The
wise and penitent preacher is here closing his sermon; and he closes it, not
only like 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 (ver. 1),
enforced with arguments taken from the calamities of old age (ver. 1-5) and
the great change that death will make upon us, ver. 6, 7. II. A repetition
of the great truth he had undertaken to prove in this discourse, the vanity
of the world, ver. 8. III. A confirmation and recommendation of what he had
written in this and his other books, as worthy to be duly weighed and
considered, ver. 9. IV. The whole matter summed up and concluded, with a
charge to all to be truly religious, in consideration of the judgment to
come, ver. 13, 14.
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The
Infirmities of Old Age; The Effects of Death.
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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 when they shall be afraid
of that which is high, and fears shall be 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.
Here is, I. A call to young people to think of God, and mind their duty to
him, when they are young: Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy
youth. 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, remember your Creator, 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, remember
thy Creator. Here is, (1.) A great duty pressed upon us, to remember
God as our creator, not only to remember that God is our Creator,
that he made us and not we ourselves, 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. Remember thy Creators; the word is
plural, as it is Job xxxv. 10, Where is God my Makers? For God said, Let
us make man, us, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. (2.) The proper season for
this duty--in the days of thy youth, the days of thy choice
(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."
II. A reason to enforce this command: While the evil days come not, and
the years of which thou shalt say I have no pleasure in them.
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 the days of evil,
terrible to nature, evil days indeed to those that have forgotten
their Creator. These evil days will come sooner or later; as
yet they come not, for God is long-suffering to us-ward, and
gives us space to repent; 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 years of which we shall say, We have no pleasure in them,--when
we shall not relish the delights of sense, as Barzillai (2 Sam. xix. 35),
--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 strength
shall be labour and sorrow,--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 years
draw nigh, when all that comes will be vanity, the
remaining months all months of vanity, and there will be no pleasure
but in the reflection of a good life on earth and the expectation of a
better life in heaven.
2. These two arguments he enlarges upon in the following verses, only
inverting the order, and shows,
(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 have no pleasure in, which
is a good reason why we should return to God, and make our peace with him, in
the days of our youth, 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 the torn, and the lame, and the sick for sacrifice; 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 Ps.
lxxi. 17, 18.
[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. First, Then the sun and the
light of it, the moon and the stars, and the light which
they borrow from it, will be darkened. 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 the
sun and the moon are darkened to them. Secondly, Then the
clouds return after the rain; 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 like a continual
dropping in a very rainy day. 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. Thirdly, Then the
keepers of the house tremble. 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. Fourthly, Then the strong men shall
bow themselves; 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 strong men
become weak and stoop for age, Zech. viii. 4. God takes no
pleasure in the legs of a man (Ps. cxlvii. 10), for their strength will
soon fail; but in the Lord Jehovah there is everlasting strength; he
has everlasting arms. Fifthly, Then the grinders cease because
they are few; the teeth, with which we grind our meat and prepare it for
concoction, cease to do their part, because they are few. 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. Sixthly, Those that look out of the
windows are darkened; the eyes wax dim, as Isaac's (Gen. xxvii.
1), and Ahijah's, 1 Kings xiv. 4. 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. Seventhly,
The doors are shut in the streets. 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 the sound of
the grinding with them is low, 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. Eightly,
Old people rise up at the voice of the bird. 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 rise up as
in a fright, at those voices of birds, as of ravens, or screech-owls,
which soothsayers call ominous. Ninthly, With them all the
daughters of music are brought low. 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 singing men, and singing women, and musical
instruments, ch. ii. 8. Old people grow hard of hearing, and
unapt to distinguish sounds and voices. Tenthly, They are afraid
of that which is high, 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 that which is high will fall
upon them. Fear is in the way; 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. Eleventhly, The almond-tree flourishes.
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. Twelfthly,
The grasshopper is a burden and desire fails. 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 the grasshopper
was some food that was looked upon to be very light of digestion (John
Baptist's meat was locusts), but even that lies heavily upon an old
man's stomach, and therefore desire fails, he has no appetite to his
meat, neither shall he regard the desire of woman, as that king, Dan.
xi. 37. Old men become mindless and listless, and the pleasures of sense are
to them tasteless and sapless.
[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 evil days
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 remember our Creator in
the days of our youth, that he may remember us with favour when these evil
days come, and his comforts may delight our souls when the delights of
sense are in a manner worn off.
(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 remember
thy Creator in the days of thy youth, 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: Man
shall then go to his long home, and all these infirmities and decays
of age are harbingers of and advances towards that awful remove. At death man
goes 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 home,
for here he was a stranger and pilgrim; both soul and body go to the place
whence they came, v. 7. He has gone to his rest, to the place where
he is to fix. He has gone to his home, to the house of his world (so
some), for this world is not his. He has gone to his long home, for
the days of his lying in the grave will be many. He has gone to his house
of eternity, 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 go home; 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 long home, to an everlasting
habitation. [2.] Death will be an occasion of sorrow to our friends that
love us. When man goes to his long home the mourners go about the streets--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 go to the house of mourning, and see the mourners go about the
streets, 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, v. 6.
Then shall the silver cord, by which soul and body were wonderfully
fastened together, be loosed, that sacred knot untied, and those old
friends be forced to part; then shall the golden bowl, which held the
waters of life for us, be broken; then shall the pitcher with
which we used to fetch up water, for the constant support of life and the
repair of its decays, be broken, even at the fountain, so that
it can fetch up no more; and the wheel (all those organs that serve
for the collecting and distributing of nourishment) shall be broken,
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 silver and gold, and poor people their earthen pitchers,
and the drawers of water will have their wheel broken. [4.] Death
will resolve us into our first principles, v. 7. 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. First, The
body, that clod of clay, returns to its own earth. It is made
of the earth; Adam's body was so, and we are of the same mould; it is
a house of clay. At death it is laid in the earth, and in a little
time will be resolved into earth, not to be distinguished from common earth,
according to the sentence (Gen. iii. 19), Dust thou art and therefore
to dust thou shalt return. Let us not therefore indulge the appetites
of the body, nor pamper it (it will be worms' meat shortly), nor let sin
reign in our mortal bodies, for they are mortal, Rom. vi. 12. Secondly,
The soul, that beam of light, returns to that God who, when he
made man of the dust of the ground, breathed into him the breath of life,
to make him a living soul (Gen. ii. 7), and forms the spirit of every
man within him. When the fire consumes the wood the flame ascends, and the
ashes return to the earth out of which the wood grew. The soul does
not die with the body; it is redeemed from the power of the grave
(Ps. xlix. 15); 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 to God as a Judge, to give account of itself, and to be
lodged either with the spirits in prison (1 Pet. iii. 19) or with the
spirits in paradise (Luke xxiii. 43), 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 to God.
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The Conclusion of the Whole.
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8 Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all
is vanity. 9 And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he
still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and
set in order many proverbs. 10 The preacher sought to find out
acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even
words of truth. 11 The words of the wise are as goads, and as
nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given
from one shepherd. 12 And further, by these, my son, be admonished:
of making many books there is no end; and much study is a
weariness of the flesh.
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.
I. He repeats his text (v. 8), 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: Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.
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,
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 Coheleth, one gathered in from
his wanderings and gathered home to that God from whom he had revolted. Vanity
of vanities, saith the 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.
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 to hear his wisdom, 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.
3. He was one that made it his business to do good, and to use wisdom
aright. Because he was himself wise, but knew he had
not his wisdom for himself, any more than he had it from himself, he
still taught the people that knowledge 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 the good knowledge of the Lord, but their
duty to encourage those whose office it is to teach them and to speak
comfortably to them, 2 Chron. xxx. 22. 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 still taught, that they may grow in knowledge.
4. He took a great deal of pains and care to do good, designing to teach
the people knowledge. 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 gave good heed to what he read and heard
from others, that, having stocked himself well, he might bring out of his
treasury things new and old. He gave good heed 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 many proverbs, 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 sought out
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 set them in order that they might appear in more strength
and lustre.
5. He put what he had to say in such a dress as he thought would be most
pleasing: He sought to find out acceptable words, words of delight (v.
10); 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 acceptable words,
such as are likely to please men for their good, to edification, 1 Cor. x.
33. Those that would win souls must contrive how to win upon them with words
fitly spoken.
6. That which he wrote for our instruction is of unquestionable certainty,
and what we may rely upon: That which was written was upright and
sincere, according to the real sentiments of the penman, even words of
truth, 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 acceptable
words do us if they be not upright and words of truth? Most are
for smooth things, that flatter them, rather than right things, that direct
them (Isa. xxx. 10), but to those that understand themselves, and their own
interest, words of truth will always be acceptable words.
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, v.
11. Here observe, (1.) A double benefit accruing to us from divine truths if
duly applied and improved; they are profitable for doctrine, for reproof,
for correction, and instruction in righteousness. 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 prick men to the heart (Acts ii. 37) 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 goads.
[2.] To engage us to persevere in our duty. They are as nails to
those that are wavering and inconstant, to fix them to that which is good.
They are as goads to such as are dull and draw back, and nails
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 as a nail
fastened in a sure place, Ezra ix. 8. (2.) A double way of communicating
divine truths, in order to those benefits:-- [1.] By the scriptures, as the
standing rule, the words of the wise, that is, of the prophets, who
are called wise men, Matt. xxiii. 34. These we have in black and
white, and may have recourse to them at any time, and make use of them as
goads and as nails. 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 make us wise to salvation. [2.] By the
ministry. To make the words of the wise more profitable to us, it is
appointed that they should be impressed and fastened by the masters of
assemblies. 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 words of the wise, and drive
them as nails to the head, in order to which the word of God is
likewise as a hammer, Jer. xxiii. 29.
8. That which is written, and thus recommended to us, is of divine origin.
Though it comes to us through various hands (many wise men, and many masters
of assemblies), yet it is given by one and the same shepherd,
the great shepherd of Israel, that leads Joseph like a flock, Ps.
lxxx. 1. God is that one Shepherd, whose good Spirit indited the scriptures,
and assists the masters of the assemblies in opening and applying the
scriptures. These words of the wise 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.
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 (v.
12): "And further, nothing now remains but to tell thee that
that of making many books there is no end," that is, (1.) Of writing
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 (John xxi.
25), and much study of them would but confound us, and would rather be a
weariness to the flesh 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 buying 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 admonished 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 Tit. ii. 11, 12. By these therefore let us be admonished.
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The Conclusion of the Whole.
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13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole
matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty
of man. 14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every
secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
The great enquiry which Solomon prosecutes in this book is, What is that
good which the sons of men should do? ch. ii. 3. 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 (Job xxviii. 28), that serious godliness is the
only way to true happiness: Let us hear the conclusion of the whole
matter, 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, Do you hear it, but Let us hear it; 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, Rom. ii. 21. 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 Deut. vi. 4. Solomon
himself puts a nota bene before it, demanding attention in these
words, Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Observe here,
I. The summary of religion. Setting aside all matters of doubtful
disputation, to be religious is to fear God and keep his commandments.
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. Fear God, that is, worship God, give him the honour due to his
name, in all the instances of true devotion, inward and outward. See Rev.
xiv. 7. 2. The rule of religion is the law of God revealed in the
scriptures. Our fear towards God must be taught by his commandments (Isa.
xxix. 13), and those we must keep and carefully observe. Wherever the fear
of God is uppermost in the heart, there will be a respect to all his
commandments and care to keep them. In vain do we pretend to fear God if
we do not make conscience of our duty to him.
II. The vast importance of it: This is the whole of man; 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.
III. A powerful inducement to this, v. 14. 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 (ch. xi. 9), and here for a
religious life: God shall bring every work into judgment. 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. Every work will then be brought into
judgment, will be enquired into and called over again. It will be a day
to bring to remembrance every thing done in the body. 4. The great
thing to be then judged of concerning every work is whether it be
good or evil, conformable to the will of God or a violation of it. 5. Even secret
things, both good and evil, will be brought to light, and brought to
account, in the judgment of the great day (Rom. ii. 16); 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 give
up our account with joy.
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