Setting – Honor God in your youth before age overtakes your joy
Content – Solomon encourages the youth to not forget God in all the excitement of their youth (v. 1 NLT) “Don't let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator” Things deteriorate as one grows old (v. 2b-3 NLT) “…there is no silver lining left among the clouds. Your limbs will tremble with age, and your strong legs will grow weak. Your teeth will be too few to do their work, and you will be blind, too”, etc. So (v. 6a NLT) “…remember your Creator now while you are young, before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is broken.” Eventually (v. 7 NLT) “the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.”
Solomon concluding statements, (v. 11 NLT) “A wise teacher's words spur students to action and emphasize important truths. The collected sayings of the wise are like guidance from a shepherd.” Verse 13-14 (NLT) “Here is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is the duty of every person. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.”
Application – Life happens. We experience the joy of life in our youth and then we bare the yoke of age and the burdens of life as we grow old. Life can wear one down. Here again, this isn’t the life that God wants for His creation. Sin has robbed us from what God intended. As we journey through life, “Fear God and obey his commands, for this is the duty of every person.” Knowing that our creator will provide a great place for us (Rev 21:4) “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be {any} death; there will no longer be {any} mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” and (John 14:3) “In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.”
While life continues to weigh us down, we need to be reminded that this is not the end of the story. This isn’t to say that we won’t be brought down by life (2 Cor. 4:8-12) “{we are} afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in you”
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
Content – Solomon encourages the youth to not forget God in all the excitement of their youth (v. 1 NLT) “Don't let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator” Things deteriorate as one grows old (v. 2b-3 NLT) “…there is no silver lining left among the clouds. Your limbs will tremble with age, and your strong legs will grow weak. Your teeth will be too few to do their work, and you will be blind, too”, etc. So (v. 6a NLT) “…remember your Creator now while you are young, before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is broken.” Eventually (v. 7 NLT) “the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.”
Solomon concluding statements, (v. 11 NLT) “A wise teacher's words spur students to action and emphasize important truths. The collected sayings of the wise are like guidance from a shepherd.” Verse 13-14 (NLT) “Here is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is the duty of every person. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.”
Application – Life happens. We experience the joy of life in our youth and then we bare the yoke of age and the burdens of life as we grow old. Life can wear one down. Here again, this isn’t the life that God wants for His creation. Sin has robbed us from what God intended. As we journey through life, “Fear God and obey his commands, for this is the duty of every person.” Knowing that our creator will provide a great place for us (Rev 21:4) “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be {any} death; there will no longer be {any} mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” and (John 14:3) “In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.”
While life continues to weigh us down, we need to be reminded that this is not the end of the story. This isn’t to say that we won’t be brought down by life (2 Cor. 4:8-12) “{we are} afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in you”
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
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