Sowing in the Wind, Reaping Under Clouds

Sowing in the Wind, Reaping Under Clouds

(No. 2264)

INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, JULY 10, 1892.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, JULY 3,
1890.

"He that observes the wind shall not sow; and he that regards the
clouds shall not reap." Ecclesiastes 11:4.

SOW when the time comes, whatever wind blows. Reap when the times
comes, whatever clouds are in the sky! There are, however, qualifying
proverbs which must influence our actions. We are not to discard
prudence in the choice of the time for our work. "To everything there
is a season and a time for every purpose under Heaven." It is well to
sow when the weather is propitious. It is wise to "make hay while the
sun shines." Cut your corn when there is the probability of getting it
dry.

But Solomon here is pushing the other side of the matter. He had seen
prudence turn to idleness. He had noticed some people wait for a more
convenient season which never came. He had observed sluggards making
excuses which did not hold water. So he, with a blunt word,
generalizes, in order to make the truth more forcible. Not troubling
about the exceptions to the rule, he states it broadly thus–"Take no
notice of winds or clouds. Go on with your work whatever happens. 'He
that observes the wind shall not sow; and he that regards the clouds
shall not reap.'"

I. The first thought that is suggested by these words is this–NATURAL
DIFFICULTIES MAY BE UNDULY CONSIDERED. A man may observe the wind and
regard the clouds a great deal too much, and so neither sow nor reap.

Note here, first, that in any work this would hinder a man. In any
labor to which we set our hands, if we take too much notice of the
difficulties, we shall be hindered in it. It is very wise to know the
difficulty of your calling, the sorrow which comes with it, the trial
which arises out of it, the temptation connected therewith, but if you
think too much of these things, there is no calling that will be
carried on with any success. Poor farmers, they have a crop of hay and
cannot get it in–they may fret themselves to death if they like–and
never earn a penny for a seven years' fretting! We say of their calling
that it is surrounded with constant trouble. They may lose everything
just at the moment when they are about to gather it in. The seed may
perish under the clods when it is first sown. It is subject to blight
and mildew, and birds and worms–and I know not what besides–and then,
at the last, when the farmer is about to reap the harvest, it may
disappear before the sickle can cut it!

Take the case of the sailor. If he regards winds and clouds, will he
ever be put to sea? Can you give him a promise that the wind will be
favorable in any of his voyages, or that he will reach his desired
haven without a tempest? He that observes the winds and clouds will not
sail–and he that regards the clouds will never cross the mighty deep!
If you turn from the farmer and the sailor, and come to the trader,
what tradesman will do anything if he is always worrying about the
competition and about the difficulties of his trade which is so cut up
that there is no making a living by it? I have heard this, I think,
about every trade–and yet our friends keep on living and some of them
get rich–when they are supposed to be losing money every year! He that
regards the rise and fall of prices and is timid–and will do no
trading because of the changes on the market–will not reap. If you
come to the working man, it is the same as with those I have mentioned,
for there is no calling or occupation that is not surrounded with
difficulties.

In fact, I have formed this judgment from what friends have told
me–that every trade is the worst trade–for I have found somebody in
that particular line who has proved this to a demonstration! I cannot
say that I am an implicit believer in all I hear about this matter.
Still, if I were, this would be the conclusion that I should come to,
that he who observed the circumstances of any trade or calling would
never engage in it at all! He would never sow and he would never reap.
I suppose he would go to bed and sleep all the 24 hours of the day and,
after a while, I am afraid he would find it

become impossible even to do that–and he would learn that to turn,
with the sluggard, like a door on its hinges, is not unalloyed
pleasure, after all!

Well now, dear Friends, if there are these difficulties in connection
with earthly callings and trades, do you expect there will be nothing
of the kind with regard to heavenly things? Do you imagine that, in
sowing the good Seed of the Kingdom and gathering the sheaves into the
garner, you will have no difficulties and disappointments? Do you dream
that when you are bound for Heaven, you are to have smooth sailing and
propitious winds all the voyage? Do you think that, in your heavenly
trading, you will have less trials than the merchant who has only to do
with earthly business? If you do, you make a great mistake! You will
not be likely to enter upon the heavenly calling if you do nothing else
but unduly consider the difficulties surrounding it.

But, next, in the work of liberality this would stop us. This is
Solomon's theme here. "Cast your bread upon the waters." "Give a
portion to seven, and also to eight," and so on. He means, by my text,
that if anybody occupies his mind unduly with the difficulties
connected with liberality, he will do nothing in that line. "He that
observes the wind shall not sow; and he that regards the clouds shall
not reap." "How am I to know," says one, " that the person to whom I
give my money is really deserving? How do I know what he will do with
it? How do I know but what I may be encouraging idleness or begging? By
giving to the man, I may be doing him real injury." Perhaps you are not
asked to give to an individual, but to some great work. Then, if you
regard the clouds, you will begin to say, "How do I know that this work
will be successful, the sending of missionaries to a cultivated people
like the Hindus? Is it likely that they will be converted?"

You will not sow, and you will not reap, if you talk like that! Yet
there are many who do speak in that fashion. There was never an
enterprise started yet but somebody objected to it–and I do not
believe that the best work that Christ, Himself, ever did was beyond
criticism–there were some people who were sure to find some fault with
it. "But," says another, "I have heard that the management at
headquarters is not all it ought to be. I think that there is too much
money spent on the secretary and that there is a great deal lost in
this direction and in that." Well, dear Friend, it goes without saying
that if you managed things, they would be managed perfectly, but, you
see, you cannot do everything and, therefore, you must trust somebody.
I can only say, with regard to societies, agencies, works and missions
of all kinds, "He that observes the wind shall not sow; and he that
regards the clouds shall not reap." If that is what you are
doing–discovering imperfections and difficulties, it will end in
this–you will do nothing at all!

Going a little further, as this is true of common occupations and of
liberality, so it is especially true in the work of serving God. Now,
if I were to consider in my mind nothing but the natural depravity of
man, I would never preach again! To preach the Gospel to sinners is as
foolish a thing as to bid dead men rise out of their graves! But, for
that very reason I do it, because it has pleased God, "by the
foolishness of preaching, to save them that believe"! When I look upon
the alienation from God, the hardness of the human heart, I see that
old Adam is too strong for me–and if I regarded that one cloud of the
Fall, and original sin, and the natural depravity of man, I, for one,
would neither sow nor reap!

I am afraid that there has been a good deal of this, however. Many
preachers have contemplated the ruin of man and they have had so clear
a view of it that they dare not say, "Thus says the Lord, you dry
bones, live!" They are unable to cry, "Dear Master, speak through us
and say, 'Lazarus, come forth!'" Some seem to say, "Go and see if
Lazarus has any kind of feeling of his condition in the grave. If so, I
will call him out, because I believe he can come"–thus putting all the
burden on Lazarus and depending upon Lazarus for it! But we say,
"Though he has been dead four days, and is already becoming corrupt,
that has nothing to do with us. If our Master bids us call him out from
his grave, we can call him out and he will come–not because he can
come by his own power–but because God can make him come, for the day
is now when they that are in their graves shall hear the voice of
God–and they that shall hear and shall live!

But, dear Friends, there are persons to whom we should never go to seek
their salvation if we regarded the winds and the clouds, for they are
peculiarly bad people. You know, from observation, that there are some
persons who are much worse than others–some who are not amenable to
kindness, or any other human treatment. They do not seem to be
terrified by law, or affected by love. We know people who go into a
horrible temper, every now and then, and all the hope we had of them is
blown away like sere leaves in the autumn wind! You know such and you
"fight shy" with them. There are such boys and there are such girls,
full of mischief, levity, or full of malice and bitterness–and you say
to yourself, "I

cannot do anything with them. It is of no use." You are observing the
winds and regarding the clouds! You will not be one of those to whom
Isaiah says, "Blessed are you that sow beside all waters."

Someone may say, "I would not mind the moral condition of the people,
but it is their surroundings that are the trouble. What is the use of
trying to save a man while he lives, as he does, in such a horrible
street, in one room? What is the use of seeking to raise such and such
a woman while she is surrounded, as she is, with such examples? The
very atmosphere seems tainted." Just so, dear Friend–while you observe
the winds and regard the clouds–you will now sow and you will not
reap! You will not attempt the work and, of course, you will not
complete what you do not begin.

So, you know, you can go on making all kinds of excuses for doing
nothing with certain people because you feel or think that they are not
those whom God is likely to bless. I know this to be a common case,
even with very serious and earnest workers for Christ. Let it not be so
with you, dear Friends! But be you one of those who obey the poet's
words–

"Beside all waters sow!

The highway furrows stock!

Drop it where thorns and thistles grow–

Scatter it on the rock."

Let me carry this principle, however, a little further. You may unduly
consider circumstances in reference to the business of your own eternal
life. You may, in that matter, observe the winds, and never sow. You
may regard the clouds and never reap. "I feel," says one, "as if I
never can be saved. There never was such a sinner as I am. My sins are
peculiarly black." Yes, and if you keep on regarding them and do not
remember the Savior and His infinite power to save, you will not sow in
prayer and faith. "Ah, Sir, but you do not know the horrible thoughts I
have, the dark forebodings that cross my mind!" You are correct, dear
Friend, I do not know them. I know what I feel, myself, and I expect
that your feelings are very like my own, but, be what they may, if,
instead of looking to Christ, you are always studying your own
condition, your own withered hopes, your own broken resolutions–then
you will still stay where you are and you will neither sow nor reap.

Beloved Christians, you who have been Believers for years, if you begin
to live by your frames and feelings, you will get into the same
condition. "I do not feel like praying," says one. Then is the time
when you ought to pray most, for you are evidently most in need! But if
you keep observing whether or not you are in the proper frame of mind
for prayer, you will not pray. "I cannot grasp the promises," says
another, "I should like to joy in God and firmly believe in His Word,
but I do not see anything in myself that can minister to my comfort."
Suppose you do not–are you, after all, going to build upon yourself?
Are you trying to find your ground of consolation in your own heart? If
so, you are on the wrong tack! Our hope is not in self, but in
Christ–let us go and sow it. Our hope is in the finished work of
Christ–let us go and reap it, for, if we keep on regarding the winds
and the clouds, we shall neither sow nor reap.

I think it is a great lesson to learn in spiritual things, to believe
in Christ and His finished salvation, quite as much as when you are
down as when you are up, for Christ is not more Christ on the top of
the mountain than He is in the bottom of the valley. And He is no less
Christ in the storm at midnight than He is in the sunshine of the day.
Do not begin to measure your safety by your comfort–but measure it by
the eternal Word of God which you have believed and which you know to
be true–and on which you rest, for still here, within the little world
of our bosom, "he that observes the wind shall not sow; and he that
regards the clouds shall not reap." We need to get out of that idea
altogether.

I have said enough to prove the truth of my first observation, namely,
that natural difficulties may be unduly considered.

II. My second observation is this–SUCH CONSIDERATION INVOLVES US IN
SEVERAL SINS.

If we keep on observing circumstances instead of trusting God, we shall
be guilty of disobedience. God bids me sow–I do not sow because the
wind would blow some of my seed away. God bids me reap–I do not reap
because there is a black cloud and before I can house the harvest, some
of it may be spoiled. I may say what I like, but I am guilty of
disobedience. I have not done what I was bid to do. I have made an
excuse out of the weather and I have been disobedient. Dear Friends, it
is yours to do what God bids you do, whether the heavens fall down or
not and, if you knew they would fall, and you could prop them up by
disobedience, you have no right to do it! What may happen from our
doing right, we have nothing to do with–we are to do right and take
the consequences cheerfully. Do you need obedience to be always
rewarded by a spoonful of sugar? Are you such a baby that you will do
nothing unless there shall be some little toy for you directly after? A
man in Christ Jesus will do right though it shall involve him in losses
and crosses, slanders and re-

bukes–yes, even martyrdom itself! May God help you to do so! He that
observes the wind and does not sow when he is bid to cast his seed upon
the waters is guilty of disobedience.

Next, we are guilty also of unbelief if we cannot sow because of the
wind. Who manages the wind? You distrust Him who is Lord of the north,
and south, and east, and west? If you cannot reap because of a cloud,
you doubt Him who makes the clouds, to whom the clouds are the dust of
His feet. Where is your faith? Where is your faith? "Ah," says one, "I
can serve God when I am helped, when I am moved, when I can see hope of
success." That is poor service–service devoid of faith. May I not say
of it, "Without faith it is impossible to please God"? Just in
proportion to the quantity of faith that there is in what we do, in
that proportion will it be acceptable with God! Observing of winds and
clouds is unbelief! We may call it prudence, but unbelief is its true
name.

The next sin is rebellion. So you will not sow unless God chooses to
make the wind blow your way? And you will not reap unless God pleases
to drive the clouds away? I call that revolt or rebellion. An honest
subject loves the king in all weathers. The true servant serves his
master, let his master do what he wills. Oh, dear Friends, we are too
often aiming at God's Throne! We want to get up there and manage
things–

"Snatch from His hand the balance and the rod, Rejudge His judgments,
be the god of God." "Oh, if He would but alter my circumstances!" What
is this but tempting God, as they did in the wilderness, wishing Him to
do other than He does? It is wishing Him to do wrong, for what He does
is always right! But we must not so rebel and vex his Holy Spirit by
complaining of what He does. Do you not see that this is trying to
throw the blame for our shortcomings upon the Lord? "If we do not sow,
do not blame us–God did not send the right wind. If we did not reap,
pray not to censure us–how could we be expected to reap while there
were clouds in the skies?" What is this but a wicked endeavor to blame
God for our own neglect and wrongdoing and to make Divine Providence
the packhorse upon which we pile our sins? God save us from such
rebellion as that!

Another sin of which we are guilty, when we are always looking at our
circumstances, is foolish fear. Though we may think that there is no
sin in it, there is great sin in foolish fear. God has commanded His
people not to fear–then we should obey Him. There is a cloud–why do
you fear it? It will be gone directly–not a drop of rain may fall out
of it. You are afraid of the wind–why fear it? It may never come. Even
if it were some deadly wind that was approaching, it might shift about
and not come near you. We are often fearing what never happens. We feel
a thousand deaths in fearing one. Many a person has been afraid of what
never would occur. It is a great pity to whip yourselves with imaginary
rods. Wait till the trouble comes–otherwise I shall have to tell you
the story I have often repeated of the mother whose child would cry.
She told it not to cry, but it would cry. "Well," she said, "if you
will cry, I will give you something to cry about!" If you get to
fearing about nothing, the probability is that you will get something
really to fear, for God does not love His people to be fools.

There are some who fall into the sin of stinginess. Observe that
Solomon was here speaking of liberality. He that observes the clouds
and the winds thinks, "That is not a good object to help," and that he
will do harm if he gives here, or if he gives there. It amounts to
this, poor Miser, you want to save your money! Oh, the ways we have of
making buttons with which to secure the safety of our pockets! Some
persons have a button always ready. They always have a reason for not
giving to anything that is proposed to them, or to any poor person who
asks their help. I pray that every child of God here may avoid that
sin. "Freely you have received, freely give." And since you are
stewards of a generous Master, let it never be said that the most
liberal of Lords has the stingiest of stewards!

Another sin is often called idleness. The man who does not sow because
of the wind is usually too lazy to sow. And the man who does not reap
because of the clouds is the man who wants a little more sleep, a
little more slumber and a little more folding of the hands to sleep. If
we do not want to serve God, it is amazing how many reasons we can
find. According to Solomon, the sluggard said there was a lion in the
streets. "There is a lion in the way," he said, "a lion is in the
streets!" What a lie it was, for lions are as much afraid of streets as
men are of deserts! Lions do not come into streets! It was idleness
that said the lion was there. You were asked to preach the other night
and you could preach, but you said, no, you could not preach. However,
you attended a political meeting, did you not, and talked twice as long
as you would have done if you had preached?

Another friend, asked to teach in Sunday school, said, "I have no gifts
of teaching." Somebody afterwards remarked of you that you had no gifts
of teaching, and you felt very vexed and asked what right had anyone to
say that of you? I have heard persons run themselves down when they
have been invited to any Christian work, as being altogether
dis-qualified–but when somebody has afterwards said, "That is true,
you cannot do anything, I know," they have looked as if they would
knock the speaker down! Oh, yes, yes, yes–we are always making these
excuses about winds and clouds– and there is nothing in either of
them. It is all meant to save our corn seed and to save us the trouble
of sowing it.

Do you not see that I have made a long list of sins wrapped up in this
observing of winds and clouds? If you have been guilty of any of them,
repent of your wrongdoing and do not repeat it!

III. I will not keep you longer over this part of the subject. I will
now make a third remark very briefly–LET US PROVE THAT WE HAVE NOT
FALLEN INTO THIS EVIL. How can we prove it?

Let us prove it, first, by sowing in the most unlikely places. What
says Solomon? "Cast your bread upon the waters: for you shall find it
after many days." Go, my Brothers and Sisters, and find the most
unlikely people–and begin to work for God with them. Now, try, if you
can, to pick out the worst street in your neighborhood and visit from
house to house. And if there is a man or woman worse off than another,
make that person the objective of your prayers and of your holy
endeavors. Cast your bread upon the waters–then it will be seen that
you are trusting God, not trusting the soil, nor trusting the seed!

Next, prove it by doing good to a great many. "Give a portion to seven,
and also to eight." Talk of Christ to everybody you meet! If God has
not blessed you to one, try another. And if He has blessed you with
one, try two others! And if He has blessed you to two others, try four
others–always keep on enlarging your seed plot as your harvest comes
in! If you are doing much, it will be shown that you are not regarding
the winds and the clouds.

Further, prove that you are not regarding winds and clouds by wisely
learning from the clouds another lesson than the one they seem made to
teach. Learn this lesson–"If the clouds are full of rain, they empty
themselves upon the earth." Say to yourself, "If God has made me full
of His Grace, I will go and pour it out on others. I know the joy of
being saved. Since I have had fellowship with Him, I will make a point
of being more industrious than ever because God has been unusually
gracious to me. My fullness shall be helpful to others. I will empty
myself for the good of others, even as the clouds pour down the rain
upon the earth."

Then, Beloved, prove it by not needing to know how God will work. There
is a great mystery of birth–how the human soul come to inhabit the
body of the child and how the child is fashioned. You know nothing
about it and you cannot know. Therefore do not look about you to see
what you cannot understand and pry into what is concealed from you. Go
out and work! Go out and preach! Go out and instruct others! Go out to
seek to win souls! Thus shall you prove, in very truth, that you are
not dependent upon surroundings and circumstances.

Again, dear Friend, prove this by consistent diligence. "In the morning
sow your seed, and in the evening withhold not your hand." "Be instant
in season, out of season." I had a friend who had learned the way to
put a peculiar meaning upon that passage of Scripture, "Let not your
right hand know what your left hand does." He thought that the best way
was to have money in both pockets–put one hand into each pocket–and
then put both hands on the collection plate. I never objected to this
interpretation of the passage. Now, the way to serve Christ is to do
all you possibly can–and then much more. "No," you say, "that cannot
be!" I do not know that it cannot be. I found that the best thing I
ever did was a thing I could not do. What I could do well, that was my
own–but what I could not do, but still did, in the name and strength
of the Eternal Jehovah, was the best thing I had done! Beloved, sow in
the morning, sow in the evening, sow at night, sow all day long, for
you can never tell what God will bless–and by this constant sowing you
will prove that you are not observing the winds, nor regarding the
clouds!

IV. I now come to my concluding observation–LET US KEEP THIS EVIL OUT
OF OUR HEARTS AS WELL AS OUT OF OUR WORK.

And, first, let us give no heed to the winds and clouds of doctrine
that are everywhere about us now. Blow, blow, you stormy winds, but you
shall not move me! Clouds of hypotheses and inventions, come up, as
many as you please, till you darken all the sky–but I will not fear
you! Such clouds have come before and have disappeared, and these will
disappear, too. If you sit down and think of man's inventions of error
and their novel doctrines and how the churches have been bewitched by
them, you will get into such a state of mind that you will neither sow
nor reap. Just forget them! Give your-

self to your holy service as if there were no winds and no clouds–and
God will give you such comfort in your soul that you will rejoice
before Him and be confident in His Truth.

And then, next, let us not lose hope because of doubts and temptations.
When the clouds and the winds get into your heart. When you do not feel
as you used to feel. When you have not that joy and elasticity of
spirit you once had. When your ardor seems a little damped and even
your faith begins to hesitate a little, go to God all the same! Trust
Him still–

"And when your eye of faith grows dim, Still hold to Jesus, sink or
swim! Still at His footstool bow the knee, And Israel's God your
strength shall be." Do not go up and down like the mercury in the
weather glass–but know what you know and believe what you believe!
Hold to it and may God keep you in one mind, so that none can turn you,
for, if not, if you begin to notice these things, you will neither sow
nor reap.

Lastly, let us follow the Lord's mind, come what will. In a word, set
your face, like a flint, to serve God by the maintenance of His Truth,
by your holy life, by the savor of your Christian character and, that
being done, defy earth and Hell! If there were a crowd of devils
between you and Christ, kick a lane through them by holy faith! They
will flee before you. If you have but the courage to make an advance,
they cannot stop you. You shall make a clear gangway through legions of
them. Only be strong and of good courage–and do not regard, even, the
clouds from Hell, or the blasts from the infernal pit–but go straight
on in the path of right and, God being with you, you shall sow and you
shall reap unto His eternal Glory!

Will some poor sinner, here, tonight, whether he sinks or swims, trust
Christ? Come, even if you feel less inclined, tonight, to hope, than
you ever did before! Have hope even now! Hope against hope! Believe
against belief! Cast yourself on Christ, even though He may seem to
stand with a drawn sword in His hand, to run you through! Trust even an
angry Christ! Though your sins have grieved Him, come and trust Him. Do
not stop for winds to blow over, or clouds to burst. Just as you are,
without one trace of anything that is good about you, come and trust
Christ as your Lord and Savior, and you are saved! God give you Grace
to do so, for Jesus' sake! Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON ECCLESIASTES 11-12.

Ecclesiastes 11:1. Cast your bread upon the waters: for you shall find
it after many days. Hoard not your bread, for if you do, it will
mildew–it will be of no use to you. Cast it on the waters. Scatter it
abroad. Give it to unworthy men if necessary. Some here have seen an
allusion to the casting of seed into the Nile when it overflowed its
banks. When the waters subsided, the corn would grow and be gathered
in, "after many days."

2. Give a portion to seven. And if that is a perfect number, give
beyond it.

2. And also to eight. Give to more than you can afford to give to! Help
some who are doubtful, some who are outside of the perfect number–give
them a portion, a fair portion. Our Savior went beyond Solomon, for He
said, "Give to every man that asks of you."

2. For you know not what evil shall be upon the earth. You know not
what need there may be of your help, nor what need may come to you, and
how you, yourself, may be helped by those whom you help now.

3. If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves upon the
earth. The tree falls the way it is inclined, but when it has fallen,
there it must be. God grant that you and I may fall the right way when
the axe of death hews us down! Which way are we inclined?

4. 5. He that observes the wind shall not sow; and he that regards the
clouds shall not reap. As you know not what is the way of the Spirit,
nor how the bones grow in the womb of her that is with child; even so
you know not the works of God who makes all. There are great mysteries
which we can never comprehend. God alone knows how the soul comes into
the body, or even how the body is fashioned. This must remain with Him.
We do not know how sinners are regenerated. We know not how the Spirit
of God works upon the mind of man and transforms the sinner into a
saint. We do not know. There are some who know too much, already. I
have not half the desire to know what I have to believe and to love.
Oh, that we loved God more, and trusted God more! We might then get to
Heaven if we knew even less than we do.

6. In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening withhold not your
hand: for you know not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or
whether they both shall be alike good. You cannot make the Gospel enter
into men's hearts. You cannot tell how it does enter and change them.
The Spirit of God does that–your duty is to go on telling it out. Go
on spreading abroad the knowledge of Christ! In the morning and in the
evening, and all day long, scatter the good Seed of the Kingdom. You
have nothing to do with the result of your sowing–that remains with
the Lord. That which you sow in the morning may prosper, or the seed
that you scatter in the evening. Possibly God will bless both. You are
to keep on sowing, whether you reap or not.

7, 8. Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes
to behold the sun: but if a man lives many years and rejoices in them
all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many.
All that comes is vanity. Take Christ away and this is a truthful
estimate of human life. Put Christ into the question and Solomon does
not hit the mark at all. If we have Christ with us, whether the days
are light or dark, we walk in the Light of God and our soul is happy
and glad! But apart from Christ, the estimate of life which is given
here is an exactly accurate one–a little brightness and long darkness,
a flash and then midnight. God save you from living a merely natural
life! May you rise to the supernatural! May you get out of the lower
life of the mere animal into the higher life of the regenerated soul!
If the life of God is in you, then you shall go from strength to
strength like the sun that shines unto the perfect day.

9. Rejoice, O young man, in your youth; and let your heart cheer you in
the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart, and in the
sight of your eyes: but know that for all these things God will bring
you into judgment. Young man, will you dare, then, to follow your
passions and the devices of your own heart, with this at the back–"God
will bring you into judgement"? Oh no, the advice of Solomon apparently
so evil, is answered by warning at the end, which is also true–

10. Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, and put away evil from
your flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity. "Remove sorrow," or
rather, anger, ambition, or anything else that would cause sorrow,
"from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh." Let not your
fleshly nature rule you! You are in the period when flesh is strong
towards evil, when "vanity" is the ruin of many.

Chapter 12:1. Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth. Now
we get on solid ground. There is an irony in the advice, "Rejoice, O
young man, in your youth; and let your heart cheer you in the days of
your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of
your eyes." There is no irony here–there is solid, sound
advice–"Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth." May
every young man take this advice and carry it out!

1-3. While the evil days come not, nor the years draw near, when you
shall say, I have no pleasure in them; while the sun, or the light, or
the moon, or the stars are not darkened, nor the clouds return after
the rain: in the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble. These
arms and hands of ours shake by reason of weakness.

3. And the strong men shall bow themselves. These limbs, these legs of
ours, begin to bend under the weight they have to support.

3. And the grinders cease because they are few. The teeth are gone.

3. And those that look out of the windows are darkened. The eyesight
begins to fail.

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. The old man sleeps very
lightly; anything awakens him. He hides away from public business. The
doors are shut in the streets.

5. Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears
shall be in the way. There is none of the courage of youth. Daring is
gone–prudence, not to say cowardice–sits on the throne.

5. And the almond tree shall flourish. The hair is white and gray, like
the early peach or almond tree in the beginning of the year.

5. And the grasshopper shall be a burden. A little trouble weighs the
old man down. He has no energy now. The grasshopper is a burden.

5, 6. And desire shall fail: because men go to his long home, and the
mourners go about the streets; or ever the silver cord is loosed, or
the golden cord is broken. Before the spinal cord is broken, or the
skull becomes emptied of the living inhabitants.

6. Or the pitcher is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the
cistern. The circulation of the blood begins to fail, the heart grows
weak, it will soon stop. The man's career is nearly over.

7. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit
shall return unto God who gave it. This will happen to us all, either
to return to dust or else return to God. Whether we die and return to
dust, or live until the coming of Christ, our spirit shall return to
God who gave it. May the return be a joyous one for each of us!

8-11. Vanity of vanities, says the preacher; all is vanity. And
moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people
knowledge; yes, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order
many proverbs. The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and
that which was written was upright, even words of truth. The words of
the wise are as goads. They prick us onward, as the goad does the
bullock, when he is trying to stop instead of plowing in the furrow.

11. And as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given
from one shepherd. The words of the wise are driven home, like nails,
and clinched. There is one Shepherd who, by means of His servants'
words, leads His flock where He would have them go.

12, 13. And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many
books there is no end; and much of the study is a weariness of the
flesh. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and
keep His Commandments: for this is the duty of man. Or, "this is the
whole of man." It makes a man of him when he fears God and keeps His
Commandments–he has that which makes him "the whole man."

14. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret
thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil. Depend upon it that
it will be so! At the Last Great Day, there will be a revealing of
everything, whether it is good, or whether it is evil. No need for the
righteous to fear that revealing, for they will only magnify in that
day the amazing Grace of God which has put all their iniquities
away–and then shall all men know how great the Grace of God was in
passing by iniquity, transgression and sin!