A Legacy that Lasts - Pastor Stacey Shiflett
Updated: Oct 2
A Legacy that Lasts
Psalm 103:11-18
Intro: Today is Grandparents Day!
My wife and I have 4 grandchildren and 1 on the way.
I’m at the age where the only way I’m going to have a smoking hot body is to get cremated!
Someone pointed to my head the other day and said, “You’re getting gray hair!” I said, “No – these are wisdom highlights!”
Aging gracefully is a nice way of saying you’re slowly looking worse.
Don’t let aging get you down; it’s too hard to get back up again.
A. The Compassion of the Father – vs. 13, 14
· 13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.
· 14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
This reminds me of another place where God recognizes the feeble makeup of man.
Psalm 78
· 38 But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.
· 39 For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.
B. The Comparison of the Flower – vs. 15
· 15 As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
I’m not sure how us men feel like being compared to a flower.
I know some men that are more like poison ivy or a cactus!
C. The Conclusion of the Flourishing – vs. 16
· 16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.
In spite of feeling invincible, we aren’t!
· Job 14:1–2 Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.
· Psalm 90:5–6 Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up. In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth.
There will come a day when we will all grow old and pass away.
We can take great joy in knowing that we can leave something substantial for our children and grandchildren.
ILLUSTRATION: My wife and I have recently finished making out our last will and testament. The way some of you drive, I felt it was necessary!
I mailed some more money to my retirement account yesterday. You wouldn’t believe how much it costs these days to mail a Mason fruit jar full of pennies!
We might not be able to leave them land or riches, but we can leave then a legacy that will last.
I. The Reward that is Promised
· 17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children;
A. What is Promised – the mercy of the Lord…and his righteousness
I’d rather have God’s mercy than grandpa’s money!
I’d rather have his righteousness than riches.
B. When its Promised – from everlasting to everlasting… unto children’s children;
This is a legacy that has no expiration date.
This is a legacy that does not come with bank fees, taxes and penalties for early withdrawal!
C. Why its Promised – for fearing Him
This is God’s reward for those of us that fear Him.
This means we recognize who He is and respect Him as such.
II. The Remembrance that is Prioritized
· 18 To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
JOKE: One of the worst things about growing older is…I forgot what I was going to say.
We can forget a lot of things, but we cannot afford to forget God or what He said!
Memory Joke: Two old men were talking about their memory loss. One said to his friend, “I’m reading a book that really helps me remember. It’s teaching me how to associate something with a person’s name so I don’t forget it.” His friend asked him, “What’s the name of a book?” The first guy paused and scratched his head and muttered, “Uh, red petals; long stem; thorns…” His friend said, “You mean a rose?” “Yea! That’s it! Hey Rose! What’s the name of that book I’ve been reading?”
There are a lot of things worse than forgetting your keys, or your online banking password, or your ATM pin code.
ILLUSTRATION: Judges 2:10 And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.
They stopped thinking about it.
They stopped talking about it.
They stopped teaching about it.
They stopped reminding their children and grandchildren about God and what He had done.
The results were catastrophic!
III. The Responsibility that is Practiced
· 18 To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
It’s not enough to know it, and to remember it if we don’t DO IT!
Leaving your children and grandchildren the knowledge and assurance that you knew God and walked with Him is greater than anything you could ever leave behind.
Conclusion: Knowing there is a God is not enough; you need to KNOW God.
· Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
Knowing how to be saved is not enough if you don’t GET saved!
