The Testimony of the Aged

A biblical reflection on how God has dealt with the righteous

“I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread.” 

~Psalm 37:25

As an elementary-aged child, I always enjoyed talking to my senior-aged uncle. As a high-school student, I found myself gravitating to my teachers who had gray on their hair. As a young minister, I’ve made it a habit of developing friendships with ministers who have been ministering for as long as I’ve been alive. Yes, I’ve always sought out conversations and relationships with the aged. And that’s because of the particular certainty that, all things being equal, my experiences are not equal to theirs – at least, not in quantity. I may have had some very unique experiences living in the numerous regions where I’ve lived and laboring in the numerous professions in which I’ve labored, and meeting the numerous people I’ve met. But the truth of the matter is that, as a man who is yet to hit forty (though I’m getting there quickly), senior citizens who are in their eighties have lived life more than twice as long as I have. There is no one who, for instance, I’ve known for eighty years. There is no one who I have personally observed in real time walk through all seasons of the human life cycle – who I first knew as an infant and who is now a senior citizen. I have interacted with and ministered to plenty of people from different ages (such is the joy of being a pastoral minister), but I haven’t personally witnessed an individual walk through all. 

The aged have. And there is a significant reality that the aged have observed that they need o be reminded of and need to relay to the next generation. Such a truth you can hear from anyone. But it’s quite different to hear it from the aged. There is a particular truth, in other words, that those who are aged have witnessed and must share to those who have yet to reach that season of life. 

It’s the truth about how God has dealt with the righteous. Such is something the aged who have seen it must communicate to the younger sector of the church, because such a truth is what will encourage the younger generation to walk in faith. Such a testimony is seen in Psalm 37:25

“I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread.”

David, the psalm’s author was by no means insulated from life experiences but a king who experienced and endured plenty. Read the books of Samuel and see for yourself. David was a persecuted man. He was a pressured man. He was a pained man. And he was far from a perfect man.

But he was a faithful man, a forgiven man, a man after God’s own heart, and thus deemed by God Himself as righteous (cf 1 Kings 15:5). He was a man who trusted in the forgiveness of God and who was wholly committed to the commandments of God. And by the end of his reign, he declared the truth recorded in Psalm 37:25. “I have been young, and now I am old,” he says, testifying to the reality of his agedness at the time of authorship. Having led Israel victoriously through a number of warfares, having survived assassination attempts, and having painfully endured relational fallouts, he says, “I have not seen…”. He saw many things, but one thing he has not seen. And it had something to do with how God has dealt with the righteous. 

Two questions, then, arise. First, who are the righteous before God? Second, how are the righteous dealt with by God? 

Before asking the question of how God deals with the righteous, one must first understand who God deems as the righteous. You could, after all, encourage yourself all you want with a verse like this when, in reality, it doesn’t apply to you. The righteous before God’s eyes are not those who lived free of sin, but those who live by sincere faith (cf Habakkuk 2:4) – those men and women who were convicted that God’s Word as had been revealed to them – both His prescriptions and His promises – were true, and lived accordingly. They were, as Hebrews 11:1 describes, those who were assured that what God promised would happen and what God said was true. With respect to this, there are really only two categories of people: those who walk by faith in God and those who live apart from God. The righteous are the former; the unrighteous, the latter. By implication, given the fullness of what has been revealed in the Scriptures, the righteous today are those who have placed their faith squarely and entirely on the person and work of Jesus Christ. For according to the Scriptures, there is no one who truly believes in the Father while rejecting Jesus Christ (cf John 15:23). 

How, then, are the righteous treated? One can – and should – look at how God says He will deal with the righteous (cf 1 Samuel 2:30). But one can also look at how God has dealt with the righteous. The latter is what this verse sings. David had never seen God abandon the righteous. He may have allowed them to suffer, and He may have disciplined them for sin. But through all those, David had never seen God forsake them. David himself attested to this on his own life. God may have abandoned and rejected Saul, but never David. God left Absalom, but never David. God was faithful to every promise He made to David, even if his life was free of neither sin nor suffering. His biography was simple: “David became greater and greater, for the LORD God of hosts was with him,” (1 Samuel 5:10). He never witnessed God abandon the righteous, because God never has abandoned the righteous at any time in any place. He never has, and He never will. God’s presence in someone’s life is seen in their ability to flourish in the midst of even the most difficult, dangerous, or unjust of circumstances (remember Joseph’s story in Genesis 39). 

Along with this, God has never allowed the children of the righteous – those dependents in the household of the righteous – to be destitute. Never had David seen “his descendants begging for bread.” This is not necessarily referring to adult children of righteous people who have left the home and who are accountable for their own actions, but rather the children still living under the provision of a righteous father. In the land of Israel, David had never seen a righteous man who truly loved God and lived by faith impoverished to the point where he and his children were begging for the daily necessities of life. They may have not had the same material luxuries that others did, but they were faithfully provided for with everything that they needed by the Lord Himself. Such is a historical result of the reality that Christ explains in Matthew 6:33 – that those who seek God’s kingdom and righteousness first will have all their needs provided for. Such testifies to God’s faithfulness not only to the righteous, but to their families. 

Talk to the elderly about their experience observing people. Ask them how they’ve seen people be dealt with over the course of decades upon decades. They’ve seen a person’s life be lengthened to the fullness of days; they’ve seen a person’s life end before his time. They’ve seen people die of natural causes; they’ve seen people die from unexpected causes. They’ve seen people prosper and they’ve seen people suffer. They’ve witnessed the hand of God work for people and against people. They’ve seen God’s hand bestow blessing upon blessing on certain people, and misfortune upon misfortune upon others. They’ve seen it all. So ask them how they’ve seen the righteous be dealt with. They will tell you that they suffered, that many endured hardships and afflictions beyond what most can handle – health problems, relational fallouts, persecution, and more. But they’ll tell you that, through all seasons of life – seasons of prosperity and seasons of adversity – they prospered. They prospered because God never abandoned them and never forsook them. He was with them always, and because of that their children and grandchildren experienced such blessings. They weren’t immune to financial struggles, but not once did God allow them and their families to reach the point of begging. Even amidst financial struggles, somehow the bills were paid. Somehow, the home was bought. Somehow, the kids were educated. Somehow, they received healthcare. They may have endured the most painful circumstances – whatever the nature – but somehow exhibited true joy and character amidst those trials. Somehow, they kept smiling and serving amidst the sorrow. Somehow, they still praised God amidst the pain. Somehow, somehow, somehow. Except, really, it’s not somehow. For if God is with a man, could you expect anything less? 

Could you expect anything less for those for whom God did not spare His Son? Could you expect anything less for those upon whom God’s love permanently abides in Christ Jesus? And for you who are reading this who may not be elderly, but are looking into life’s horizon wondering how it is that you will be dealt with in life, remember the testimony of the aged: 

God is faithful to the righteous. He always has, and He always will be. Should you walk in faith, you won’t be the exception.