It's Wise To Have Gray Hair

And as we jump into the last couple of chapters, the book of Ecclesiastes, I want to build for us a backdrop for where we're going to these last few chapters of this book. I'm going to start actually with a thought from Moses, Moses, and he writes the first five books of the Bible. We call those the mosaic books or the Pentateuch. And he comes to the book of Deuteronomy. And Deuteronomy is Moses is what we call Moses's sermons. He preaches these last bit of messages towards the end of his life, and he writes them down for future generations to read. Because you read the story of Moses, you know that Moses brought people out of the Exodus. He brought the nation of Israel out of Egypt and slavery and bondage. And the promise was that God wanted him to deliver those people to the Promised Land. What we find out in the life of these individuals is that they didn't desire to pursue after God. They followed the gods of Egypt, and God disciplined them by saying to them, those who are above the age of 20 wouldn't enter into the Promised Land. And so God allowed them to wander aimlessly for 40 years throughout the desert and below southern Israel. And at the end of that, God also told Moses that he wouldn't enter the Promised land, that Joshua would be the one that took the nation of Israel in. And so Moses, thinking of all the wisdom, all the things that he learned in his walk with God, all the mistakes he saw, the nation of Israel making, he writes his sermon to the future generations that will be the nation of Israel.

That will be the people that lead other people to God. And He and he begins his story just preaching this message. He comes to chapter six and he writes this to future generations. He says, these commandments that I give to you today are to be on your hearts. And press them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up, tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads, which I think we see that in verse eight as an illustration in the book of revelation, you hear about the Mark of the beast. A lot people wonder what that's going to be. Some people obsess about it being implants. I think the idea that John carries is actually from this passage of Scripture, and what John is saying in revelation is the same thing that Moses is saying here, that whatever's on your mind and on your hands, whatever you find yourself doing, that's what you're dedicated to. And so when they wear the Mark of the beast and revelation, they're dedicated to that beast, that government controlling. And what Moses is saying here in verse eight is whatever's on your mind and whatever's on your hand, we want the Word of God to be saturated in that, to show yourself dedicated to the Lord.

So he goes on in verse nine, write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates. And he says, on the backdrop of that statement, this is what you find because of your dedication to God's Word. You find houses filled with all kinds of good things. You did not provide wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant. Then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the Lord. I find the last half of this passage, I think, is specific to Israel because God is blessing that nation, but I think it's still applicable for all nations. When a nation pursues after the Lord, the Lord blesses that nation, and the tendency is when a nation pursues after God. Verse 12, that we become lackadaisical in our relationship with him. We think about the blessings. We forget about God and we forget. We forget and leave the Lord behind. And Moses's remarks to the future generations in Deuteronomy, as he's preaching this message, is that the foundation of your life is to be centered around the Lord. Saturate. He says in the very first verses, your heart upon this. Don't forget these things. If you've got to write it on your head and on your doorposts and on your arm, remember your dedication to the Lord.

Do not forget him. And it's so important that in that memory that you recall in God as he's guiding your life, pass it on to the next generation. This is where Israel made their mistakes. God spoke to the forefathers of Israel, the patriarchs. And it wasn't passed on to future generations. And in so doing they find themselves wandering in the wilderness, not pursuing after God, Moses not seeing the blessing of going into the Promised Land. The idea is this. Parents. Don't let your kids be themselves. I mean, your kids all have personalities and it's good to let them explore their personalities. But we also have a sin nature and that nature needs guidance. It needs God's Word. It needs direction. It needs the Lord. And you cannot impart what you do not possess. And if you're not spending time with God, if you're not saturating your heart on the foundation for which God created you to rest upon, you can't impart it to the next generation. Moses's books that he writes or excuse me, Solomon's books that he writes really operate on the same premise. You know, the Book of Proverbs and the Book of Ecclesiastes are both written by Solomon. And both of those books, honestly, are parenting books. When you read the book of Ecclesiastes, you see an emphasis continually made within this book written to young people. Now it's applicable for all people. I think the book of Ecclesiastes is more in Proverbs is written to all generations.

But Solomon knows if he can get the young generation to start pursuing after God in their life and not making the mistakes that a lot of us make apart from the Lord. If they can just see the need for God in their life and gain wisdom in that direction. And they can change the world. Ecclesiastes 11 and verse nine he says this you who are young. Be happy while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see. But know that for all these things, God will bring you into judgment. So then banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless. Solomon addresses the idea of his proverbs and if you read chapter 11, you see that the idea of chapter 11 is all about wisdom. Chapter ten was foolishness, chapter 11 gaining wisdom, leaving foolishness behind. And he says, young people, this is for you. And when you read in the book of Proverbs, I look forward to this one day going being able to go through this with my son, he's talking to a young boy who's going into adulthood or maturing in his, in his life. And he's saying to you, son, this is how you follow after God. This is how you honor God with your life.

As parents, we ask that question, God, where do I go to even begin to direct my kid to do this? How do I train them up? I would say to you, go through Proverbs and then take your kid through Proverbs. And Solomon says, this here, my son, your father's instruction. And do not forsake your mother's teaching. Indeed, they are a graceful wreath. Solomon's books for us. Their parenting books. They give us the education we need. If your parents never imparted to you the wisdom of the Lord, they give to you the direction as parents how to train up godly children. And I think when it comes to wisdom in our society today, we tend to live life a little culturally backwards with wisdom. We have older people wanting to be young and young people not wanting to mature. We're really good today at raising boys just to be boys. And Solomon's book is about educating ourselves in wisdom and what the Bible says is old people are cool, right? If you're old today, you're cool. I don't even know what old is 100 today, I don't know. I don't call anybody old because our society makes it look bad. But the Bible tells us if you're old, you're cool. And it says this in Ecclesiastes. I want you to see this. We didn't even say the word old, but it says, I want to say before I read this as well, if you're blonde, you're still cool.

So I think when you read, when you read. In our culture today, we like to make those blonde jokes. And I want to tell you, tell you guys, dark haired people, this is this is a mass coverup that dark, dark haired people have been putting against you for years. And I'm going to show you the Bible verse you want to stick to if you're if you're young, okay, or excuse me if you're blonde. It says this, in verse ten. So then banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless. The translation in the original Hebrew text literally says the word youth. You see underline there. It's literally the translation for black hair. So it's saying black hair is meaningless. You blonde hair. People who've been smart for years, they've been tricking you. I don't know what you've been thinking is black hair. And the reason they translate it as youth in this passage of Scripture is because. Not because there's a conspiracy against blonde people. It's not true. But what they're saying is Jewish cultures have dark hair. And what he's talking about is the youth. Saying you haven't walked the road yet. You haven't started collecting those grey hairs from whatever job or children you have. You know, whatever's causing that black hair, people were talking to you, young people were talking to you. This book is written for wisdom.

And what we find with wisdom is wisdom generally comes with age. Not always, but wisdom tends to come with age. So I think what Proverbs emphasizes, what Ecclesiastes emphasizes for us is the opportunity to awaken us to the idea that we need to discipline ourselves in the ways of the Lord. Matter of fact, when Paul is writing in the New Testament, he says that he says the same thing about culture then that we could say about culture today, the things that we tend to emphasize and make much about are the things that really don't last forever. See, today, if you go and you raise your children through the public school system, you see that the emphasis is in intelligence and gaining a lot of intellectual smarts. The tendency is to emphasize a lot in athletics. And what Paul says in this passage of Scripture is he's noticing even in his own culture, there's an emphasis in athletics. And he says, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness. Meaning, not only do we need to look at growing intellectually smart, not only do we need to look at taking care of our bodies, but there's a need to learn to discipline ourselves in wisdom. So the moment culture decides to divorce itself apart from God, we divorce ourselves from the very source through which wisdom is gained. And Paul is saying, there is a need in our lives not just to look at the discipline of athletics, not to look at the discipline of just being intelligent, but wisdom in the Lord.

And so he says, for bodily discipline is only for a little profit. Meaning you're going to be a superstar for ten years, but when you hit 30, it's all downhill. Right. But wisdom lasts your entire life. But godliness, he says. It's profitable for all things. Since it holds promise for the present life and for the life to come. What Paul is saying to us as individuals, as parents, those sporting events that you think are so important to dump tons of money on. Those extra curricular activities your child is in? Are you taking into account the fact that your child also needs wisdom? Because that wisdom will not only benefit the kid in that moment, but your kid is going to grow up to be an adult, and your kid is then going to impart the wisdom that he's gained onto the next generation. And people will begin to look to him as his hair graze, as to what to do in life circumstance. Athletics are cool and they're fun. It's great to watch our children grow up and do those things. But as important as that is, so goes wisdom. And Solomon's looking at a generation of individuals and his old age, having seen that he's lived the life of the rock star apart from God, and knowing that it hasn't ultimately satisfied his life. And he's coming to the book of Ecclesiastes, and he's writing to the younger generations, to all generations, that the desire of our heart should be for wisdom.

And he says things like under the sun and apart from God, life is meaningless and life is vanity. But if you want to experience what life is all about, it starts with wisdom in the Lord. Go to the Lord. Hebrews 313 says this to us as individuals encourage each other every day. Because your hearts can become hardened. And the thought and the challenge for us as we read this passage as a Scripture, is to commit ourselves to pursuing after the Lord and seeing him as the foundation of life and the source of life and the wellspring of life to give us the direction that we pursue in our lives, to be committed to the wisdom of the Lord. To say to young people, young people, we need you to take a stand. And God, we need you to understand the need for God in your life, that you don't make the mistakes that come along with not knowing the Lord. And so as Solomon writes this passage of Scripture. He really encourages two people or young people in two ways. It's sort of the gray haired saying to the black hair, if you want to live life to the fullest, old people, gray haired people, this is what we say to the younger generation. He says in the very first portion of Scripture, this is what's important.

You who are young. Be happy while you are young. And let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Some some translations say it like this rejoice, rejoice and follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. So then banish anxiety from your heart and cast off troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless. And so Paul's statement to the younger generation is that you learn to rejoice. Don't be Christians that are boring. But when you rejoice, he says in the end of verse nine that you rejoice in the Lord, knowing that you're going to come before the Lord, find things that your heart desires to know, and know that as you find those things, that God still holds you accountable. So when you rejoice, rejoice in the Lord. Solomon shares with us the backdrop of that. The thing that robs us is a heart that is filled with worry. A heart that's that worries about everything, rather than trusting in God and God's best and the worst of circumstances. You who work too hard to appreciate life, learn to rejoice in it. The encouragement is if you've got friends that know how to live life and you're a workaholic, get with those friends who know how to enjoy life. These are people that know what they don't like rather than what they do like.

Maybe it's a form of legalism he could be speaking to here. Those who could tell you everything in the world that they're against, but nothing in life they really enjoy. Nothing in life that they know God created for them to partake of and enjoy in what they're doing. Those things just rob us. And Solomon saying to us those things that weigh you down, let those things go and appreciate the Lord. Know that whatever God has is far better than anything you can do. Whatever retribution you might bring is better than any retribution or excuse me, is not any better than any retribution that God might bring. Let it be in God's care and just rejoice in the life that God has given you. Rejoice, knowing that God will hold you accountable for the things that you rejoice in. Find opportunity to rejoice in the thing that the Lord sees pleasing. Don't push it down. When life gives you a difficult obstacle, don't push it away. Don't let it slide. Confront it and just release it to God. Recognize that it's robbing you. If it's an individual, go before them and say, hey, this is hurt me this. I've thought about this and I just want you to know I'm forgiving you for this and just let the Lord take care of it. Solomon saying to the younger generation, life is too short. God has created you for so much more than to harbor these things that will hold you in the past.

Let go of those things and enjoy your future with him that God may impart into your life wisdom and rejoice in that. The second thing that Solomon says. Comes in chapter 12. He says in verse one, remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, I find no pleasure in them. Before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain. When the keepers of the house tremble and the strong men stoop. When the grinders ceased, because they are few. And those looking through the windows grow dim. And the doors to the streets are closed. And the sound of grindings fade. When people rise up at the sound of birds. But all their songs grow faint. It goes on and says, when people are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets, when the almond trees blossom and the grasshoppers drag itself along, the desire no longer is stirred. Then people go to their eternal home and mourners go about the streets. And then he says again, remember him. Before the silver cord is severed. And the Golden Bowl is broken. Before the pitcher is shattered at the spring. And the will. Excuse me. The will broken at the well. In. Solomon's idea is this while you rejoice knowing that we are accountable to the Lord.

That you also remember the Lord. It goes back to the thought of Deuteronomy, where Paul or excuse me, where Moses tells the people, remember the Lord and bind these things up. And you'll notice in verse ten that life will go well as you remember the Lord in verse 11 he says, and don't forget the Lord, because the tendency is when things go well, we forget about God. And Solomon is saying the same thing in Ecclesiastes in verse one and verse seven, remember him. I had to tell you this week as I looked into the Hebrew text of this word, remember, the Lord just caused my heart to rejoice. As I reflected on these things, I went back through the entire Old Testament and read every time the Bible talks about the word remember, and the thought that's carried with the word that Solomon says in this passage is Scripture talks about the covenantal promises of God, not just remember them as you're walking about the day, as you just think, oh, and there's God. But remember the covenantal promises of God in your life. And the story happens like this. God using the word remember in the Old Testament in Genesis chapter eight, it tells us when God brings the great flood up over the earth, God remembers his promises to Noah. The Bible tells us in Genesis chapter 19, when Sodom and Gomorrah are being destroyed and God makes a promise to Abraham over the lot, the life of lot, God remembers his promises to Abraham.

When the children of Israel are crying out to the Lord in Exodus chapter two and verse 22, it says, they're crying out to God. And God hears their cries. And he remembers his promises to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob. The idea is this for you? As you're going about your life and living from day to day, that throughout your days and every moment of your life, you pause and you remember the promises of God's goodness over you. You read a story in the book of Matthew? It's one of the things that always impacts my heart when I when I drive over the point of the mountain in Utah. I always think about this verse comes up, I believe in Matthew chapter 24, when Jesus goes up on the mountain over Jerusalem as he gets to the end of his life. And he looks over the city and he thinks about what he's come to this world to do, to redeem the nation of Israel and to redeem all peoples throughout the world. And he says as he looks over the city, about to give his life, he says, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how I have longed to gather you as a mother gathers her hens under his wings. And the Bible tells us that Jesus just weeps. Thinking about what he desires to bring into our lives, and yet people reject.

You know, the thing about love is that the difference between us and God is that when I love you and you refuse to love me, in return, I hurt. But when God loves you and you refuse to love him in return, he hurts, but for a totally different reason. He hurts because he knows what you're rejecting in your life. He hurts for you. Not because he hurts. He doesn't need you. He hurts because he loves you. And he knows what he desires to pour into your life and to bring you in this world. And when you reject him, when you fail to remember him, Solomon, Jesus. And these passages, they know what we're choosing in life. And Solomon says it's vanity. Could you imagine if he was here this morning and he sang to a generation how they would he would share that with us. He wouldn't just say, as we read in our quiet time, it's vanity. He would say, guys, it's vanity. It's empty. I mean, look at what Jesus is doing and giving his life for you, what he wants to extend. If you could even begin to understand the goodness of what God has given you would never abandon that. And when Jesus weeps over Jerusalem, he's weeping with a love, knowing that the rejection that you are accepting in your life is empty. So he sang to generations as he closes at the end of this book. Young people rejoice.

Rejoice in all that God has made you find the opportunity to be in joy. Let go of that past that's robbing you. Come to the Lord and just remember. Remember to write it on your forehead. Remember to write it on your hands. It's so life giving to pass on to future generations. You cannot impart what you do not possess. So please remember. I think of the excuses that we could give in this section. As people when it comes to remembering the Lord, we like to always think that we can do it later. He. The older you get, the more you learn on a needs to know basis. Meaning, when you're a kid, the wonder of the world, it's your playground and you're just excited to learn everything. And when the world starts to suck you dry. As people and you got so much you got to do. As you get older, you start to learn on. I'll do it when I have to basis. If I need to know it, then I'll learn it. If not, leave me alone. And what Solomon is saying in this book is when it comes to wisdom, you need to know it, and you need to know it now. Because when the decision comes, having walked with the Lord, you'll make a godly decision in that moment. And when Solomon gets to chapter 12, he lists all the things that could rob us. And I would say even this passage of Scripture, that if these individuals understood what it means to be wise in the Lord, they could handle these circumstances so much better.

When it comes to remembering the Lord, it's not on a needs to know basis, it's on an every moment basis. And there's no better opportunity to allow the Lord to saturate your heart than now. Because when the going gets tough, you're going to wish that you had walked with Christ. Remember. Remember him. And so Solomon ends with these thoughts for us. We've talked about this before. I'm just going to touch on it briefly, but he says. Not only was the teacher wise. But he also imparted knowledge to the people. The gray hair saying to the black hair. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. The teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true. The words of the wise are like goads. They their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails given by one shepherd. Be warned, my son, of anything. In addition to them of making many books, there is no end and much study wearies the body. I mean, there's a lot of junk you've got to sort through in life, but if you want to know the source of truth, come to Christ. We've given his example before. In verse 11, a sheep herder. We've said the beauty of a sheep herder. If you think in the hills of Israel, sheep herders are everywhere.

And how does a sheep know how to follow a shepherd? And the idea is this when a sheep herder gets a sheep. He starts to talk to the sheep. And the sheep learned his voice. And when the sheepherder calls, the sheep know where to go because they recognize the voice of his master. And Solomon is saying those sheep or those words are like embedded nails for us. And the life of an Israelite. You didn't have the nails that we have today to build a home. You just had a handful of nails and you really appreciated that. And when you put a nail in your home, it was actually to hang the valuables of your life. It's kind of like your bedside table. It's where the wallet goes and all the other junk you collect throughout the day. And when you get up in the morning, you take it with you. And Solomon is saying, that's wisdom. It's that nail that holds the valuables of life that when you get up in the morning, you take it with you. And so Solomon says to us in the concluding part of this book, he says, now all has been heard. Here is the conclusion of the matter fear God and keep his commandments. For this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is of good or of evil. And I got to tell you parents.

We come to the end of this book. Now think about God's responsibility on me. To impart wisdom, to learn wisdom. To be a tool for the Lord, that I may train my child in following after God. And sometimes I think about that and I get overwhelmed. I think about all the mistakes my kid can make and the world that he's about to enter into today, and the wisdom that I want him to know and how I want him to live for the Lord. And knowing he's not always going to listen to what I have to say and the concern and the worry. How do you raise a kid to be godly and follow after the Lord in a world like this today? I know I've shared this with you, but can I tell you, as parents, you don't have to carry concern for every problem that your kid's going to face. Just carry one. That's this. That your kid would know the Lord. That your kid's heart would be softened to know the Lord. Can I tell you? Even in older generations, as parents, when your kids are out on their own and imparting wisdom to the next generation, it's a prayer you can carry with you for them forever. God, soften their hearts that they may know you. I love that I've. I've learned this just one thought in the Lord at a younger age. Just having kids in my life. Because every night now we've already started the tradition with my son.

We say the same prayer because he's young and I want him to memorize it. But I go into his room every night and I say, son, it's time to pray. God and he repeats every word I love. It's beautiful. I say the word and he just says it back. God help me to love you and to love each other. God help us to love you and to love each other. If he would just know the Lord. God takes that life and takes that heart and molds his truth into him. As we look at what Solomon says in this passage of Scripture. It's a crowd of young people. It's a cry to all people. To remember the Lord. Wherever you are, however it takes. If it's in a car ride with your kids, it's around the dinner table. It's at their bed at night. Take time to remember the Lord. Parents, you cannot impart what you do not possess in your personal life. Take time to remember the Lord. The idea in Hebrews chapter three says this do it every day, because if you don't do it every day, your heart will become hardened. God desires to take that heart and to show it its great love that he has for you. And to reject him. It doesn't make him sad over your rejection. It makes him sad. And knowing that the blessings and the love that he desires to extend you have turned your back on it. So remember the Lord.