Ever your’s,
LETTER X.
TO MRS. D—.
Peckham, August 30, 1814.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
I once more resume my pen to give you a few more thoughts on the 12th of Ecclesiastes, but lament the limits, of a Letter, or even a Sermon would be too short to do justice to that subject. The Wise Man has in the verses we have already considered, described age to us, in the influence it has upon all the functions and faculties of a man; and shews how they are all weakened in his declining state. He now proceeds to notice one sad effect of age, that is, Fear. Verse 5, Also they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way; and the Almond tree shall flourish, and desire shall fail, and the Grasshopper shall be a burden, because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets.
The first is Fear, either of things high or low. He shall be afraid of that which is high, either in respect of place or objects; as steep, and eminent ways, hills, mountains, steeples, and towers; some of which formerly they could ascend without fear, in their juvenile and manly days; but it is not so now, they are weak in mind, nervous, low, timid, and fearful; so they are afraid of high things, as fiery meteors, strange apparitions, thunder, lightning, and such like. So they are likewise, probably, afraid of abstruse and mysterious points in any science, which while strong, they durst have ventured upon, but now they are too weak in the faculties to dive deep into them; they are always in fear lest tiles of houses, or chimney pots, or any thing else should fall on them, especially in windy weather. They have fears about them constantly on all hands; they see danger, lest they should dash their foot against a stone; lest some people in their hurry should push them down, or should rush upon them, and injure them. Being conscious of their own impotency, it makes them most obnoxious to this terrible passion, which is the great change made on them in the time of age. Thus Solomon notices the change made in the mind by sickness, trouble, and age. He then points it out clearly upon the body in the next line, The Almond tree shall flourish. The learned tell us, this tree waketh, and riseth from its winter’s repose before any other, it flowers in the month of January, and by March bringeth its fruit to maturity. The forwardness of this fruit-bearing tree is intimated by the vision which Jeremiah had of the speedy Destruction of Jerusalem; For the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, what seest thou? And he said, I see a rod of an Almond tree. Then said the Lord, thou hast well seen, I will hasten my word to fulfil it. Jeremiah, 1 chapter, XI verse. This was to shew the speedy fulfilling of the word of God against that City. Now there is no change that befalleth man, that can be so lively represented by the blooming of the Almond tree, as that whereby the hair of the head becomes hoary and white. The grey head is similar to this tree, for its whiteness, so in hastiness of appearance, as the Almond tree buds sooner by two or three months than most other trees, so do these hasty buds of age appear; these steal upon men suddenly before they are aware. Some peoples’ hair turns grey at thirty or forty years of age, while other symptoms of the decay of life do not appear on them till sixty or seventy years of age. Both these attract attention. An Almond tree in full blossom, and an almond head, especially if found in the ways of God, these are alike in their indications, they foretel what is approaching—a change; fruit will come after; so grey hairs prognosticate that death is at hand; these are Church-yard flowers, which serve, like passing bells, to give those notice that bear them, that their end is near. Two things more the Wise Man observes; The Grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail. The learned say the word Grasshopper, likewise signifies the Locust, and will apply to both in the original language; and they likewise suppose that Solomon here alludes to some parts of the body, which being shrivelled and deformed, appear like the Locust and Grasshopper. These Species are both of them hard, crusty, cragged, crumpling creatures, differing from all others, principally in the protuberance of the limbs, having their legs strangely crooked, and their joints very closely inverted, and at a great distance from the trunk of their body. This description may refer to some of the bones in the neck, the back, the loins, the heels, and the ancles. Now when a man by reason of age, begins to stoop, and bend forwards, and withal those fleshy parts that cover these processes, begin to shrink and decay, he resembles these creatures. This may also include the change upon the cartilages of the body, the Ligaments, the Membranes, the Fibres, the Veins, the Nerves, the Arteries, the Tendons, and the like, which all grow harder and drier in old age, and become a burden; the skin, likewise, as man declines, becomes crusty, dry, callous, and consequently falls into many wrinkles. This may also include that fretfulness to which aged people are subject; every thing is a burden, though light, weak or trifling as a Grasshopper. Good Mr. Henry, observes, Perhaps this Grasshopper or Locust was some light food, such as John did eat; but even this was a burden to an aged man’s stomach; then, of course, through these things Solomon well adds, Desire shall fail: Sensual and natural desire for food, pleasure, or any sensual delight whatever. This word Desire, the celebrated Dr. Smith says, should be translated Capers, the fruit, or rather the flowers of the Caper Shrub, or Bush; and alludes to something calculated to give appetite; and that as the Grasshopper did represent the Bones, or hard parts of the Body, so these the soft, spongy, and dilated; and what Solomon by this expression means, is the alteration of all the moist and tender parts of the body, usually called the Sanguineous; including the change that befals the Blood, and the natural Humours of the Body in time of age, for they become low, and much depauperated; they are diminished and far less in quality than they were before. The reason of this is, for man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets. The grave, said Job, is my house, and soon the funeral proclamation must be repeated over us, Dust thou art, and unto dust shall thou return. The grave is the home for the body, when once it comes there, as long as there is any dust to cover it, or heavens to surround it, Man lieth down, and riseth not till the Heavens be no more; they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep till death is swallowed up in victory. And the mourners go about the streets. This we see daily; the friends, the relations, characters of every description. Mourning, is not because my friend is gone to glory, but on account of the loss I sustain, that person being near and dear to me; besides, it is a solemn call, Be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh. And oh, my dear friend, to have the lamp of salvation from sin, its guilt, and curse, and power, and to have my soul filled with joy in God, through Jesus—this is the oil which will blaze when he appeareth. But if I have not much joy, I am blessed with a good hope, through grace; a hope that maketh not ashamed, and God declares it shall never be lost; There is hope in thy end, and thy expectation shall not be cut off. Praise ye the Lord.
I would again glance at this Text in another sense. Having considered the evil days coming on the body in this verse, let us once more survey some days of evil, in which I am sure you and I can say I have no pleasure in them. Fear shall be in the way, and the Almond tree shall flourish; the Grasshopper be a burden, and desire shall fail, for man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets. Without turning, twisting, or wresting this Text, I am forcibly struck with the following thoughts, which I must pen and send you. 1st. The Believer’s home. 2ndly. The way to it. 3rdly. The fears which attend him. 4thly. Their cause, which is a source of grief, and causes the spiritual mourners to go about the streets of Zion. I know of no dwelling or resting place, for a soul born of God, but the everlasting love of God in Covenant; the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is my habitation, my dwelling, my resting place; nor is there any safety, happiness, felicity, or peace, any where else. All that are born of God, naturally, in this sense, tend to this one grand object. Hence the question of a seeking soul, Does God love me? Did Jesus die for me?—and after the soul knows this, yet in general, there is a thirsting after greater knowledge, and greater enjoyment of it, nor is a Believer ever at home but when he is here. He rests not in his attainments of this knowledge, but is anxious to go on to know the Lord, in his infinite love; to feel more, to enjoy more, to be delighted with more of it, till he arrives at perfect bliss, and is filled with all the fulness of God, which is love. He tastes what the poet did, and has exprest in these two lines:
’Tis heaven to rest in thine embrace,
And no where else but there.