2/23/03 E-7 INI Eccl. 12:1-7

In the name of Jesus, Who came that we might have life and that we might live our lives for Him,

Young King Solomon had everything a man could want in this world -- great wisdom, a family, riches, honor, power -- Solomon had it all. But Solomon also acted foolishly and sinfully. He gathered and maintained a large harem of women, many of them foreigners who turned his heart away from the true God.

A much older and wiser King Solomon wrote the divinely inspired words of our text near the end of Ecclesiastes. The words may sound strange to our ears. But the old "preacher" gives us the necessary clue to what his words mean when he says in v. 1: Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, 'I find no pleasure in them.'"

Solomon's advice is simply this:

Sooner or later we all become aware of how the aging process limits our activities in life. When the children of the world think of the limitations that growing old forces upon them, they plan the days of their lives around pleasure and self-service. What about us? Solomon wants Christians to consider the limits of old age and death, so that we will remember to serve our Creator with the strength of our youth.

In the verses of our text Solomon makes use of poetic allegories to make his point. For example: The sun, the light, the moon, and the stars, of v. 2 represent the light and life within the young believer. When we are young we are easily stopped by the problems of this life. With age this light darkens. Youthful zest fades from the face of the aged man. "And clouds return after the rain" -- days of trouble and gloomy sorrow often come one after the other in old age, like "clouds returning after the rain." In Psalm 90 Moses tells us what we already know: those who live to be 80 years old or more find that their life is generally "labor and sorrow."

In old age the keepers of the house tremble," Solomon says in v. 3. The hands of a man are the "keepers of his house." -- They bring what is good into the house and keep what is not good away from the house. As a person ages, his hands become less strong and steady -- they begin to shake and tremble.

And what about old legs? Our legs are "the strong men that stoop." The legs possess the largest and strongest muscles of the body. But in old age they become weakened, bowed, and crippled.

When a man ages, his "grinders cease because they are few." He begins to lose his teeth, and cannot grind his food as he once did. Man sees through the "windows" of his eyes. But as we get older these eyes let in less and less light, the lenses become clouded and our vision dims.

V. 4 continues the description of the aged: "The doors are shut in the street when the sound of grinding fades." Solomon describes the toothless man as others see him on the street or in public. The toothless man often has lips drawn in and mouth shut because of the absence of teeth.

In old age hearing is also affected: "When men rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint." When a person loses his hearing, he is startled by little noises, like the songs of birds. He can be irritated by the most pleasant sounds and has trouble distinguishing songs from noise!

More signs of aging are described in v. 5. Men become "afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets." Perhaps some of you remember that when you were young you could ride a roller coaster. I can remember climbing 60 foot silos in Iowa without fear of heights. But now the smallest hill can seem like a mountain. The slightest grade may seem too steep! Many fears break down the aging person. Gone is the boldness and fearlessness of youth.

Now the "almond tree" is "blossomed." The white blossoms of the almond tree picture the white hairs of the elderly man and woman. At this point in his life man often feels as weak as a "grasshopper," and finally he loses interest in almost everything. "Then man goes to his eternal home" and those he leaves behind mourn his passing.

V. 6 pictures the moment of death in general. The wise old Christian writes: "Remember your Creator before the silver cord is severed, or the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, or the wheel broken at the well." The "silver cord" can only be the spine with its spinal fluid which is called "grey matter." The "gold bowl" is the heard which is supported by the spine.

The second part of the verse deals with the failing of the respiratory system. Imagine a well with a bucket or pitcher which is raised or lowered into the well-spring by the turning of a wheel. The pitcher at the well is the heart of a man which receives and sends forth blood like the pitcher brings water up and down. The wheel represents the breathing organ -- the lung -- which expands and contracts, winds and unwinds itself like a draw-rope by inhaling and exhaling. When the pitcher and the wheel are broken, life ceases, because they represent the heart and the lung within the body or pit of a man.

Now, why this vivid and even gloomy description of aging and death? Because the younger men and women of Solomon's day are no different than they are today -- Those of us who are young, give death little thought! The elderly Christian brothers and sisters among us would tell us the same thing as Solomon does in these verses: "Remember your Creator God in the days of your youth, before the troubles of old age limit your service to Him Who has made you His own for eternity."

Should we who still have the sharp minds of youth and middle-age be careless in our study of Holy Scripture? Should we be lazy in speaking to others about the eternal treasure we have found in Jesus? The days will come when we will have trouble remembering the words of Scripture; we will have trouble speaking clearly to others about their Savior from sin, death, and hell.

Do you young children in the Sunday School and confirmation classes think your good memories will never leave you? You had better prepare yourselves well in your youth for those forgetful days ahead when you will need to remember your Savior's words in order to find grace and strength to get through difficult days, keep yourself from evil and serve Him in your lives.

You men and women who still have strong hands, bodies, and minds, and on whom rests the greatest share of the Savior's work, spread the word before your legs and voices leave you. You men, bring your hearts and minds to the voters' meetings of the church while the Lord can still use your clear-headed Christian thinking to assist the brethren in the work of the church.

Let us all use our hands before they become shaky, and our eyes before they become dim, to serve our Creator-Redeemer God and our fellow man in every way!

When the wisemen saw the star of Jesus, they didn't put off their remembrance of the Lord until they had retired from all worldly pursuits and had nothing better to do. Perhaps they knew, as do all truly wise children of God, that the time was coming when their hearts could not take much exertion, and their eyes would be too dim to follow the star and glorify their King before men.

Listen to these words from C. F. W. Walther, sometimes called the American Luther: "O my young people, God wants our whole life. He desires not the dregs of our old age only, but also the beading wine of our youth. He would have us place upon His altar not only the sear and withered leaves of the autumn of our lives, but also the swelling buds and the fragrant blossoms of the smiling springtime of life. He asks us to be His, not only when we have become bent and broken, unable to enjoy the pleasures of this life any longer, but when we come to the parting of the ways where sin caressingly invites us to enjoy her charms -- even then He would have us renounce sin, place our hand in His, and pledge Him our hearts, saying, "YOU, O Lord, shall be the Master of my young life also. You will I love, You will I serve, unto You shall be my heart beat, and You shall possess it altogether."

Our Creator-Redeemer God remembered us to SAVE US when He ought to have forgotten us to hell! Having received the hope of eternal life because God remembered US with perfect love, and forsook His own Son upon the cross, let us repent of our many failures to remember Him! Lord, grant us your grace that we may serve You with youth's best while we can, before we age and begin our eternal rest. Amen.