is blessed with many days, but those days good ones,
days of prosperity: such a man is in a happy case;
and especially it' he is possessed of spiritual joy, of
joy in the Holy Ghost; if he rejoices in Christ, and
in what he is to him, and has done for him; and
having professed him, and submitted to his ordinances,
go.es. on his way,rejoicing. Some render it, let him
rejoice in them all {w}; a good man has reason to rejoice
always, throughout the whole course of his life; because
of the goodness of divine Providence to him; because
of the blessings of grace bestowed on hitn; and be-
cause of his good hope of eternal glory and happiness.
The Targum is," in all these it becomes him to
"rejoice, and to study in the law of the Lord."
Yet let him remember the days oJ' darkness, for they
shall be many; or,' they may be {x}; meaning either,
that though persons may live long, and enjoy much
health and prosperity; yet, in the midst of all, they
should consider, that it is possible that davs of adver-
sity and distress may come upon them, and continue;
and therefore should not please themselves, as Job
did,' that they shall die in their nest in the height
their prosperity, since they know not what days of
evil may come, and how long they will last; or, hOw-
ever, they should remember the night of death, that is
hastening, the land of darkness, and the shadow of
death, they are going to; the dark grave, they will
soon be laid in, where they will remain many days;
many more than those in which they have lived, en-
joying the light of the sun, even till the heavens shall
be no more; though these days will not be infinite,
they will have an end, and there will'be a resurrec-
tion from the dead: and particularly if a man is a
wicked man, that has lived a long andprosperous life,
he should not only remember the above things;
also that outer darkness, that blackness of darkn
reserved for him, the darkness of eternal death, which
will be his portion for evermore. The Targum is, "he
"shall remember the days of the darkness of death,
"and shall not sin; for many are the davs that he
"shall lie dead in the house of the grave." All that
cometh is vanity; Aben Ezra interprets this of every
man that comes into the world, as in ch. i. 2, 4. whe-
ther high or low, rich or poor, in prosperity or adver-
sity; man, at his best estate, is vanity: let a man
therefore be in what circumstances he will, he should
not take up his rest here; all that comes to him,
thin.g that befalis him, is vanity. The wise man kee
in view the main thing he proposed, to prove that
is vanity, all in this life; for what is to come hereafter,
in a future state of happinesS, cannot come under this
name and cllaracter.
Vet..O. Rejoice, 0 young man, in thy youth, &c.]
This advice may be considered as serious; and either
as relating to natural, corporeal, and temporal delight
and pleasure, under due limitations; that as mirth and
cheerfulness, or a free use of the creatures of God,
with moderation and temperance, is allowable to all
men in common, and is spoken of throughout this
book as commendable, and is healthful and profitable
to men; so it is particularly suitable to the youthful
age, whose natural desires may be enjoyed, and their
outward senses may be gratilied, in a lawful way, so
thr as is consistent with the fear of God, and tim ex-
pectation of a future judgment: or it may bc conSi-
dered with respect to religious and spiritual exercises;
as young men should remember their Creator in the
days of theiryouth, as it follows; so they should' re-
joice in God their Maker, Psal. cxlix.2. they should re-
joice. not to do evil, to which human nature is in-
clined, especially in youth, but to do good; should
rejoice, not in tltc ways of sin, but in the ways of wis-
dom; not in any outward attainment of beauty, wit.
strength, or riches, but in the grace of God; not in
themselves, or their boastings, but in Christ, his per-
sou, righteousness, and salvation; not in the things of
time and sense, but in hope of the glory of God. And
let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth; here is
a different word for youth than the former, which Ai-
shech distinguishes thus; the first designs the time to
the age of thirteen, and this fi'om thence to twenty.
Or, let thine heart do thee good, so the Septuagint.
The Targum is, "and let thine heart be good in thee."
Symmachus renders it, and let thine heart be in good;
the thoughts of thine heart be employed about that
which is good, spiritual, heavenly, and divine; the
affections of thine heart set thereon; and the will and
desires of thine heart be drawn out after such things:
let thine heart prompt and put thee on doing that
which is good,-with delight and pleasure; but, in
order,to all this, the heart must be made good by the
spirit and grace of God. And walk in the ways of thy
heart; being created a clean one, sprinkled, purged,
and purified by the blood of Christ; in which the fear
of God is put; the laws of God are written; where
Christ is formed, and his word dwells richly, and he
himself by faith, where the Spirit of God and his graces
are: and then to walk in the ways of such a heart is
to walk in the fear of God, according to his word, as
Christ is an example; and to walk after the spirit, and
not after the flesh. The Septuagint and Arabic ver-
sions are, and walk in the ways of thine heart unblama-
ble: tile Targum, "and walk in humility in the ways
". of thine heart:" which all agree with the sense
givett: so A!shech interprets the ways of the heart; of
e ways of the good imagination of good men, And
the sight of thine eyes; as enlightened by the spirit
God, directing and guiding in the wav in whicll a
man should walk; looking unto Jesus, all the while
he is walking or running his Christian race; and walk-
ing in him, as hc has received him; pressing towards
him, the mark, for the prize of the high calling. The
Targum is, "and be cautious of the sight of thine
"eyes, and look not upon evil." The Septuagint and
Arabic versions insert the negative; and not in the
sight of thine eyes. Most interpreters understand all
this its an ironical concession to young men, to indulge
themselves in carnal mirth, to take their swing of sin-
ful pleasures, to do all their corrupt hearts incline
them to; and to gratify their outward senses and car-
nal lusts to the uttermost; even the lust of the flesh.
the lust of the eye and the pride of life, which young


{w} \^xmvy Mlkb\^ in eis omnibus laetetur && Tremellius, Mer-
cerus, Cocceius, Gejerus.
{x} \^hyhy hbrh yk\^ quia multi sint, Amama, so some in Drusius; quod
multi futuri sint, Piscator, Gejerus, Rambachius.