Charles Spurgeon Commentary Ecclesiastes 11:10

"Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh; for youth and the dawn of life are vanity." — Ecclesiastes 11:10 (ASV)

Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.

Remove sorrow, or rather, anger, ambition, or anything else that would cause sorrow, from your heart; and put away evil from your flesh. Let not your fleshly nature rule you; you are in the period when flesh is strong towards evil, when "vanity" is the ruin of many.

Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.

There is no doubt that, if we were holy, we should be happy; so, if we advise people to put away sorrow from their heart, we must remind them that they cannot do it except by putting away sin. The roots of evil must be cleared away completely; otherwise, to cut down the shoots and leave the roots may only strengthen the evil in the long run. The removal of sorrow can only be effected by going deeper and clearing the heart of sin; and this can only be accomplished by God's grace.