At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16: 11)
The hoary head is a crown of glory, If it be found in the way of righteousness.
Proverbs 16:31
In this fallen world, there is no such thing as automatic holiness. Salvation is a process that begins in time, and it grows to maturity over time. But time is only a part of the process.
The Scriptures here describe a gray head as a crown of glory, but there is a very important qualifier added. Provided . . . That proviso is that the gray head must be found in the way of righteousness. Righteousness over an extended period of time is glorious, and the more time there is, the better it is. But if that is missing, then something else happens.
Everyone ages at the same rate of speed, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Time is one precious resource that everyone has the same amount of—but some use it to destroy themselves, while others, by following the path of righteousness, forge themselves a crown of glory.
Wisdom is fruit, and fruit can be good and wholesome, or fruit can go bad. When it ripens, it ripens over time. When it goes rotten, it goes rotten over time.
When the godly age, they must deal with what all the elderly have to deal with—aches, pains, afflictions, and more (Ecc. 12). But they should never forget that God describes their faithfulness, even in this time of diminished ability, as a season of glory. Time does not erase God’s faithfulness, and it does not abrogate our ability to pray to Him on the basis of His promises.
“The days of our years are threescore years and ten; And if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, Yet is their strength labour and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away . . . And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: And establish thou the work of our hands upon us; Yea, the work of our hands establish thou it” (Psalm 90:10, 17).
