mh_parser/vol_split/21 - Ecclesiastes/Chapter 12.xml

<div2 id="Ec.xiii" n="xiii" next="Song" prev="Ec.xii" progress="95.02%" title="Chapter XII">
<h2 id="Ec.xiii-p0.1">E C C L E S I A S T E S</h2>
<h3 id="Ec.xiii-p0.2">CHAP. XII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ec.xiii-p1">The wise and penitent preacher is here closing his
sermon; and he closes it, not only lie a good orator, but like a
good preacher, with that which was likely to make the best
impressions and which he wished might be powerful and lasting upon
his hearers. Here is, I. An exhortation to young people to begin
betimes to be religious and not to put it off to old age (<scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.12.1" parsed="|Eccl|12|1|0|0" passage="Ec 12:1">ver. 1</scripRef>), enforced with arguments taken
from the calamities of old age (<scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.12.1-Eccl.12.5" parsed="|Eccl|12|1|12|5" passage="Ec 12:1-5">ver.
1-5</scripRef>) and the great change that death will make upon us,
<scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.12.6-Eccl.12.7" parsed="|Eccl|12|6|12|7" passage="Ec 12:6,7">ver. 6, 7</scripRef>. II. A
repetition of the great truth he had undertaken to prove in this
discourse, the vanity of the world, <scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.12.8" parsed="|Eccl|12|8|0|0" passage="Ec 12:8">ver. 8</scripRef>. III. A confirmation and recommendation
of what he had written in this and his other books, as worthy to be
duly weighed and considered, <scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.12.9" parsed="|Eccl|12|9|0|0" passage="Ec 12:9">ver.
9</scripRef>. IV. The whole matter summed up and concluded, with a
charge to all to be truly religious, in consideration of the
judgment to come, <scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.12.13-Eccl.12.14" parsed="|Eccl|12|13|12|14" passage="Ec 12:13,14">ver. 13,
14</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Ec.xiii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.12" parsed="|Eccl|12|0|0|0" passage="Ec 12" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ec.xiii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.12.1-Eccl.12.7" parsed="|Eccl|12|1|12|7" passage="Ec 12:1-7" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Eccl.12.1-Eccl.12.7">
<h4 id="Ec.xiii-p1.9">The Infirmities of Old Age; The Effects of
Death.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ec.xiii-p2">1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy
youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when
thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;   2 While the sun,
or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the
clouds return after the rain:   3 In the day when the keepers
of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow
themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those
that look out of the windows be darkened,   4 And the doors
shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is
low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the
daughters of music shall be brought low;   5 Also <i>when</i>
they shall be afraid of <i>that which is</i> high, and fears
<i>shall be</i> in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and
the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because
man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:
  6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be
broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel
broken at the cistern.   7 Then shall the dust return to the
earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave
it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xiii-p3">Here is, I. A call to young people to think
of God, and mind their duty to him, when they are young:
<i>Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.</i> This is,
1. The royal preacher's application of his sermon concerning the
vanity of the world and every thing in it. "You that are young
flatter yourselves with expectations of great things from it, but
believe those that have tried it; it yields no solid satisfaction
to a soul; therefore, that you may not be deceived by this vanity,
nor too much disturbed by it, <i>remember your Creator,</i> and so
guard yourselves against the mischiefs that arise from the vanity
of the creature." 2. It is the royal physician's antidote against
the particular diseases of youth, the love of mirth, and the
indulgence of sensual pleasures, the vanity which childhood and
youth are subject to; to prevent and cure this, <i>remember thy
Creator.</i> Here is, (1.) A great duty pressed upon us, to
<i>remember</i> God as our <i>creator,</i> not only to remember
that God is our Creator, that he <i>made us and not we
ourselves,</i> and is therefore our rightful Lord and owner, but we
must engage ourselves to him with the considerations which his
being our Creator lay us under, and pay him the honour and duty
which we owe him as our Creator. <i>Remember thy Creators;</i> the
word is plural, as it is <scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.35.10" parsed="|Job|35|10|0|0" passage="Job 35:10">Job xxxv.
10</scripRef>, <i>Where is God my Makers?</i> For God said, <i>Let
us make man,</i> us, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. (2.) The proper
season for this duty—<i>in the days of thy youth,</i> the <i>days
of thy choice</i> (so some), thy choice days, thy choosing days.
"Begin in the beginning of thy days to remember him from whom thou
hadst thy being, and go on according to that good beginning. Call
him to mind when thou art young, and keep him in mind throughout
all the days of thy youth, and never forget him. Guard thus against
the temptations of youth, and thus improve the advantages of
it."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xiii-p4">II. A reason to enforce this command:
<i>While the evil days come not, and the years of which thou shalt
say I have no pleasure in them.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xiii-p5">1. Do it quickly, (1.) "Before sickness and
death come. Do it while thou livest, for it will be too late to do
it when death has removed thee from this state of trial and
probation to that of recompence and retribution." The days of
sickness and death are <i>the days of evil,</i> terrible to nature,
<i>evil days</i> indeed to those that have forgotten their Creator.
These <i>evil days</i> will <i>come</i> sooner or later; as yet
they <i>come not,</i> for God is <i>long-suffering to us-ward,</i>
and gives us <i>space to repent;</i> the continuing of life is but
the deferring of death, and, while life is continued and death
deferred, it concerns us to prepare, and get the property of death
altered, that we may die comfortably. (2.) Before old age comes,
which, if death prevent not, will come, and they will be <i>years
of which we shall say, We have no pleasure in them,</i>—when we
shall not relish the delights of sense, as Barzillai (<scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.19.35" parsed="|2Sam|19|35|0|0" passage="2Sa 19:35">2 Sam. xix. 35</scripRef>),—when we shall be
loaded with bodily infirmities, old and blind, or old and
lame,—when we shall be taken off from our usefulness, and our
<i>strength</i> shall be <i>labour and sorrow,</i>—when we shall
either have parted with our relations, and all our old friends, or
be afflicted in them and see them weary of us,—when we shall feel
ourselves die by inches. These <i>years draw nigh,</i> when <i>all
that comes</i> will be <i>vanity,</i> the remaining months all
months of vanity, and there will be <i>no pleasure</i> but in the
reflection of a good life on earth and the expectation of a better
life in heaven.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xiii-p6">2. These two arguments he enlarges upon in
the following verses, only inverting the order, and shows,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xiii-p7">(1.) How many are the calamities of old
age, and that if we should live to be old, our days will be such as
we shall <i>have no pleasure in,</i> which is a good reason why we
should return to God, and make our peace with him, <i>in the days
of our youth,</i> and not put it off till we come to be old; for it
will be no thanks to us to leave the pleasures of sin when they
have left us, nor to return to God when need forces us. It is the
greatest absurdity and ingratitude imaginable to give the cream and
flower of our days to the devil, and reserve the bran, and refuse,
and dregs of them for God; this is offering <i>the torn, and the
lame, and the sick for sacrifice;</i> and, besides, old age being
thus clogged with infirmities, it is the greatest folly imaginable
to put off that needful work till then, which requires the best of
our strength, when our faculties are in their prime, and especially
to make the work more difficult by a longer continuance in sin,
and, laying up treasures of guilt in the conscience, to add to the
burdens of age and make them much heavier. If the calamities of age
will be such as are here represented, we shall have need of
something to support and comfort us then, and nothing will be more
effectual to do that than the testimony of our consciences for us
that we begin betimes to remember our Creator and have not since
laid aside the remembrance of him. How can we expect God should
help us when we are old, if we will not serve him when we are
young? See <scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.71.17-Ps.71.18" parsed="|Ps|71|17|71|18" passage="Ps 71:17,18">Ps. lxxi. 17,
18</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xiii-p8">[1.] The decays and infirmities of old age
are here elegantly described in figurative expressions, which have
some difficulty in them to us now, who are not acquainted with the
common phrases and metaphors used in Solomon's age and language;
but the general scope is plain—to show how uncomfortable,
generally, the days of old age are. <i>First,</i> Then <i>the
sun</i> and <i>the light</i> of it, <i>the moon</i> and <i>the
stars,</i> and the light which they borrow from it, will <i>be
darkened.</i> They look dim to old people, in consequence of the
decay of their sight; their countenance is clouded, and the beauty
and lustre of it are eclipsed; their intellectual powers and
faculties, which are as lights in the soul, are weakened; their
understanding and memory fail them, and their apprehension is not
so quick nor their fancy so lively as it has been; the days of
their mirth are over (light is often put for joy and prosperity)
and they have not the pleasure either of the converse of the day or
the repose of the night, for both <i>the sun</i> and <i>the
moon</i> are darkened to them. <i>Secondly,</i> Then <i>the clouds
return after the rain;</i> as, when the weather is disposed to wet,
no sooner has one cloud blown over than another succeeds it, so it
is with old people, when they have got free from one pain or
ailment, they are seized with another, so that their distempers are
<i>like a continual dropping in a very rainy day.</i> The end of
one trouble is, in this world, but the beginning of another, and
deep calls unto deep. Old people are often afflicted with
defluxions of rheum, like soaking rain, after which still more
clouds return, feeding the humour, so that it is continually
grievous, and therein the body, as it were, melts away.
<i>Thirdly,</i> Then <i>the keepers of the house tremble.</i> The
head, which is as the watch-tower, shakes, and the arms and hands,
which are ready for the preservation of the body, shake too, and
grow feeble, upon every sudden approach and attack of danger. That
vigour of the animal spirits which used to be exerted for
self-defence fails and cannot do its office; old people are easily
dispirited and discouraged. <i>Fourthly,</i> Then <i>the strong men
shall bow themselves;</i> the legs and thighs, which used to
support the body, and bear its weight, bend, and cannot serve for
travelling as they have done, but are soon tired. Old men that have
been in their time <i>strong men</i> become weak and stoop for
<i>age,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.8.4" parsed="|Zech|8|4|0|0" passage="Zec 8:4">Zech. viii. 4</scripRef>.
<i>God takes no pleasure in the legs of a man</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.147.10" parsed="|Ps|147|10|0|0" passage="Ps 147:10">Ps. cxlvii. 10</scripRef>), for their strength
will soon fail; but <i>in the Lord Jehovah there is everlasting
strength;</i> he has everlasting arms. <i>Fifthly,</i> Then the
<i>grinders cease because they are few;</i> the teeth, with which
we grind our meat and prepare it for concoction, cease to do their
part, <i>because they are few.</i> They are rotted and broken, and
perhaps have been drawn because they ached. Some old people have
lost all their teeth, and others have but few left; and this
infirmity is the more considerable because the meat, not being well
chewed, for want of teeth, is not well digested, which has as much
influence as any thing upon the other decays of age. <i>Sixthly,
Those that look out of the windows</i> are <i>darkened;</i> the
eyes wax dim, as Isaac's (<scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.27.1" parsed="|Gen|27|1|0|0" passage="Ge 27:1">Gen. xxvii.
1</scripRef>), and Ahijah's, <scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.14.4" parsed="|1Kgs|14|4|0|0" passage="1Ki 14:4">1 Kings
xiv. 4</scripRef>. Moses was a rare instance of one who, when 120
years old, had good eye-sight, but ordinarily the sight decays in
old people as soon as any thing, and it is a mercy to them that art
helps nature with spectacles. We have need to improve our sight
well while we have it, because the light of the eyes may be gone
before the light of life. <i>Seventhly, The doors are shut in the
streets.</i> Old people keep within doors, and care not for going
abroad to entertainments. The lips, the doors of the mouth, are
shut in eating, because the teeth are gone and <i>the sound of the
grinding</i> with them <i>is low,</i> so that they have not that
command of their meat in their mouths which they used to have; they
cannot digest their meat, and therefore little grist is brought to
the mill. <i>Eightly,</i> Old people <i>rise up at the voice of the
bird.</i> They have no sound sleep as young people have, but a
little thing disturbs them, even the chirping of a bird; they
cannot rest for coughing, and therefore rise up at cock-crowing, as
soon as any body is stirring; or they are apt to be jealous, and
timorous, and full of care, which breaks their sleep and makes them
rise early; or they are apt to be superstitious, and <i>rise up</i>
as in a fright, <i>at those voices of birds,</i> as of ravens, or
screech-owls, which soothsayers call ominous. <i>Ninthly,</i> With
them <i>all the daughters of music</i> are <i>brought low.</i> They
have neither voice nor ear, can neither sing themselves nor take
any pleasure, as Solomon had done in the days of his youth, in
<i>singing men, and singing women, and musical instruments,</i>
<scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.8" parsed="|Eccl|2|8|0|0" passage="Ec 2:8"><i>ch.</i> ii. 8</scripRef>. Old people
grow hard of hearing, and unapt to distinguish sounds and voices.
<i>Tenthly,</i> They are <i>afraid of that which is high,</i>
afraid to go to the top of any high place, either because, for want
of breath, they cannot reach it, or, their heads being giddy or
their legs failing them, they dare not venture to it, or they
frighten themselves with fancying that <i>that which is high</i>
will fall upon them. <i>Fear</i> is <i>in the way;</i> they can
neither ride nor walk with their former boldness, but are afraid of
every thing that lies in their way, lest it throw them down.
<i>Eleventhly, The almond-tree flourishes.</i> The old man's hair
has grown white, so that his head looks like an almond-tree in the
blossom. The almond-tree blossoms before any other tree, and
therefore fitly shows what haste old age makes in seizing upon men;
it prevents their expectations and comes faster upon them than they
thought of. Gray hairs are here and there upon them, and they
perceive it not. <i>Twelfthly, The grasshopper is a burden and
desire fails.</i> Old men can bear nothing; the lightest thing sits
heavily upon them, both on their bodies and on their minds, a
little thing sinks and breaks them. Perhaps <i>the grasshopper</i>
was some food that was looked upon to be very light of digestion
(John Baptist's meat <i>was locusts</i>), but even that lies
heavily upon an old man's stomach, and therefore <i>desire
fails,</i> he has no appetite to his meat, neither shall he
<i>regard the desire of woman,</i> as that king, <scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p8.6" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.37" parsed="|Dan|11|37|0|0" passage="Da 11:37">Dan. xi. 37</scripRef>. Old men become mindless and
listless, and the pleasures of sense are to them tasteless and
sapless.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xiii-p9">[2.] It is probable that Solomon wrote this
when he was himself old, and could speak feelingly of the
infirmities of age, which perhaps grew the faster upon him for the
indulgence he had given himself in sensual pleasures. Some old
people bear up better than others under the decays of age, but,
more or less, the days of old age are and will be <i>evil days</i>
and of little pleasure. Great care therefore should be taken to pay
respect and honour to old people, that they may have something to
balance these grievances and nothing may be done to add to them.
And all this, put together, makes up a good reason why we should
<i>remember our Creator in the days of our youth,</i> that he may
remember us with favour when these <i>evil days come,</i> and his
comforts may delight our souls when the delights of sense are in a
manner worn off.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xiii-p10">(2.) He shows how great a change death will
make with us, which will be either the prevention or the period of
the miseries of old age. Nothing else will keep them off, nor any
thing else cure them. "Therefore <i>remember thy Creator in the
days of thy youth,</i> because death is certainly before thee,
perhaps it is very near thee, and it is a serious thing to die, and
thou shouldst feel concerned with the utmost care and diligence to
prepare for it." [1.] Death will fix us in an unchangeable state:
<i>Man</i> shall then <i>go to his long home,</i> and all these
infirmities and decays of age are harbingers of and advances
towards that awful remove. At death <i>man goes</i> from this world
and all the employments and enjoyments of it. He has gone for good
and all, as to his present state. He has gone <i>home,</i> for here
he was a stranger and pilgrim; both soul and body go to the place
whence they came, <scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.12.7" parsed="|Eccl|12|7|0|0" passage="Ec 12:7"><i>v.</i>
7</scripRef>. He has gone to his rest, to the place where he is to
fix. He has gone <i>to his home, to the house of his world</i> (so
some), for this world is not his. He has gone <i>to his long
home,</i> for the days of his lying in the grave will be many. He
has gone <i>to his house of eternity,</i> not only to his house
whence he shall never return to this world, but to the house where
he must be for ever. This should make us willing to die, that, at
death, we must <i>go home;</i> and why should we not long to go to
our Father's house? And this should quicken us to get ready to die,
that we must then go to our <i>long home,</i> to an <i>everlasting
habitation.</i> [2.] Death will be an occasion of sorrow to our
friends that love us. When <i>man goes to his long home the
mourners go about the streets</i>—the real mourners, and those, as
now with us, distinguished by their habits as they go along the
streets,—the mourners for ceremony, that were hired to weep for
the dead, both to express and to excite the real mourning. When we
die we not only remove to a melancholy house before us, but we
leave a melancholy house behind us. Tears are a tribute due to the
dead, and this, among other circumstances, makes it a serious thing
to die. But in vain do we <i>go to the house of mourning,</i> and
see <i>the mourners go about the streets,</i> if it do not help to
make us serious and pious mourners in the closet. [3.] Death will
dissolve the frame of nature and take down the earthly house of
this tabernacle, which is elegantly described, <scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.12.6" parsed="|Eccl|12|6|0|0" passage="Ec 12:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. Then shall <i>the silver
cord,</i> by which soul and body were wonderfully fastened
together, <i>be loosed,</i> that sacred knot untied, and those old
friends be forced to part; then shall <i>the golden bowl,</i> which
held the waters of life for us, <i>be broken;</i> then shall <i>the
pitcher</i> with which we used to fetch up water, for the constant
support of life and the repair of its decays, <i>be broken,</i>
even <i>at the fountain,</i> so that it can fetch up no more; and
<i>the wheel</i> (all those organs that serve for the collecting
and distributing of nourishment) shall be <i>broken,</i> and
disabled to do their office any more. The body shall become like a
watch when the spring is broken, the motion of all the wheels is
stopped and they all stand still; the machine is taken to pieces;
the heart beats no more, nor does the blood circulate. Some apply
this to the ornaments and utensils of life; rich people must, at
death, leave behind them their clothing and furniture of
<i>silver</i> and <i>gold,</i> and poor people their earthen
<i>pitchers,</i> and the drawers of water will have their <i>wheel
broken.</i> [4.] Death will resolve us into our first principles,
<scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.12.7" parsed="|Eccl|12|7|0|0" passage="Ec 12:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. Man is a
strange sort of creature, a ray of heaven united to a clod of
earth; at death these are separated, and each goes to the place
whence it came. <i>First,</i> The body, that clod of clay,
<i>returns to</i> its own <i>earth.</i> It is made of <i>the
earth;</i> Adam's body was so, and we are of the same mould; it is
a house of clay. At death it is laid in <i>the earth,</i> and in a
little time will be resolved into earth, not to be distinguished
from common earth, according to the sentence (<scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.3.19" parsed="|Gen|3|19|0|0" passage="Ge 3:19">Gen. iii. 19</scripRef>), <i>Dust thou art and</i>
therefore <i>to dust thou shalt return.</i> Let us not therefore
indulge the appetites of the body, nor pamper it (it will be worms'
meat shortly), nor let <i>sin reign in our mortal bodies,</i> for
they are mortal, <scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p10.5" osisRef="Bible:Rom.6.12" parsed="|Rom|6|12|0|0" passage="Ro 6:12">Rom. vi.
12</scripRef>. <i>Secondly,</i> The soul, that beam of light,
<i>returns to</i> that <i>God</i> who, when he <i>made man of the
dust of the ground, breathed into him the breath of life,</i> to
make him <i>a living soul</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p10.6" osisRef="Bible:Gen.2.7" parsed="|Gen|2|7|0|0" passage="Ge 2:7">Gen. ii.
7</scripRef>), and forms the spirit of every man within him. When
the fire consumes the wood the flame ascends, and the ashes
<i>return to the earth</i> out of which the wood grew. The soul
does not die with the body; it is <i>redeemed from the power of the
grave</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p10.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.49.15" parsed="|Ps|49|15|0|0" passage="Ps 49:15">Ps. xlix. 15</scripRef>);
it can subsist without it and will in a state of separation from
it, as the candle burns, and burns brighter, when it is taken out
of the dark lantern. It removes to the world of spirits, to which
it is allied. It goes <i>to God</i> as a Judge, to give account of
itself, and to be lodged either with <i>the spirits in prison</i>
(<scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p10.8" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.3.19" parsed="|1Pet|3|19|0|0" passage="1Pe 3:19">1 Pet. iii. 19</scripRef>) or with
<i>the spirits in paradise</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p10.9" osisRef="Bible:Luke.23.43" parsed="|Luke|23|43|0|0" passage="Lu 23:43">Luke
xxiii. 43</scripRef>), according to what was done in the body. This
makes death terrible to the wicked, whose souls go to God as an
avenger, and comfortable to the godly, whose souls go to God as a
Father, into whose hands they cheerfully commit them, through a
Mediator, out of whom sinners may justly dread to think of going
<i>to God.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Ec.xiii-p10.10" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.12.8-Eccl.12.12" parsed="|Eccl|12|8|12|12" passage="Ec 12:8-12" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Eccl.12.8-Eccl.12.12">
<h4 id="Ec.xiii-p10.11">The Conclusion of the Whole.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ec.xiii-p11">8 Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all
<i>is</i> vanity.   9 And moreover, because the preacher was
wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed,
and sought out, <i>and</i> set in order many proverbs.   10
The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and <i>that which
was</i> written <i>was</i> upright, <i>even</i> words of truth.
  11 The words of the wise <i>are</i> as goads, and as nails
fastened <i>by</i> the masters of assemblies, <i>which</i> are
given from one shepherd.   12 And further, by these, my son,
be admonished: of making many books <i>there is</i> no end; and
much study <i>is</i> a weariness of the flesh.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xiii-p12">Solomon is here drawing towards a close,
and is loth to part till he has gained his point, and prevailed
with his hearers, with his readers, to seek for that satisfaction
in God only and in their duty to him which they can never find in
the creature.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xiii-p13">I. He repeats his text (<scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.12.8" parsed="|Eccl|12|8|0|0" passage="Ec 12:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>), 1. As that which he had fully
demonstrated the truth of, and so made good his undertaking in this
sermon, wherein he had kept closely to his text, and both his
reasons and his application were to the purpose. 2. As that which
he desired to inculcate both upon others and upon himself, to have
it ready, and to make use of it upon all occasions. We see it daily
proved; let it therefore be daily improved: <i>Vanity of vanities,
all is vanity.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xiii-p14">II. He recommends what he had written upon
this subject by divine direction and inspiration to our serious
consideration. The words of this book are faithful, and well worthy
our acceptance, for,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xiii-p15">1. They are the words of one that was a
convert, a penitent, that could speak by dear-bought experience of
the vanity of the world and the folly of expecting great things
from it. He was <i>Coheleth,</i> one gathered in from his
wanderings and gathered home to that God from whom he had revolted.
<i>Vanity of vanities, saith the</i> penitent. All true penitents
are convinced of the vanity of the world, for they find it can do
nothing to ease them of the burden of sin, which they complain
of.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xiii-p16">2. They are the words of one that was wise,
wiser than any, endued with extraordinary measures of wisdom,
famous for it among his neighbours, who all sought unto him <i>to
hear his wisdom,</i> and therefore a competent judge of this
matter, not only wise as a prince, but wise as a preacher—and
preachers have need of wisdom to win souls.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xiii-p17">3. He was one that made it his business to
do good, and to use wisdom aright. <i>Because</i> he <i>was</i>
himself <i>wise,</i> but knew he had not his wisdom for himself,
any more than he had it from himself, <i>he still taught the
people</i> that <i>knowledge</i> which he had found useful to
himself, and hoped might be so to them too. It is the interest of
princes to have their people well taught in religion, and no
disparagement to them to teach them themselves <i>the good
knowledge of the Lord,</i> but their duty to encourage those whose
office it is to teach them and to speak comfortably to them,
<scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.30.22" parsed="|2Chr|30|22|0|0" passage="2Ch 30:22">2 Chron. xxx. 22</scripRef>. Let not
the people, the common people, be despised, no, not by the wisest
and greatest, as either unworthy or incapable of good knowledge:
even those that are well taught have need to be <i>still
taught,</i> that they may grow in knowledge.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xiii-p18">4. He took a great deal of pains and care
to do good, designing to <i>teach the people knowledge.</i> He did
not put them off with any thing that came next to hand, because
they were inferior people, and he a very wise man, but considering
the worth of the souls he preached to and the weight of the subject
he preached on, he <i>gave good heed</i> to what he read and heard
from others, that, having stocked himself well, he might <i>bring
out of his treasury things new and old.</i> He <i>gave good
heed</i> to what he spoke and wrote himself, and was choice and
exact in it; all he did was elaborate. (1.) He chose the most
profitable way of preaching, by proverbs or short sentences, which
would be more easily apprehended and remembered than long and
laboured periods. (2.) He did not content himself with a few
parables, or wise sayings, and repeat them again and again, but he
furnished himself with <i>many proverbs,</i> a great variety of
grave discourses, that he might have something to say on every
occasion. (3.) He did not only give them such observations as were
obvious and trite, but he <i>sought out</i> such as were surprising
and uncommon; he dug into the mines of knowledge, and did not
merely pick up what lay on the surface. (4.) He did not deliver his
heads and observations at random, as they came to mind, but
methodized them, and <i>set them in order</i> that they might
appear in more strength and lustre.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xiii-p19">5. He put what he had to say in such a
dress as he thought would be most pleasing: <i>He sought to find
out acceptable words,</i> words of delight (<scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.12.10" parsed="|Eccl|12|10|0|0" passage="Ec 12:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>); he took care that good matter
might not be spoiled by a bad style, and by the ungratefulness and
incongruity of the expression. Ministers should study, not for the
big words, nor the fine words, but <i>acceptable words,</i> such as
are likely to please men for their good, to edification, <scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.10.33" parsed="|1Cor|10|33|0|0" passage="1Co 10:33">1 Cor. x. 33</scripRef>. Those that would win
souls must contrive how to win upon them with <i>words fitly
spoken.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xiii-p20">6. That which he wrote for our instruction
is of unquestionable certainty, and what we may rely upon: <i>That
which was written was upright</i> and sincere, according to the
real sentiments of the penman, even <i>words of truth,</i> the
exact representation of the thing as it is. Those are sure not to
miss their way who are guided by these words. What good will
<i>acceptable words</i> do us if they be not <i>upright and words
of truth?</i> Most are for smooth things, that flatter them, rather
than right things, that direct them (<scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.10" parsed="|Isa|30|10|0|0" passage="Isa 30:10">Isa. xxx. 10</scripRef>), but to those that understand
themselves, and their own interest, <i>words of truth</i> will
always be <i>acceptable words.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xiii-p21">7. That which he and other holy men wrote
will be of great use and advantage to us, especially being
inculcated upon us by the exposition of it, <scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.12.11" parsed="|Eccl|12|11|0|0" passage="Ec 12:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. Here observe, (1.) A double
benefit accruing to us from divine truths if duly applied and
improved; they are <i>profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, and instruction in righteousness.</i> They are of use,
[1.] To excite us to our duty. They are as goads to the ox that
draws the plough, putting him forward when he is dull and
quickening him, to amend his pace. The truths of God <i>prick men
to the heart</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.2.37" parsed="|Acts|2|37|0|0" passage="Ac 2:37">Acts ii.
37</scripRef>) and put them upon bethinking themselves, when they
trifle and grow remiss, and exerting themselves with more vigour in
their work. While our good affections are so apt as they are to
grow flat and cool, we have need of these <i>goads.</i> [2.] To
engage us to persevere in our duty. They are <i>as nails</i> to
those that are wavering and inconstant, to fix them to that which
is good. They are <i>as goads</i> to such as are dull and draw
back, and <i>nails</i> to such as are desultory and draw aside,
means to establish the heart and confirm good resolutions, that we
may not sit loose to our duty, nor even be taken off from it, but
that what good there is in us may be <i>as a nail fastened in a
sure place,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p21.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezra.9.8" parsed="|Ezra|9|8|0|0" passage="Ezr 9:8">Ezra ix. 8</scripRef>.
(2.) A double way of communicating divine truths, in order to those
benefits:—[1.] By the scriptures, as the standing rule, the
<i>words of the wise,</i> that is, of the prophets, who are called
<i>wise men,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p21.4" osisRef="Bible:Matt.23.34" parsed="|Matt|23|34|0|0" passage="Mt 23:34">Matt. xxiii.
34</scripRef>. These we have in black and white, and may have
recourse to them at any time, and make use of them <i>as goads and
as nails.</i> By them we may teach ourselves; let them but come
with pungency and power to the soul, let the impressions of them be
deep and durable, and the will <i>make us wise to salvation.</i>
[2.] By the ministry. To make the <i>words of the wise</i> more
profitable to us, it is appointed that they should be impressed and
fastened by the <i>masters of assemblies.</i> Solemn assemblies for
religious worship are an ancient divine institution, intended for
the honour of God and the edification of his church, and are not
only serviceable, but necessary, to those ends. There must be
masters of these assemblies, who are Christ's ministers, and as
such are to preside in them, to be God's mouth to the people and
theirs to God. Their business is to fasten the <i>words of the
wise,</i> and drive them as <i>nails</i> to the head, in order to
which the word of God is likewise as <i>a hammer,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p21.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.23.29" parsed="|Jer|23|29|0|0" passage="Jer 23:29">Jer. xxiii. 29</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xiii-p22">8. That which is written, and thus
recommended to us, is of divine origin. Though it comes to us
through various hands (many <i>wise men,</i> and many <i>masters of
assemblies</i>), yet it is <i>given by one</i> and the same
<i>shepherd,</i> the great <i>shepherd of Israel, that leads Joseph
like a flock,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.80.1" parsed="|Ps|80|1|0|0" passage="Ps 80:1">Ps. lxxx.
1</scripRef>. God is that one Shepherd, whose good Spirit indited
the scriptures, and assists the <i>masters of the assemblies</i> in
opening and applying the scriptures. <i>These words of the wise</i>
are the true sayings of God, on which we may rest our souls. From
that one Shepherd all ministers must receive what they deliver, and
speak according to the light of the written word.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xiii-p23">9. The sacred inspired writings, if we will
but make use of them, are sufficient to guide us in the way of true
happiness, and we need not, in the pursuit of that, to fatigue
ourselves with the search of other writings (<scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.12.12" parsed="|Eccl|12|12|0|0" passage="Ec 12:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>): "<i>And further,</i> nothing
now remains but to tell thee that that <i>of making many books
there is no end,</i>" that is, (1.) Of <i>writing</i> many books.
"If what I have written, serve not to convince thee of the vanity
of the world, and the necessity of being religious, neither wouldst
thou be convinced if I should write ever so much." If the end be
not attained in the use of those books of scripture which God has
blessed us with, neither should we obtain the end, if we had twice
as many more; nay, if we had so many that the whole world could not
contain them (<scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:John.21.25" parsed="|John|21|25|0|0" passage="Joh 21:25">John xxi.
25</scripRef>), and much study of them would but confound us, and
would rather be <i>a weariness to the flesh</i> than any advantage
to the soul. We have as much as God saw fit to give us, saw fit for
us, and saw us fit for. Much less can it be expected that those who
will not by these be admonished should be wrought upon by other
writings. Let men write ever so many books for the conduct of human
life, write till they have tired themselves with much study, they
cannot give better instructions than those we have from the word of
God. Or, (2.) Of <i>buying</i> many books, making ourselves master
of them, and masters of what is in them, by much study; still the
desire of learning would be unsatisfied. It will give a man indeed
the best entertainment and the best accomplishment this world can
afford him; but if we be not by these <i>admonished</i> of the
vanity of the world, and human learning, among other things, and
its insufficiency to make us happy without true piety, alas! there
is no end of it, nor real benefit by it; it will weary the body,
but never give the soul any true satisfaction. The great Mr. Selden
subscribed to this when he owned that in all the books he had read
he never found that on which he could rest his soul, but in the
holy scripture, especially <scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p23.3" osisRef="Bible:Titus.2.11-Titus.2.12" parsed="|Titus|2|11|2|12" passage="Tit 2:11,12">Tit. ii.
11, 12</scripRef>. By these therefore let us be admonished.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ec.xiii-p23.4" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.12.13-Eccl.12.14" parsed="|Eccl|12|13|12|14" passage="Ec 12:13-14" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Eccl.12.13-Eccl.12.14">
<h4 id="Ec.xiii-p23.5">The Conclusion of the Whole.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ec.xiii-p24">13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole
matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this <i>is</i> the
whole <i>duty</i> of man.   14 For God shall bring every work
into judgment, with every secret thing, whether <i>it be</i> good,
or whether <i>it be</i> evil.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xiii-p25">The great enquiry which Solomon prosecutes
in this book is, <i>What is that good which the sons of men should
do?</i> <scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.3" parsed="|Eccl|2|3|0|0" passage="Ec 2:3"><i>ch.</i> ii. 3</scripRef>.
What is the true way to true happiness, the certain means to attain
our great end? He had in vain sought it among those things which
most men are eager in pursuit of, but here, at length, he has found
it, by the help of that discovery which God anciently made to man
(<scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p25.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.28" parsed="|Job|28|28|0|0" passage="Job 28:28">Job xxviii. 28</scripRef>), that
serious godliness is the only way to true happiness: <i>Let us hear
the conclusion of the whole matter,</i> the return entered upon the
writ of enquiry, the result of this diligent search; you shall have
all I have been driving at in two words. He does not say, <i>Do you
hear it,</i> but <i>Let us hear it;</i> for preachers must
themselves be hearers of that word which they preach to others,
must hear it as from God; those are teachers by the halves who
teach others and not themselves, <scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p25.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.2.21" parsed="|Rom|2|21|0|0" passage="Ro 2:21">Rom.
ii. 21</scripRef>. Every word of God is pure and precious, but some
words are worthy of more special remark, as this; the Masorites
begin it with a capital letter, as that <scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p25.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.6.4" parsed="|Deut|6|4|0|0" passage="De 6:4">Deut. vi. 4</scripRef>. Solomon himself puts a <i>nota
bene</i> before it, demanding attention in these words, <i>Let us
hear the conclusion of the whole matter.</i> Observe here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xiii-p26">I. The summary of religion. Setting aside
all matters of doubtful disputation, to be religious is to <i>fear
God and keep his commandments.</i> 1. The root of religion is fear
of God reigning in the heart, and a reverence of his majesty, a
deference to his authority, and a dread of his wrath. <i>Fear
God,</i> that is, worship God, give him the honour due to his name,
in all the instances of true devotion, inward and outward. See
<scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p26.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.14.7" parsed="|Rev|14|7|0|0" passage="Re 14:7">Rev. xiv. 7</scripRef>. 2. The rule of
religion is the law of God revealed in the scriptures. Our fear
towards God must be taught by his commandments (<scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p26.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.29.13" parsed="|Isa|29|13|0|0" passage="Isa 29:13">Isa. xxix. 13</scripRef>), and those we must keep and
carefully observe. Wherever the fear of God is uppermost in the
heart, there will be <i>a respect to all his commandments</i> and
care to keep them. In vain do we pretend to fear God if we do not
make conscience of our duty to him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xiii-p27">II. The vast importance of it: <i>This is
the whole of man;</i> it is all his business and all his
blessedness; our whole duty is summed up in this and our whole
comfort is bound up in this. It is the concern of every man, and
ought to be his chief and continual care; it is the common concern
of all men, of their whole time. It is nothing to a man whether he
be rich or poor, high or low, but it is the main matter, it is all
in all to a man, to fear God and do as he bids him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xiii-p28">III. A powerful inducement to this,
<scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p28.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.12.14" parsed="|Eccl|12|14|0|0" passage="Ec 12:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. We shall see
of what vast consequence it is to us that we be religious if we
consider the account we must every one of us shortly give of
himself to God; thence he argued against a voluptuous and vicious
life (<scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p28.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.11.9" parsed="|Eccl|11|9|0|0" passage="Ec 11:9"><i>ch.</i> xi. 9</scripRef>), and
here for a religious life: <i>God shall bring every work into
judgment.</i> Note, 1. There is a judgment to come, in which every
man's eternal state will be finally determined. 2. God himself will
be the Judge, God-man will, not only because he has a right to
judge, but because he is perfectly fit for it, infinitely wise and
just. 3. <i>Every work</i> will then be <i>brought into
judgment,</i> will be enquired into and called over again. It will
be a day to <i>bring to remembrance every thing done in the
body.</i> 4. The great thing to be then judged of concerning
<i>every work</i> is whether it be good or evil, conformable to the
will of God or a violation of it. 5. Even <i>secret things,</i>
both good and evil, will be brought to light, and brought to
account, in the judgment of the great day (<scripRef id="Ec.xiii-p28.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.2.16" parsed="|Rom|2|16|0|0" passage="Ro 2:16">Rom. ii. 16</scripRef>); there is no good work, no bad
work, hid, but shall then be made manifest. 6. In consideration of
the judgment to come, and the strictness of that judgment, it
highly concerns us now to be very strict in our walking with God,
that we may <i>give up our account with joy.</i></p>
</div></div2>