And the strong men bow down;
When the grinders cease because they are few,
And those that look through the windows grow dim;
When the doors are shut in the streets,
And the sound of grinding is low;
When one rises up at the sound of a bird,
And all the daughters of music are brought low.
Also they are afraid of height,
And of terrors in the way;
When the almond tree blossoms,
The grasshopper is a burden,
And desire fails.
For man goes to his eternal home,
And the mourners go about the streets.
Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed,
Or the golden bowl is broken,
Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain,
Or the wheel broken at the well.
Then the dust will return to the earth as it was,
And the spirit will return to God who gave it.
“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher,
“All is vanity.”
(Ecclesiastes 12:3-8)
Life can only be enjoyed day by day, bite by bite. Finally we learn to embrace the aging process thankfully.
Solomon keeps a heavy subject light—and downright funny.
Isn’t that just what we need when we fret about fresh wrinkles? We need to take ourselves a little less seriously. We need a good laugh.
Solomon gives us a poetic picture of getting older. Let’s work our way through this passage looking at the phrases he chooses:
- The day when the keepers of the house tremble. Those are your arms and hands. As we get older, they begin to shake and tremble more.
- And the strong men bow down. Knees and shoulders grow weaker, more frail as we age, bending and bowing and slumping.
- When the grinders cease because they are few. What are “grinders”? Your teeth, of course! We can be thankful for improved dental care, but we still lose a tooth every now and then.
- And those that look through the windows grow dim. Are you getting the idea? No one had spectacles in Solomon’s time; they had to live with blurry vision.
- When the doors are shut in the streets, and the sound of grinding is low. We can’t hear the old street sounds or the mills grinding away.
- When one rises up at the sound of a bird. Teenagers can sleep until noon, but that is a skill we lose as we age. We old-timers are up with the chickens.
- And all the daughters of music are brought low. Your voice starts to quiver and weaken. You don’t sing as loudly or clearly as you once did.
- When the almond tree blossoms. Your hair puts forth white shoots! Rather than informing your spouse you have spotted another gray hair, why not say, “Nice almond tree, honey!”
- The grasshopper is a burden. By summer’s end, grasshoppers lose their hop. They are more like “grass-limpers.”
- And desire fails. You can work this one out for yourself. (Hint: there are several lines of pharmaceuticals to help.)
- For man goes to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets. This is referring to the unavoidable funeral and funeral procession.
—by David Jeremiah
