Untitled Sermon

The glory of the young is their strength;

the gray hair of experience is the splendor of the old. Proverbs 20:29

Strength in youth, wisdom in old age

The glory of young men is their strength,

The beauty of the old is the hoary head.

Antithetic, ternary. Glory = beauty, = adornment, that which constitutes the highest attraction, and is thus an indication of perfectness. The proverb must be understood as giving one aspect of things: what is most characteristic, attractive, and admirable is, in the young (persons in the prime of life), physical strength and exuberant animal life, in the old, gray hair regarded as the indication of gravity and wisdom; the sage would doubtless hold that a young man should have something more than bodily vigor, and an old man more than wisdom. Cf. 16:31, and the references there given.[1]

20:29 On the surface there is no connection between the topic of this verse and its context, which discusses the power of Yahweh and the king. An implied connection, however, may exist between this and the preceding verse. Young men tend to rely upon the sheer exercise of power (as did Rehoboam). Older men have learned the importance of wisdom and restraint, as depicted by their gray hair.[2]

20:29 the beauty of the aged In the ancient Near East, old age was a sign of wisdom (Job 12:12; 32:6–7); in Israel, old age was also considered a sign of God’s favor or a reward for obedience (Gen 15:15; Deut 30:19–20).[3]

The glory of young men … the beauty of old men—Each age has its peculiar excellence (Pr 16:31).[4]

20:29. Beauty of youth and age

A proverb to lift the reader above the unfruitful attitudes of envy, impatience and contempt which the old and the young may adopt towards each other. Each age has its appointed excellence, to be respected and enjoyed in its time. Cf. 16:31.[5]

29 The glory of young men is their strength:

And the beauty of old men is the gray head.

See note on chap. 16:31. In the economy of nature, as of grace, there is a time and season for all things. Youth delights in deeds of prowess, and glories in physical strength. Age is the time for meditation and sobriety, and of this the gray head is a reminder, beautiful indeed in its place. In his first epistle, the apostle John takes up the same thoughts in a spiritual sense. The young men are those who are strong in the faith, in whom the word of God abides, and who have overcome the wicked one. To the fathers, he simply writes, “Ye have known Him that is from the beginning.” It is that experimental knowledge of Christ which is enlarged and deepened by the passing of the years (1 John 2:13, 14).[6]

13 I am writing to you who are mature in the faith

because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning.

I am writing to you who are young in the faith

because you have won your battle with the evil one.

14 I have written to you who are God’s children

because you know the Father.

I have written to you who are mature in the faith

because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning.

I have written to you who are young in the faith

because you are strong.

God’s word lives in your hearts,

and you have won your battle with the evil one

Each period of life has a value and a glory of its own. There is a beauty in spring to which no other season of the year can approach. The vivid green of the opening leaves, and the meadows and hedge-banks carpeted with early flowers, give to spring a glory all its own. But the other seasons also have their peculiar charms. It is no less pleasant to look upon the landscape at midsummer, when the woods are in their full dress, and the valleys are covered over with corn, or in the autumn, when the harvest is being gathered in, and flowers have given place to fruit. If spring is the time of hope and promise, autumn is the season of realisation and fulfilment, and we are well content that the one should be lost in the other. So it is with the different periods of our human life—each has its special charm and its special advantages. We love to dwell upon the loveliness of childhood, but we should not like to see our sons and daughters remain children for ever, and it is pleasant to look upon and to experience the energy and hope of youth, but there are good things which cannot be ours until we reach to mature life, and even to grey hairs. We have before considered the glory of the hoary head (see on chap. 16:31, page 493); we have only to consider—[7]

II. The peculiar gift and glory of young men. It is, says Solomon, their “strength”—their power to do and to endure in a physical sense, what the aged cannot, by reason of the failure of their bodily powers. When men have passed middle life, they become more and more painfully conscious that if the “inward man is renewed day by day, the outward man is perishing” at the same rate (2 Cor. 4:16), and although their experience is richer, and their wisdom greater, their physical ability and energy is not what it once was. Their ship is laden, it may be, with a far more precious cargo, but the tide is not so strong, and the breeze is not so powerful to waft it on its way as it was in the years that are gone. It is the glory of the young man that his strength is often more than enough for himself, he is able to bestow some upon the weak and needy. But the aged man is often painfully conscious that he has none to spare, that instead he is dependent upon the strength of others. The consideration of the special advantages of each season of human life ought to cheer the aged man and prevent him from regretting the days of youth, and at the same time it ought to make the young man respectful to the old, and willing to listen to their counsel, and so far as it is possible combine the wisdom of grey hairs with the vigour of youth. It also warns the young man against any abuse of his physical powers—against any unlawful indulgence of bodily appetites, and against the formation of unhealthy and indolent habits—which make so many of our youths prematurely old, bringing upon them the frosts of autumn, before they have brought forth its fruits.[8]

ILL: Hoary hairs – leading song in Herford. It is well with my soul.

Need each other – do the old need the strength of youth? Do youth need the wisdom of the old? God designed it that way!

Gray hair is a crown of glory;

it is gained by living a godly life. [9] Proverbs 16:31 – Gray hair of wisdom.

Wisdom more precious than gold – ILL: people who win lottery

Jesus is wisdom – right hand of the Father.

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. James 1:5

In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians 2:3

How much better to get wisdom than gold,

and good judgment than silver! Proverbs 16:16

[1] Toy, C. H. (1899). A critical and exegetical commentary on the book of Proverbs (pp. 396–397). New York: C. Scribner’s Sons.

[2] Garrett, D. A. (1993). Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of songs (Vol. 14, p. 179). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

[3] Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Pr 20:29). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

[4] Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 1, p. 398). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.