Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy
youth
Or "Creators" F2; as "Makers", ( Job 35:10 ) ( Psalms 149:2
) ( Isaiah
54:5 ) ; for more than one were concerned, as in the creation
of all things in general, so of man in particular, ( Genesis 1:26
) ; and these are neither more nor fewer than three; and are
Father, Son, Spirit; the one God that has created men, ( Malachi 2:10
) ; the Father, who is the God of all flesh, and the Father of
spirits; the former both of the bodies and souls of men, (
Jeremiah
31:27 ) ( Hebrews 12:9
) ; the Son, by whom all things are created; for he that is the
Redeemer and husband of his church, which are characters and
relations peculiar to the Son, is the Creator, ( Isaiah 43:1 ) (
54:5 ) ; and
the Holy Spirit not only garnished the heavens, and moved upon
the face of the waters, but is the Maker of men, and gives them
life, ( Job 33:4 )
. Now this God, Creator, should be "remembered" by young men;
they should remember there is a God, which they are apt to be
forgetful of; that this God is a God of great and glorious
perfections, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, holy, just, and
true; who judgeth in the earth, and will judge the world in
righteousness, and them also; and that he is in Christ a God
gracious, merciful, and pardoning iniquity, transgression, and
sin: they should remember him under this character, as a
"Creator", who has made them, and not they themselves; that they
are made by him out of the dust of the earth, and must return to
it; that he has brought them into being, and preserved them in
it, and favoured them with the blessings of his providence, which
are all from him that has made them: and they should remember the
end for which they are made, to glorify him; and in what state
man was originally made, upright, pure, and holy; but that he now
is a fallen creature, and such are they, impure and unrighteous,
impotent and weak, abominable in the sight of God, unworthy to
live, and unfit to die; being transgressors of the laws of their
Creator, which is deserving of death: they should remember what
God their Creators, Father, Son, and Spirit, must have done or
must do for them, if ever they are saved; the Father must have
chosen them in Christ unto salvation; must have given his Son to
redeem, and must send his Spirit into their hearts to create them
anew; the Son must have been surety for them, assumed their
nature, and died in their room and stead; and the Spirit must
regenerate and make them new creatures, enlighten their minds,
quicken their souls, and sanctify their hearts: they should
remember the right their Creator has over them, the obligations
they are under to him, and their duty to him; they should
remember, with thankfulness, the favours they have received from
him, and, with reverence and humility, the distance between him,
as Creator, and them as creatures: they should remember to love
him cordially and sincerely; to fear him with a godly fear; to
worship him in a spiritual manner; to set him always before them,
and never forget him. And all this they should do "in the days
[their] youth"; which are their best and choicest day in which to
serve him is most desirable by him, acceptable to him; who
ordered the first of the ripe fruits and creatures of the first
year to be offered to him: and then are men best able to serve
him, when their bodies are healthful, strong, and vigorous; their
senses quick, and the powers and faculties of their souls capable
of being improved and enlarged: and to delay the service of him
to old age, as it would be very ungrateful and exceeding
improper, so no man can be sure of arriving to it; and if he
should, yet what follows is enough to determine against such a
delay; while the evil days come not;
meaning the days of old age; said to be evil, not with respect to
the evil of fault or sin; so all days are evil, or sin is
committed in every age, in infancy, in childhood, in youth, in
manhood, as well as in old age: but with respect to the evil of
affliction and trouble which attend it, as various diseases; yea,
that itself is a disease, and an incurable one; much weakness of
body, decay of intellects, and many other things, which render
life very troublesome and uncomfortable F3, as
well as unfit for religious services; nor the years draw
nigh, when thou shall say, I have no pleasure in
them;
that is, corporeal pleasure; no sensual pleasure; sight, taste,
and hearing, being lost, or in a great measure gone; which was
Barzillai's case, at eighty years of age: though some ancient
persons have their senses quick and vigorous, and scarce perceive
any difference between youth and age; but such instances are not
common: and there are also some things that ancient persons take
pleasure in, as in fields and gardens, and the culture of them,
as Cicero F4 observes; and particularly learned
men take as much delight in their studies in old age as in youth,
and in instructing others; and, as the same writer F5 says,
``what is more pleasant than to see an old man, attended and encircled with youth, at their studies under him?''and especially a good man, in old age, has pleasure in reflecting on a life spent in the ways, work, and worship of God; and in having had, through the grace of God, his conversation in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity; as also in present communion with God, and in the hopes and views of the glories of another world: but if not religious persons, they are strangers to spiritual pleasure, which only is to be had in wisdom's ways; such can neither look back with pleasure on a life spent in sin; nor forward with pleasure, at death and eternity, and into another world; see ( 2 Samuel 19:35 ) ( Psalms 90:10 ) .