting a righteous person who was not generous. I have known and know people who have called themselves righteous but were not generous. That makes me question their righteousness. There are times when I think I am living a very righteous life, but discover that I do not feel or act very generous. That makes me question my own righteousness. I feel the most righteous when I am the most generous.
Truth #4: I have known children of righteous people to be a blessing. Not all children are a blessing. Not all children have righteous parents. Not all righteous people have children. I am confident that when righteous people have children they feel blessed by those children. Children of righteous people are blessed to be children of righteous people…maybe that is why they become a blessing.
I was young and now I am old. I have learned many things as I have grown old. Some of the things I have learned I wish I could unlearn. I am thankful for most of what I have learned as I have grown old. I have many more things to learn. I pray that as I grow older the things I have learned and the things I will learn will be transformed into the wisdom of a righteous man.
Tom
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