John Trapp on Ecclesiastes 11:9-10

Verſ. 9. Rejoyce O young man in thy youth] i. e. Do if thou dareſt: like as God ſaid to Balaam, Riſe up and go to Balak, Numb. 22.20. that is, go if thou thinkeſt it good: go, ſith thou wilt needſly go; but thou goeſt upon thy death. Let no man imagine that it ever came into the Preachers heart here, oleum camino addere, to add fuel to the fire of youthful luſts, to excite young people (unruly enough of themſelves) to take their full ſwinge in ſinful pleaſures. Thus to do might better befit a Protagoras, of whom Plato reports,Plato in Menen. that hee many times boaſted, that whereas hee had lived threeſcore years, forty of thoſe threeſcore hee had ſpent in corrupting thoſe young men that had been his pupils: or that old Dotrel in Terence, that ſaid, Non eſt mihi crede, flagitium adoleſcentem helluari, potare, ſcortari, fores effringere. I hold it no fault for young men to ſwagger, drink, drab, revel, &c. Solomon in this Text, either by a Mimeſis brings in the wilde yonker thus beſpeaking himſelf, Rejoyce, my ſoul, in thy youth, &c. and then nips him on the crown again with that ſtinging But in the end of the verſe. Or elſe (which I rather think) by an ironical Conceſſion hee bids him rejoyce, &c. yeelds him what hee would have, by way of mockage and bitter-ſcoff: like as Elias jeered the Baalites, bidding them cry aloud unto their drowſie or buſie God: or as Micaiah bade Ahab (by an holy ſcoff) go up againſt Ramoth Gilead and proſper:Mark. 14.41 Or as our Saviour bade his drowſie Diſciples, Sleep on now, and take your reſt, viz. if you can at leaſt, or have any minde to it, with ſo many Bills and Halberds about your ears.

And let thine heart chear thee in the daies of thy youth] In diebus electionum tuarum (ſo Arias Montanus reads it) in the daies of thy chuſings, that is,Luke 12. when thou followeſt the choice (and the chaſe) of thine own deſires, and doſt what thou wilt without controll.

Walk in the way of thine heart] Which bids thee Eat, drink, and bee merry; and had as lief bee knockt on the head, as do otherwiſe. Hence faſting is called an afflicting of the ſoul; and the beſt finde it no leſs grievous, to go about holy duties, than it is to children, to bee called from their ſports, and ſet to their books.

And in the ſight of thine eyes.] Thoſe windows of wickedneſs, and loop-holes of luſt.

But know] Here is that which marrs all the mirth, here is a cooler for the yonkers courage, ſowre ſauce to his ſweet meats, for fear hee ſhould ſurfeit. Verbahaet Solomonis valde emphatica ſunt (ſaith Lavater) there is a great deal of emphaſis in theſe words of Solomon. Let mee tell thee this as a Preacher, ſaith hee: And oh that I could get words to gore the very ſoul with ſmarting pain, that this Doctrine might bee written in thy fleſh!

That for all theſe things] Theſe tricae, as the world accounts them, theſe trifles and tricks of youth, which Job and David bitterly bewailed as ſore buſineſſes.

God will bring thee to judgement] Either in this life, as hee did Abſolom and Adoniah, Hophni and Phinehas, Nadab and Abihu, or infallibly at thy deaths-day, which indeed is thy dooms-day, then God will bring thee perforce, bee thou never ſo loth to come to it; hee will hale thee to his tribunal, bee it never ſo much againſt thy heart, and againſt the hair with thee. And as for the judgement what it ſhall bee, God himſelf ſhews it, Iſa. 28.17. Judgement will I lay to the line, and righteouſneſs to the plummet, and the hail ſhall ſweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters ſhall over-flow the hiding-place. Where, what is the hail (ſaith One) but the multitude of accuſations, which ſhall ſweep away the vain hope that men have, that the infinite mercy of God will ſave them, howſoever they live? And what is the hiding-place, but the multitude of excuſes which men are ready to make for themſelves, and which the waters of Gods juſtice ſhall quite deſtroy and overthrow? Young men, of all men, are apt to make a Covenant with death, and to put far away from them the thought of judgement. But it boots them not ſo to do: for Senibus mors in januis, adoleſcentibus in inſidiis, ſaith Bernard. Death doth not alwaies knock at door, but comes often like a lightning or thunderbolt; it blaſteth the green corn, and conſumeth the new and ſtrong building. Now at death it will fare nothing better with the wilde and wicked youngſter, than with that theef, that having ſtollen a Gelding, rideth away bravely mounted, till ſuch time as being overtaken by hue and cry, he is ſoon afterwards ſentenced and put to death.

James 4.8Verſ. 10. Therefore remove ſorrow from thine heart] One would have thought hee ſhould have ſaid rather (conſidering the premiſes) Remove joy from thy heart, Let thy laughter be turned into mourning, and thy joy into heavineſs; turn all the ſtreams into that chanel that may drive that Mill that may grind the heart. But by ſorrow here or indignation (as Tremellius renders it) the Preacher means ſin, the cauſe of ſorrow: and ſo hee interprets himſelf in the next words, Put away evil from thy fleſh, i. e. Mortifie thy luſts.

For childe-hood and youth are vanity] The Septuagint and Vulgar render it, Youth and pleaſure are vain things. They both will ſoon bee at an end.