Quotes & Notes
-
John Wesley Notes:
Now-For now thou art most able to do it; and it will be most acceptable to God, and most comfortable to thyself, as the best evidence of thy sincerity, and the best provision for old age and death. Evil days-The time of old age, which is evil; burdensome in itself, and far more grievous when it is loaded with the sad remembrance of youthful follies, and with the dreadful prospect of approaching death and judgment. No pleasure-My life Is now bitter and burdensome to me: which is frequently the condition of old age.
-
Family Bible Notes:
They who devote to God's service the vigorous and joyful days of youth,
will not be forsaken by him when they are old and grey-headed; but they
who forget God in their youthful prime, and give it themselves up to
sinful pleasures, must, if not cut off prematurely in their
transgressions, come to a comfortless old age, and, continuing as they
have lived, must die under God's wrath and curse.
- Spurgeon Devotional Commentary
Youth is the best time for religious consideration and decision. In old
age little heart and little ability are left for the weighty themes of
eternity; infirmity and general decay unfit the mind for contemplating
subjects to which it has been all its life long unaccustomed. O that
young people would beware of delay, and forever renounce the idea that
advanced years are favorable to conversion. No tree is so easily bent as
the green sapling.
- Jamieson-Faucett-Brown:
As Ec 11:9,10 showed what youths are to shun, so this verse shows what
they are to follow.
Creator--"Remember" that thou art not thine own, but God's property; for
He has created thee (Ps 100:3). Therefore serve Him with thy "all" (Mr
12:30), and with thy best days, not with the dregs of them (Pr 8:17;
22:6; Jer 3:4; La 3:27). The Hebrew is "Creators," plural, implying the
plurality of persons, as in Ge 1:26; so Hebrew, "Makers" (Isa 54:5).
while ... not--that is, before that (Pr 8:26) the evil days come;
namely, calamity and old age, when one can no longer serve God, as in
youth (Ec 11:2,8).
no pleasure--of a sensual kind (2Sa 19:35; Ps 90:10). Pleasure in God
continues to the godly old (Isa 46:4).
-
Adam Clarke Commentary:
Remember thy Creator] Kyarwb Boreeycha, thy CREATORS. The
word is most certainly in the plural number in all our common Hebrew
Bibles; but it is in the singular number, Karwb Borecha, in one hundred
and seventy-six of Dr. Kennicott's MSS., and ninety-six of De Rossi's;
in many ancient editions; and in all the ancient versions. There is no
dependence on the plural form in most of the modern editions; though
there are some editions of great worth which exhibit the word in this
form, and among them the Complutensian, Antwerp, Paris, and London
polyglots.
The evidence, therefore, that this text is supposed to give to the
doctrine of the ever blessed Trinity, is but precarious, and on it
little stress can be laid; and no man who loves truth would wish to
support it by dubious witnesses. Injudicious men, by laying stress on
texts dubious in themselves, and which may be interpreted a different
way, greatly injure the true faith. Though such in their hearts may be
friends to the orthodox faith, they are in fact its worst friends, and
their assistance is such as helps their adversaries.
But what does the text say? It addresses the youth of both sexes
throughout the creation; and says in effect:-
I. You are not your own, you have no right to yourselves. God made you;
he is your Creator: he made you that you might be happy; but you can be
happy only in him. And as he created you, so he preserves you; he feeds,
clothes, upholds you. He has made you capable of knowing, loving, and
serving him in this world, and of enjoying him in his own glory for
ever. And when you had undone yourselves by sin, he sent his Son to
redeem you by his blood; and he sends his Spirit to enlighten, convince,
and draw you away from childishness, from vain and trifling, as well as
from sinful, pursuits.
II. Remember him; consider that he is your Creator, your loving and
affectionate Father. In youth memory is strong and tenacious; but,
through the perversion of the heart by sin, young people can remember
any thing better than GOD. If you get a kindness from a friend, you can
remember that, and feel gratitude for it; and the person is therefore
endeared to you. Have any ever given you such benefits as your Creator?
Your body and soul came from him; he gave you your eyes, ears, tongue,
hands, feet, &c. What blessings are these! how excellent! how useful!
how necessary and will you forget HIM?
III. Remember him in thy YOUTH, in order that you may have a long and
blessed life, that you may be saved from the corruption and misery into
which young people in general run; and the evils they entail upon
themselves by giving way to the sinful propensities of their own hearts.
As in youth all the powers are more active and vigorous, so they are
capable of superior enjoyments. Faith, hope, and love, will be in their
best tenor, their greatest vigour, and in their least encumbered state.
And it will be easier for you to believe, hope, pray, love, obey, and
bear your cross, than it can be in old age and decrepitude.
IV. Remember him NOW, in this part of your youth-you have no certainty
of life; now is yours, to-morrow may not be. You are young; but you may
never be old. Now he waits to be gracious; tomorrow may be too late. God
now calls; his Spirit now strives; his ministers now exhort. You have
now health; sin has not now so much dominion over you as it will have,
increasing by every future moment, if you do not give up your hearts to
your Maker.
V. There is another consideration which should weigh with you: should
you live to old age, it is a very disadvantageous time to begin to serve
the Lord in. Infirmities press down both body and mind, and the
oppressed nature has enough to do to bear its own infirmities; and as
there is little time, so there is generally less inclination, to call
upon the Lord. Evil habits are strengthened by long continuance; and
every desire and appetite in the soul is a strong hold for Satan. There
is little time for repentance, little for faith, none for obedience. The
evil days are come, and the years in which you will feelingly be obliged
to say, Alas! "we have no pleasure in them;" and, what is worse, the
heart is hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
- Treasury of Scripture Knowledge:
* Remember. Ec 11:10; Ge 39:2,8,9,23; 1Sa 1:28; 2:18; 3:19-21;
16:7,12,13 1Sa 17:36,37; 1Ki 3:6-12; 14:13; 18:12; 2Ch 34:2,3; Ps
22:9,10 Ps 34:11; 71:17,18; Pr 8:17; 22:6; Isa 26:8; La 3:27; Da
1:8,9,17 Lu 1:15; 2:40-52; 18:16; Eph 6:4; 2Ti 3:15
* while. Ec 11:8; Job 30:2; Ps 90:10; Ho 7:9
* when. 2Sa 19:35
|
