The honor of old men is their gray hair.

“The glory of young men is their strength, And the honor of old men is their gray hair” (Proverbs  20:29).

                Last Wednesday morning, I heard some shocking news through a Korean radio broadcast.  The news was that a Korean man in his 50s in Florida locked his 80 some years old mother in a barn with no electricity and didn't give her food and water for about two weeks.  What was shocking was that when the police found the old mother, there were earthworms and maggots on the old mother's neck and face.  In other news, the old mother seems to have lived on worms.  However, her son, caught by the police, felt no remorse and took it for granted.  His excuse was that due to financial difficulties, his house was renovated and moved from the room where his mother was used to lodge other people into a warehouse.  As I heard this news, anger arose in my heart.  And I decided to meditate on God's word on ‘the old man’ by changing the subject and text of the sermon on Sunday, and meditating on Proverbs 20:29.

In this age we are living in, it seems for some reason that the prophetic word of Isaiah 3:5 is being fulfilled: “And the people will be oppressed, Each one by another, and each one by his neighbor; The youth will storm against the elder And the inferior against the honorable.”  We are living in a world where children rise up and abuse the elderly.  Looking at the Internet site titled ‘Preventing Elder Abuse’, the elderly population has more than tripled over the past 37 years, and it is estimated that the elderly population will reach about 7.36 million by 2019.  However, the problem is that abuse of the elderly, who are economically weak, is a serious social problem (Internet).  In other words, there is an increasing number of cases of not caring for old and sick parents or physically and mentally abused for economic reasons.  In fact, when looking at the types of elder abuse, mental abuse was the most common at 40% of all abuses.  In addition, there are cases of neglect, physical, economic, abandonment, and other elderly people who complain of sexual abuse.  And when I went to the website of the ‘Central Senior Protection Agency’ and looked at the status, “son” was the most common type of abuser.  The total number of elder abusers, from 3,019 to 1,544, were sons (compared to that, daughters were 342) (Internet).  We are living in an age where the elderly are abused.  What should we do?

                In the Old Testament, the word ‘old man’ uses three words in Hebrew (Internet): (1) The first word is “Zaken”, which means ‘the beard is white’.  This word refers to a 60-year-old old man, and it is often mentioned in the Bible.  It is said to be used as a person who has reached the end of the year, an elderly elder or father.  (2) The second word is “Seybah”, which means ‘white hair,’ referring to a 70-year-old old man.  This word means gray hair or silver hair, really old.  (3) The third word is “Yases”, which refers to the elderly in their 80s.  It means ‘shake’, ‘older’, and ‘old and feeble’.  And “Yases” means to honor the elderly as an object of respect, meaning respectable and virtuous.  In the end, we can see that the Hebrew language centered on the Old Testament mainly refers to the elderly in their 60's and 80's, whose hair and beard are white and their energy is declining.  I would like to receive a lesson from God to the elderly in our church and also to our young people under the heading “The honor of old men is their gray hair” centered on Proverbs 20:29.

            First, the Bible says that the honor of old men is their gray hair.

                 Look at Proverbs 29:29 – “The glory of young men is their strength, And the honor of old men is their gray hair.”  Although the glory of the young man is his strength, the old man no longer has such strength that the young man has.  The old man no longer has strength as the young man, and if there is anything, he has gray hair.  What do you think about gray hair?  I went to a hair salon two or three weeks ago, and the woman who cuts my hair said, ‘I have a lot of prematurely gray hair.’ Haha.  Although I don’t have that much compared to old men, I suddenly have more white hair than last year.  However, even though the two pastors whom I know are 2-3 years younger than me, they all have more gray hair than me.  But nowadays, everyone dyes their hair, so it doesn't seem that they place much importance on the beauty of gray hair.  However, Proverbs 16:31 of the Bible says about “gray hair”: “Gray hair is a crown of splendor, it is attained by a righteous life.”  What does it mean by “Gray hair is a crown of splendor”?  What we can see here is that the old man is a glorious being.  And the gray-haired crown that the elderly will receive is not from the king of this earth, but from the eternal God.  In other words, the glory of those who serve God appears from the gray hair, and the true course of life is revealed there.  Therefore, the age of the elderly is a time to receive glory from God and a time to enjoy true joy.  As we generally think, the age of the elderly is not a period of suffering or alienation (Internet).  Although in the Bible the negative side of the elderly is the weakness and depressed appearance of the body's aging, we must not forget that the positive side is shown as a ‘symbol of longevity, blessing and wisdom’ (Internet).

Therefore, the old people must remember that their hair is now gray because they enjoy the blessing of longevity from God and serve God forever.  And now they must live with the glorious reward they will receive from the eternal God.  In particular, the gray-haired old people must meet the glorious Lord in eternal heaven where the elderly will never be again, and live with faith in the remaining life given with the hope of living with the Lord forever.  Look at Isaiah 65:20 – “No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, Or an old man who does not live out his days; For the youth will die at the age of one hundred And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred Will be thought accursed.”  And we young people should honor and respect the elderly.  Look at Leviticus 19:32 – “You shall rise up before the grayheaded and honor the aged, and you shall revere your God; I am the LORD.”  The wise young men who fear God see God's glory through the gray hair of the elderly.  And those wise young people see the glory of God through the gray-haired old people and respect them.

            Second, the Bible says that children’s children are a crown to the aged.

                Look at Proverbs 17:6 – “Children's children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.”  The word “Children’s children” used here means ‘sons of sons’.  Here, this word means 'offspring'  in a broad sense.  Also, the word translated “the aged” should originally be translated as "old men", which refers to ‘ancestors’.  This verse means that the wise descendants who obey God's commandments glorify the elderly (ancestors).  The foolish offspring bring harm and pain to parents and ancestors, while the wise offspring glorify families and bring joy to parents (Internet).  One example is David's grandfather Obed.  In Ruth 4:14-15, when Boaz and Ruth married and gave birth to Jesse's father, Obed, the women said: “Then the women said to Naomi, ‘Blessed is the LORD who has not left you without a redeemer today, and may his name become famous in Israel.  May he also be to you a restorer of life and a sustainer of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.’”  The women are compelled to say that the grandchildren are the crowns of grandparents, seeing that Obed, born of Naomi's daughter-in-law, Ruth's beloved, married to Boaz, is Naomi's life-recoverer and her ancestor in her old age.  Especially for Obed, when we consider his grandson David, the grandson David is the crown of the old man Obed.  Therefore, what the old man should do is to convey the strength (power) of the Lord to the future generations.  Look at Psalms 71:18 – “And even when I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me, Until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to all who are to come.”  The psalmist wanted to convey the power and strength of the Lord to all people in his future generations.  He said, “I will come with the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD; I will make mention of Your righteousness, Yours alone” (v. 16).  His tongue uttered the Lord's righteousness all day long (v. 24).  The reason is because the unmeasurable righteousness and salvation of the Lord has been given in life, relying on the Lord who is hoped for, from his youth to old and gray (v. 15).  The psalmist could not endure the Lord's unmeasurable grace of salvation without conveying it to all future generations.  The beautiful old man passes on a legacy of faith to his children and descendants.  He tells his children and descendants the grace of God received by relying on the hopeful Lord from childhood to old and gray.  Rather than speaking of what he has done in his life, he testifies of the great things that God has done in his life.  I hope and pray that all of you who are elderly be like him.  We young people must listen carefully to the teachings that come from the mouths of the old men, a symbol of wisdom, and live by them.  Look at Deuteronomy 32:7 – “Remember the days of old, Consider the years of all generations. Ask your father, and he will inform you, Your elders, and they will tell you.”  We young people should ask the wise old people.  We must hear and remember stories of the old days through them.  The reason is that they are living witnesses of the old days.  In particular, we should take advice from wise old people because from them we can get wisdom.  We never, like Solomon's son King Rehoboam, consulted with the boys who had grown up with him without the advice of his father, King Solomon's loyal old man (12:8) and must not commit foolish sins.

            Third and last, the Bible says that God never abandon the old, but rather embraces them.

                Look at Psalms 71:9 – “Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength is gone.”  One day, I was proclaiming the word of God, centered on Psalm 71:9, under the title ‘A beautiful old man’.  At that time, I meditated on the beautiful old man in three ways, and the first one was that the beautiful old man depends on the Lord who has been his hope.  Look at Psalms 71:5 – “For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth.”  Like the psalmist, the beautiful old man grew up receiving instruction from the Lord from an early age (v. 17).  And he lived by always relying on the Lord who has been his hope from childhood to old and gray.  In particular, he relied on God who was more and more hopeful when he faced many and bitter troubles (v. 20).  In the eyes of God, who lives only on the Lord, he believes that God will not forsake him and leave him.  And rather, he hopes because he relies on the Lord.  What do the old people hope for because they rely on the Lord?  It is to go to heaven and sit in the arms of our glorious Heavenly Father.  Look at Isaiah 46:4 – “Even to your old age I will be the same, And even to your graying years I will bear you! I have done it, and I will carry you; And I will bear you and I will deliver you.”  God has clearly promised that we will embrace us through old age and into gray hair.  And God has promised to carry us, bear us, and save us.  The beautiful old men who believe in this promise of God praise God (Ps. 71:14).  Not only do they praise the Lord more and more as time goes by (v. 14), but when they die, they praise the Lord whenever possible.  I hope and pray that you may be beautiful in the sight of God.

As I meditated on today's text, I thought about the elderly members of our church who are from 60s to 80s.  Dear church members, I hope and pray that you enjoy the blessings of longevity that God has given you.  And since you serve God all your life, I hope and pray that you remember that your hair is now gray, and live in anticipation of the glorious reward you will receive from the eternal God.  Also, since you rely on the Lord who has been your hope, I hope and pray that you will tell your children and descendants the grace of God that you have received throughout your life.  Rather than talking about what you have done in your own life, I hope and pray that you will tell your children and descendants the great things that God has done in your life.  I hope and pray that all of you will be beautiful people in the sight of God, who live only by relying on the Lord, and believe that God will not forsake you and will not leave you, but will carry you and sit in the arms of His love, and be joyful in hope.