Ecclesiastes 12

Ecclesiastes 12:1-14 .

1. As Ecclesiastes 11:9 Ecclesiastes 11:10 showed what youths are to shun, so this verse shows what they are to follow.
Creator--"Remember" that thou art not thine own, but God's property; for He has created thee ( Psalms 100:3 ). Therefore serve Him with thy "all" ( Mark 12:30 ), and with thy best days, not with the dregs of them ( Proverbs 8:17 , 22:6 , Jeremiah 3:4 , Lamentations 3:27 ). The Hebrew is "Creators," plural, implying the plurality of persons, as in Genesis 1:26; so Hebrew, "Makers" ( Isaiah 54:5 ).
while . . . not--that is, before that ( Proverbs 8:26 ) the evil days come; namely, calamity and old age, when one can no longer serve God, as in youth ( Ecclesiastes 11:2 Ecclesiastes 11:8 ).
no pleasure--of a sensual kind ( 2 Samuel 19:35 , Psalms 90:10 ). Pleasure in God continues to the godly old ( Isaiah 46:4 ).

2. Illustrating "the evil days" ( Jeremiah 13:16 ). "Light," "sun," &c., express prosperity; "darkness," pain and calamity ( Isaiah 13:10 , 30:26 ).
clouds . . . after . . . rain--After rain sunshine (comfort) might be looked for, but only a brief glimpse of it is given, and the gloomy clouds (pains) return.

3. keepers of the house--namely, the hands and arms which protected the body, as guards do a palace ( Genesis 49:24 , Job 4:19 , 2 Corinthians 5:1 ), are now palsied.
strong men . . . bow--( Judges 16:25 Judges 16:30 ). Like supporting pillars, the feet and knees ( Solomon 5:15 ); the strongest members ( Psalms 147:10 ).
grinders--the molar teeth.
cease--are idle.
those that look out of the windows--the eyes; the powers of vision, looking out from beneath the eyelids, which open and shut like the casement of a window.

4. doors--the lips, which are closely shut together as doors, by old men in eating, for, if they did not do so, the food would drop out ( Job 41:14 , Psalms 141:3 , Micah 7:5 ).
in the streets--that is, toward the street, "the outer doors" [MAURER and WEISS].
sound of . . . grinding--The teeth being almost gone, and the lips "shut" in eating, the sound of mastication is scarcely heard.
the bird--the cock. In the East all mostly rise with the dawn. But the old are glad to rise from their sleepless couch, or painful slumbers still earlier, namely, when the cock crows, before dawn ( Job 7:4 ) [HOLDEN]. The least noise awakens them [WEISS].
daughters of music--the organs that produce and that enjoy music; the voice and ear.