a night is not far off, even from those who are in the very morning of hfe. It may be hastened prema- tm*ely, as it were, by sickness, and care, and una- voidable misfortmies ; and it must come at last through the infirmities of age, which, if our life be prolonged, will make it but " labour and sorrow." The latter consideration is suggested in the text, which contains two things :
I. A keen remonstrance.
The address here made to youth, though it ap- pears like a concession, is not really so —
[It has been thought by some to be a concession, recom- mending youth to enjoy themselves in the world ; only to do it in such a way as not to endanger their happiness in a future life. And it is certain that there are in this book many conces- sions to that effect^ Such passages as these may indeed
be easily pressed too far : but, on the other hand, they are not in general understood by the religious world. Religious people are apt to imagine, that Christianity requires an utter abandon- ment of those things which the carnal mind affects ; and that a pious person who possesses any considerable measure of earthly comforts, is necessarily inconsistent in his conduct. But this is a mistake, and a mistake which greatly needs to be rectified ; because it occasions many unjust censures, and un- charitable reflections. " God has given us all things richly to enjoy '^r" and, provided we do not spend an undue portion of our substance on earthly indulgences, or set our affections upon them, there is nothing in Christianity which prohibits a reasonable use, and a temperate enjoyment of them. If only we sit loose to them in our hearts, and enjoy God in them, they are perfectly lawful ; yea, " they are sanctified to us by the word of God and prayer''."
But it is not in this sense that the address before us is to be understood :]
It is, on the contrary, a just and severe remon- strance—
[The terms here used are such as cannot well be taken in a good sense. To " walk in the ways of our own heart, and in the sight of our own eyes," is equivalent to walking in the ways of criminal self-indulgence. This is the import of these ex- pressions in other passages of Scripture '^ and so they
must be taken here ; as is evident from the awful judgments
a Eccl. ii. 24. and iii. 12, 13. and v. 18, 19. ^ 1 Tim. vi. 17.
c 1 Tim. iv. 4, 5. ^ Numb. xv. 39. Deut. xxix. 19.