From Splendor to Shadow

Counsel to Youths

Solomon's later writings reveal that as he realized more and more the wickedness of his course, he gave special attention to warning the youth against the errors that had led him to squander Heaven's choicest gifts. With sorrow and shame he confessed that in the prime of manhood, when he should have found God his comfort, his support, his life, he put idolatry in the place of the worship of God. And now his yearning desire was to save others from the bitter experience through which he had passed. SS 42.3

With touching pathos he wrote concerning the privileges before the youth: “Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, 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.” Ecclesiastes 11:9, 10. SS 42.4

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.
Ecclesiastes 12:1

The life of Solomon is full of warning. When he should have been in character as a sturdy oak, he fell under the power of temptation. When his strength should have been the firmest, he was found to be the weakest. In watchfulness and prayer is the only safety for both young and old. In the battle with inward sin and outward temptation, even the wise and powerful Solomon was vanquished. His failure teaches that whatever a man's intellectual qualities may be and however faithfully he may have served God in the past, he can never trust his own wisdom and integrity. SS 43.1

It is as true now as when the words were spoken to Israel of obedience to God's commandments: “This is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations.” Deuteronomy 4:6. Here is the only safeguard for individual integrity, the purity of the home, or the stability of the nation. “The statutes of the Lord are right,” and “he that doeth these things shall never be moved.” Psalm 19:8; 15:5. SS 43.2