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Testimonies for the Church Volume 1
my youth: and hitherto have I declared Thy wondrous works. Now
also when I am old and gray-headed, O God, forsake me not; until
I have showed Thy strength unto this generation, and Thy power to
everyone that is to come.”
Psalm 71:9, 17, 18
. David felt the necessity
of guarding against the evils which attend old age.
It is frequently the case that aged persons are unwilling to realize
and acknowledge that their mental strength is failing. They shorten
their days by taking care which belongs to their children. Satan often
plays upon their imagination and leads them to feel a continual anxiety
in regard to their money. It is their idol, and they hoard it with miserly
care. They will sometimes deprive themselves of many of the comforts
of life, and labor beyond their strength, rather than use the means
which they have. In this way they place themselves in continual want,
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through fear that sometime in the future they shall want. All these fears
originate with Satan. He excites the organs which lead to slavish fears
and jealousies which corrupt nobleness of soul and destroy elevated
thoughts and feelings. Such persons are insane upon the subject of
money. If they would take the position which God would have them,
their last days might be their best and happiest. Those who have
children in whose honesty and judicious management they have reason
to confide, should let their children make them happy. Unless they
do this, Satan will take advantage of their lack of mental strength and
will manage for them. They should lay aside anxiety and burdens,
and occupy their time as happily as they can, and be ripening up for
heaven.
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