121 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth,
before the evil days come, and the years draw near,
when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them;” 2 Before the sun, the light, the moon, and the stars are darkened,
and 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 who look out of the windows are darkened, 4 and the doors shall be shut in the street;
when the sound of the grinding is low,
and one shall rise up at the voice of a bird,
and all the daughters of music shall be brought low; 5 yes, they shall be afraid of heights,
and terrors will be in the way;
and the almond tree shall blossom,
and the grasshopper shall be a burden,
and desire shall fail;
because man goes to his everlasting home,
and the mourners go about the streets: 6 before the silver cord is severed,
or the golden bowl is broken,
or the pitcher is broken at the spring,
or the wheel broken at the cistern, 7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was,
and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ecclesiastes 12:1-7
Commentary on Ecclesiastes 12:1-7
(Read Ecclesiastes 12:1-7)
We should remember our sins against our Creator, repent, and seek forgiveness. We should remember our duties, and set about them, looking to him for grace and strength. This should be done early, while the body is strong, and the spirits active. When a man has the pain of reviewing a misspent life, his not having given up sin and worldly vanities till he is forced to say, I have no pleasure in them, renders his sincerity very questionable. Then follows a figurative description of old age and its infirmities, which has some difficulties; but the meaning is plain, to show how uncomfortable, generally, the days of old age are. As the four verses, verse 6 notices the circumstances which take place in the hour of death. If sin had not entered into the world, these infirmities would not have been known. Surely then the aged should reflect on the evil of sin.