Ecclesiastes 12:2-7 – Let’s serve God while we are strong

In a rapidly changing world, living a God-centred life is the only way to have a lasting and effective life. Being God-centered is simply putting God at the hub of all the decisions we make in life. It is acknowledging Him in all that we do and say. And Ecclesiastes 12:1 calls us, especially the young, to such a life. Earlier in Ecclesiastes 11, we have been called to celebrate and rejoice in every season of life. To live a rejoicing life, we need to remove whatever that brings about vexation. Don’t minimize life by murmuring, grumbling and complaining. Then we are called to remember God. This is a necessity if we are to celebrate life. In a poetic way in Ecclesiastes 12:2-7, Solomon shows us why.

Every one of us gets weaker with time. Everything, literally everything, about us changes as we get older – our desires, our physique, our capacity, etc. The only one constant in life is change. So, verses 2-7 provide a strong reason why we should remember God and place Him at the center of our life while we are still robust and strong. He wants us to know that as we age, our body, like a crumbling old house, will deteriorate. Verse 2 describes the dimming of the eyes when one grows old. Eyesight is one area we know will be affected as we get older. No longer will we enjoy a 6/6 eyesight. The things we see will become darker and dimmer than usual. Not only will our eyesight be affected, but our whole body will be affected too.

Verses 3-5 began with the arms. Solomon referred to them as “the keepers of the house”. They tremble when a person gets older. In referring to “the strong men” he is talking about the two legs that will become bent as one grows old. “The grinders” are the teeth. As one grows older chewing is made difficult because of fewer teeth. Most of the teeth would have loosened and fallen off. “The windows” refer to the eyes that had become dimmed and vision becomes impaired. “The doors” are the ears. Aging leaves one hard of hearing and deafness becomes a part of old age. Hence, noises are made low, until one cannot even hear the sound of his own chewing. Verse 4 says “…one rises up at the sound of a bird” suggesting that sleep will elude an old person. The phrase, “…all the daughters of song are brought low,” refers to the person’s vocal cords that no longer has the elasticity to enable one to sing in tune. “The almond tree that blossoms” suggests the greying of the hair. A grasshopper has the capacity to hop and spring up into the air at ease. But when it drags itself along means its end is near. In old age, the desire and appetite also fail a person. When all these happen, they indicate that death is looming and the eternal call is beckoning at one’s door.

In verse 6 death is seen as the snapping of the silver cord and the shattering of the bowl. Death is further likened to the broken wheel and shattering jar, meant for withdrawing water from the well. With the jar shattered and a broken wheel at the cistern, one can no longer draw water from the well. This is a figurative way of saying one’s life is slipping away. And like the two broken tools, the dying person does not have the wherewithal to draw any life-sustaining water. To die, verse 7 says, is to return to the dust. And at death one’s spirit, the life energizing force, returns to God our Creator, the giver of life. Physical death is a separation between the spirit and the body until the great resurrection takes place. Death is pleasantly seen as going to one’s eternal home.

Reading these verses brings about the solemn and sombre certainties about life and death. They are experiences that we will all have to go through in life since the fall of Adam. No one escapes them. So, they underscore for us the importance of remembering our Creator God and to place Him at the center of life while we are still strong and robust. We are to remember Him now before the anatomy and physiology of our system fail us. These verses make responding to serve God all the more urgent. May we respond to the call in the inspiring words of the hymn written by Thomas G. Hill:

Lord in the fullness of my might,
I would for Thee be strong:
While runneth over each dear delight,
To Thee should soar my song.

I would not give the world my heart
And then profess Thy love:
I would not feel my strength depart,
And then Thy service prove.

I would not with swift-winged zeal
On the world’s errand go,
And labor up the heavenly hill
With weary feet and slow.

O not for Thee my weak desires,
My poorer, basal part!
O not for Thee my fading fires,
The ashes of my heart!

O Choose me in my golden time:
In my clear joy have part!
For Thee the glory of my prime,
The fullness of my heart!