The Joy of Old Age by William Covert

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jul 13, 1882

The Joy of Old Age.

By William Covert

BY WILLIAM COVERT.

INSPIRATION says, "The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness." The anxious child looks forward to the joys that await him in this life; but he is never able to overtake them. So when he has passed the noontide of life, he usually turns his face toward his sun rising, and travels backward in his own shadow. He wearies over what might have been, but was not, and in his heart he declares this life has been to him a failure. His hopes have never been realized. The rising sun, the coming months, and passing years, are a grief to him. As death and old age advance, he vainly endeavors to retreat from them. He saddens at the falling leaf from the autumn forest. He weeps because his youthful energies have so soon left him cheerless and infirm. He is grieved at heart as he stands before the mirror and beholds the wrinkled face and gray hairs.

He started for the wrong point in life, and therefore has traveled upon the wrong road. He discovers no prize in his road, nor yet at the end of his journey. His pathway grows broader, but more indefinite, dimmer, and darker; and unless he follows some ray of light that leads to the narrow but shining path of the righteous, the sorrows of a misspent life will become more and more bitter to his soul, as the sorrows of death wrap about his head.

But how different it is with the righteous! His path is brighter and brighter. Says Solomon, "It shineth more and more even to the perfect day." Those in this path do not desire to look back, but cheerfully go forward. Their hands are on the plow, and they make a straight mark by driving to the object at the end of the row. They remember Lot's wife, who made the fatal mistake of her life by looking back. The sight is kept steady and the eye single, by a complete surrender to the will of God, and a calm trust in Jesus. They firmly believe that the Lord can and does do for them just what his promises declare.

The hoary head in this way of life, is crowned with rejoicings. He does not grieve because he is old, but confides in the gospel, having joy for the present, and hope for the future. The word of the Lord is a lamp unto his feet; the promises shine upon his pathway. This rejoices his heart. He knows that Christ is his, and that he is Christ's. He humbly, trustingly, proceeds toward the end of his journey. As friends and companions are laid away to rest the "little while," he by faith beholds them on the evergreen shore. Eternity opens more lovely before him as earthly pleasures recede from his view. He knows that Christ has conquered death, and the spoils are soon to be shared with the soldiers, therefore he does not fear this enemy. He believes that he will soon enter upon an age of eternal youth, and therefore does not grieve, because the sands of the mortal life are so nearly run out. How pleasant it is to trust in the Lord.

Cloverdale, Ind.