Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:8

"Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity. Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity. Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low— they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets— before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity." (Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:8, ESV)

Most everything in this passage the Preacher has stated before. Rejoice in the sweet, painless days of youth while you still have them, but just remember that you will be judged for everything you do. Put off worry and frustration, because all is vanity. If you detect more than a hint of sarcasm, you would not be mistaken. The key sentence in this whole section is this: “Remember also your Creator.” There is the signpost guiding us to where the Preacher is going. But for the moment he would have us ponder again why it is that we need to remember the Creator. In this section, the Preacher vividly and in an almost beautiful poetic form captures the despair in life. I don’t think I want to comment too much upon it. Even if you do not understand everything he writes, reading and rereading it will make you feel the message “vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” It is a despair that the Creator and the Creator alone can overcome.