67. Saturday after First Sunday after Epiphany.
Teach me, O Lord, the way
of thy statutes;
and I shall keep it
unto the end. Amen.
Ecclesiastes 11, 9. 10; 12, 1. 2. Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity. Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; while the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened; nor the clouds return after the rain.
❦
Young and healthy trees are luxuriant; young and healthy-minded people are happy. It is a disease, and contrary to nature, when young people mope, see everything in dark colors, and feel life a bitter mockery. Can a child, a healthy and unaffected child, go about mourning? Is it not the child’s lot and privilege to be happy? Be they poor or rich, the children are merry and cheerful. This is true, also, of the children of larger growth, the young people, as long as they preserve their childlike disposition. We do not wish our young people to be childish, nor given to levity, nor callous to sorrow, nor unmindful of the serious things of life; but we do wish that, while their understanding is being developed, and they feel the burdens from which not even youth is exempt, they yet may keep intact their childlike disposition, their roseate view, and their cheerful courage. This cannot be, however, unless true piety and fear of God govern in the soul from childhood. Otherwise all manner of wickedness holds sway in the heart; and then, farewell to the child’s buoyancy of spirit and brightness of eye. When the young man walks before his God, and daily renews the covenant of his baptism, not by a mere perfunctory repetition of the formula of renunciation and the creed, but with sincere prayer and true faith; when he flees youthful lusts, but trains himself in self-denial and piety, and follows charity, purity, and an unfeigned faith; when the name of Jesus is the sun that lights his way, and the word of God is his loadstar which he always consults in order to learn how to act and what to do; — then the glad spirit of childhood can be preserved through the time of youth, be shaped into the firmness of manhood, and give happiness even in the gloomy days of old age. This is what the Preacher means in our scripture text. But, alas, how difficult a matter this is, especially in our times. Children ripen too early, and hence the young people become peevish children. Vexations and wickedness fill their hearts; their minds are full of vanity and bitterness and foolish dreams of ambition, and they are a long way from remembering their Creator. What, then, must their old age become! Lord, have mercy on us. Enlighten old and young with thy Holy Spirit, and give us true fear of God in our hearts.*
Father of eternal grace,
Glorify thyself in me!
Meekly beaming in my face,
May the world thine image see.
Happy only in thy love,
Poor, unfriended, or unknown,
Fix my thoughts on things above;
Stay my heart on thee alone.
[suggested tune: Höchster Priester, TLH 507; listen here]
* Here the head of the family says a short morning or evening prayer in his own words, and closes with the Lord’s Prayer and the Benediction. This is to be done every day. If the stanzas are not sung, they may be read in their proper place before the impromptu petition and the Lord’s Prayer.