mh_parser/vol_split/21 - Ecclesiastes/Chapter 2.xml

<div2 id="Ec.iii" n="iii" next="Ec.iv" prev="Ec.ii" progress="89.60%" title="Chapter II">
<h2 id="Ec.iii-p0.1">E C C L E S I A S T E S</h2>
<h3 id="Ec.iii-p0.2">CHAP. II.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ec.iii-p1">Solomon having pronounced all vanity, and
particularly knowledge and learning, which he was so far from
giving himself joy of that he found the increase of it did but
increase his sorrow, in this chapter he goes on to show what reason
he has to be tired of this world, and with what little reason most
men are fond of it. I. He shows that there is no true happiness and
satisfaction to be had in mirth and pleasure, and the delights of
sense, <scripRef id="Ec.iii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.11-Eccl.2.11" parsed="|Eccl|2|11|2|11" passage="Ec 2:11-11">ver. 1-11</scripRef>. II. He
reconsiders the pretensions of wisdom, and allows it to be
excellent and useful, and yet sees it clogged with such diminutions
of its worth that it proves insufficient to make a man happy,
<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.12-Eccl.2.16" parsed="|Eccl|2|12|2|16" passage="Ec 2:12-16">ver. 12-16</scripRef>. III. He
enquires how far the business and wealth of this world will go
towards making men happy, and concludes, from his own experience,
that, to those who set their hearts upon it, "it is vanity and
vexation of spirit," (<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.17-Eccl.2.23" parsed="|Eccl|2|17|2|23" passage="Ec 2:17-23">ver.
17-23</scripRef>), and that, if there be any good in it, it is only
to those that sit loose to it, <scripRef id="Ec.iii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.24-Eccl.2.26" parsed="|Eccl|2|24|2|26" passage="Ec 2:24-26">ver.
24-26</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Ec.iii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2" parsed="|Eccl|2|0|0|0" passage="Ec 2" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ec.iii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.1-Eccl.2.11" parsed="|Eccl|2|1|2|11" passage="Ec 2:1-11" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Eccl.2.1-Eccl.2.11">
<h4 id="Ec.iii-p1.7">Vanity of Worldly Pleasure.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ec.iii-p2">1 I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove
thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also
<i>is</i> vanity.   2 I said of laughter, <i>It is</i> mad:
and of mirth, What doeth it?   3 I sought in mine heart to
give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and
to lay hold on folly, till I might see what <i>was</i> that good
for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the
days of their life.   4 I made me great works; I builded me
houses; I planted me vineyards:   5 I made me gardens and
orchards, and I planted trees in them of all <i>kind of</i> fruits:
  6 I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that
bringeth forth trees:   7 I got <i>me</i> servants and
maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great
possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in
Jerusalem before me:   8 I gathered me also silver and gold,
and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me
men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men,
<i>as</i> musical instruments, and that of all sorts.   9 So I
was great, and increased more than all that were before me in
Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.   10 And
whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not
my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and
this was my portion of all my labour.   11 Then I looked on
all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I
had laboured to do: and, behold, all <i>was</i> vanity and vexation
of spirit, and <i>there was</i> no profit under the sun.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iii-p3">Solomon here, in pursuit of the <i>summum
bonum</i>—<i>the felicity</i> of man, adjourns out of his study,
his library, his elaboratory, his council-chamber, where he had in
vain sought for it, into the park and the playhouse, his garden and
his summer-house; he exchanges the company of the philosophers and
grave senators for that of the wits and gallants, and the
beaux-esprits, of his court, to try if he could find true
satisfaction and happiness among them. Here he takes a great step
downward, from the noble pleasures of the intellect to the brutal
ones of sense; yet, if he resolve to make a thorough trial, he must
knock at this door, because here a great part of mankind imagine
they have found that which he was in quest of.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iii-p4">I. He resolved to try what mirth would do
and the pleasures of wit, whether he should be happy if he
constantly entertained himself and others with merry stories and
jests, banter and drollery; if he should furnish himself with all
the pretty ingenious turns and repartees he could invent or pick
up, fit to be laughed over, and all the bulls, and blunders, and
foolish things, he could hear of, fit to be ridiculed and laughed
at, so that he might be always in a merry humour. 1. This
experiment made (<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.1" parsed="|Eccl|2|1|0|0" passage="Ec 2:1"><i>v.</i>
1</scripRef>): "Finding that <i>in much wisdom is much grief,</i>
and that those who are serious are apt to be melancholy, <i>I said
in my heart</i>" (to my heart), "<i>Go to now, I will prove thee
with mirth;</i> I will try if that will give thee satisfaction."
Neither the temper of his mind nor his outward condition had any
thing in them to keep him from being merry, but both agreed, as did
all other advantages, to further it; <i>therefore</i> he resolved
to take a lease this way, and said, "<i>Enjoy pleasure,</i> and
take thy fill of it; cast away care, and resolve to be merry." So a
man may be, and yet have none of these fine things which he here
got to entertain himself with; many that are poor are very merry;
beggars in a barn are so to a proverb. Mirth is the entertainment
of the fancy, and, though it comes short of the solid delights of
the rational powers, yet it is to be preferred before those that
are merely carnal and sensual. Some distinguish man from the
brutes, not only as <i>animal rationale—a rational animal,</i> but
as <i>animal risibile—a laughing animal;</i> therefore he that
said to his soul, <i>Take thy ease, eat and drink,</i> added,
<i>And be merry,</i> for it was in order to that that he would eat
and drink. "Try therefore," says Solomon, "to laugh and be fat, to
laugh and be happy." 2. The judgment he passed upon this
experiment: <i>Behold, this also is vanity,</i> like all the rest;
it yields no true satisfaction, <scripRef id="Ec.iii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.2" parsed="|Eccl|2|2|0|0" passage="Ec 2:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. <i>I said of laughter, It is
mad,</i> or, <i>Thou art mad,</i> and therefore I will have nothing
to do with thee; <i>and of mirth</i> (of all sports and
recreations, and whatever pretends to be diverting), <i>What doeth
it?</i> or, <i>What doest thou?</i> Innocent mirth, soberly,
seasonable, and moderately used, is a good thing, fits for
business, and helps to soften the toils and chagrins of human life;
but, when it is excessive and immoderate, it is foolish and
fruitless. (1.) It does no good: <i>What doeth it? Cui bono—of
what use is it?</i> It will not avail to quiet a guilty conscience;
no, nor to ease a sorrowful spirit; nothing is more ungrateful than
<i>singing songs to a heavy heart.</i> It will not satisfy the
soul, nor ever yield it true content. It is but a palliative cure
to the grievances of this present time. Great laughter commonly
ends in a sigh. (2.) It does a great deal of hurt: <i>It is
mad,</i> that is, it makes men mad, it transports men into many
indecencies, which are a reproach to their reason and religion.
They are mad that indulge themselves in it, for it estranges the
heart from God and divine things, and insensibly eats out the power
of religion. Those that love to be merry forget to be serious, and,
while they take the timbrel and harp, they <i>say to the Almighty,
Depart from us,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.iii-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.21.12 Bible:Job.21.14" parsed="|Job|21|12|0|0;|Job|21|14|0|0" passage="Job 21:12,14">Job xxi. 12,
14</scripRef>. We may, as Solomon, <i>prove</i> ourselves, <i>with
mirth,</i> and judge of the state of our souls by this: How do we
stand affected to it? Can we be merry and wise? Can we use it as
sauce, and not as food? But we need not try, as Solomon did,
whether it will make a happiness for us, for we may take his word
for it, <i>It is mad;</i> and <i>What does it?</i> Laughter and
pleasure (says Sir William Temple) come from very different
affections of the mind; for, as men have no disposition to laugh at
things they are most pleased with, so they are very little pleased
with many things they laugh at.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iii-p5">II. Finding himself not happy in that which
pleased his fancy, he resolved next to try that which would please
the palate, <scripRef id="Ec.iii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.3" parsed="|Eccl|2|3|0|0" passage="Ec 2:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>.
Since the knowledge of the creature would not satisfy, he would see
what the liberal use of it would do: <i>I sought in my heart to
give myself unto wine,</i> that is, to good meat and good drink.
Many give themselves to these without consulting their hearts at
all, not looking any further than merely the gratification of the
sensual appetite; but Solomon applied himself to it rationally, and
as a man, critically, and only to make an experiment. Observe, 1.
He did not allow himself any liberty in the use of the delights of
sense till he had tired himself with his severe studies. Till his
<i>increase</i> of <i>sorrow,</i> he never thought of giving
himself <i>to wine.</i> When we have spent ourselves in doing good
we may then most comfortably refresh ourselves with the gifts of
God's bounty. <i>Then</i> the delights of sense are rightly used
when they are used as we use cordials, only when we need them; as
Timothy drank wine for his health's sake, <scripRef id="Ec.iii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:1Tim.5.23" parsed="|1Tim|5|23|0|0" passage="1Ti 5:23">1 Tim. v. 23</scripRef>. <i>I thought to draw my flesh
with wine</i> (so the margin reads it) or <i>to wine.</i> Those
that have addicted themselves to drinking did at first put a force
upon themselves; they drew their flesh to it, and with it; but they
should remember to what miseries they hereby draw themselves. 2. He
then looked upon it as folly, and it was with reluctance that he
gave himself to it; as St. Paul, when he commended himself, called
it a <i>weakness,</i> and desired to be borne with in his
<i>foolishness,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.iii-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.11.1" parsed="|2Cor|11|1|0|0" passage="2Co 11:1">2 Cor. xi.
1</scripRef>. He sought <i>to lay hold on folly,</i> to see the
utmost that that folly would do towards making men happy; but he
had like to have carried the jest (as we say) too far. He resolved
that the folly should not take hold of him, not get the mastery of
him, but he would lay hold on it, and keep it at a distance; yet he
found it too hard for him. 3. He took care at the same time to
<i>acquaint</i> himself <i>with wisdom,</i> to manage himself
wisely in the use of his pleasures, so that they should not do him
any prejudice nor disfit him to be a competent judge of them. When
he <i>drew his flesh with wine</i> he <i>led his heart with
wisdom</i> (so the word is), kept up his pursuits after knowledge,
did not make a sot of himself, nor become a slave to his pleasures,
but his studies and his feasts were foils to each other, and he
tried whether both mixed together would give him that satisfaction
which he could not find in either separately. This Solomon proposed
to himself, but he found it <i>vanity;</i> for those that think to
give themselves to wine, and yet to acquaint their hearts with
wisdom, will perhaps deceive themselves as much as those do that
think to serve both God and mammon. <i>Wine is a mocker;</i> it is
a great cheat; and it will be impossible for any man to say that
thus far he will give himself to it and no further. 4. That which
he aimed at was not to gratify his appetite, but to find out man's
happiness, and this, because it pretended to be so, must be tried
among the rest. Observe the description he gives of man's
happiness—it is <i>that good for the sons of men which they should
do under the heaven all their days.</i> (1.) That which we are to
enquire after is not so much the good we must have (we may leave
that to God), but the good we must do; that ought to be our care.
<i>Good Master, what good thing shall I do?</i> Our happiness
consists not in being idle, but in doing aright, in being well
employed. If we <i>do that which is good,</i> no doubt we shall
have comfort and <i>praise of the same.</i> (2.) It is good to be
done <i>under the heaven,</i> while we are here in this world,
while it is day, while our doing time lasts. This is our state of
work and service; it is in the other world that we must expect the
retribution. Thither our works will follow us. (3.) It is to be
done <i>all the days of our life.</i> The good we are to do we must
persevere in the doing of to the end, while our doing time lasts,
<i>the number of the days of our life</i> (so it is in the margin);
the days of our life are numbered to us by him in whose hand our
times are and they are all to be spent as he directs. But that any
man should give himself to wine, in hopes to find out in that the
best way of living in this world, was an absurdity which Solomon
here, in the reflection, condemns himself for. Is it possible that
this should be the good that men should do? No; it is plainly very
bad.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iii-p6">III. Perceiving quickly that it was folly
to give himself to wine, he next tried the most costly
entertainments and amusements of princes and great men. He had a
vast income; the revenue of his crown was very great, and he laid
it out so as might most please his own humour and make him look
great.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iii-p7">1. He gave himself much to building, both
in the city and in the country; and, having been at such vast
expense in the beginning of his reign to build a house for God, he
was the more excusable if afterwards he pleased his own fancy in
building for himself; he began his work at the right end (<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Matt.6.33" parsed="|Matt|6|33|0|0" passage="Mt 6:33">Matt. vi. 33</scripRef>), not as the people
(<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Hag.1.4" parsed="|Hag|1|4|0|0" passage="Hag 1:4">Hag. i. 4</scripRef>), that <i>ceiled
their own houses</i> while God's <i>lay waste,</i> and it prospered
accordingly. In building, he had the pleasure of employing the poor
and doing good to posterity. We read of Solomon's buildings
(<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.9.15-1Kgs.9.19" parsed="|1Kgs|9|15|9|19" passage="1Ki 9:15-19">1 Kings ix. 15-19</scripRef>), and
they were all <i>great works,</i> such as became his purse, and
spirit, and great dignity. See his mistake; he enquired after the
<i>good</i> works he should do (<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.3" parsed="|Eccl|2|3|0|0" passage="Ec 2:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>), and, in pursuit of the enquiry,
applied himself to <i>great</i> works. <i>Good</i> works indeed are
truly great, but many are reputed great works which are far from
being good, wondrous works which are not gracious, <scripRef id="Ec.iii-p7.5" osisRef="Bible:Matt.7.22" parsed="|Matt|7|22|0|0" passage="Mt 7:22">Matt. vii. 22</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iii-p8">2. He took to love a garden, which is to
some as bewitching as building. He <i>planted himself
vineyards,</i> which the soil and climate of the land of Canaan
favoured; he <i>made himself</i> fine <i>gardens and orchards</i>
(<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.5" parsed="|Eccl|2|5|0|0" passage="Ec 2:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>), and perhaps
the art of gardening was no way inferior then to what it is now. He
had not only forests of timber-trees, but <i>trees of all kinds of
fruit,</i> which he himself had planted; and, if any worldly
business would yield a man happiness, surely it must be that which
Adam was employed in while he was in innocency.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iii-p9">3. He laid out a great deal of money in
water-works, ponds, and canals, not for sport and diversion, but
for use, <i>to water the wood that brings forth trees</i>
(<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.6" parsed="|Eccl|2|6|0|0" passage="Ec 2:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>); he not only
planted, but watered, and then left it to God to give the increase.
<i>Springs of water</i> are great <i>blessings</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Josh.15.19" parsed="|Josh|15|19|0|0" passage="Jos 15:19">Josh. xv. 19</scripRef>); but where nature has
provided them art must direct them, to make them serviceable,
<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.21.1" parsed="|Prov|21|1|0|0" passage="Pr 21:1">Prov. xxi. 1</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iii-p10">4. He increased his family. When he
proposed to himself to do <i>great works</i> he must employ many
hands, and therefore procured <i>servants and maidens,</i> which
were bought with his money, and of those he <i>had servants born in
his house,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.iii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.7" parsed="|Eccl|2|7|0|0" passage="Ec 2:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>.
Thus his retinue was enlarged and his court appeared more
magnificent. See <scripRef id="Ec.iii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezra.2.58" parsed="|Ezra|2|58|0|0" passage="Ezr 2:58">Ezra ii.
58</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iii-p11">5. He did not neglect country business, but
both entertained and enriched himself with that, and was not
diverted from it either by his studies or by his pleasures. He
<i>had large possessions of great and small cattle,</i> herds and
flocks, as his father had before him (<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.27.29 Bible:1Chr.27.31" parsed="|1Chr|27|29|0|0;|1Chr|27|31|0|0" passage="1Ch 27:29,31">1 Chron. xxvii. 29, 31</scripRef>), not forgetting
that his father, in the beginning, was a keeper of sheep. Let those
that deal in cattle neither despise their employment nor be weary
of it, remembering that Solomon puts his having <i>possessions of
cattle</i> among his <i>great works</i> and his pleasures.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iii-p12">6. He grew very rich, and was not at all
impoverished by his building and gardening, as many are, who, for
that reason only, repent it, and call it <i>vanity and
vexation.</i> Solomon scattered and yet increased. He filled his
exchequer with <i>silver and gold,</i> which yet did not stagnate
there, but were made to circulate through his kingdom, so that he
made <i>silver to be in Jerusalem as stones</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.10.27" parsed="|1Kgs|10|27|0|0" passage="1Ki 10:27">1 Kings x. 27</scripRef>); nay, he had the <i>segullah,
the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces,</i> which was,
for richness and rarity, more accounted of than <i>silver and
gold.</i> The neighbouring kings, and the distant provinces of his
own empire, sent him the richest presents they had, to obtain his
favour and the instructions of his wisdom.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iii-p13">7. He had every thing that was charming and
diverting, all sorts of melody and music, vocal and instrumental,
<i>men-singers and women-singers,</i> the best voices he could pick
up, and all the wind and band-instruments that were then in use.
His father had a genius for music, but it should seem he employed
it more to serve his devotion than the son, who made it more for
his diversion. These are called <i>the delights of the sons of
men;</i> for the gratifications of sense are the things that the
generality of people set their affections upon and take the
greatest complacency in. The delights of the children of God are of
quite another nature, pure, spiritual, and heavenly, and the
delights of angels.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iii-p14">8. He enjoyed, more than ever any man did,
a composition of rational and sensitive pleasures at the same time.
He was, in this respect, <i>great, and increased more than all that
were before him,</i> that he was wise amidst a thousand earthly
enjoyments. It was strange, and the like was never met with, (1.)
That his pleasures did not debauch his judgment and conscience. In
the midst of these entertainments <i>his wisdom remained with
him,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.iii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.9" parsed="|Eccl|2|9|0|0" passage="Ec 2:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. In the
midst of all these childish delights he preserved his spirit manly,
kept the possession of his own soul, and maintained the dominion of
reason over the appetites of sense; such a vast stock of wisdom had
he that it was not wasted and impaired, as any other man's would
have been, by this course of life. But let none be emboldened
hereby to lay the reins on the neck of their appetites, presuming
that they may do that and yet retain their wisdom, for they have
not such a strength of wisdom as Solomon had; nay, and Solomon was
deceived; for how did <i>his wisdom remain with him</i> when he
lost his religion so far as to build altars to strange gods, for
the humouring of his strange wives? But thus far <i>his wisdom
remained with him</i> that he was master of his pleasures, and not
a slave to them, and kept himself capable of making a judgment of
them. He went over into the enemies' country, not as a deserter,
but as a <i>spy, to discover the nakedness of their land.</i> (2.)
Yet his judgment and conscience gave no check to his pleasures, nor
hindered him from exacting the very quintessence of the delights of
sense, <scripRef id="Ec.iii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.10" parsed="|Eccl|2|10|0|0" passage="Ec 2:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. It
might be objected against his judgment in this matter that if
<i>his wisdom remained with him</i> he could not take the liberty
that was necessary to a full experimental acquaintance with it:
"Yea," said he, "I took as great a liberty as any man could take,
for <i>whatsoever my eyes desired I kept not from them,</i> if it
could be compassed by lawful means, though ever so difficult or
costly; and as <i>I withheld not any joy from my heart</i> that I
had a mind to, so <i>I withheld not my heart from any joy,</i> but,
with a <i>non-obstante—with the full exercise</i> of my wisdom, I
had a high gust of my pleasures, relished and enjoyed them as much
as ever any Epicure did;" nor was there any thing either in the
circumstances of his condition or in the temper of his spirit to
sour or embitter them, or give them any alloy. In short, [1.] He
had as much pleasure in his business as ever any man had: <i>My
heart rejoiced in all my labour;</i> so that the toil and fatigue
of that were no damp to his pleasures. [2.] He had no less profit
by his business. He met with no disappointment in it to give him
any disturbance: <i>This was my portion of all my labour;</i> he
had this added to all the rest of his pleasures that in them he did
not only see, but eat, the labour of his hands; and this was all he
had, for indeed it was all he could expect, from his labours. It
sweetened his business that he enjoyed the success of it, and it
sweetened his enjoyments that they were the product of his
business; so that, upon the whole, he was certainly as happy as the
world could make him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iii-p15">9. We have, at length, the judgment he
deliberately gave of all this, <scripRef id="Ec.iii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.11" parsed="|Eccl|2|11|0|0" passage="Ec 2:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. When the Creator had made his
great works he reviewed them, and <i>behold, all was very good;</i>
every thing pleased him. But when Solomon reviewed <i>all his works
that his hands had wrought</i> with the utmost cost and care,
<i>and the labour that he had laboured to do</i> in order to make
himself easy and happy, nothing answered his expectation;
<i>behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit;</i> he had no
satisfaction in it, no advantage by it; <i>there was no profit
under the sun,</i> neither by the employments nor by the enjoyments
of this world.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ec.iii-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.12-Eccl.2.16" parsed="|Eccl|2|12|2|16" passage="Ec 2:12-16" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Eccl.2.12-Eccl.2.16">
<h4 id="Ec.iii-p15.3">Superiority of Wisdom to
Folly.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ec.iii-p16">12 And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and
madness, and folly: for what <i>can</i> the man <i>do</i> that
cometh after the king? <i>even</i> that which hath been already
done.   13 Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as
light excelleth darkness.   14 The wise man's eyes <i>are</i>
in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself
perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.   15 Then
said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth
even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart,
that this also <i>is</i> vanity.   16 For <i>there is</i> no
remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that
which now <i>is</i> in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And
how dieth the wise <i>man?</i> as the fool.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iii-p17">Solomon having tried what satisfaction was
to be had in learning first, and then in the pleasures of sense,
and having also put both together, here compares them one with
another and passes a judgment upon them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iii-p18">I. He sets himself to consider both wisdom
and folly. He had considered these before (<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.17" parsed="|Eccl|1|17|0|0" passage="Ec 1:17"><i>ch.</i> i. 17</scripRef>); but lest it should be
thought he was then too quick in passing a judgment upon them, he
here turns himself again to behold them, to see if, upon a second
view and second thoughts, he could gain more satisfaction in the
search than he had done upon the first. He was sick of his
pleasures, and, as nauseating them, he turned from them, that he
might again apply himself to speculation; and if, upon this
rehearing of the cause, the verdict be still the same, the judgment
will surely be decisive; <i>for what can the man do that comes
after the king?</i> especially such a king, who had so much of this
world to make the experiment upon and so much wisdom to make it
with. The baffled trial needs not be repeated. No man can expect to
find more satisfaction in the world than Solomon did, nor to gain a
greater insight into the principles of morality; when a man has
done what he can still it is <i>that which has been already
done.</i> Let us learn, 1. Not to indulge ourselves in a fond
conceit that we can mend that which has been well done before us.
Let us <i>esteem others better than ourselves,</i> and think how
unfit we are to attempt the improvement of the performances of
better heads and hands than ours, and rather own how much we are
beholden to them, <scripRef id="Ec.iii-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:John.4.37-John.4.38" parsed="|John|4|37|4|38" passage="Joh 4:37,38">John iv. 37,
38</scripRef>. 2. To acquiesce in Solomon's judgment of the things
of this world, and not to think of repeating the trial; for we can
never think of having such advantages as he had to make the
experiment nor of being able to make it with equal application of
mind and so little danger to ourselves.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iii-p19">II. He gives the preference to wisdom far
before folly. Let none mistake him, as if, when he speaks of the
vanity of human literature, he designed only to amuse men with a
paradox, or were about to write (as a great wit once did)
<i>Encomium moriæ—A panegyric in praise of folly.</i> No, he is
maintaining sacred truths, and therefore is careful to guard
against being misunderstood. I soon <i>saw</i> (says he) <i>that
there is an excellency in wisdom more than in folly,</i> as much as
there is in light above darkness. The pleasures of wisdom, though
they suffice not to make men happy, yet vastly transcend the
pleasures of wine. Wisdom enlightens the soul with surprising
discoveries and necessary directions for the right government of
itself; but sensuality (for that seems to be especially the folly
here meant) clouds and eclipses the mind, and is as darkness to it;
it puts out men's eyes, makes them to stumble in the way and wander
out of it. Or, though wisdom and knowledge will not make a man
happy (St. Paul shows a <i>more excellent way</i> than gifts, and
that is grace), yet it is much better to have them than to be
without them, in respect of our present safety, comfort, and
usefulness; for <i>the wise man's eyes are in his head</i>
(<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.14" parsed="|Eccl|2|14|0|0" passage="Ec 2:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>), where they
should be, ready to discover both the dangers that are to be
avoided and the advantages that are to be improved; a wise man has
not his reason to seek when he should use it, but looks about him
and is quick-sighted, knows both where to step and where to stop;
whereas <i>the fool walks in darkness,</i> and is ever and anon
either at a loss, or at a plunge, either bewildered, that he knows
not which way to go, or embarrassed, that he cannot go forward. A
man that is discreet and considerate has the command of his
business, and acts decently and safely, as those that walk in the
day; but he that is rash, and ignorant, and sottish, is continually
making blunders, running upon one precipice or other; his projects,
his bargains, are all foolish, and ruin his affairs. Therefore
<i>get wisdom, get understanding.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iii-p20">III. Yet he maintains that, in respect of
lasting happiness and satisfaction, the wisdom of this world gives
a man very little advantage; for, 1. Wise men and fools fare alike.
"It is true the wise man has very much the advantage of the fool in
respect of foresight and insight, and yet the greatest
probabilities do so often come short of success that <i>I myself
perceived,</i> by my own experience, that <i>one event happens to
them all</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.14" parsed="|Eccl|2|14|0|0" passage="Ec 2:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>);
those that are most cautious of their health are as so on sick as
those that are most careless of it, and the most suspicious are
imposed upon." David had observed that <i>wise men die,</i> and are
involved in the same common calamity with the fool and the brutish
person, <scripRef id="Ec.iii-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.49.12" parsed="|Ps|49|12|0|0" passage="Ps 49:12">Ps. xlix. 12</scripRef>. See
<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.9.11" parsed="|Eccl|9|11|0|0" passage="Ec 9:11"><i>ch.</i> ix. 11</scripRef>. Nay, it
has of old been observed that <i>Fortune favours fools,</i> and
that half-witted men often thrive most, while the greatest
projectors forecast worst for themselves. The same sickness, the
same sword, devours wise men and fools. Solomon applies this
mortifying observation to himself (<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p20.4" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.15" parsed="|Eccl|2|15|0|0" passage="Ec 2:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>), that though he was a wise man,
he might not <i>glory in his wisdom; I said to my heart,</i> when
it began to be proud or secure, <i>As it happens to the fool, so it
happens to me, even to me;</i> for thus emphatically it is
expressed in the original: "So, <i>as for me,</i> it happens to me.
Am I rich? So is many a Nabal that fares as sumptuously as I do. Is
a foolish man sick, does he get a fall? So do I, <i>even I;</i> and
neither my wealth nor my wisdom will be my security. <i>And why was
I then more wise?</i> Why should I take so much pains to get
wisdom, when, as to this life, it will stand me in so little stead?
<i>Then I said in my heart that this also is vanity.</i>" Some make
this a correction of what was said before, like that (<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p20.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.77.10" parsed="|Ps|77|10|0|0" passage="Ps 77:10">Ps. lxx. 10</scripRef>), "<i>I said, This is my
infirmity;</i> it is my folly to think that wise men and fools are
upon a level;" but really they seem to be so, in respect of the
event, and therefore it is rather a confirmation of what he had
before said, That a man may be a profound philosopher and
politician and yet not be a happy man. 2. Wise men and fools are
forgotten alike (<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p20.6" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.16" parsed="|Eccl|2|16|0|0" passage="Ec 2:16"><i>v.</i>
16</scripRef>): <i>There is no remembrance of the wise more than of
the fool.</i> It is promised to the righteous that they <i>shall be
had in everlasting remembrance,</i> and <i>their memory shall be
blessed,</i> and they shall shortly <i>shine as the stars;</i> but
there is no such promise made concerning the wisdom of this world,
that that shall perpetuate men's names, for those names only are
perpetuated that are <i>written in heaven,</i> and otherwise the
names of this world's wise men are written with those of its fools
in the dust. <i>That which now is in the days to come shall all be
forgotten.</i> What was much talked of in one generation is, in the
next, as if it had never been. New persons and new things jostle
out the very remembrance of the old, which in a little time are
looked upon with contempt and at length quite buried in oblivion.
<i>Where is the wise? Where is the disputer of this world?</i>
<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p20.7" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.1.20" parsed="|1Cor|1|20|0|0" passage="1Co 1:20">1 Cor. i. 20</scripRef>. And it is
upon this account that he asks, <i>How dies the wise man? As the
fool.</i> Between the death of a godly and a wicked man there is a
great difference, but not between the death of a wise man and a
fool; the fool is buried and forgotten (<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p20.8" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.8.10" parsed="|Eccl|8|10|0|0" passage="Ec 8:10"><i>ch.</i> viii. 10</scripRef>), <i>and no one remembered
the poor man that by his wisdom delivered the city</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p20.9" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.9.15" parsed="|Eccl|9|15|0|0" passage="Ec 9:15"><i>ch.</i> ix. 15</scripRef>); so that to both
the grave is a <i>land of forgetfulness;</i> and wise and learned
men, when they have been awhile there out of sight, grow out of
mind, a new generation arises that <i>knew them not.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Ec.iii-p20.10" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.17-Eccl.2.26" parsed="|Eccl|2|17|2|26" passage="Ec 2:17-26" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Eccl.2.17-Eccl.2.26">
<h4 id="Ec.iii-p20.11">Sources of Dissatisfaction; The Cheerful Use
of Abundance.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ec.iii-p21">17 Therefore I hated life; because the work that
is wrought under the sun <i>is</i> grievous unto me: for all
<i>is</i> vanity and vexation of spirit.   18 Yea, I hated all
my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave
it unto the man that shall be after me.   19 And who knoweth
whether he shall be a wise <i>man</i> or a fool? yet shall he have
rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have
shewed myself wise under the sun. This <i>is</i> also vanity.
  20 Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of
all the labour which I took under the sun.   21 For there is a
man whose labour <i>is</i> in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in
equity; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave
it <i>for</i> his portion. This also <i>is</i> vanity and a great
evil.   22 For what hath man of all his labour, and of the
vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun?
  23 For all his days <i>are</i> sorrows, and his travail
grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also
vanity.   24 <i>There is</i> nothing better for a man,
<i>than</i> that he should eat and drink, and <i>that</i> he should
make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it
<i>was</i> from the hand of God.   25 For who can eat, or who
else can hasten <i>hereunto,</i> more than I?   26 For
<i>God</i> giveth to a man that <i>is</i> good in his sight wisdom,
and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to
gather and to heap up, that he may give to <i>him that is</i> good
before God. This also <i>is</i> vanity and vexation of spirit.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iii-p22">Business is a thing that wise men have
pleasure in. They are in their element when they are in their
business, and complain if they be out of business. They may
sometimes be tired with their business, but they are not weary of
it, nor willing to leave it off. Here therefore one would expect to
have found the good that men should do, but Solomon tried this too;
after a contemplative life and a voluptuous life, he betook himself
to an active life, and found no more satisfaction in it than in the
other; still it is all <i>vanity and vexation of spirit,</i> of
which he gives an account in these verses, where observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iii-p23">I. What the business was which he made
trial of; it was business <i>under the sun</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.17-Eccl.2.20" parsed="|Eccl|2|17|2|20" passage="Ec 2:17-20"><i>v.</i> 17-20</scripRef>), about the things of this
world, sublunary things, the riches, honours, and pleasures of this
present time; it was the business of a king. There is business
<i>above the sun,</i> perpetual business, which is perpetual
blessedness; what we do in conformity to that business (doing
<i>God's will as it is done in heaven</i>) and in pursuance of that
blessedness, will turn to a good account; we shall have no reason
to hate that labour, nor to despair of it. But it is <i>labour
under the sun,</i> labour for the <i>meat that perishes</i>
(<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:John.6.27 Bible:Isa.55.2" parsed="|John|6|27|0|0;|Isa|55|2|0|0" passage="Joh 6:27,Isa 55:2">John vi. 27; Isa. lv.
2</scripRef>), that Solomon here speaks of with so little
satisfaction. It was the better sort of business, not that of the
<i>hewers of wood and drawers of water</i> (it is not so strange if
men hate all that labour), but it was <i>in wisdom, and knowledge,
and equity,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.iii-p23.3" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.21" parsed="|Eccl|2|21|0|0" passage="Ec 2:21"><i>v.</i>
21</scripRef>. It was rational business, which related to the
government of his kingdom and the advancement of its interests. It
was labour managed by the dictates of wisdom, of natural and
acquired knowledge, and the directions of justice. It was labour at
the council-board and in the courts of justice. It was labour
wherein he <i>showed himself wise</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p23.4" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.19" parsed="|Eccl|2|19|0|0" passage="Ec 2:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>), which as much excels the labour
wherein men only show themselves strong as the endowments of the
mind, by which we are allied to angels, do those of the body, which
we have in common with the brutes. That which many people have in
their eye more than any thing else, in the prosecution of their
worldly business, is to <i>show themselves wise,</i> to get the
reputation of ingenious men and men of sense and application.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iii-p24">II. His falling out with this business. He
soon grew weary of it. 1. He <i>hated all his labour,</i> because
he did not meet with that satisfaction in which he expected. After
he had had his fine houses, and gardens, and water-works, awhile,
he began to nauseate them, and look upon them with contempt, as
children, who are eager for a toy and fond of it at first, but,
when they have played with it awhile, are weary of it, and throw it
away, and must have another. This expresses not a gracious hatred
of these things, which is our duty, to love them less than God and
religion (<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.14.26" parsed="|Luke|14|26|0|0" passage="Lu 14:26">Luke xiv. 26</scripRef>),
nor a sinful hatred of them, which is our folly, to be weary of the
place God has assigned us and the work of it, but a natural hatred
of them, arising from a surfeit upon them and a sense of
disappointment in them. 2. He <i>caused his heart to despair of all
his labour</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p24.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.20" parsed="|Eccl|2|20|0|0" passage="Ec 2:20"><i>v.</i>
20</scripRef>); he took pains to possess himself with a deep sense
of the vanity of worldly business, that it would not bring in the
advantage and satisfaction he had formerly flattered himself with
the hopes of. Our hearts are very loth to quit their expectations
of great things from the creature; we must go about, must fetch a
compass, in arguing with them, to convince them that there is not
that in the things of this world which we are apt to promise
ourselves from them. Have we so often bored and sunk into this
earth for some rich mine of satisfaction, and found not the least
sign or token of it, but been always frustrated in the search, and
shall we not at length set our hearts at rest and despair of ever
finding it? 3. He came to that, at length, that he <i>hated life
itself</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p24.3" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.17" parsed="|Eccl|2|17|0|0" passage="Ec 2:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>),
because it is subject to so many toils and troubles, and a constant
series of disappointments. God had given Solomon such largeness of
heart, and such vast capacities of mind, that he experienced more
than other men of the unsatisfying nature of all the things of this
life and their insufficiency to make him happy. Life itself, that
is so precious to a man, and such a blessing to a good man, may
become a burden to a man of business.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iii-p25">III. The reasons of this quarrel with his
life and labours. Two things made him weary of them:—</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iii-p26">1. That his business was so great a toil to
himself: The <i>work that he had wrought under the sun was grievous
unto him,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.iii-p26.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.17" parsed="|Eccl|2|17|0|0" passage="Ec 2:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>.
His thoughts and cares about it, and that close and constant
application of mind which was requisite to it, were a burden and
fatigue to him, especially when he grew old. It is the effect of a
curse on that we are to work upon. Our business is said to be
<i>the work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the
Lord had cursed</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p26.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.5.29" parsed="|Gen|5|29|0|0" passage="Ge 5:29">Gen. v.
29</scripRef>) and of the weakening of the faculties we are to work
with, and of the sentence pronounced on us, that in <i>the sweat of
our face we must eat bread.</i> Our labour is called <i>the
vexation of our heart</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p26.3" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.22" parsed="|Eccl|2|22|0|0" passage="Ec 2:22"><i>v.</i>
22</scripRef>); it is to most a force upon themselves, so natural
is it to us to love our ease. A man of business is described to be
uneasy both in his <i>going out</i> and his <i>coming in,</i>
<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p26.4" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.23" parsed="|Eccl|2|23|0|0" passage="Ec 2:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>. (1.) He is
deprived of his pleasure by day, for <i>all his days are
sorrow,</i> not only sorrowful, but sorrow itself, nay, many
sorrows and various; his travail, or labour, all day, is grief. Men
of business ever and anon meet with that which vexes them, and is
an occasion of anger or sorrow to them. Those that are apt to fret
find that the more dealings they have in the world the oftener they
are made to fret. The world is a <i>vale of tears,</i> even to
those that have much of it. Those that <i>labour</i> are said to be
<i>heavy-laden,</i> and are therefore called to come to Christ for
rest, <scripRef id="Ec.iii-p26.5" osisRef="Bible:Matt.11.28" parsed="|Matt|11|28|0|0" passage="Mt 11:28">Matt. xi. 28</scripRef>. (2.) He
is disturbed in his repose <i>by night.</i> When he is overcome
with the hurries of the day, and hopes to find relief when he lays
his head on his pillow, he is disappointed there; cares <i>hold his
eyes waking,</i> or, if he sleep, yet his heart wakes, and that
<i>takes no rest in the night.</i> See what fools those are that
make themselves drudges to the world, and do not make God their
rest; night and day they cannot but be uneasy. So that, upon the
whole matter, it is <i>all vanity,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.iii-p26.6" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.17" parsed="|Eccl|2|17|0|0" passage="Ec 2:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>. <i>This is vanity</i> in
particular (<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p26.7" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.19 Bible:Eccl.2.23" parsed="|Eccl|2|19|0|0;|Eccl|2|23|0|0" passage="Ec 2:19,23"><i>v.</i> 19,
23</scripRef>), nay, it is <i>vanity and a great evil,</i>
<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p26.8" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.21" parsed="|Eccl|2|21|0|0" passage="Ec 2:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>. It is a great
affront to God and a great injury to themselves, therefore a
<i>great evil;</i> it is a vain thing <i>to rise up early and sit
up late</i> in pursuit of this world's goods, which were never
designed to be our chief good.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iii-p27">2. That the gains of his business must all
be left to others. Prospect of advantage is the spring of action
and the spur of industry; <i>therefore</i> men labour, because they
hope to get by it; if the hope fail, the labour flags; and
<i>therefore</i> Solomon quarrelled with all the works, the great
works, he had made, because they would not be of any lasting
advantage to himself. (1.) He must leave them. He could not at
death take them away with him, nor any share of them, nor should he
return any more to them (<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p27.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.7.10" parsed="|Job|7|10|0|0" passage="Job 7:10">Job vii.
10</scripRef>), nor would the remembrance of them do him any good,
<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p27.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.16.25" parsed="|Luke|16|25|0|0" passage="Lu 16:25">Luke xvi. 25</scripRef>. But I must
<i>leave all to the man that shall be after me,</i> to the
generation that comes up in the room of that which is passing away.
As there were many before us, who built the houses that we live in,
and into whose purchases and labours we have entered, so there
shall be many after us, who shall live in the houses that we build,
and enjoy the fruit of our purchases and labours. Never was land
lost for want of an heir. To a gracious soul this is no uneasiness
at all; why should we grudge others their turn in the enjoyments of
this world, and not rather be pleased that, when we are gone, those
that come after us shall fare the better for our wisdom and
industry? But to a worldly mind, that seeks for its own happiness
in the creature, it is a great vexation to think of leaving the
beloved pelf behind, at this uncertainty. (2.) He must leave them
to those that would never have taken so much pains for them, and
will there by excuse himself from taking any pains. He that raised
the estate did it by <i>labouring in wisdom, and knowledge, and
equity;</i> but he that enjoys it and spends it (it may be) <i>has
not laboured therein</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p27.3" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.21" parsed="|Eccl|2|21|0|0" passage="Ec 2:21"><i>v.</i>
21</scripRef>), and, more than that, never will. The bee toils to
maintain the drone. Nay, it proves a snare to him: it is left him
<i>for his portion,</i> which he rests in, and takes up with; and
miserable he is in being put off with it for a portion. Whereas, if
an estate had not come to him thus easily, who knows but he might
have been both industrious and religious? Yet we ought not to
perplex ourselves about this, since it may prove otherwise, that
what is well got may come to one that will use it well and do good
with it. (3.) He knows not whom he must leave it to (for God makes
heirs), or at least what <i>he</i> will prove to whom he leaves it,
whether <i>a wise man or a fool,</i> a wise man that will make it
more or a fool that will bring it to nothing; <i>yet he shall have
rule over all my labour,</i> and foolishly undo that which his
father wisely did. It is probable that Solomon wrote this very
feelingly, being afraid what Rehoboam would prove. St Jerome, in
his commentary on this passage, applies this to the good books
which Solomon wrote, in which he had shown himself wise, but he
knew not into whose hands they would fall, perhaps into the hands
of a fool, who, according to the perverseness of his heart, makes a
bad use of what was well written. So that, upon the whole matter,
he asks (<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p27.4" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.22" parsed="|Eccl|2|22|0|0" passage="Ec 2:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>),
<i>What has man of all his labour?</i> What has he to himself and
to his own use? What has he that will go with him into another
world?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iii-p28">IV. The best use which is therefore to be
made of the wealth of this world, and that is to use it cheerfully,
to take the comfort of it, and do good with it. With this he
concludes the chapter, <scripRef id="Ec.iii-p28.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.24-Eccl.2.26" parsed="|Eccl|2|24|2|26" passage="Ec 2:24-26"><i>v.</i>
24-26</scripRef>. There is no true happiness to be found in these
things. They are <i>vanity,</i> and, if happiness be expected from
them, the disappointment will be <i>vexation of spirit.</i> But he
will put us in a way to make the best of them, and to avoid the
inconveniences he had observed. We must neither over-toil
ourselves, so as, in pursuit of more, to rob ourselves of the
comfort of what we have, nor must we over-hoard for hereafter, nor
lose our own enjoyment of what we have to lay it up for those that
shall come after us, but serve ourselves out of it first.
Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iii-p29">1. What that good is which is here
recommended to us; and which is the utmost pleasure and profit we
can expect or extract from the business and profit of this world,
and the furthest we can go to rescue it from its <i>vanity</i> and
the <i>vexation</i> that is in it. (1.) We must do our duty with
them, and be more in care how to use an estate well, for the ends
for which we were entrusted with it, than how to raise or increase
an estate. This is intimated <scripRef id="Ec.iii-p29.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.26" parsed="|Eccl|2|26|0|0" passage="Ec 2:26"><i>v.</i>
26</scripRef>, where <i>those</i> only are said to have the comfort
of this life who are good in <i>God's sight,</i> and again, <i>good
before God,</i> truly good, as Noah, whom <i>God saw righteous
before him.</i> We must set God always before us, and give
diligence in every thing to approve ourselves to him. The
Chaldee-paraphrase says, <i>A man</i> should <i>make his soul to
enjoy good by keeping the commandments of God and walking in the
ways that are right before him,</i> and (<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p29.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.25" parsed="|Eccl|2|25|0|0" passage="Ec 2:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>) by <i>studying the words of the
law, and being in care about the day of the great judgment that is
to come.</i> (2.) We must take the comfort of them. These things
will not make a happiness for the soul; all the good we can have
out of them is for the body, and if we make use of them for the
comfortable support of that, so that it may be fit to serve the
soul and able to keep pace with it in the service of God, then they
turn to a good account. <i>There is</i> therefore <i>nothing better
for a man,</i> as to these things, than to allow himself a sober
cheerful use of them, according as his rank and condition are, to
have meat and drink out of them for himself, his family, his
friends, and so delight his senses and make his <i>soul enjoy
good,</i> all the good that is to be had out of them; do not lose
that, in pursuit of that good which is not to be had out of them.
But observe, He would not have us to give up business, and take our
ease, that we may <i>eat and drink;</i> no, we must <i>enjoy good
in our labour;</i> we must use these things, not to excuse us from,
but to make us diligent and cheerful in, our worldly business. (3.)
We must herein <i>acknowledge God;</i> we must see that <i>it is
from the hand of God,</i> that is, [1.] The <i>good things</i>
themselves that we enjoy are so, not only the products of his
creating power, but the gifts of his providential bounty to us. And
<i>then</i> they are truly pleasant to us when we take them from
the hand of God as a Father, when we eye his wisdom giving us that
which is fittest for us, and acquiesce in it, and taste his love
and goodness, relish them, and are thankful for them. [2.] A heart
to enjoy them is so; this is the gift of God's grace. Unless he
give us wisdom to make a right use of what he has, in his
providence, bestowed upon us, and withal peace of conscience, that
we may discern God's favour in the world's smiles, we cannot make
our souls enjoy any good in them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iii-p30">2. Why we should have this in our eye, in
the management of ourselves as to this world, and look up to God
for it. (1.) Because Solomon himself, with all his possessions,
could aim at no more and desire no better (<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p30.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.25" parsed="|Eccl|2|25|0|0" passage="Ec 2:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>): "<i>Who can hasten to this more
than I?</i> This is that which I was ambitious of: I wished for no
more; and those that have but little, in comparison with what I
have, may attain to this, to be content with what they have and
enjoy the good of it." Yet Solomon could not obtain it by his own
wisdom, without the special grace of God, and therefore directs us
to expect it from the hand of God and pray to him for it. (2.)
Because riches are a blessing or a curse to a man according as he
has or has not a heart to make good use of them. [1.] God makes
them a reward to a good man, if with them he give him <i>wisdom,
and knowledge, and joy,</i> to enjoy them cheerfully himself and to
communicate them charitably to others. To those who are <i>good in
God's sight,</i> who are of a good spirit, honest and sincere, pay
a deference to their God and have a tender concern for all mankind,
<i>God will give wisdom and knowledge in this world, and joy with
the righteous in the world to come;</i> so the Chaldee. Or he will
give that wisdom and knowledge in things natural, moral, political,
and divine, which will be a constant joy and pleasure to them. [2.]
He makes them a punishment to a bad man if he denies him a heart to
take the comfort of them, for they do but tantalize him and
tyrannize over him: <i>To the sinner God gives by travail,</i> by
leaving him to himself and his own foolish counsels, to <i>gather
and to heap up</i> that, which, as to himself, will not only burden
him like <i>thick clay</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p30.2" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.6" parsed="|Hab|2|6|0|0" passage="Hab 2:6">Hab. ii.
6</scripRef>), but be <i>a witness against him and eat his flesh as
it were fire</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.iii-p30.3" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.3" parsed="|Jas|5|3|0|0" passage="Jam 5:3">Jam. v.
3</scripRef>); while God designs, by an overruling providence, to
give it to him that is <i>good before him;</i> for the <i>wealth of
the sinner is laid up for the just,</i> and <i>gathered for him
that will pity the poor.</i> Note, <i>First, Godliness, with
contentment, is great gain;</i> and <i>those</i> only have true joy
that are <i>good in God's sight,</i> and that have it from him and
in him. <i>Secondly,</i> Ungodliness is commonly punished with
discontent and an insatiable covetousness, which are sins that are
their own punishment. <i>Thirdly,</i> When God gives abundance to
wicked men it is with design to force them to a resignation in
favour of his own children, when they are of age and ready for it,
as the Canaanites kept possession of the good land till the time
appointed for Israel's entering upon it. [3.] The burden of the
song is still the same: <i>This is also vanity and vexation of
spirit.</i> It is vanity, at the best, even to the good man; when
he has all that the sinner has scraped together it will not make
him happy without something else; but it is <i>vexation of
spirit</i> to the sinner to see what he had laid up enjoyed by him
that is <i>good in God's sight,</i> and therefore evil in his. So
that, take it which way you will, the conclusion is firm, <i>All is
vanity and vexation of spirit.</i></p>
</div></div2>