Thou hast the dew of thy youth. Psalm 110:3
There are many aspects of youth which are not virtuous. Many youth of our day experience an early season of callused carelessness and casualty. Often decisions that are made in youthful years set the foundation for the rest of their lives. It was a the younger prodigal brother that asked for an early draw on his inheritance then went and wasted it on riotous living. It was a young Dinah who wandered from her father’s house and …went out to see the daughters of the land –Genesis 34:1. There, she was exposed to the heathen young men of the land and occasioned a bloody massacre, leaving Jacob as a stench in the land. Many foolish young people have sown to the wind and reaped the havoc thereof. Those that are void of solid principles and parental authority are at high risk for spiritual shipwreck.
There are particular lusts that inflict youth more so than the aged, and the young are exhorted to flee them. (–see 2 Timothy 2:22) Solomon looked through his window casement, And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding -Proverbs 7:6-7. The young man was in heartfelt pursuit of that which appeared lovely… [Un]Till a dart [struck] through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life –Proverbs 7:23. We could examine the vices from the youthful lives of Rehoboam, Amnon, Nadab and Abihu, and countless others. We also find no lack of modern, folly-filled examples about us fulfilled by frivolous youth.
But youth are not meant to be despised. Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity –1 Timothy 4:12. In fact, God generally chooses the youth as the instruments of His propagation. Joseph, of sterling character, was sent by God into Egypt at the age of 17 to preserve life (–see Genesis 45:5). Miriam, at the age of twelve, stood post over the future deliverer of the entire Jewish nation and secured her own mother, Jochebed, to be the nurse of the baby Moses. David, as a youth, was sent to encourage his brethren in the army. He was despised by his brothers: …I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart… –1 Samuel 17:28. He was rejected by Saul: …Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth… –1 Samuel 17:33. He was scorned by Goliath: …Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves… –1 Samuel 17:43. But their contempt was all for naught when he was chosen by God to be king over all Israel.
These noble youthful ambitions were followed by Josiah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Mary, and the disciples of the Lord, all who chose to remember their Creator in the days of their youth. But these were not naive specimens seeking to secure their place in life, they were graphic examples of youth who were seeking to imitate the image of their Lord.
We need not gaze long into the character of Christ before we find…
...Thou hast the dew of thy youth
Psalm 110 is perhaps the most referred-to scripture in the Old Testament. This rhetorical portrait of the Messiah reveals a vivid virtue for us to behold. Christ, as the Ancient of days, was described in the Revelation having His head and His hairs ... white like wool, as white as snow… –Revelation 1:14, yet, here He is depicted as eternally young, as He sits at the right hand of God (–see Psalm 110:1). No weariness of age can enter there, for Christ is the Morning Star. It is perpetual morning around the throne of God. Those saints who are following hard after His likeness will also reflect this virtue, for the light of Jesus is the light of youth.
The psalmist, describing the Messiah, draws from the natural beauty of the morning dew (–see Psalm 110:3). The thought of dew calls us back from the heavens and unveils before us a portrait of this earth on which we dwell. In heaven there is no night, no change of heat and cold, no need of the sun to light up the day and consequently… no dew. The nature of dew belongs to the terrestrial, where everyone who will but stoop to observe it will behold a uniformed regiment of grass sparkling as if embedded with a myriad of diamonds. After a long night of darkness, the dewdrops, like tears, stand in the eyes of the flowers as they weep for joy at the advent of the first morning sunbeam. Those who walk through the lowly vegetation will have their feet washed by a thousand caressing hands of God’s design. Christ is not depicted as the dew of the morning but as the dew of youth, and the imagery is stretched further.
Youth is the season of abounding energy. Some cannot sit still. They are generally interpersonal creatures who love social activity. This is neither a virtue nor a vice. Rather, it is nominal nature. There is a progressive strain in advancing years that tames and tempers the soul. As life progresses, there is a clearer vision and a steadier thought, and we rise to better things. But when the mid-life summit has been crossed and the feet are traveling downward on the slope, that tumultuous rush of bodily energy that plowed through anything becomes enshrined with memories of the past. It is the closest comfort many can find to the bygone days of their strength.
But Christ has not called us to foster a fondness for the past nor a wistful longing for the “DO” of our youth. So many today sadly lament that their ‘get-up-and-go’ has got up and went. These have no vision for higher things and are more energized by a can of Mountain Dew than the Dew of Youth. They are more inspired by a trip down memory lane and reminiscing events of the past than of the hope that lies before them.
Age is no hindrance to securing the dew of youth. The Ancient of Days still rides forth among the golden candlesticks. While John beheld His hairs ... white like wool, as white as snow… –Revelation 1:14, yet Solomon declares …his locks are bushy, and black as a raven –Song of Solomon 5:11. While age may steal our strength and hearing, …the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: –Isaiah 59:1. He has secured the dew of youth and invites us to partake. The problem is not found in our deteriorating body but in a spiritually declining mind. The bane of old age predominately sets in when the mind follows the body.
It is not that life grows poorer as it advances or ceases to be noble when the charm of youth has faded. If we were placed here only to experience joy, the dying out of youthful romance would be terrible. God had a much greater end in view for His children than to just be vibrant ‘doers’. We are sent here to learn. Our allotted years upon earth are all meant to be a schooling, and it is not in the bright romance of youth that we learn the best and most abiding lessons. It is in the dogged doing of our duty, the quiet acceptance of our limitations, the patient carrying of our daily burden, and in the stretching out of a helping hand to our brother. These afford us the true opportunities for Christian culture and are the roots of ethical nobility. Christ labored …not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life… –John 6:27, and He finished His earthly task in 33 years. But the dew of youth did not dissipate as He sat down at the right hand of His Father.
Thus, we conclude that this youthfulness will not be secured by strength, but by…
...Hope
But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. –Hebrews 10:12-13.
How shall we picture this Christ now? Reclining in an easy chair, all worn out from His experience with the stubborn people of this earth? Is He busy putting together a scrap book of precious memories? This is too often the position of the aged and so their mind dies with their bodies.
And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope –Romans 5:3-4. At times, we wonder if this scripture can be true. Anyone with any age on their bones can testify to a poor experience and the subsequent feelings of hopelessness following. As people, we have all faced disappointing experiences with a spouse, a child, or a church relationship after which a nagging cloud of despair settles in. Outside of Christ, a sour experience always tends to pessimism. It was so in the world when Jesus came. It is still so today.
But the dew of youth is incurably hopeful. There is an effervescent expectation that is naturally and magnificently borne in youth and retained in Christ. In every winter, when the fields are bleak, and the cold gust goes whistling through the trees, there lies the hope that the flowers will spring again. In every spring there is the hope of summer. In every summer there is the hope of harvest. It is alive in nature and alive in youth. Those who are blind to it shall reap, at best, a dreary monotone existence. To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all. –Oscar Wilde.
The rest shall be brightly effected with a hope that…
…Heals Our Infirmities
Our bodies are destined for the grave and have no hope for renewal in this life. It is our minds that carry our greatest infirmities. The impotent man of 38 years at Bethesda could only utter a hopeless complaint when Christ asked him, …Wilt thou be made whole? –John 5:6. Upon the wake of his new day, a new remedy was given to him—… Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee –John 5:14. What could be worse than being a cripple for years? A mind that is beset by a doleful indulgence in the sorrows of this world. Age sets in when we have more memories of the past than hope for tomorrow. It is disappointing when folks grow old and have no vision for tomorrow, but it is a disaster to behold youth that are plagued by its crippling effects. Many grope aimlessly through life’s various trials, stupefied by the lack of blessedness. The noonday sun has evaporated the dew of their youth and the only praise that they can muster is culminated from a handful of yesterday’s pleasantries. A new attitude must be birthed by the dew of a new morning.
…Humbles Our Pursuits
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. –John 21:18. When we are young, we can overcome in the strength of our youth. As age takes its course, we will find a different alternative: victory through surrender.
…I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. –1 John 2:14. The world entices us to selfish living. Youth are often subject to schools of learning that teach them to “be all that you can be”. There is a major focus on self-enhancement and preparation for the future. This may prepare them in a ‘survival of the fittest’ world but will leave them destitute when the strength and prowess of youth has departed.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. –1 John 2:16-17. Overcoming evil with good is the Biblical antidote for channeling youthful energies. Whether it is the lust within or the longing without, hope is conceived by planting a seed of kindness in the life of another. The pursuit of pleasure and lieu of leisure will always disappoint its recipient and leave him in a valley of despair deeper than when he began. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth … He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope. –Lamentations 3:27-29. We are created to work in God’s vineyard and those who have an appetite for it will reap in hope of its youthful reward.
…Hallows Our Trials
For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope... –Romans 8:24. How often we can relate to Job in his pain. But before his pain had received an ounce of retribution, the healing streams began to flow as Job reverenced his Creator. When we can acknowledge that God is perfect in all the trials He allows, we then learn to worship in the temple not made with hands and disregard the frailties of the body. To sit down at the feet of Christ ignites a youthful spark that radiates the spirit within and conceives hope. The dew of youth then becomes our portion as Christ imparts eternal life and eternal youth to us. From the hour of the grave and through eternity we shall be young and bid defiance to weariness and death if we are living in the morning light of Jesus Christ. Heaven is a place of perpetual youth, and just like the light of the sun is reflected on the moon, so likewise the light of Christ is reflected on His bride. She is clean and young, …a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing… –Ephesians 5:27. Blessed is the venerable saint who arrives at the portals of heaven in such a condition.
