REACHING OLD AGE
«Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all» (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes when he was an old man, repentant of his wayward life. Most of the book talks about the foolishness of his youth. So if you are young, I encourage you today to consider his advice, now that you are in time to take the rig path in life.
Chapter 12 is a call to seek God in our early years, before the cycle of life declines and we die without having discovered God’s purpose for our life. The figurative language in verses 2 to 6 describes the exhaustion of our physical faculties as we decline with age. Look at the depth of these biblical metaphors about old age found in Ecclesiastes 12 (RSV).
Verse 2. «before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened»: decline of the vision. «the clouds return after the rain»: senile depression, weeping at remembering the past.
Verse 3. «the keepers of the house tremble»: progressive weakness of legs and muscles.
Verse 4. «the doors on the street are shut»: little conversation, or being ignored. «one rises up at the voice of a bird»: light sleep and insomnia in old age. «all the daughters of song are brought low»: a tired, weak voice.
Verse 5. «afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way» : the loss of balance, walking slowly, the impossibility to climb to high places. «almond tree blossoms»: white hair or baldness. «the grasshopper drags itself along»: no longer able to carry heavy burdens. «desire fails»: sex drive diminishes.
Verse 6. «the silver cord is snapped», «the golden bowl is broken»: the curved spine and weakness of mind. «the pitcher is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern»: death, the end of existence (see SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 3, p. 1101-1103).
Old age is not easy. «The aged also need the helpful influences of the family…, Make them feel that their help is valued, that there is something yet for them to do in ministering to others, and it will cheer their hearts and give interest to their lives.
So far as possible let those whose whitening heads and failing steps show that they are drawing near to the grave remain among friends and familiar associations. . . All who possess Christ’s spirit will have a tender regard for the feeble and the aged.»—The Ministry of Healing, ch. 13, p. 204.
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Taken from: Devotional Thoughts for Women 2023
“DAUGHTER OF MINE” Do Not Be Afraid
From: Arsenia Fernandez-Uckele
Collaborators: Xiomara Perdomo & Angelica Cuate