DON'T BE A FOOLISH OLD MAN

PROCLAMATION

“As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to The Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.”  1 Kings 11:4 (NIV)

EXPLANATION

For as wise as King Solomon was as a young man, his wisdom began to fail him as an old man, or maybe it was just his weakness for women.  Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines, many of whom were from foreign nations which The Lord God had told the Israelites not to marry. (1 Kings 11:1-3)  Solomon did evil in the sight of The Lord and worshiped the idol gods of his wives. (1 Kings 11:5-8)  He would still go through the motions of worshiping The Lord God, but he was not fully and completely into it.

APPLICATION

It does not matter how wise, or smart, or educated, or intelligent we are, if we cannot control our behavior.  The uncontrolled worldly sinful lust has caused many great men, and also many average men, to fall and to lose their influence.  There are countless examples of men who did a lot of good as leaders, but they are now remembered for their shameful downfall.  As we age and get older, we should also get wiser and benefit from our years of experience.  Some of us get so caught up in ourselves and our desires, and we make even bigger mistakes in our old age.  The dictionary defines foolish as “lacking in sense, judgment, or discretion.”  There is a saying, “There is no fool like and old fool.”  As the number of days in front of us gets much smaller than the number of days behind us, let us reflect on our past and see where The Lord God has brought us from and all that He has brought us through.  Let us thank Him and praise Him for all that He has done, let us draw closer to Him in our old age instead of drifting away from Him and making foolish mistakes.

THE FOOL SAYS AND BEHAVES LIKE THERE IS NO GOD

Proclamation:

“The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’  They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.”  Psalm 14:1 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by King David.  For some unknown reason these words are repeated almost verbatim in the fifty third psalm.  Most of The Bible scholars believe that “the fool” David is referring to is a group of people who are immoral, wicked and void of spiritual understanding.  In this psalm David describes the characteristics and basic sinful human nature of godless people.  Their deeds and conversations are vile and impure and in their hearts they despise the people of God and righteousness in general.  They treat the poor and the righteous with cruelty and persecute them. (Psalm 14:4)  But The Lord will come to their aid, He is their refuge and He will restore His people. (Psalm 14:6-7)

Application:

Human beings are basically sinful by nature.  Before we condemn “the fool” that David is referring to, let us remember that all of us are sinners. (Romans 3:23)  None of us are righteous on our own, (Romans 3:10) it was imputed to us and not earned by us. (Romans 4:24 and James 2:23)  Before we accepted Christ as our personal Savior, we exhibited or thought about some of these same sinful behaviors.  Thinking sinful thoughts is the same as committing the sin. (Proverbs 23:7)  Judge not, least you be judged. (Luke 6:37)  Rather, we should pray for those who don’t know The Lord God, or who don’t believe in Him.  Let us thank God for helping us and rejoice in His presence, protection, and power.  When we think of that foolish person, remember, there but for the grace of God go you and I.

Pray For Those Who Make Foolish Mistakes

"Then David said to God, 'I have sinned greatly by doing this.  Now, I beg You, take away the guilt of Your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.' "  ! Chronicles 21:8 (NIV)

King David, the great King of Israel, the man after God's own heart, (Acts 13:22) was also a sinner, and he made foolish mistakes.  According to the words recorded by Ezra, the priest, after The Lord God had granted David numerous victories of war, before his next battle with the Philistines, David ordered that a census be taken to number his troops.  Instead of praying to God for assistance, David was enticed by Satan to rely on the strength of his army. (1 Chronicles 21:1)  God was displeased and punished David for this. (1 Chronicles 21:11-17)

We need to be ever mindful of the fact that we can do nothing without God.  With His help, all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26 and Mark 10:27)   Without Him, we are, and we can do nothing. (John 1:1-4)  We all commit sinful acts. (Romans 3:23)  However, we also sin when we take pride in, and take credit for something which The Lord God has done. (Psalms 10:4 and Proverbs 8:13)  We make foolish mistakes when we take credit, or give credit to some thing or some one for that which He has done, as David did.  Believers know that God exists, only a fool would say that there is no God. (Psalms 53:1)  When we do not give Him the praise, honor, and glory that He deserves, we are making a very foolish mistake.  We need to pray for those of us who make foolish mistakes. 

Make Sure That You Have A Firm Foundation

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.  But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."  Matthew 7:24-27 (NIV)

The Sermon on the Mount was a very powerful sermon, it contained many parables, principals, and lessons.  In these verses, Jesus makes it clear that he who hears and does what He says will have a solid foundation and will survive life's storms, and those who don't, won't.

It is not enough just to hear, or read, The Word of God, we must also put it into practice and live it.  Our living by His Word is what gives us a strong foundation, like the wise man.  Choosing not to live by His Word is to invite disaster into one's life, like the foolish man.  There will be storms and difficult times in all of our lives, but those of us who follow His way, He will guide and protect through the storms and bad times.  Those who choose not to live His way are on their own and headed for disaster.  The storms are coming and we each have to make the choice for ourselves, live with Him or without Him.