May 19, 2004
Reading
“I have become like a wineskin in smoke” (83)
The wineskin or ‘bottle’ (KJV) was very common and every household had some. They were in various stages of use, full, empty, half full, etc., as well as stages of age. Both Old and New Testament writers used this analogy for it was something with which every Jew was familiar.
Wine bottles were made out of leather, which, if it hung for any time in the smoke, became blackened with soot and shriveled. This was how David saw himself in his old age, for surely the aging process is very cruel. Nothing brings this to light more than pictures. The other day I watched a movie that starred one of my favorite actresses in her early years. Today her body has become shriveled and emaciated through sickness and age. Compare the David that killed lions, bears and Goliath to the David who penned these words. “My eyes fail,” he says in verse 82, but “I do not forget your statutes” (83).
The temptation of old age is to give up and just let death come when it will, but to those who have loved God and who have walked the path of righteousness, old age can be a wonderful time of life. A worn out body does not necessarily mean a worn out spirit, some of my friends are living proof of that. The many proofs of God’s love and faithfulness to them have prepared them well for old age. The mind may not remember things as well as it used to but the spirit belongs to God and yearns for the approaching day when it will see Him face to face and will dwell in a brand new body, one that does not yield to the process of aging or to its aches and pains.
A wineskin bottle, when it becomes wrinkled with smoke, is thrown out because there is no more use for it. Who will put wine into such old bottles? David was feeling his age, and if God so chose to prolong his life he would never cease from obeying His statutes (88).
There were times when his enemies almost wiped him from the face of the earth, but through it all, he never forsook God’s precepts, (87).
“Whatever our outward condition, we
must not cool in our affection to the word of God, nor let that slip out of our
minds; no care, no grief, must crowd that out.” Matthew
Henry.
Jesus said, “Nor do they put new
wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and
the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both
are preserved” (Matt:
How important the church’s ministry is to our young people. To witness a young person redeemed by God and go on into His service is a marvelous thing. The seemingly endless potential for such a soul to learn new things should cause our hearts to praise God. It is part of the church’s responsibility to make sure these new wineskins do not hang in the smoke, for smoke will age them fast and they will become wrinkled before their time. This can be the ministry of the gray-haired saints for they too have walked this path. Elderly saints, share your testimony. Young saints, hear their testimony for it might well keep you from making unwise decisions.
The lesson older saints have learned and young ones must learn is that “All your commands are faithful” (86).