“Be happy, young man”
[Ecclesiastes 11:9-10]
Do you have a joy in your heart or anxiety in your heart these days?
We have been taught three things about how we should live when we look at our death based on the words of Ecclesiastes 11:1-8: (1) First, we must be careful to live our remaining life, trusting God entirely. (2) Second, when we look at our day of death, since we don’t know what kind of disaster we may face in the future, we should love our neighbors by helping them as much as we can. (3) Third, we should do our best in doing the work of God as we think about our days of death. We have learned that this is a beautiful life in which we live in obedience to God's Word while looking at the day of death (v.7).
Today, I would like to receive a lesson from King Solomon, under the heading “Be happy, young man”, based on Ecclesiastes 11:9-10. Though today's text is the message of God to the young people, the principle of the message applies to all of us, and we must listen carefully.
First, young people should enjoy their youth.
Look at Ecclesiastes 11: 9 – “Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. ….” After King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 11:7 and 8, "… it is good for the eyes to see the sun" (v.7), " Indeed, if a man should live many years, let him rejoice in them all …" (v. 8), he said in verse 9 “Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood.” After all, whether we are young or old, regardless of age, we must obey the Word of God, thinking of our days of death (v. 8). We must enjoy doing the work of God, helping our neighbors, as we trust in God completely. King Solomon, in particular, is focusing on young people today in verses 9 and 10. And while he says to the young men, ‘Rejoice and let your heart be pleasant’ (v. 9a) he also says to them “Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things” (v. 9b).
Until I meditated on the text today, I became confused every time I read the verse 9. The Bible says to the young man to “Rejoice” and “let our heart be pleasant”. But the same Bible says “Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things” (v. 9). So I wasn’t sure whether the Bible is telling the young men to rejoice and let their hearts be pleasant or to follow the impulses of their hearts and the desire of their eyes but God will bring them to judgment for all these things (v. 9). Actually, Dr. Park Yun-sun interpreted the verse 9 as follows: ‘It is a satirical statement that the so-called ‘follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes’. King Solomon is saying that try to do that if you want to. But there is a danger. That’s what the word “God will bring you to judgment (v. 9b)’ (Park Yun-sun). However, when I look at the comment of other scholars, I see the interpretation unlike Dr. Park Yun-sun. One scholar, for example, says that young people should enjoy the youthfulness of their hearts, but their desires should be tempered, while being conscious of the judgment of God (Walvoord). I am not sure which scholar's interpretation is right. But when I think about it in the context of Ecclesiastes 11:7-8, I think King Solomon is saying that being aware of the judgment of God, the youth should enjoy their youth with self-controlled desire.
Then how can young people enjoy their youth? When we look back on Ecclesiastes which we have already meditated, King Solomon has said many words of rejoicing in life that can be summarized in several ways: 'Enjoy eating and drinking' (2:24; 3:13; 8:15, 9: 7), “Enjoy life with the woman whom you love” (9:9), 'Enjoy oneself in all one’s labor' (2:24, 5:18) and ‘Be happy in your activities’ (3:22). But when I think about how young people should enjoy their youth, I remembered the words of Psalm 119: 9 – “How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word.” The young people should rejoice in the pursuit of pure conduct according to the word of God. In a word, the way young people rejoice in their youth is to seek purity.
Second, the young people should remove anxiety from their heart and cast off the trouble from their body.
Look at Ecclesiastes 11:10 – “So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless.” If young people do not pursue the purity of life and conduct according to God's word, they will have anxiety in their hearts. Furthermore, when they do not live according to the Word of God, they can not but sin against God in the body. Park Yun-sun said: ‘If a young man does indulgence in his own way, he will eventually become anxious, and will be defiled with evil" (Park Yun-sun). That’s why King Solomon counsels the young men to remove anxiety from their heart and cast off the trouble from their body. How is this possible? When young people rejoice in their hearts while seeking purity according to the word of God, they can enjoy the freedom from the anxieties of their hearts and cast off the trouble from their body. Why then should they also live a life of joy and rejoicing in their hearts, seeking purity in accordance with the Word of God? The reason is that the life of youth is fleeting (v. 10).
What do you think? Don’t you think that time passes by very quickly? Please consider the time of your youth. Didn’t your youth pass too quickly? Have you enjoyed your youth time? Did you enjoy your youth? Did your heart have joy because you live a pure life according to the word of God rather than anxiety, pain, and sin? Or did you spend your youth with anxiety, sorrow, pain and sins in your body and mind? What would you recommend to young people? Young people should rejoice in their hearts. They should enjoy youth. They should enjoy eating, drinking, working, and living a happy life with their spouse in marriage. Furthermore, young people must enjoy the joy of their youth by purifying their hearts and deeds according to the word of God. They should never spend their youth in the worries of the mind, the pain of the body as they satisfy their sinful nature. Knowing the judgment of God and the time of youth passes by very quickly, the young people should enjoy the time of youth in the Lord.