by Gloria Copeland
“With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.”
(Psalm 91:16)
The Bible has a lot to say about God’s will concerning our life here on the earth—how we are to live and for how long. God has a good, long life planned for us. But without that revelation, when we reach 60 or 70, we may start winding down and getting ready to go.
God never meant for us to die young. It’s His will for us to live out the full number of our days. Traditionally, Psalm 90:10 has been quoted in regard to man’s life expectancy. It says: “The days of our years are threescore years and ten (seventy years)—or even, if by reason of strength, fourscore years (eighty years)…” (The Amplified Bible). But what most people don’t realize is that reading this verse alone is taking it out of context. A footnote to Psalm 90 in The Amplified Bible explains:
This psalm is credited to Moses, who is interceding with God to remove the curse which made it necessary for every Israelite over twenty years of age (when they rebelled against God at Kadesh-barnea) to die before reaching the promised land (Num. 14:26-35). Moses says most of them are dying at seventy years of age. This number has often been mistaken as a set span of life for all mankind. It was not intended to refer to anyone except those Israelites under the curse during that particular forty years. Seventy years never has been the average span of life for humanity. When Jacob, the father of the twelve tribes, had reached 130 years (Gen. 47:9), he complained that he had not attained to the years of his immediate ancestors. In fact, Moses himself lived to be 120 years old, Aaron 123, Miriam several years older, and Joshua 110 years of age. Note as well that in the Millennium a person dying at 100 will still be thought a child (Isa. 65:20).
Here we learn that the Israelites who died at 70 were living under the curse caused by disobedience. According to Galatians 3:13, Jesus has redeemed us from the curse being made a curse for us. If we have made Jesus our Lord, freedom from all the conditions the curse causes belongs to us—that includes sickness, destruction and early death.
So don’t have the mind-set that you should only live to be 70. What God actually said about man’s life span is found in Genesis 6:3: “And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.”
Think about it. That means at 60 you are just middle-aged. That’s not the time to start slowing down. Instead stand on this scripture and others like Psalm 103:2-5: “Bless the Lord…who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction…who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” Be determined to enjoy to the fullest the many productive years the Lord has promised you.
#1 – Live Long…by the Book
Like every other blessing, there are conditions to living a long life. Psalm 91 is a picture of the person who receives this blessing.
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.
The person this is talking about loves God and stays connected to Him. He doesn’t fear, but trusts the Lord to be his refuge and says so. The truth of God’s Word is his shield and buckler. He dwells or abides under the shadow of the Almighty in obedience, and God shows him His salvation. The word salvation means “material and temporal deliverance from danger and apprehension, preservation, pardon, restoration, healing, wholeness and soundness.”
God will satisfy you with good things, including healing, protection and long life when you are living and abiding in Him.
#2 – Keep Doing God’s Will
For years I heard Kenneth Hagin say you ought to live 70 or 80 years, and if you’re not satisfied, live awhile longer. He proved that to be true. He passed 80 and just kept going until he finished his work.
A commentary on Psalm 90 in the Tehillim says until Moses reached 80, like other men he was growing weaker. But look what happened to him then. “When he reached the age of eighty, Moses received an extraordinary infusion of youthful energy and vitality, because at that time he was chosen to lead the Jewish people out of Egypt, to receive the Torah, and to lead the Jews to the Promised Land. This Divine mission so invigorated him that his health and strength remained undiminished until the moment of his death.”
Deuteronomy 34:7 says, “And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.”
Just as He did with Moses, God can give you a new assignment at any time. So if you have noticed that you’ve been slowing down because you’re getting a little older, double up on the Word. Let the Word be made spirit and life to you (John 6:63). And get involved with what God is doing. That’s the best way to live a long, productive life.
Acts 1:1-2 in the New Living Translation says, “Jesus began to do and teach until the day he ascended…” That’s my plan too—to do and teach until I ascend! I encourage you to do the same. Live long and live strong—stay well and stay here as long as God has something worthwhile for you to do.
#3 – You Don’t Have to Be Sick
One woman wrote to us and asked, “If I keep getting healed, how am I ever going to die?” The best way for your body to die is for your spirit to just leave. You don’t have to be evicted—forced out by sickness, disease or accident. God can call you out and say, Come home. Come on up here. You can simply pass over from this side to the other side, from earth to heaven. I get excited just thinking about it. Glory to God!
You don’t ever have to be sick. God’s best is for you to live in divine health every day, but He is also eager to heal. John G. Lake said, “Divine healing is the removal by the power of God of the disease that has come upon the body. But divine health is to live day by day, hour by hour in touch with God so that the life of God flows into the body just as the life of God flows into the mind or flows into the spirit.”
You live in divine health by staying in continual contact with the Word of God and the Spirit of God. In fact, the way to be free in every area of life is to attach yourself to God.
It’s your responsibility to stay well and whole. You do that with the Word of God and by resisting the devil. Go to the Bible and find out the truth. Realize that healing belongs to you and stand in faith for it. Rebuke symptoms when they try to come. Say, “No, you’re not coming here, in the Name of Jesus. I’m healed by the stripes of Jesus.”
When the devil tries to crowd your mind with dark thoughts about your life being cut short, rebuke them. Replace those thoughts with the promises of God. Speak the Word out loud in faith. Remember Psalm 91 says the person who makes the Lord his refuge, the one who receives protection and deliverance, has to say so.
#4 – Obey Natural and Spiritual Laws
God didn’t make your physical body to fail. He made your physical body to sustain itself when given the right food and the right conditions. He created your body to stay well and live to be of old age.
And if that’s your goal, you’ll need to determine that. Regardless of what ailments your relatives have had, they don’t need to affect you. Don’t look at your family history. You are born of God. Now you’re part of His family. You can take the Word of God and stop any unwanted, hereditary tendencies in your life.
Now, that doesn’t mean you can eat unhealthy foods all the time and expect to live healed and live long. Most sickness is self-induced by living wrong and eating wrong. There are natural and spiritual laws by which we are to live. It’s our responsibility to eat the right kind of food, exercise, rest—to make choices that will help us stay healthy.
God expects us to obey Him. Scripture tells us over and over to hearken to God’s voice and His Word. Proverbs 4:20-22 says, “My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.” The margin of my Bible indicates the word health can be translated as “medicine.” God’s Word is medicine to your flesh. Not only that, this medicine affects everything in your life. It will cause your faith to rise up and receive.
Get into the Word—it’s essential to your life and health. Spend time there and find out what God is telling you to do. If He instructs you to make changes, know that they will always be for your benefit. Psalm 25:12-13 in The Living Bible says, “Where is the man who fears the Lord? God will teach him how to choose the best. He shall live within God’s circle of blessing….”
When you are obedient to walk in His ways, God surrounds you with blessings—healing, protection, favor, whatever you need.
#5 – Guard Your Heart
If symptoms linger, if our healing doesn’t readily manifest, Ken and I start checking to see if we are walking in love and obeying God. We ask ourselves if we are spending enough time in the Word of God for it to be made life and health to our flesh.
Proverbs 4:23 in The Amplified Bible warns, “Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.” You “keep” your heart by keeping it full of the Word of God. That’s the most important thing you have to do in this life. You can’t live in divine health and keep your faith up without a steady diet of the life force of God, which is the Word of God.
The wisdom of God is written down for us in His Word. Revelation of the Word is precious because it takes care of everything in our life. It causes health and healing to come. It brings happiness, joy and peace—nothing missing, nothing broken. Walking in God’s wisdom is a key to living long and living well. Proverbs 3:13-18 says:
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.
By spending time in the Word of God we can have so much life flowing out of us that sickness and disease can’t even get close to us.
Jesus teaches us that our commandment is to walk in love. We are to love God with all our heart and to love each other. You can’t live long and strong and be in strife, unforgiveness or other disobedience. When that happens the life flow is hindered. Disobedience also comes in the form of wrong words, traditions of men, anger, bitterness, grief, fear, envy and jealousy. All disobedience opens the door to the enemy and stops the life flow. These things can adversely affect our health and our ability to receive from God.
Disobedience opens the door to the effects of the curse in our lives, but obedience releases the blessings of God.
I’m convinced it would be possible to live to be 120 years old by obeying the Word of God. If you ate the way God said to eat and abstained from what He said to abstain from, you’d be well on your way to a strong, healthy body. Add to that a steady diet of the Word of God, allowing the life force of the Word to continually quicken (make alive) your mortal flesh. Then if you were faithful to obey the Word of God in every area of life, I believe you could live an active, productive life of 120 years or more.
When you walk with God, you can walk healed and live long. “And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee…the number of thy days I will fulfil” (Exodus 23:25-26).
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