Here the wise King Solomon figuratively describes... - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2024

In the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men bow down;when the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look through the windows grow dim …
Ecclesiastes 12:3

Here the wise King Solomon figuratively describes the ageing of man. The hands, “the keepers of the house”, then often begin to tremble, the limbs “bow down”, the teeth, “grinders”, become fewer, and the eyes “grow dim” – the sight diminishes. It is not a popular theme that Solomon addresses here. Younger people don’t look forward to old age, and many older ones increasingly struggle with their limitations.

Even advances in medicine, increased mobility or sophisticated aids for physical impairments can do little to change this. No one likes to age, and yet it happens.

How good it is then to know that life here on earth is not everything. If we know the eternal God as Father, we have a certain hope of everlasting life. He has sent us His Son Jesus so that we may live forever through faith in Him. The believer may firmly trust in Him – especially when he grows older, when his strength decreases, and when he has to learn to live with the limitations of old age.

God is not a God of the strong. He is especially concerned about the sick, the old and the weak: “He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength” (Isaiah 40:29).

Those who place their trust in God can experience the reality of this verse: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16).

The direction of the believer’s gaze is, after all, toward his eternal home, to his “desired haven” (Psalm 107:30), where his Lord and Saviour already dwells. And this hope gives strength for everyday life – until the glorious goal is reached.

Today’s reading: 2 Kings 14:17-29 · 1 John 2:12-19