Youth

Scripture characterises youth as a time of vigour and strength. It speaks, too, of the pressures and expectations of youth, warns about the temptations facing young people, and instructs the young about what is expected of them.

The vigour of youth

Proverbs 20:29 See also Job 33:25; Psalm 103:5, Psalm 144:12; Song of Solomon 2:3; Ecclesiastes 11:9–10Isaiah 40:30 Even youthful strength and vigour may fail. See also Job 20:11; Psalm 78:31; Amos 8:13

The glory of young men is their strength, and gray hair is the splendor of the old.

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall.

The duties of youth

To remember God

Ecclesiastes 12:1 See also 1 Kings 18:12; Psalm 71:5; Lamentations 3:25–27Psalm 119:9 See also Psalm 71:17; Ezekiel 4:14

Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of adversity come and the years approach of which you will say, “I find no pleasure in them,”

How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to Your word.

To respect the elderly

Leviticus 19:32 See also Job 29:8, Job 32:6; 1 Timothy 5:1; 1 Peter 5:5

You are to rise in the presence of the elderly, honor the aged, and fear your God. I am the LORD.

To honour parents

Exodus 20:12 parallel Deuteronomy 5:16 See also Ephesians 6:2–3; Leviticus 19:3; 1 Timothy 5:4

Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

To obey parents

Proverbs 1:8 See also Proverbs 6:20, Proverbs 23:22; Ephesians 6:1; Colossians 3:20

Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and do not forsake the teaching of your mother.

To remain faithful to one's partner

Proverbs 5:18 See also Proverbs 2:17; Malachi 2:14–15

May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth:

Examples of godly young people

Godly young men

1 Samuel 2:18 Samuel; 1 Samuel 17:33 David, fighting Goliath; 2 Chronicles 24:1–2 parallel 2 Kings 12:1–2 Joash became king at the age of seven; 2 Chronicles 34:1–2 parallel 2 Kings 22:1–2 Josiah became king at the age of eight; Luke 2:42–52 Jesus Christ at the age of twelve; 2 Timothy 1:5 Timothy

Godly young women

Judges 11:36 Jephthah's daughter; Ruth 1:16–17 Ruth; Esther 4:15–16 Esther; Luke 1:38 the virgin Mary; Acts 21:9 Philip's daughters

The promise of youth

Israel's youthful devotion

Jeremiah 2:2 See also Jeremiah 3:4; Ezekiel 16:22, Ezekiel 16:43Hosea 2:14–15 See also Isaiah 54:4, Isaiah 62:5; Ezekiel 16:60

“Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem that this is what the LORD says: ‘I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.

“Therefore, behold, I will allure her and lead her to the wilderness, and speak to her tenderly. There I will give back her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor into a gateway of hope. There she will respond as she did in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt.

Dying young as a sign of judgment

Psalm 89:45 See also Job 36:14; Psalm 78:63; Isaiah 13:12; Jeremiah 9:21 The death of children and young people symbolises loss of hope for the future; Jeremiah 11:22

You have cut short the days of his youth; You have covered him with shame. Selah

Particular pressures of youth

The inexperience of youth

1 Kings 3:7; 1 Chronicles 22:5, 1 Chronicles 29:1; 2 Chronicles 13:7; Jeremiah 1:6; 1 Timothy 4:12

Temptations facing the young

2 Timothy 2:22 See also Proverbs 7:7; Luke 15:13, Luke 15:30; Matthew 19:22 parallels Mark 10:22, Luke 18:23; Titus 2:6

Flee from youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, together with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

Troubles faced from the time of one's youth

2 Samuel 19:7; Psalm 88:15, Psalm 129:1–2

The sins of youth

Psalm 25:7 See also Job 13:26

Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my rebellious acts; remember me according to Your loving devotion, because of Your goodness, O LORD.

Examples of sinful young men

1 Samuel 2:17 the sons of Eli; 1 Samuel 8:2–3 the sons of Samuel; 2 Samuel 15:6 Absalom; 1 Kings 12:8–14 parallel 2 Chronicles 10:8–11 Rehoboam; 2 Kings 21:1–2 parallel 2 Chronicles 33:1–2 Manasseh