Age with Excellence!

Psalm 91:16 (ASV)
16 With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.

God’s way of aging and the world’s way of aging are two very different things. The world expects the latter years of our lives to be years of decline. The life described in John 10:10 – a life filled to over-flowing – doesn’t have a cut-off date. God’s plan for aging is two-fold, according to Psalm 91; 1) that, we would live a long life, and, 2) that, the long life would bring us satisfaction. What is long life in God’s eyes? His Word tells us in Genesis 6:3 (CJB): ³ ADONAI said, “My Spirit will not live in human beings forever, for they too are flesh; therefore, their life span is to be 120 years.” (Some believers believe that Psalm 90:10 gives our life span as 70 or 80 years: Psalm 90:10 (CJB), “¹⁰ The span of our life is seventy years, or if we are strong, eighty; yet at best it is toil and sorrow, over in a moment, and then we are gone.” But that was referring to the Israelites who were wandering in the desert for 40 years due to their disobedience.) [Note: There is excellent commentary on this passage in the Amplified Bible.]

Certainly, the thought of living 120 years does not sound very appealing to most people. After all who wants to live THAT long when getting older is equated with a decline in health and vitality? That is where the second part of God’s plan for getting older comes in. God wants our lives – every year – to bring satisfaction. Strong’s Concordance defines “satisfy” as, “to have enough, to fill to the full, to satiate, to be weary of (experiencing so much good)”. Noah Webster’s (1828) dictionary defines “satisfy” as “to supply possession or enjoyment til no more is desired”.

There are numerous scriptures that reinforce the truth that God wants us to have a long, enjoyable life with no decline as we get older:

• Deuteronomy 34:7(GW) ⁷ Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eyesight never became poor, and he never lost his physical strength.
• Joshua 14:10 (ERV) ¹⁰ Now the LORD has kept me {Caleb} alive for 45 more years—as He said He would. During that time, we all wandered in the desert. Now, here I am, 85 years old. ¹¹ I am still as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me out. I am as ready to fight as I was then.
• Psalm 103:5(NKJV) ⁵ Who satisfies your mouth with good things {from the Word of God}, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
• Deuteronomy 33:25 (ASV) ²⁵ Thy ^[a]bars shall be iron and brass; And as thy days, so shall thy ^[b]strength be.

How do we begin to develop the faith to change our mindset on growing older? Faith begins where the will of God is known. We make a decision to focus on scriptures which reveal God’s desire for His children to “live long and finish strong.” And, we focus on the remainder of Psalm 91:16, which promises that God will show us His “salvation.” The word for salvation in this passage is “Yeshua” – Jesus, our Messiah. When we focus on Jesus and all He died to give us – eternal life, deliverance, prosperity, and yes, a long, healthy life, we will begin to see a new mindset on aging begin to develop. Our expectations will change and instead of dreading the advancing years we will begin to anticipate God’s plan to fill the last season of our lives with continued promise and purpose. We will begin to realize that what the Lord said in Jeremiah 29:11 (CJB) – “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” – has no expiration date. 

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