A Devotion from D.A. Carson

Numbers 2; Psalm 36; Ecclesiastes 12; Philemon

ALTHOUGH THE TEACHER NEVER arrives at the fullness of perspective that characterizes the writers of

the new covenant Scriptures, his skepticism now shrinks as he encourages some fundamental

stances that depend absolutely on a just God who knows the end from the beginning, even if

we do not. In this vein, he has already told his readers two things: (a) refuse to live just for

today; boldly invest in the future, remembering that this world is God’s (11:1–6); (b) live

gratefully and joyfully with the good gifts you have received (11:7–10).

In Ecclesiastes 12, Qoheleth offers one final exhortation: be godly, beginning in your youth;

for whether or not we find meaning “from below,” we may be certain that God brings

everything to judgment. “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth” (12:1), the

Teacher writes. To “remember” God is not simply to recall the bare fact of his existence, but to

abandon all illusions of independence and self-sufficiency as God regains his rightful centrality

in our lives. God made everything, he alone sees the entire pattern, he is the One who has put

eternity into our hearts (3:11). He is the One who made everything good, and we are the ones

who have done so much damage with our schemes (7:29).

So remember him, Qoheleth exhorts us, “before the days of trouble come” (12:1)—and

then in graphic terms he spells out what old age looks like. In advanced years we may no longer

find pleasure in our days (12:1). We reach the winter of life (12:2); we become like an old,

decaying house, falling apart, with only a few relics left (12:3). Our hearing fades (12:4b);

instead of robust walking or skipping over rocks, we are afraid of heights and fearful of being

jostled in the streets. The almond tree has a dark head in winter and turns white with spring

blossoms, just as our hair turns white (12:5). Suffering from arthritis and worn-out joints, we

hobble along like an ungainly grasshopper (12:5). The silver cord is probably the spinal cord, the

golden bowl the skull; the pitcher is the heart: everything decays, and we return to the dust

from which we sprang—as God himself, this side of the curse, has said we would (Gen. 3:19). It

is far from clear that by “our eternal home” (12:5) and “the spirit returns to God who gave it”

(12:7) Qoheleth means everything that New Testament writers mean by such expressions, yet

even he is now quite certain that “God will bring every deed into judgment, including every

hidden thing” (12:14). So, “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of

man” (12:13).