Rejoice, O Young Man, in Your Youth

Here is a lesson which has been learned by Solomon the Preacher the hard way, and so he would pass it on to all young men. When Solomon speaks to young men he is speaking to them remembering his own life. He is looking back on it from the vantage point of having lived it in the way that he is now going to describe. His heart cheered him in the days of his youth, and he walked in the ways of his heart. He is not describing something that is just occasionally seen in young men. He is describing something which is characteristic of all young men who have been given any amount of physical and mental strength by God, to rejoice in. He tells them that they should rejoice. But he also gives an important qualification to this rejoicing. And so this evening we want to look 1st at the Exhortation, 2ndly at the Qualification, and then 3rdly at the Conclusion, or how the young man should apply these truths to himself. Let us receive what God would have for each of us from this instruction.