Encouragement For Us Old Folks

Temple Baptist Church - 8-4-2024

Psalm 71

Introduction:

 

A.  What a great Psalm!  I will call it “The Old Folks Psalm.”  There are some that believe that it is Davidic and was written in his old age.  Regardless of the author, it is about an old man looking forward and also looking back.

 

Psalms 71:5-6  For thou art my hope, O Lord GOD: thou art my trust from my youth.  (6)  By thee have I been holden up from the womb: thou art he that took me out of my mother's bowels: my praise shall be continually of thee.

 

Psalms 71:17-18  O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.  (18)  Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.

 

B.  I want to preach to young and old tonight because a church needs both to function.  We are getting old, and you are following our paths.  Here, we find an old man who is not ready or willing to quit and sit in a “rocking chair” in his later years. 

 

C.  Tonight, I want to use this Psalm to encourage you older folks who have faithfully served the Lord over the years as “exhorting one another” is the ticket to good spiritual health when physical health is failing through ageing.  We now smile at some of the sayings that we use:

 

“Getting older is overrated.”  “I was doing good, but I got over it.”  “I am going down like a one-egg pudding.”  “If I had known that I would get this old, I would have taken better care of myself.”  “Every other name in my contact list ends in M.D.”  Old folks are the greatest carrier of Aids: band aids, hearing aids, seeing aids, walking aids, along with a lot of “aids” that need not be mentioned in a public setting!

 

D.  Just how important are you older folks.  You are the backbone of the local church.  As the years pass and the Second Coming of our Lord approaches, churches are filled with us Old Folks.  It seems that the younger generation has more important, pressing things to do. 

 

E.  We are seeing the “falling away” of young to middle-aged families.  Thank God for you younger families that are here tonight but I also thank God tonight for you Old Folks! 

 

F.  Look around and see how church attendance would be if it were not for you all.  You keep getting “beat up” and, like the old Timex Watch, keep on ticking.

 

G.  This is a rather long Psalm to deal with verse by verse so I want to pull out some of the great truths that will encourage both old and young.

 

1.  Verses 1-8  “let me never be put to confusion.”  Lord, help us to understand what time it is and the times in which we live!  Noah’s Day, Lot’s Day, Perilous Days, Falling Away Days, Laodicean Days, “as the manner of some is” Days, all wrapped up in one.

 

a.  These are confusing times to say the least.  I often say that our children will never know the America that we grew up in.  In our short lifetime, the world has changed more than the previous 6,000 years put together!

 

b.  Our Yesteryears were years of quietness, morality, respect, integrity, peace, peacefulness, prayer in school, Bible reading and memorization in schools, chapel in schools with local pastors preaching the gospel, corporal punishment, get a spanking at school—get a whupping at home, Sundays were the Lord’s Day, preachers preached and congregations listened, we were thankful for small blessings and had great joy for big ones, days of hard work, faithfulness, National pride, saluting the American flag, there were no drugs, safety for the children to play out in the neighborhoods with no fear, girls were girls and boys were boys, sodomy was in the closet, people actually dressed up in their Sunday Best, shoes were polished and holes patched, tattoos were for drunk sailors and taboo for everyone else, underwear was to be worn under instead of outward, etc. 

 

c.  The list could go on and on but, I think you older folks know exactly what I’m saying.  It is confusing today!  Wrong is now right and right is now wrong.  The world has gone sinfully mad, and we don’t belong here anymore.

 

Luke 21:28  And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. 

 

2.  Verses 9-17.  “Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth.”  These are Discouraging Days.

 

a.  A day when so many of our older soldiers are retiring or quitting because of the effects of these last days on them. 

 

b.  Ofttimes, we feel that we are no longer effective and, therefore useless.   We are “CAST OFF” and forgotten by the world.

 

c.  May we allow the God of Heaven to encourage us so we can be an encouragement to others.

 

d.  Remember that you are the Salt of the Earth, and you still give savor, especially to your pastor.  You have the wisdom of years and wisdom is not a commodity that can be bought.  It is the experience of years.  What would I do without you?

 

3.  Verses 18-24  “Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.”

 

a.  Be a witness of what God has done in your lives.  I continually tell people what God did for Barbara and me.  “O! What a Saviour!”

 

b.  Be an encouragement to our youth as they watch us either continue to serve the Lord in old age or sit down and get out.

 

c.  Be an example of praise.  The Psalmist said, “I will praise … rejoice … talk of they righteousness.”

 

Conclusion:  Each step that we take just leads us closer to home.  Don’t quit, don’t turn back, and never give up!  Fight the fight, finish the course, and keep the faith.  At the Judgment Seat of Christ, we will be glad!