On Getting Old: "The keepers of the house fail (v. 3). This would indicate the arms and hands trembling in their feebleness. The strong men, the legs, bend under the heaviness of age (v. 3). The grinders—meaning the teeth—are no longer able to do their work (v. 3). Seeing becomes more difficult (v. 3). The mouth is now closed, folded in because of a loss of teeth (v. 4). The sound of chewing is now very soft (v. 4). The elderly are notorious for sleeping lightly (v. 4). The daughters of music have all left (v. 4). As Barzillai noted earlier, an ability to enjoy music declines. An increased fear of heights comes in (v. 5). Falling is far more problematic now than it ever was before. The almond tree blossoms (v. 5), which is a figure of the hair turning gray or white. The legs are now bent because of age, like those of a grasshopper (v. 5). Desire shall fail, meaning sexual desire. The Hebrew here is the “caperberry [an aphrodesiac] fails.”
This is a journey that we shall all have to take, and preparing for it is not morbid. We should remember our Creator when we are young, and when the day of death arrives, and we all of us go to our long home, we should not be disheartened by the last few miles of road. It can be a very rough road . . . but it leads to a king’s palace (John 14:2)." Douglas Wilson
