and we're there in Psalm 71, look at verse number nine.
It says, cast me not off in the time of old age.
Told for the sermon tonight is the time of old age,
the time of old age.
And so this Psalm is essentially, you know,
catered toward those that are of a more elderly age.
And if you say, hey, you know,
I'm not necessarily a young person anymore.
I consider myself more elderly of an older age.
This Psalm is specifically for you,
but I'm not going to say that young people,
you need to switch off because what we see in this old man,
the Psalmist, he talks about his experience
in loving the Lord.
And he also talks about how he established his foundations
in the Lord in his youth.
And so for the young people that are here,
even though you're not experiencing the time of old age,
it's important that you look at,
hey, what is it that's going to help you be steadfast
and sure in your Christian faith,
in your Christian testimony, as you get older,
you need to start while you're young,
start while you're young.
So let's continue, let's start there in verse number one.
It says, in thee, O Lord, do I put my trust,
let me never be put to confusion.
And so even with experienced years,
you can see that the Psalmist is taking time to remember
that he must make God his trust.
You know, God is vital, you know,
regardless of how young you are, what your age is,
you know, even in your elderly age, you know what,
you're still going to face times of difficulties.
You know, a difficult times isn't just when you're,
you know, in your thirties and forties.
And then, you know,
sometimes you might have the impression, well, you know,
once my kids grow up and they're out of their teenage years
and they move out of the house and they're married,
then my life is about retirement and all that, no, no,
there's still going to be challenges.
There's still going to be trials.
And the reminder here from verse number one is that
we must continue, continue to make God our trust.
In verse number two, he says,
deliver me in thy righteousness and cause me to escape.
Incline thine ear unto me and save me.
Be thou my strong habitation,
where unto I may continually resort.
Thou has given commandment to save me,
for thou art my rock and my fortress.
What I love about the words of the Psalmist here,
he says that he continually, he says,
where unto I may continually resort.
He goes, I continually go to my Lord for help.
You know, all the years of his faith,
growing up as a child to an adult, it hasn't stopped.
It's not like you get to a certain age and well, now,
I'm fine, I don't need the Lord.
Or, you know, I've got so much experience
and life knowledge.
No, no, we still need to depend on him.
I love how it says he continually resorts in the Lord.
And of course, to resort is to take action
and to resolve, resolve a difficult situation.
And so when he goes to his Lord continually,
he goes to find a place, a person, in fact,
who can help him in those difficult times.
I also like the fact that the word resorts, you know,
is kind of what we think about when someone says,
I'm going to a resort.
What are you thinking about?
Oh, you're going on holidays,
you're going to somewhere nice.
They're going somewhere to relax and take it easy.
And of course, to go before the Lord
and seek his help in a time of difficulty, yes,
but also a time of rest.
A place of refuge, a place of relaxing is our Lord God.
And we can see from these verses
in verse number two and number three,
the Lord God does have it in his plan to save us,
to protect us from times of difficulty.
That's why he continues in verse number four.
Deliver me, oh my God, out of the hand of the wicked,
out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man,
for thou art my hope, oh Lord God.
Look at this, thou art my trust from my youth.
You know, we see an older man trusting the Lord,
but he says, no, no, Lord,
I've been trusting you all the way back to my youth.
And you know, for those that are of an older age,
and maybe you've been saved a long time,
you've known the Lord for a long time.
I hope he can say, my Lord is my trust.
I hope he can say, my Lord has been my trust
all the years from my youth.
And to the young people, the teenagers, the children,
the young adults, you must make the Lord God
your trust in your youth.
You must, you gotta get in the habit of running to the Lord
when you need a time of help.
Look, you've got to establish that custom, that habit.
You know, just look, I've got a time of difficulty,
I must run to my Lord.
And look, when you're young is the perfect time to learn.
Because when you're young,
we're gonna look at this later on,
you don't have a lot of problems in life.
Like, you know, teenagers think they've got a lot of
problems, but they don't.
Like, in all honesty, right?
Teenage, ah, I've got this issue and that issue.
My parents are strict and I can't do what I want.
And you know, look, don't worry.
Those are minor little things.
And look, even with those minor little things,
learn to trust in the Lord.
Because as you get older, the responsibilities come,
the trials are more greater, okay?
The difficulties are more greater.
You're gonna have more enemies.
You're gonna have people turn against you.
And you need to have developed, you know,
a system where you know,
I can always go to my Lord God for help.
And as you get older, you will know.
You know, you would have experienced while you're young,
boy, the Lord came through and delivered me.
You're gonna have that experience.
And so when you have troubles when you're older,
you'll be like, man, God's gonna deliver me
just like when I was young.
Okay?
And if you can, keep your finger there
and come with me to Proverbs 22.
Come with me to Proverbs 22, verse number six.
Proverbs 22 and verse number six.
There's a lot of children in our church.
Praise God for that.
There's a lot of churches that don't have young people.
And there are some churches that you will visit
and it's 100% gray hair.
And there's nothing wrong with that whatsoever.
This Psalm is tailored toward those that are elderly.
But look what it says here in Proverbs 22, verse number six.
Proverbs 22, verse number six.
Train up a child in the way he should go.
And when he's old, he will not depart from it.
I believe that, I believe that verse.
I hold to that promise
that if I train my children while they're young,
if I train them to love the Lord, to love God's word,
to love the people of God, to love our lost souls,
to love attending church,
to love running to God in prayer
when you have a need of help,
then the Bible promises me,
God's word promises me that when they are old,
they will not depart from it.
The truth is many times teenagers may get a bit wayward.
Okay, there's always, you know,
seemingly a part of someone's life
where they get a little bit sidetracked,
maybe very sidetracked in life.
You know, going through an experiment in the world
and maybe Christian children
that are growing up in a Christian home,
they may feel like they've missed out on something
that they see the rest of the world.
And look, you know, some,
the children that are gonna be wise are gonna say,
well, no, the Lord's helped me,
the Lord's provided for me, the Lord's blessed me
while I was raised in a Christian home,
while I sought my Lord, why should I seek the world?
But then there's foolishness in the heart of a child,
the Bible says, and some foolish children are gonna go,
well, I just want a taste of the world,
not knowing how far the world
can take them away from the Lord.
And they're going to suffer, they're gonna be hurt,
they're gonna go through hardships.
And sometimes as parents, we may feel,
boy, those children, we've lost our children.
But they're promising God's word when they are old,
they will not depart from it.
Sometimes they're going to waste their youth in the world.
That's not my hope, that's not what we train our children.
But what I'd love to see is that as they get older,
they're going to realize,
boy, God's ways were the right ways all along.
You know, and they look,
even some of the testimony people in this church
will acknowledge, boy, I wasted so many years,
so many decades, you know, of my life in the world,
if only I had stuck to the ways of Jesus Christ,
you know, all the days of my life.
So young people learn from this man,
this man of an older age, he sought the Lord in his youth.
And because he's put that into practice,
now that he's old, he still is trusting,
he still seeks the Lord in a time of trouble.
Come back for me to Psalm 71, verse number six.
He says, but by thee have I been holding up from the womb.
Thou art here that took me out of my mother's bowels.
My praise shall be continually of thee.
The Psalmist is saying, I was born in a Christian home.
As soon as I came out of my mother's womb,
it was you all along, Lord, it's you that I've known.
What a beautiful thing to have children grow up
in a Christian home, and even better,
not just a Christian home, but a Christian church.
And hearing, you know, godly preaching,
hearing godly counsel from mother and father.
It's a real blessing.
Young people, I speak to you guys, young people,
it's a real blessing if you are here, you know,
that your parents bring you to church.
You don't realize that just yet.
You know, you might be, oh man, church again, you know.
Sometimes I'll say to the little ones,
are you ready to go to church?
No.
Do you want Papa to preach?
Yes.
Well, you gotta come to church to hear Papa preach.
But it's a blessing, you know.
And as we're gonna keep going through this, you know,
you'll see just how important it is
to have a Christian upbringing.
Now look, just, if you didn't,
if you've grown up in the world
and your parents were not saved
and you've spent many years, you know,
in an ungodly environment, well, you know,
you probably appreciate it more than others that have,
you know, when you look at the ability
to be brought up in a Christian home,
Christian family, Christian parents, a good church,
you probably value that much higher
than children that grow up in a Christian home
thinking that this is the norm.
Children, this is not the norm.
Like what we experience week in, week out here
at New Life After Church is not the norm.
Most churches are not preaching God's word.
Most churches are preaching you
whatever the wisdom of the world is,
anything to tickle your ears, okay?
You know, the world is constantly seeking
to cause you to sin against the Lord, you know,
to move away from his laws, to have fun,
whatever that fun is.
No, no, no, you know what?
There's such a blessing, you know,
that we're gonna discover this
as we continue going through this chapter.
Verse number seven, he says,
I am as a wonder unto many,
but thou art my strong refuge.
Let my mouth be filled with thy praise
and with thy honor all the day.
I was thinking about this, that he says about himself,
I am as a wonder among many.
He says, when it comes to many people,
as he goes about life, people look at his life
and they wonder, wow, you know,
like what an impressive man.
Well, like, wow, what an impressive life this man has,
or what an impressive faith this man has,
what an impressive testimony this man has.
Why is that?
Because he's grown up knowing the Lord from his youth.
From the moment he comes out of his mother's womb,
he says, Lord, it was you.
I've known you this whole time,
growing up in a Christian home,
being taught the gospel at a young age,
receiving Christ as his savior.
Now he goes through life, knowing the laws of God,
living with a great testimony,
a clear conscience before man,
a clear conscience before God.
He says, many have wondered at him, at his life.
But what I love about that verse
is he doesn't get prideful about his life, all right?
Like he's got a nice, clean, holy life.
People are going, wow, what a great example.
But he doesn't boast of himself
because it says at the end of verse number seven,
but thou art my strong refuge.
It's because of you, Lord.
It's because of your instructions,
your ways, your commandments,
that many can wonder at me as a child of God.
Can you keep your finger there
and come with me to First Timothy chapter three,
First Timothy chapter three and verse number six.
So this man's not lifted with pride.
You know, when someone comes along and says,
brother, you know, you're an encouragement to me, all right?
Or, you know, even in the workplace, a non-believer,
hey, you're a good worker, you're a strong worker,
you're an example to the other employees.
Instead of getting prideful, he says,
no, because it's the Lord's my strength.
I can only do it because of him.
He is my strong refuge.
And in First Timothy chapter three, verse number six,
we see some of the qualifications of a pastor or a bishop.
Okay?
And notice what it says here in verse number six,
not a novice,
someone that is not new to the faith
or still a baby in Christ.
Now we're looking at Psalm 71.
We're looking at a mature old man believer.
He'd been saved, you know, from a very young age.
You know, when you're looking for a pastor,
you make sure he's not a novice, why?
Because it says, lest being lifted up with pride,
he fall into the condemnation of the devil.
You see, being a pastor is a tricky job.
You know, you're standing up before God's people,
you're opening God's word.
You're opening up infallible, powerful words.
You're speaking God's word.
And if you're a novice, if you're young in the faith,
if you've not grown, you've not matured,
very quickly you start to think it's because of you.
Look at me, look how great I am as a preacher.
Oh, no, no, it's you're preaching God's word.
That's where the power is.
It's, here's our strong refuge.
Look at verse number seven.
Moreover, about the pastor, he must,
this is not optional,
he must have a good report of them,
which are without, lest he fall into reproach
and the snare of the devil.
What else does the pastor need to have?
A good report, not just from those that are within,
but those that are without, okay?
So you wanna make sure that your pastor's
got a good testimony, a good report from his old employees,
employers, you know, from his old church, right?
You wanna make sure, hey, this guy, you know,
served faithfully in church,
this guy served faithfully at work, all right?
You know, you seek the counsel of others, you know,
what do you know about this man?
And that's what a pastor ought to be.
Because if a man does not have these things,
they're not too, they're not qualified to be a pastor.
Experience, there's a reason why also one of the titles
given to a pastor is an elder.
Now, I don't think of myself as an old man necessarily,
okay, but I'm elderly in the faith,
at least myself in my example,
I was saved when I was four years old.
I was a bit wayward as a teen, not being too extreme.
You know, but the years, the experience,
you see God's hand in your life,
you see God's blessings in your life,
you know, you see, you receive God's wisdom over the years
and you grow in knowledge and understanding,
then you can be utilized by God, you know,
to step out and lead a church or, you know,
do a great ministry.
But I want you to remember what we see in Psalm 71,
without getting too far off that,
is that we must do it without the pride.
Always recognizing that whatever we achieve,
whatever we succeed,
even those souls that got saved in the Philippines,
praise God that God used us, but it's because of the Lord.
He gives the increase, it's the Lord God.
I mean, it's Jesus who died for them.
Like if Jesus did not do all the hard work,
if Jesus did not rise from the dead,
our preaching is yet in vain, isn't it?
So it's always with the help and power
and strength of the Lord
that we can accomplish anything in life.
Back to Psalm 71, verse number nine.
He says, cast me not off in the time of old age.
Forsake me not when my strength faileth.
So the Psalmist is realizing,
I'm not as strong as I used to be.
Physically, right, he can't do as much as he used to do.
My wife had a little slip on the driveway last week,
I believe, you know,
and she's not like she was when she was younger.
You know, you can just pick yourself back up
and dust yourself off.
You know, when you're a bit older
and you have a bit of slip, it hurts a lot more.
It takes more time to get yourself off the floor.
You know, our strength fails as we go on.
And you know, the ideal scenario as you get older,
if you're, you know, being saved for a long time
is yes, your body gets older and you get weaker,
but spiritually, you wanna be getting stronger, right?
Spiritually, you wanna be able to do more for the Lord.
I don't know if you guys all know this story,
but remember the story of Moses.
You know, Moses tried to deliver the Israelites
out of Egypt at the age of 40.
He tried, end up killing an Egyptian
and then having to run away.
It was not the Lord's timing for him to deliver
the Israelites out of Egypt.
So God waits another 40 years.
When was Moses able to do the greatest work
that is, I mean, taking an entire nation
out of the most powerful nation of the land
at 80 years old?
Please never think, oh, I'm pastor, pastor.
We'll leave it for the young people, God's work.
No, we need the 80 year olds as well.
This is why, you know, when I said there are churches
where it's, you know, it's just gray hair.
I praise God for our youth,
but I praise God for the gray hairs in our church as well.
We need all ages
because those gray hairs have experience.
They know the world, they know the dangers.
They've made mistakes.
Okay, and they can be a great teacher
for the coming generations to continue serving the Lord
here on the Sunshine Coast.
But he says, why is he saying that?
Because there's a time of weakness in verse number nine.
Ask me not often the time of old age.
We'll soon see as we keep going why he thinks that.
Like for a moment he says, Lord, are you actually there?
It's quite interesting to me
because I feel like sometimes
those are my prayers.
Like when I'm going through something,
Lord, are you coming through?
And yet I've seen him come through all the time,
like all those years.
And I guess this is just the frailty of man.
Even though we have a wealth of experience
seeing God's hand of deliverance and answer prayers,
when we're going through the next trial,
it's like, Lord, are you gonna come through?
Yeah, Lord, are you going to do it?
Can you come with me to Ecclesiastes chapter 12?
Ecclesiastes chapter 12 in verse number one.
So the Psalmist is saying that his strength is failing.
I want to talk to the young people.
You've got your strength now.
Okay, you've got everything going for you.
Great health, great bodies.
You can probably stay awake longer than your parents even.
You've got everything going for you.
But you know what?
There's gonna come a time when your strength fails.
There's gonna come a time
when your body starts to break down.
When are you going to serve the Lord?
Are you going to serve the Lord when your strength fails?
Or are you going to serve the Lord while you are strong
and young and energetic and full of ideas
and full of passion and full of zeal?
That's the ideal time to begin serving the Lord.
I guarantee you there are some people in church today
that says, I wish I started serving my Lord even earlier.
Ecclesiastes chapter 12 verse number one.
Ecclesiastes 12 one reads,
remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth,
while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh,
when thou shall say, I have no pleasure in them.
The Lord is saying, when you're young,
you haven't experienced the evil days.
Again, when you're young, you think you have difficulties,
but they're so insignificant.
But what does it say here?
Remember your creator in your youth.
Don't think, oh, serve the Lord when I turn 20.
I'll serve the Lord when I 40.
I'll serve the Lord when I'm 80.
Cause that's what pastor said.
Moses was, no, no, you serve the Lord now.
You remember the Lord now in your youth
before you face evil days.
Verse number two, while the sun or the light
or the moon or the stars be not darkened,
nor the clouds return after the rain.
We're talking about time.
You know, you start young and you're gonna become old.
I think I'm considered middle age these days
in your 40s and 50s, middle age, I think.
That's me now, middle age, I'm in the middle.
My youth's not returning to me.
I've only got my old age.
Looking forward to that and coming in future.
But in verse number three, it says,
and these words are metaphors.
What we're about to read is poetic metaphor,
metaphors about turning old.
It says in verse number three,
in the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble.
The idea there is, you know, when you get older,
you start to lose a bit of control of your body.
It's not uncommon for elderly people to tremble.
You know, you might see them shake a little bit like that.
Okay.
Whereas when you're young,
you can pretty much keep it steady.
But you know, as you get older, you start to tremble.
It says, and the strong men shall bow themselves.
So, you know, sometimes when you get older,
you know, if you've got bad posture,
sometimes you might see older people walking
with a bit of a, you know, lean forward back.
It says, and grinders cease because they are few.
Start to lose your teeth, your grinders.
Okay.
You know, you start losing those.
And then it says, yeah, and those that look
out of the windows shall be darkened.
Your eyes, they start to deteriorate.
Some people, as they get older, become blind or cataracts
and, you know, unable to see properly.
It says, verse number four,
and the door shall be shut in the streets
when the sound of the grind is low.
And he shall rise up at the voice of the bird.
And all the daughters of music shall be brought low.
So there, the music being brought low is the idea
of even your hearing starting to give way.
You can't hear as well as you used to.
Sometimes you talk to someone,
in fact, someone talks to me.
I don't know, I have to get my ears checked.
Sometimes someone says something to me,
I'm like, I've got to turn my head, like what?
And I'm only middle-aged.
Look at verse number five.
Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high.
You know, young people, you don't care
if you've got to jump off a plane and go,
what do they call it when you jump off a plane?
Skydiving, you know, when you turn 18,
what are you going to do?
I'm going to go skydiving.
You know what, when I turn 50,
kids don't buy me a skydiving ticket.
I don't want to go somewhere high.
Right, like, you know, if an older man is on a ladder,
say, dad, get off that ladder,
granddad, get off the ladder,
I'll go up and clean those gutters.
Because if you fall, you'll be fine.
If we fall, we break it all, it's all broken.
It says, and fears shall be in the way.
And the almond tree shall flourish.
The flowers on the almond tree are white flowers.
So the almond tree that flourishes is your white hair.
Okay, starts to change.
It says, and the grasshopper shall be a burden.
A grasshopper.
You say the grasshopper weighs nothing, pastor.
Yeah, yeah, but when you're an old man
and you're trying to carry something which is light,
it's harder.
Isn't it?
Like, it's kind of like even now,
if I dropped something on the floor and I'm only 40,
I'd rather go, one of my kids, Samuel, come over here.
Can you pick that up?
It's easier for them to pick it up than it is for me.
Cause it might hurt my back or something.
I don't know.
Bodies break down.
It says, and desire shall fail.
I believe that's the desire of intimacy
between your husband and wife.
Because man goes to his long home.
What's the long home there?
It says, and the mourners go about the streets.
When would mourners go about the streets, I suppose,
is when you pass away.
That's your long home.
Death is your long home.
Verse number six, or ever, the silver cord be loosed,
or the golden bowl be broken,
or the pitcher be broken at the fountain,
or the will broken at the cistern.
I'm not sure what all that refers to.
Probably just your body in general breaking apart.
Verse number seven.
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was,
and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
So young people, you got a lot to look forward to.
Getting older, body's breaking down.
You say, I'm gonna serve the Lord when my body breaks down.
No, you serve the Lord now.
And if you get used to serving the Lord now,
even when your body's breaking apart,
the Lord will still be your trust.
You know, you've proven the Lord.
He comes through.
He's always been there.
He's always looked after me.
He's always provided.
And even when body starts to break down,
the Lord is still my trust.
The Lord is still my strength.
Back to Psalm 71, verse number 10.
Now remember he said in verse number nine,
cast me not off in the time of old age.
Why is he saying that?
Well, this is why, verse number 10.
Because mine enemies speak against me
and they that lay wait for my soul take counsel together
saying, God have forsaken him.
Persecute and take him, for there is none to deliver him.
So what is he doing?
He's listening to his enemies.
The enemies have said, God have forsaken him.
The enemies have said, there is none to deliver him.
So it's that point of weakness.
He's heard that, he goes, is that true, Lord?
Is that true?
Cast me not off, Lord, in mine old age.
In the time of my old age, of old age, sorry.
So what do we notice?
And I'm speaking to those that are a bit older.
You might think, and I hope you've got a lot of experience.
I hope you've learned a lot in life.
Hope you've learned from your mistakes.
I hope you know more of God's word
than you did 20 years ago.
You've grown up in the Lord.
But what you notice here,
is if you listen to the wrong voices,
you listen to the voices of the enemies,
you can still be deceived.
If you listen to the wrong people,
if you listen to the wrong preachers,
be careful in your old age.
You say, oh, I can't change.
I am who I am.
And the truth to that,
I notice as I get older, it's harder for me to change.
Like when I was younger, in my 20s,
I would read God's word.
Boy, I need to change that about myself.
I'm starting today.
As I get older, and now I'm 40,
it's like, oh man, I don't know.
That's a lot of work to make those changes in my life.
Get stuck in your ways.
I'm not saying don't make, I'm not, we should change.
You know, with God's help,
we can become more godly as the time goes on,
and be more like Christ as the time goes on.
I'm not saying it's an excuse to turn around and say,
boy, I'm just stuck in my ways past, I can't change.
Yes, you can.
Of course you can change.
That's why you got God's word.
But you don't want to get so confident in yourself
that you start listening to the wrong counsel,
wrong preachers, okay?
Because you can see even this experienced man
has been affected by the words
he's heard say from his enemies.
Come with me quickly to Galatians five,
Galatians five verse seven.
Now Paul started the Galatian church
and he's writing to the church.
I'm glad we have these epistles,
but of course these epistles to these churches exist
because Paul was unable to visit them.
Took him time to go through his missionary journeys
and meet up with the people he got saved
and planted these churches.
But he says in Galatians five, seven,
Galatians five verse seven,
but he says in Galatians five, seven,
ye did run well.
He says to the Galatian church,
you guys have been running the race well.
Like when I left you,
you're doing so well for the Lord.
Then he says this,
who did hinder you?
That you should obey not the truth.
Because you're doing so well
and now you're not obeying the truth.
What's happened to you?
He says in verse eight,
this persuasion cometh not of him,
that call of you,
a little leaven, leaven of the whole lump.
I have confidence in you through the Lord
that you will be none otherwise minded,
but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgments
whosoever he be.
Paul says, you've been listening to the wrong people,
whoever he is.
He goes, God's gonna judge them
for leading you in a bad path,
leading you in the wrong ways,
causing you to not obey the truth.
And if you know the context of this,
it's because the Galatian church
where I was saved by grace through faith,
of course, someone had come along and said,
oh no, you've also got to get circumcised
or you're not saved.
It's like, where did that come from?
Who taught you that?
The Galatian church ran well,
but they listened to the wrong people
and now they're not even obeying the truth.
Now they're confused about the gospel.
So what I'm saying to you, elderly, be careful.
You know, don't think,
well, you know, I don't have that many years left
and I'll just take it easy.
You still have to be vigilant
about the churches you attend,
the preaching that you listen to,
the radio that you listen to,
the media that you listen to.
If they're turning your hearts away from the Lord,
you must be aware, must be awake.
We can still be deceived even in our older age.
Back to Psalm 71, verse number 12.
Psalm 71, actually verse number 12, sorry, yeah,
verse number 12.
He says, oh God, be not far from me.
Oh my God, make haste for my help.
Let them be confounded and consumed
that are adversaries to my soul.
Let them be covered with reproach
and dishonor that seek my hurts.
I love verse number 14.
But I will hope continually
and will yet praise thee more and more.
Whoa, good, now we're seeing the experience come through.
Yeah, he got a little bit sidetracked,
listening to the enemies,
his concerns that they're seeking his soul,
seeking to harm him.
But he says, I will hope continually.
He says, I'm not going to give up hope
that you're gonna come through, God.
And then because of that, because he's hopeful,
even though he's in the midst of difficulties
and enemies seeking to hurt him,
he says, yet I will praise thee more and more.
I hope for those that are older, in the faith, in years,
you can say I'm praising God more and more
as the years go on.
Even when I'm going for difficulties,
even when I've got enemies seeking to hurt me.
Boy, I wanna get to that point.
Something horrible is happening
and my first response is, all right, let's praise the Lord.
More and more, let's just do it more.
What a great response.
Now, we saw that he hopes continually.
So even people seeking to harm him,
he says, I know the Lord's coming through.
My hope is upon him.
Come with me to Romans five, Romans five.
Because what we're seeing here in this Psalm
is his experience is coming through, okay?
His experience in the Lord is coming through.
In Romans five, verse three, Romans five, verse three,
Romans five, verse three, the Bible reads,
and not only so, but we glory in tribulations also.
We glory in tribulations also.
So when we see the Psalmist going through tribulations,
we see why he's hopeful.
We see why he praises God more and more because of this.
It says, knowing that tribulation worketh patience
and patience experience and experience hope.
What did he say?
I will hope continually
because I know God's gonna come through.
I'm expecting, like the hope in the Bible
is not like I hope so, I don't know.
No, hope is expectation.
I know it's going to happen.
I know the Lord is gonna see me through.
Why is he hopeful?
Because he's got experience, because he's got patience,
and he developed all of that through tribulations.
We need tribulations.
We need them.
I didn't realize that I needed them.
I thought when I was young that I would escape them all.
Like, keep me away from problems, Lord.
Only to find, hold on, I need them to make me better,
to give me patience, to learn experience.
That's the advantage of the older age.
You've got the experience.
You know how hurtful even churches can be.
You know how damaging even pastors can be,
brothers and sisters in the Lord that you love and trust.
And at some point you say, boy, man fails,
but my Lord God will never fail me.
You've got that experience.
And some of us, we're still learning that experience.
We're still going through that.
And because you've got that experience,
you've got the patience, you've got the hope.
You know, even though things fall apart,
even though churches are never perfect,
because there's no perfect people,
my eyes, my hope is still on my Lord God.
My strength is still on my Lord God.
You know, church, I'll say this.
If I ever fail as a pastor, okay,
if I ever fail in a serious way as a pastor,
and you say, well, it just was,
see, it's just not worth serving the Lord,
then I really failed as a pastor.
Then I really failed,
because my goal is for you to trust in the Lord.
That's all I want.
Not to trust in the strength of man,
not in your strength, not in my strength.
You trust in the strength of the Lord,
His deliverance.
You put your eyes upon Him.
He's the standard.
I'm an example, but He's the standard.
I'm a sample.
Jesus is the standard.
And when men fail, you must remember,
Jesus Christ never fails.
He's always there for you.
You know what, if this pastor messes up big time,
you know what you should be saying?
Saying, you know what?
It doesn't matter what I'm gonna serve
my Lord God regardless.
And if that happens, then I feel like,
oh, I succeeded as a pastor.
Are you still in Romans?
I didn't finish.
Romans chapter five verse number five.
And hope maketh not ashamed,
because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts
by the Holy Spirit, which is given unto us.
Come back with me to Psalm 71, Psalm 71.
Verse number 15.
Oh man, I love verse number 15, so good.
He says, my mouth shall show thy righteousness
and thy salvation all the day.
When he says salvation there,
he's not speaking about the salvation of his soul,
going to heaven.
He's talking about salvation of his problems,
his enemies, deliverance from the hand of man.
And I love the next words.
So he says, look, I'm gonna make sure I always speak.
When I've seen God's righteousness in my life,
I'm gonna tell people when God has answered my prayers,
I'm gonna tell people when he's helped me
in a time of difficulty.
Praise God, that's the right thing to do.
But then he says this,
for I know not the numbers thereof.
I know not the numbers thereof.
He goes, I have no idea how many times
the Lord has come through for me.
He goes, I can't count it, I don't know the numbers.
So even though, you know, he gets answered prayers,
he gets delivered in a difficult time,
gets saved in a difficult time from difficult people,
whatever it is.
Yes, the things that he remembers,
he will tell people about God's deliverance.
And he goes, but I guarantee,
I'm sure there are other times God has done things for me
and I don't even know about it.
I can't even count how many blessings,
I can't even count how many times God has answered my prayers
and I truly believe, and I've taught this before,
I truly believe that we haven't even,
we don't even understand how much God has protected us.
Where things could have just fallen apart
and we go about our business not even having any idea
that something horrible is about to happen
and the Lord steps in, delivers us from it
and we continue going on our way
without even recognising that God did something for us.
I believe that.
We don't know how many times we've probably
faced the lion of Satan seeking to devour, right?
His teeth are about to consume us.
We don't even know because of the spiritual realm.
We're right there, the lion's right there
and the Lord just shuts the mouth of the lion
and we just go about life.
No idea, no idea.
That's what the Psalmist says,
for I know not the numbers thereof.
We sing count your blessings, name them one by one.
The Psalmist says, I can't even count them.
It's too many.
I love that about it, it's amazing.
He says in verse 16,
I will go in the strength of the Lord God.
See, he doesn't go in his own strength
because he's already weak, he's an old man.
He says, I'm not strong anymore
because I go in the strength of the Lord God.
I will make mention of thy righteousness,
even of thine only.
He's not interested in puffing himself up
and being prideful, look what I've done.
I says, Lord, it was always you
and you only Lord, you only.
Verse number 17, oh God, thou has taught me from my youth
and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.
Now, young people, you can say this,
you can say exactly what verse number 17 says.
You're in church right now, okay?
You may not like pastor Kevin, fine, fine.
I want you to love God's word, okay?
You can say, oh God, thou has taught me from my youth.
Boy, you guys have such great wisdom
that the world does not even know.
You've got such an understanding of God's word
and the world and life and you don't even understand
how massive that information, that knowledge is.
People are seeking it, they desire to know God's word
but they don't even realize that they want God's word
but they do.
When they mess up their lives and they're divorced
and they're addicted to alcohol
and they're living on the streets and they're homeless,
that's when they wake up and realize,
God, what are your ways?
What's your direction?
What was I meant to do?
Young people, you've got that knowledge now from your youth.
Just do what God, don't do what pastor Kevin says.
I don't care, do what God says and he'll bless you.
He'll guide you, direct you, protect you from evil,
keep you safe and sound.
Verse 18, now also when I'm old and gray headed,
oh God forsake me not.
I love the next thing as well, what does it says?
He says, look, while he's old and gray headed,
so he's getting on with age, right?
Don't forsake me not, why?
Until I have showed thy strength unto this generation
and thy power to everyone that is to come.
He says, Lord, while I'm old,
I may not have the strength that I once had.
I might not even be able to go to the mission strips
that I may have had being able to go to my youth.
He says, Lord, but don't forsake me.
Utilize me, Lord, to show God's strength to this generation.
For those that are of an older age,
you know, you're important to this church, okay?
You're important, you know God's strength in your life.
You've got experience, you've got great wisdom.
You know what we need you to do for our younger generation?
Is to tell them about God's strength in your life.
To testify what God has done for you.
To tell the young people,
don't make the same mistakes that I made.
Listen to God's word, God's word is truth.
That's your role as you get older,
to instruct the younger generations
that are coming through the strength of the Lord.
It says, and thy power to everyone that is to come.
So as children, young children have been born
in Christian homes, I can understand a little bit.
I share sometimes with this with people,
that with my kids, and look, I have good kids.
I'm not trying to have good kids,
but you know, I'm not Pastor Kevin to my kids here tonight.
I'm just dad, just dad doing what dad does.
Sometimes it's more valuable
when you have someone else say look,
kids, I say my kids, kids, I know it's your dad,
but God's word is truth,
and God's word was true in my life.
And listen to what God's word says.
Forget that it's your dad behind the pulpit,
and understand it's God's word that has been preached.
It helps me in life, it's going to help you in life.
You know, I won't get to turn there,
but quickly in Job 12, 12,
it says, with the ancients is wisdom,
and in length of days, understanding.
The longer you live, the more understanding you have.
With him is wisdom and strength,
he have counsel and understanding.
You know, again, just for those that are older,
they might say look, I just don't have it in me
to go to the Philippines,
I don't have it in me to go to Fiji,
I will leave that for younger people, praise God,
leave it for the young people if you have to.
But please encourage us, please motivate us,
we need you guys, we need your wisdom,
we need your experience, okay?
Iron sharpener of iron,
we're all here from different backgrounds,
and we're all gathered together for God's word,
for our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus works for you, he works for me,
he works for our children, he always works,
he never fails, his ways are perfect,
and we need to be able to share that with one another,
and motivate one another,
that we would serve our Lord Jesus Christ
all the days of our life.
Verse number 19, thy righteousness also,
oh God is very high, who has done great things,
oh God, who is like unto thee,
thou has showed me great and sore troubles.
I love this, look at this, he goes,
shall quicken me again, to quicken is to make alive, huh?
He's of older age, right, his body's breaking down,
he says, oh, the Lord's gonna give me life again, huh?
And shall bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
He says, oh, even though I'm old
my body's breaking down, I'm gonna die.
He says, oh, the same God that I trust in,
he's going to resurrect me from the dead.
So wonderful, you know, I'm glad that our bodies break down,
I'm glad that our body, our sin-cursed bodies
are not going to last forever,
because when our bodies do break down,
when they start to fall apart,
and you start to experience pains in your body,
you know what that should drive you to, remember?
Oh, the Lord's got a new body for me, coming up soon.
I love how the Psalmist knows there's gonna be a resurrection.
I haven't times ever heard people preach,
the Old Testament saints knew nothing about the rapture,
they knew nothing about the resurrection.
Well, this Psalmist clearly knew.
Verse number 21, and I believe verse number 21,
I could be wrong, but I believe verse number 21
is still in the context there of being quick and made alive,
being brought up again from depths of the earth,
because it says in verse number 21,
thou shall increase my greatness,
and comfort me on every side.
So remember when we receive new resurrected bodies,
again, I'll just read this to you,
1 Corinthians 15 verse 51,
behold, I show you a mystery, we shall not all sleep,
but we shall all be changed,
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump,
for the trumpet shall sound,
and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,
and we shall be changed.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption,
and this mortal must put on immortality.
Look, the bodies that we're going to receive
are greater than the bodies we have today.
And so that's why I think 21 verse 21,
thou shall increase my greatness, yeah,
you're going to make me even better, Lord,
I'm not just going to be saved in the new man,
I'm going to be saved in the flesh,
with bodies that can never sin.
And at the end of verse number 21, it says,
and comfort me on every side.
Remember at the rapture,
the Bible says in Revelation 7, 17,
for the lamb which is in the midst of the throne
shall feed them,
and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters,
and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
And so there's great comfort that God wants to give us
when he takes us home to be with him in heaven,
in those new resurrected bodies that are even greater,
because they're made like unto Christ.
Verse number 22,
I will also praise thee with a soul tree,
even thy truth, oh my God,
unto thee will I sing with a harp,
oh thou holy one of Israel.
So the psalmist here is able to play musical instruments,
and again, young people,
try to learn an instrument while you're young,
because you can absorb, you can learn, it's much easier.
I have regrets not pursuing the piano lessons
that I had when I was young.
I can play Mary Had a Little Lamb,
I can play a few little songs, but I can't play hymns.
Bit sad, I wish I could.
Young people, use your youth, don't waste it.
Don't waste it on Roblox, what is it, Roblox?
Robux, and what else do young people play?
I don't know, Minecraft, what else?
Parents, you know, Fortnite.
I'll use my youth for Fortnite.
What a waste of your youth.
Go do it for 10 minutes,
but go serve the Lord of your life.
Trust in the Lord.
The Lord's not going to give you,
the Lord's not going to reward you for your,
whatever, what's the game again, Fortnite?
Whatever your position is on the ladder in Fortnite,
the Lord's not going to reward you for that.
It's all gonna be forgotten, it's going to the bin.
So it's all gonna burn up, it means nothing.
Verse number 23, my lips shall greatly rejoice
when I will sing unto thee,
and my soul which thou hast redeemed.
So that is his salvation, the salvation of his soul there.
Verse number 24, my tongue also shall talk
of thy righteousness all the day long,
for they are confounded, for they are brought unto shame
that seek my hurt.
I love that as well.
So as those that have confounded his enemies,
those that are seeking to cause him shame, bring him shame,
those that are causing to hurt him,
he says they're confounded, they're confused.
Like what, why?
Because he's praising the Lord.
They're trying to hurt him, they're trying to destroy him.
And he's like, praise the Lord.
And they're like, what in the world?
What kind of man is this?
That's what spiritual maturity will bring.
Doesn't matter what trials and difficulties you face,
as you get older, experience,
patience, experience the hope, not be ashamed.
In the persecution that comes,
when you're going through some difficulty,
look at this man, what a man.
Where his enemies are like,
why is he rejoicing in the Lord?
This man should be weeping, he should be running away,
he should be fearful for his life.
And yet he's praising the Lord.
Boy, the title of the sermon tonight was the time of old age.
The time of old age.
What a blessing for the Lord to allow us
to have many days of our life,
to experience his hand of deliverance,
to allow us to go for difficulties,
to refine us, to better us, to strengthen us.
And just in conclusion,
if you consider yourself to be elderly in this church,
you are valued.
You are valued, you're special, you're important to us.
We need you guys.
We need your wisdom, we need your understanding.
We need your counsel.
Don't be afraid to go pastor.
I'm a little concerned about this or that.
Oh, listen to you, because you've got experience.
Utilize what God has taught you in life
to help the other generations and the younger generations
to trust in the Lord like you have.
Let's pray.