The Inevitable Creep of Death

Ecclesiastes 12:1 (ESV) 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”

Solomon ends his old age treatise with an important lesson to the young. Let God be the center of your life when you are young. If not, you'll grow old, discontent, angry at the world, regretful, and perhaps bitter. Why? Because as you get older, life gets harder. Not so much in that you are challenged with new problems but that your body and mind are challenged to do old things. 

Solomon's last admonition is a simple yet profound truth. You will be the result of your life when you get older. And when you're young you're far too uninformed to know what decisions you should make. So look to God when you're young and your life will be pleasurable when you're old. 

He then uses a series of metaphors to describe the process of getting older:

Ecclesiastes 12:2 (ESV) before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain,

Here he speaks of vision loss. And what you will see are the terrible choices you made when you did not consider God - that is the clouds returning.

Ecclesiastes 12:3 (ESV) 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,

Here he speaks of trembling hands, weakened legs, tooth loss and even more vision impairment. 

Ecclesiastes 12:4 (ESV) 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—

Here he talks about hearing loss (doors on the street being shut and low grinding sounds.). He also speaks of the tendency of the aged to rise early and yet not behold fully the morning songs of birds. 

Ecclesiastes 12:5 (ESV) 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—

Here he mentions the inability to try new things (terrors in the way), gray hair (almond tree blossoms), and a general sense of sloth about yourself. Desire fading is referring to a diminished sex drive. 

Ecclesiastes 12:6–8 (ESV) 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, 7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. 8 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.

Finally, several metaphors sum up the resultant death awaiting us all. 

If there's a problem with the young it is they do not take the effort to listen to the old. They are certain their lives will go on forever and every mistake can ultimately be made up. After all, they are under the illusion they have all the time in the world. 

But Solomon was perhaps the most notable person in his day. And he too experienced the slow and inevitable creep of death. His building projects behind him, his lovers no longer interested him and all his gold and silver could not stop his life from ending. 

No one can stop it and yet we like to push it out of our minds. But notice that Solomon does not ask us to think about death but about our Creator! He is the one who gave us this life and in Christ when this is over, we pass from death to new life. We enter an eternal realm of glory. 

Solomon warns us of searching for meaning beyond these fundamental realities:

Ecclesiastes 12:11–12 (ESV) The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. 12 My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

When we keep our lives simple before God, we avoid the high cost of seeking out what may never materialize as we imagined. So we do well to listen to this old preacher and righly align our lives in the wisdom he's offered. 

Ecclesiastes 12:13–14 (ESV) The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.