By some standards, I’m a “senior citizen” now, 55 in June. Two days later, I got a senior discount in a restaurant without asking for it. My gray hair is evidence. Today I want to tell you about the God for seniors, the One we all need in our later years. He reveals Himself in a very sweet passage that came through the OT prophet Isaiah (Isa 46.3–4 NKJV):
3 “Listen to Me, O house of Jacob,
And all the remnant of the house of Israel,
Who have been upheld by Me from birth,
Who have been carried from the womb:
4 Even to your old age, I am He,
And even to gray hairs I will carry you!
I have made, and I will bear;
Even I will carry, and will deliver you.
Let me point out four basic things from this passage, and I pray these will be a deep comfort to everyone here.
He Calls for Your Attention (vv. 3ab)
These are the words of God; in them we hear the voice of God. He is the one who says, “Listen to Me.” We need God more than anything. His Word is our life. Both Moses and Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Deut 8.3; Matt 4.4). I know some here are unable to pay attention to a message like this, but some of you can, and I urge you to listen to me now. None of us have much time left in this world, and we must hear God’s Word to be prepared for the next.
In history, OT Israel heard these words first. They had a unique relationship with God, not because they were any better than the Gentiles, but because God chose them by grace to be His in a special way.
Now that OT Israel is a thing of the past, these words of God belong to Christians. These words are absolute promises to Christians who are trusting in the Lord, and they are conditional promises to everyone else on the terms of a true and living faith in Christ. If you are a true Christian, these words should greatly comfort your soul. If not, they should move you to embrace this wonderful God of the Bible and the only Savior of sinners, our Lord Jesus Christ.
If you would be finally saved from all your sins and guilt and troubles, you must first pay attention to and believe in this God.
He Has Sustained You from Birth (vv. 3cd)
What is more helpless than a newborn? Who is more dependent on the care and protection of their parents? Even more than that, we are all weak and needy and vulnerable to harm, and it is God who has brought us this far in our lives. Here He speaks very tenderly. “I have upheld you from birth; I have carried you from the womb,” like a good father or mother lovingly cradles the little one in their arms.
Even if you are not a Christian, you have God to thank for your survival through the many years of your life. And if you have been a Christian for many years, then it is the Lord who saved your soul in the first place and kept you in the faith by His gracious power. You have been His beloved child and He has been your strong and faithful Father. No matter how hard things have been for you, the Lord has always been there for you, preserving you spiritually and physically.
He Is Trustworthy Until Death (vv. 4ab)
We all face many temptations to doubt God. Usually life becomes more difficult and painful as we get older, and anticipating this, we might wonder if God will really sustain us then.
The good news is that God never changes. He who could be trusted to save us in our youth will also keep His promises to us in our old age, when we have “gray hairs.” Even then He declares, “I am He”—the same almighty, all-wise, covenant-keeping God we have known Him to be. Most of us here have gray hairs if we have any hair at all. We all should count this promise especially precious. The true and living God, even our Lord Jesus Christ, is the God for `seniors. He saves not just little children in Sunday school. Nor is He a God just for young married folks, or for households bustling with children. He is right here and He is completely trustworthy for the widow in a nursing home, even when every bone aches and no one comes to visit you anymore. In your loneliness and distress, He is yours by faith and prayer. As you trust Him, He will never leave you nor forsake you!
He Will Give Eternal Life (vv. 4cd)
Finally, the God who made you and who has sustained you promises that He will carry you to the very end of your days, and then, He will “deliver” or save you.
Surely you already know that this life is not all there is. For Christians, death is deliverance, not disaster. The Bible teaches that for Christians, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Cor 5.8). As soon as we die, we are instantly in heaven, cleansed from all our sins, possessing every virtue in glorious perfection, and joyfully communing with the Lord Jesus Christ! And when He returns, He will redeem our bodies and give us complete immortality in the new creation.
Young or old, this life is like a vapor that appears for a little time and vanishes away (Jas 4.14). Are you enjoying the peace that comes with trusting in the Lord as your Savior? Can you fall asleep every night knowing that if you never open your eyes again in this world, you will see Him welcoming you into glory? He made you, has sustained you, is with you, and will give you eternal life, if He is your God by faith. Trust Him! Amen. Ω