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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Ecclesiastes V].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>E C C L E S I A S T E S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. V.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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Solomon, in this chapter, discourses,
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I. Concerning the worship of God, prescribing that as a remedy against
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all those vanities which he had already observed to be in wisdom,
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learning, pleasure, honour, power, and business. That we may not be
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deceived by those things, nor have our spirits vexed with the
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disappointments we meet with in them, let us make conscience of our
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duty to God and keep up our communion with him; but, withal, he gives a
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necessary caution against the vanities which are to often found in
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religious exercises, which deprive them of their excellency and render
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them unable to help against other vanities. If our religion be a vain
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religion, how great is that vanity! Let us therefore take heed of
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vanity,
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1. In hearing the word, and offering sacrifice,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:1">ver. 1</A>.
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2. In prayer,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:2,3">ver. 2, 3</A>.
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3. In making vows,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:4-6">ver. 4-6</A>.
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4. In pretending to divine dreams,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:7">ver. 7</A>.
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Now,
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(1.) For a remedy against those vanities, he prescribes the fear of God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:7">ver. 7</A>.
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(2.) To prevent the offence that might arise from the present
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sufferings of good people, he directs us to look up to God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:8">ver. 8</A>.
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II. Concerning the wealth of this world and the vanity and vexation
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that attend it. The fruits of the earth indeed are necessary to the
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support of life
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:9">ver. 9</A>),
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but as for silver, and gold, and riches,
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1. They are unsatisfying,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:10">ver. 10</A>.
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2. They are unprofitable,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:11">ver. 11</A>.
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3. They are disquieting,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:12">ver. 12</A>.
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4. They often prove hurtful and destroying,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:13">ver. 13</A>.
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5. They are perishing,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:14">ver. 14</A>.
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6. They must be left behind when we die,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:15,16">ver. 15, 16</A>.
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7. If we have not a heart to make use of them, they occasion a great
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deal of uneasiness,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:17">ver. 17</A>.
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And therefore he recommends to us the comfortable use of that which God
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has given us, with an eye to him that is the giver, as the best way
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both to answer the end of our having it and to obviate the mischiefs
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that commonly attend great estates,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:18-20">ver. 18-20</A>.
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So that if we can but learn out of this chapter how to manage the
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business of religion, and the business of this world (which two take up
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most of our time), so that both may turn to a good account, and neither
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our sabbath days nor our week-days may be lost, we shall have reason to
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say, We have learned two good lessons.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ec5_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec5_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec5_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>A Caution to Worshippers.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be
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more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they
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consider not that they do evil.
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2 Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty
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to utter <I>any</I> thing before God: for God <I>is</I> in heaven, and thou
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upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.
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3 For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a
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fool's voice <I>is known</I> by multitude of words.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Solomon's design, in driving us off from the world, by showing us its
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vanity, is to drive us to God and to our duty, that we may not walk in
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the way of the world, but by religious rules, nor depend upon the
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wealth of the world, but on religious advantages; and therefore,</P>
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<P>
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I. He here sends us to <I>the house of God,</I> to the place of public
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worship, to the temple, which he himself had built at a vast expense.
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When he reflected with regret on all his other works
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:4"><I>ch.</I> ii. 4</A>),
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he did not repent of that, but reflected on it with pleasure, yet
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mentions it not, lest he should seem to reflect on it with pride; but
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he here sends those to it that would know more of the vanity of the
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world and would find that happiness which is in vain sought for in the
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creature. David, when he was perplexed, <I>went into the sanctuary of
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God,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+73:17">Ps. lxxiii. 17</A>.
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Let our disappointments in the creature turn our eyes to the Creator;
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let us have recourse to the word of God's grace and consult that, to
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the throne of his grace and solicit that. In the word and prayer there
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is a balm for every wound.</P>
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<P>
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II. He charges us to behave ourselves well there, that we may not miss
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of our end in coming thither. Religious exercises are not vain things,
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but, if we mismanage them, they become vain to us. And therefore,</P>
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<P>
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1. We must address ourselves to them with all possible seriousness and
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care: "<I>Keep thy foot,</I> not keep it back from the house of God (as
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+25:17">Prov. xxv. 17</A>),
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nor go slowly thither, as one unwilling to draw nigh to God, but
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<I>look well to thy goings, ponder the path of thy feet,</I> lest thou
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take a false step. Address thyself to the worship of God with a solemn
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pause, and take time to compose thyself for it, not going about it with
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precipitation, which is called <I>hasting with the feet,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+19:2">Prov. xix. 2</A>.
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Keep thy thoughts from roving and wandering from the work; keep thy
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affections from running out towards wrong objects, for in the business
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of God's house there is work enough for the whole man, and all too
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little to be employed." Some think it alludes to the charge given to
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Moses and Joshua to <I>put off their shoes</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+3:5.Jos+5:15">Exod. iii. 5, Josh. v. 15,</A>)
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in token of subjection and reverence. <I>Keep thy feet</I> clean,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+30:19">Exod. xxx. 19</A>.</P>
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<P>
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2. We must take heed that the sacrifice we bring be not <I>the
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sacrifice of fools</I> (of wicked men), for they are fools and their
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<I>sacrifice is an abomination to the Lord,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+15:8">Prov. xv. 8</A>),
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that we bring not <I>the torn, and the lame, and the sick for
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sacrifice,</I> for we are plainly told that it will not be accepted,
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and therefore it is folly to bring it,--that we rest not in the sign
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and ceremony, and the outside of the performance, without regarding the
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sense and meaning of it, for that is the <I>sacrifice of fools.</I>
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Bodily exercise, if that be all, is a jest; none but fools will think
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thus to please him who is a Spirit and requires the heart, and they
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will see their folly when they find what a great deal of pains they
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have taken to no purpose for want of sincerity. They are <I>fools,</I>
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for they <I>consider not that they do evil;</I> they think they are
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doing God and themselves good service when really they are putting a
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great affront upon God and a great cheat upon their own souls by their
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hypocritical devotions. Men may be doing evil even when they profess to
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be doing good, and even when they do not know it, when they do not
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consider it. <I>They know not but to do evil,</I> so some read it.
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Wicked minds cannot choose but sin, even in the acts of devotion. Or,
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They <I>consider not that they do evil;</I> they act at a venture,
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right or wrong, pleasing to God or not, it is all one to them.</P>
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<P>
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3. That we may not bring <I>the sacrifice of fools,</I> we must come to
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God's house with hearts disposed to know and do our duty. We must be
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<I>ready to hear,</I> that is,
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(1.) We must diligently <I>attend</I> to the word of God read and
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preached. "<I>Be swift to hear</I> the exposition which the priests
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give of the sacrifices, declaring the intent and meaning of them, and
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do not think it enough to gaze upon what they do, for it must be <I>a
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reasonable service,</I> otherwise it is <I>the sacrifice of fools.</I>"
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(2.) We must resolve to comply with the will of God as it is made known
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to us. <I>Hearing</I> is often put for <I>obeying,</I> and that is it
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that is <I>better than sacrifice,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+15:22,Isa+1:15,16">1 Sam. xv. 22; Isa. i. 15, 16</A>.
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We come in a right frame to holy duties when we come with this upon our
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heart, <I>Speak, Lord, for thy servant hears. Let the word of the Lord
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come</I> (said a good man), <I>and if I had 600 necks I would bow them
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all to the authority of it.</I></P>
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<P>
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4. We must be very cautious and considerate in all our approaches and
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addresses to God
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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<I>Be not rash with thy mouth,</I> in making prayers, or protestations,
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or promises; <I>let not thy heart be hasty to utter any thing before
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God.</I> Note,
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(1.) When we are in the <I>house of God,</I> in solemn assemblies for
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religious worship, we are in a special manner before God and in his
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presence, there where he has promised to meet his people, where his eye
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is upon us and ours ought to be unto him.
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(2.) We have something to say, something to utter before God, when we
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<I>draw nigh to him</I> in holy duties; he is one <I>with whom we have
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to do,</I> with whom we have business of vast importance. If we come
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without an errand, we shall go away without any advantage.
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(3.) What we <I>utter before God</I> must come from <I>the heart,</I>
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and therefore we must not be <I>rash with our mouth,</I> never let our
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tongue outrun our thoughts in our devotions; the <I>words of our
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mouth,</I> must always be the product of the <I>meditation of our
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hearts.</I> Thoughts are words to God, and words are but wind if they
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be not copied from the thoughts. Lip-labour, though ever so well
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laboured, if that be all, is but lost labour in religion,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+15:8,9">Matt. xv. 8, 9</A>.
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(4.) It is not enough that what we say comes from the heart, but it
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must come from a composed heart, and not from a sudden heat or passion.
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As the mouth must not be rash, so the heart must not be hasty; we must
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not only think, but think twice, before we speak, when we are to speak
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either from God in preaching or to God in prayer, and not utter any
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thing indecent and undigested,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+14:15">1 Cor. xiv. 15</A>.</P>
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<P>
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5. We must be sparing of our words in the presence of God, that is, we
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must be reverent and deliberate, not talk to God as boldly and
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carelessly as we do to one another, not speak what comes uppermost, not
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repeat things over and over, as we do to one another, that what we say
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may be understood and remembered and may make impression; no, when we
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speak to God we must consider,
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(1.) That between him and us there is an infinite distance: <I>God is
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in heaven,</I> where he reigns in glory over us and all the children of
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men, where he is attended with an innumerable company of holy angels
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and is <I>far exalted above all our blessing and praise. We are on
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earth,</I> the footstool of his throne; we are mean and vile, unlike
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God, and utterly unworthy to receive any favour from him or to have any
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communion with him. Therefore we must be very grave, humble, and
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serious, and be reverent in speaking to him, as we are when we speak to
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a great man that is much our superior; and, in token of this, <I>let
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our words be few,</I> that they may be <I>well chosen,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+9:14">Job ix. 14</A>.
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This does not condemn all long prayers; were they not good, the
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Pharisees would not have used them for a pretence; Christ prayed all
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night; and we are directed to <I>continue in prayer.</I> But it
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condemns careless heartless praying, <I>vain repetitions</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+6:7">Matt. vi. 7</A>),
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repeating <I>Pater-nosters</I> by tale. Let us speak to God, and of
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him, in his own words, words which the scripture teaches; and let our
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words, words of our own invention, be few, lest, not speaking by rule,
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we speak amiss.
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(2.) That the multiplying of words in our devotions will make them
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<I>the sacrifices of fools,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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As confused dreams, frightful and perplexed, and such as disturb the
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sleep, are an evidence of a hurry of business which fills our head, so
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many words and hasty ones, used in prayer, are an evidence of folly
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reigning in the heart, ignorance of and unacquaintedness with both God
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and ourselves, low thoughts of God, and careless thoughts of our own
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souls. Even in common conversation <I>a fool is known by the multitude
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of words;</I> those that know least talk most
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+10:11"><I>ch.</I> x. 11</A>),
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particularly in devotion; there, no doubt, <I>a prating fool shall
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fall</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+10:8,10">Prov. x. 8, 10</A>),
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shall fall short of acceptance. Those are fools indeed who think they
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<I>shall be heard,</I> in prayer, <I>for their much speaking.</I></P>
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<A NAME="Ec5_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec5_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec5_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec5_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec5_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Obligation of a Vow.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>4 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for <I>he
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hath</I> no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.
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5 Better <I>is it</I> that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou
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shouldest vow and not pay.
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6 Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say
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thou before the angel, that it <I>was</I> an error: wherefore should
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God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?
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7 For in the multitude of dreams and many words <I>there are</I>
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also <I>divers</I> vanities: but fear thou God.
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8 If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent
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perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at
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the matter: for <I>he that is</I> higher than the highest regardeth;
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and <I>there be</I> higher than they.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Four things we are exhorted to in these verses:--</P>
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<P>
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I. To be conscientious in paying our vows.</P>
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<P>
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1. A vow is a bond upon the soul
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+30:2">Num. xxx. 2</A>),
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by which we solemnly oblige ourselves, not only, in general, to do that
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which we are already bound to do, but, in some particular instances, to
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do that to do which we were not under any antecedent obligation,
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whether it respects honouring God or serving the interests of his
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kingdom among men. When, under the sense of some affliction
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+66:14">Ps. lxvi. 14</A>),
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or in the pursuit of some mercy
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+1:11">1 Sam. i. 11</A>),
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thou hast vowed such a vow as this <I>unto God,</I> know that <I>thou
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hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord and thou canst not go back;</I>
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therefore,
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(1.) Pay it; perform what thou hast promised; bring to God what thou
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hast dedicated and devoted to him: <I>Pay that which thou hast
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vowed;</I> pay it in full and <I>keep not back any part of the
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price;</I> pay it in kind, do not <I>alter it or change it,</I> so the
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law was,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+27:10">Lev. xxvii. 10</A>.
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Have we vowed to <I>give our own selves unto the Lord?</I> Let us then
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be as good as our word, act in his service, to his glory, and not
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sacrilegiously alienate ourselves.
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(2.) <I>Defer not to pay it.</I> If it be in the power of thy hands to
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pay it to-day, leave it not till to-morrow; do not <I>beg a day,</I>
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nor put it off to a more convenient season. By delay the sense of the
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obligation slackens and cools, and is in danger of wearing off; we
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thereby discover a loathness and backwardness to perform our vow; and
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<I>qui non est hodie cras minus aptus erit--he who is not inclined
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to-day will be averse to-morrow.</I> The longer it is put off the more
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difficult it will be to bring ourselves to it; death may not only
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prevent the payment, but fetch thee to judgment, under the guilt of a
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broken vow,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+76:11">Ps. lxxvi. 11</A>.</P>
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<P>
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2. Two reasons are here given why we should speedily and cheerfully pay
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our vows:--
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(1.) Because otherwise we affront God; we play the fool with him, as if
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we designed to put a trick upon him; and <I>God has no pleasure in
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fools.</I> More is implied than is expressed; the meaning is, He
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greatly abhors such fools and such foolish dealings. <I>Has he need of
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fools?</I> No; <I>Be not deceived, God is not mocked,</I> but will
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surely and severely reckon with those that thus play fast and loose
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with him.
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(2.) Because otherwise we wrong ourselves, we lose the benefit of the
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making of the <I>vow,</I> nay, we incur the penalty for the breach of
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it; so that it would have been better a great deal <I>not to have
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vowed,</I> more safe and more to our advantage, than to <I>vow and not
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to pay.</I> Not to have <I>vowed</I> would have been but an omission,
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but to <I>vow and not pay</I> incurs the guilt of treachery and
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perjury; it is <I>lying to God,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+5:4">Acts v. 4</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. To be cautious in making our vows. This is necessary in order to
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our being conscientious in performing them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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1. We must take heed that we never vow anything that is sinful, or that
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may be an occasion of sin, for such a vow is ill-made and must be
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broken. <I>Suffer not thy mouth,</I> by such a vow, <I>to cause thy
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flesh to sin,</I> as Herod's rash promise caused him to cut off the
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head of John the Baptist.
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2. We must not vow that which, through the frailty of the flesh, we
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have reason to fear we shall not be able to perform, as those that vow
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a single life and yet know not how to keep their vow. Hereby,
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(1.) They shame themselves; for they are forced to <I>say before the
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angel, It was an error,</I> that either they did not mean or did not
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consider what they said; and, take it which way you will, it is bad
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enough. "When thou hast made a <I>vow,</I> do not seek to evade it, nor
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find excuses to get clear of the obligation of it; <I>say not before
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the priest,</I> who is called the <I>angel or messenger of the Lord of
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hosts,</I> that, upon second thoughts, thou hast changed thy mind, and
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desirest to be absolved from the obligation of thy vow; but stick to
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it, and do not seek a hole to creep out at." Some by <I>the angel</I>
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understand the guardian angel which they suppose to attend every man
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and to inspect what he does. Others understand it of Christ, <I>the
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Angel of the covenant,</I> who is present with his people in their
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assemblies, who searches the heart, and cannot be imposed upon;
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<I>provoke him not, for God's name is in him,</I> and he is represented
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as strict and jealous,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:20,21">Exod. xxiii. 20, 21</A>.
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(2.) They expose themselves to the wrath of God, for he is <I>angry at
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the voice of</I> those that thus <I>lie unto him with their mouth and
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flatter him with their tongue,</I> and is displeased at their
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dissimulation, and <I>destroys the works of their hands,</I> that is,
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blasts their enterprises, and defeats those purposes which, when they
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made these vows, they were seeking to God for the success of. If we
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treacherously cancel the words of our mouths, and revoke our vows, God
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will justly overthrow our projects, and walk contrary, and at all
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adventures, with those that thus walk contrary, and at all adventures
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with him. It is <I>a snare to a man, after vows, to make
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enquiry.</I></P>
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<P>
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III. To keep up the fear of God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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Many, of old, pretended to know the mind of God by <I>dreams,</I> and
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were so full of them that they almost made God's people forget his name
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by their <I>dreams</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+23:25,26">Jer. xxiii. 25, 26</A>);
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and many now perplex themselves with their frightful or odd dreams, or
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with other people's dreams, as if they foreboded this or the other
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disaster. Those that heed dreams shall have a multitude of them to fill
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their heads with; but in them all <I>there are divers vanities,</I> as
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there are in many words, and the more if we regard them. "They are but
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like the idle impertinent chat of children and fools, and therefore
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never heed them; forget them; instead of repeating them lay no stress
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upon them, draw no disquieting conclusions from them, but <I>fear thou
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God;</I> have an eye to his sovereign dominion, set him before thee,
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keep thyself in his love, and be afraid of offending him, and then thou
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wilt not disturb thyself with foolish dreams." The way not to be
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dismayed at the signs of heaven, nor afraid <I>of the idols of the
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heathen,</I> is to <I>fear God as King of nations,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:2,5,7">Jer. x. 2, 5, 7</A>.</P>
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<P>
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IV. With that to keep down the fear of man,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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"Set God before thee, and then, if <I>thou seest the oppression of the
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poor,</I> thou wilt not <I>marvel at the matter,</I> nor find fault
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with divine Providence, nor think the worse of the institution of
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magistracy, when thou seest the ends of it thus perverted, nor of
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religion, when thou seest it will not secure men from suffering wrong."
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Observe here,
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1. A melancholy sight on earth, and such as cannot but trouble every
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good man that has a sense of justice and a concern for mankind, to see
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<I>the oppression of the poor</I> because they are poor and cannot
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defend themselves, and the <I>violent perverting of judgment and
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justice in a province,</I> oppression under colour of law and backed
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with power. The kingdom in general may have a good government, and yet
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it may so happen that a particular province may be committed to a bad
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man, by whose mal-administration justice may be perverted; so hard it
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is for the wisest of kings, in giving preferments, to be sure of their
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men; they can but redress the grievance when it appears.
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2. A comfortable sight in heaven. When things look thus dismal we may
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satisfy ourselves with this,
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(1.) That, though oppressors be <I>high,</I> God is <I>above them,</I>
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and in that very thing wherein <I>they deal proudly,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+18:11">Exod. xviii. 11</A>.
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God is <I>higher than the highest</I> of creatures, than the highest of
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princes, than the king that is <I>higher than Agag</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+24:7">Num. xxiv. 7</A>),
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than the highest angels, the <I>thrones and dominions</I> of the upper
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world. God is the <I>Most High over all the earth,</I> and his <I>glory
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|
is above the heavens;</I> before him princes are worms, the brightest
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|
but glow-worms.
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(2.) That, though oppressors be secure, God has his eye upon them,
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takes notice of, and will reckon for, all their violent perverting of
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judgment; <I>he regards,</I> not only sees it but observes it, and
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keeps it on record, to be called over again; his <I>eyes are upon their
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ways.</I> See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+23:33">Job xxiv. 23</A>.
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(3.) That there is a world of angels, for there are <I>higher than
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they,</I> who are employed by the divine justice for protecting the
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injured and punishing the injurious. Sennacherib valued himself highly
|
|
upon his potent army, but one angel proved too hard for him and all his
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|
forces. Some, by those <I>that are higher than they</I> understand the
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|
great council of the nation, the presidents to whom the <I>princes of
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the provinces are accountable</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+6:2">Dan. vi. 2</A>),
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the senate that receive complaints against the proconsuls, the courts
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|
above to which appeals are made from the inferior courts, which are
|
|
necessary to the good government of a kingdom. Let it be a check to
|
|
oppressors that perhaps their superiors on earth may call them to an
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account; however, God the Supreme in heaven will.</P>
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|
<A NAME="Ec5_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec5_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec5_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec5_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec5_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec5_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec5_15"> </A>
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|
<A NAME="Ec5_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec5_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
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|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Vanity of Riches.</I></FONT></TD>
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|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>9 Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king
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<I>himself</I> is served by the field.
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10 He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver;
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nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this <I>is</I> also
|
|
vanity.
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|
11 When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and
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|
what good <I>is there</I> to the owners thereof, saving the beholding
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|
<I>of them</I> with their eyes?
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12 The sleep of a labouring man <I>is</I> sweet, whether he eat
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|
little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him
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|
to sleep.
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13 There is a sore evil <I>which</I> I have seen under the sun,
|
|
<I>namely,</I> riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.
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14 But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a
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|
son, and <I>there is</I> nothing in his hand.
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15 As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return
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|
to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he
|
|
may carry away in his hand.
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16 And this also <I>is</I> a sore evil, <I>that</I> in all points as he
|
|
came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured
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|
for the wind?
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17 All his days also he eateth in darkness, and <I>he hath</I> much
|
|
sorrow and wrath with his sickness.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
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|
|
<P>
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Solomon had shown the vanity of pleasure, gaiety, and fine works, of
|
|
honour, power, and royal dignity; and there is many a covetous
|
|
worldling that will agree with him, and speak as slightly as he does of
|
|
these things; but money, he thinks, is a substantial thing, and if he
|
|
can but have enough of that he is happy. This is the mistake which
|
|
Solomon attacks, and attempts to rectify, in these verses; he shows
|
|
that there is as much vanity in great riches, and the <I>lust of the
|
|
eye</I> about them, as there is in the <I>lusts of the flesh</I> and
|
|
the <I>pride of life,</I> and a man can make himself no more happy by
|
|
hoarding an estate than by spending it.</P>
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|
<P>
|
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I. He grants that the products of the earth, for the support and
|
|
comfort of human life, are valuable things
|
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>):
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<I>The profit of the earth is for all.</I> Man's body, being made of
|
|
the earth, thence has its maintenance
|
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|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:5">Job xxviii. 5</A>);
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and that it has so, and that a <I>barren land</I> is not <I>made his
|
|
dwelling</I> (as he has deserved for being rebellious,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+68:6">Ps. lxviii. 6</A>),
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is an instance of God's great bounty to him. There is <I>profit to be
|
|
got out of the earth,</I> and it is <I>for all;</I> all need it; it is
|
|
appointed for all; there is enough for all. It is not only for all
|
|
men, but for all the inferior creatures; the same ground brings
|
|
<I>grass for the cattle</I> that brings <I>herbs for the service of
|
|
men.</I> Israel had <I>bread from heaven, angels' food,</I> but (which
|
|
is a humbling consideration) the earth is our storehouse and the beasts
|
|
are fellow-commoners with us. <I>The king himself is served of the
|
|
field,</I> and would be ill served, would be quite starved, without its
|
|
products. This puts a great honour upon the husbandman's calling, that
|
|
it is the most necessary of all to the support of man's life. The many
|
|
have the benefit of it; the mighty cannot live without it; it is <I>for
|
|
all;</I> it is for the <I>king himself.</I> Those that have an
|
|
abundance of the fruits of the earth must remember <I>they are for
|
|
all,</I> and therefore must look upon themselves but as stewards of
|
|
their abundance, out of which they must give to those that need. Dainty
|
|
meats and soft clothing are only <I>for some,</I> but the <I>fruit of
|
|
the earth is for all.</I> And even those that <I>suck the abundance of
|
|
the seas</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+33:19">Deut. xxxiii. 19</A>)
|
|
|
|
cannot be without the fruit of the earth, while those that have a
|
|
competency of the <I>fruit of the earth</I> may despise the
|
|
<I>abundance of the seas.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. He maintains that the riches that are more than these, that are for
|
|
hoarding, not for use, are <I>vain things,</I> and will not make a man
|
|
easy or happy. That which our Saviour has said
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+12:15">Luke xii. 15</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>that a man's life consists not in the abundance of the things which
|
|
he possesses,</I> is what Solomon here undertakes to prove by various
|
|
arguments.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. The more men have the more they would have,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
A man may have but a little silver and be satisfied with it, may know
|
|
when he has enough and covet no more. <I>Godliness, with contentment,
|
|
is great gain. I have enough,</I> says Jacob; <I>I have all, and
|
|
abound,</I> says St. Paul: but,
|
|
|
|
(1.) He that <I>loves silver,</I> and sets his heart upon it, will
|
|
never think he has enough, but <I>enlarges his desire as hell</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+2:5">Hab. ii. 5</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>lays house to house and field to field</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:8">Isa. v. 8</A>),
|
|
|
|
and, like <I>the daughters of the horse-leech, still cries, Give,
|
|
give.</I> Natural desires are at rest when that which is desired is
|
|
obtained, but corrupt desires are insatiable. Nature is content with
|
|
little, grace with less, but lust with nothing.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He that has silver in abundance, and has it increasing ever so
|
|
fast upon him, yet does not find that it yields any solid satisfaction
|
|
to his soul. There are bodily desires which silver itself will not
|
|
satisfy; if a man be hungry, ingots of silver will do no more to
|
|
satisfy his hunger than clods of clay. Much less will worldly abundance
|
|
satisfy spiritual desires; he that has ever so much silver covets more,
|
|
not only of that, but of something else, something of another nature.
|
|
Those that make themselves drudges to the world are spending their
|
|
<I>labour for that which satisfies not</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+55:2">Isa. lv. 2</A>),
|
|
|
|
which fills the belly, but will never fill the soul,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+7:19">Ezek. vii. 19</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. The more men have the more occasion they have for it, and the more
|
|
they have to do with it, so that it is as broad as it is long: <I>When
|
|
goods increase, they are increased that eat them,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>The more meat the more mouths.</I> Does the estate thrive? And does
|
|
not the family at the same time grow more numerous and the children
|
|
grow up to need more? The more men have the better house they must
|
|
keep, the more servants they must employ, the more guests they must
|
|
entertain, the more they must give to the poor, and the more they will
|
|
have hanging on them, for where <I>the carcase is the eagles will
|
|
be.</I> What we have more than food and raiment we have <I>for
|
|
others;</I> and then <I>what good is there to the owners</I>
|
|
themselves, but the pleasure of <I>beholding it with their eyes?</I>
|
|
And a poor pleasure it is. An empty speculation is all the difference
|
|
between the owners and the sharers; the owner sees that as his own
|
|
which those about him enjoy as much of the real benefit of as he; only
|
|
he has the satisfaction of doing good to others, which indeed is a
|
|
satisfaction to one who believes what Christ said, that <I>it is more
|
|
blessed to give than to receive;</I> but to a covetous man, who thinks
|
|
all lost that goes beside himself, it is a constant vexation to see
|
|
others eat of his increase.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. The more men have the more care they have about it, which perplexes
|
|
them and disturbs their repose,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
Refreshing sleep is as much the support and comfort of this life as
|
|
food is. Now,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Those commonly sleep best that work hard and have but what they
|
|
work for: <I>The sleep of the labouring man is sweet,</I> not only
|
|
because he has tired himself with his labour, which makes his sleep the
|
|
more welcome to him and makes him sleep soundly, but because he has
|
|
little to fill his head with care about and so break his sleep. His
|
|
sleep is sweet, though he eat but little and have but little to eat,
|
|
for his weariness rocks him asleep; and, though he eat much, yet he can
|
|
sleep well, for his labour gets him a good digestion. The sleep of the
|
|
diligent Christian, and his long sleep, is sweet; for, having spent
|
|
himself and his time in the service of God, he can cheerfully return to
|
|
God and repose in him as his rest.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Those that have every thing else often fail to secure a good
|
|
night's sleep. Either their eyes are held waking or their sleeps are
|
|
unquiet and do not refresh them; and it is their abundance that breaks
|
|
their sleep and disturbs it, both the abundance of their care (as the
|
|
rich man's who, when his ground brought forth plentifully, thought
|
|
within himself, <I>What shall I do?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+12:17">Luke xii. 17</A>)
|
|
|
|
and the abundance of what they eat and drink which overcharges the
|
|
heart, makes them sick, and so hinders their repose. Ahasuerus, after a
|
|
banquet of wine, could not sleep; and perhaps consciousness of guilt,
|
|
both in getting and using what they have, breaks their sleep as much as
|
|
any thing. But <I>God gives his beloved sleep.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. The more men have the more danger they are in both of doing mischief
|
|
and of having mischief done them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>There is an evil, a sore evil,</I> which Solomon himself had <I>seen
|
|
under the sun,</I> in this lower world, this theatre of sin and
|
|
woe--<I>riches left for the owners thereof</I> (who have been
|
|
industrious to hoard them and keep them safely) <I>to their hurt;</I>
|
|
they would have been better without them.
|
|
|
|
(1.) Their riches <I>do them hurt,</I> make them proud, secure, and in
|
|
love with the world, draw away their hearts from God and duty, and make
|
|
it very difficult for them to enter into the kingdom of heaven, nay,
|
|
help to shut them out of it.
|
|
|
|
(2.) They <I>do hurt with their riches,</I> which not only put them
|
|
into a capacity of gratifying their own lusts and living luxuriously,
|
|
but give them an opportunity of oppressing others and dealing hardly
|
|
with them.
|
|
|
|
(3.) Often they sustain <I>hurt by their riches.</I> They would not be
|
|
envied, would not be robbed, if they were not rich. It is the fat beast
|
|
that is led first to the slaughter. A very rich man (as one observes)
|
|
has sometimes been excepted out of a general pardon, both as to life
|
|
and estate, merely on account of his vast and overgrown estate; so
|
|
riches <I>often take away the life of the owners thereof,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:19">Prov. i. 19</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
5. The more men have the more they have to lose, and perhaps they may
|
|
lose it all,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those riches that have been laid up with a great deal of pains, and
|
|
kept with a great deal of care, <I>perish by evil travail,</I> by the
|
|
very pains and care which they take to secure and increase them. Many a
|
|
one has ruined his estate by being over-solicitous to advance it and
|
|
make it more, and has lost all by catching at all. Riches are perishing
|
|
things, and all our care about them cannot make them otherwise; they
|
|
<I>make themselves wings and fly away.</I> He that thought he should
|
|
have made his son a gentleman leaves him a beggar; he <I>begets a
|
|
son,</I> and brings him up in the prospect of an estate, but, when he
|
|
dies, leaves it under a charge of debt as much as it is worth, so that
|
|
<I>there is nothing in his hand.</I> This is a common case; estates
|
|
that made a great show do not prove what they seemed, but cheat the
|
|
heir.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
6. How much soever men have when they die, they must leave it all
|
|
behind them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:15,16"><I>v.</I> 15, 16</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>As he came forth of his mother's womb naked, so shall he return;</I>
|
|
only as his friends, when he came naked into the world, in pity to him,
|
|
helped him with swaddling-clothes, so, when he goes out, they help him
|
|
with grave-clothes, and that is all. See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+1:21,Ps+49:17">Job i. 21; Ps. xlix. 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
This is urged as a reason why we should be content with such things as
|
|
we have,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ti+6:7">1 Tim. vi. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
In respect of the body we must go as we came; the dust shall return to
|
|
the earth as it was. But sad is our case if the soul return as it
|
|
came, for we were born in sin, and if we die in sin, unsanctified, we
|
|
had better never have been born; and that seems to be the case of the
|
|
worldling here spoken of, for he is said to <I>return in all points as
|
|
he came,</I> as sinful, as miserable, and much more so. This is a
|
|
<I>sore evil; he</I> thinks it so whose heart is glued to the world,
|
|
that he <I>shall take nothing of his labour which he may carry away in
|
|
his hand;</I> his riches will not go with him into another world nor
|
|
stand him in any stead there. If we labour in religion, the grace and
|
|
comfort we get by that labour we may carry away in our hearts, and
|
|
shall be the better for it to eternity; that is meat that endures. But
|
|
if we labour only for the world, to fill our hands with that, we cannot
|
|
take that away with us; we are born with our hands griping, but we die
|
|
with them extended, letting go what we held fast. So that, upon the
|
|
whole matter, he may well ask, <I>What profit has he that has laboured
|
|
for the wind?</I> Note, Those that labour for the world labour for the
|
|
wind, for that which has more sound than substance, which is uncertain,
|
|
and always shifting its point, unsatisfying, and often hurtful, which
|
|
we cannot hold fast, and which, if we take up with it as our portion,
|
|
will no more feed us than the <I>wind,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+12:1">Hos. xii. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
Men will see that they have <I>laboured for the wind</I> when at death
|
|
they find the profit of their labour is all gone, gone like the wind,
|
|
they know not whither.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
7. Those that have much, if they set their hearts upon it, have not
|
|
only uncomfortable deaths, but uncomfortable lives too,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
This covetous worldling, that is so bent upon raising an estate, <I>all
|
|
his days eats in darkness and much sorrow, and it is his sickness and
|
|
wrath;</I> he has not only no pleasure of his estate, nor any enjoyment
|
|
of it himself, for he <I>eats the bread of sorrow</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+127:2">Ps. cxxvii. 2</A>),
|
|
|
|
but a great deal of vexation to see others eat of it. His necessary
|
|
expenses make him sick, make him fret, and he seems as if he were angry
|
|
that himself and those about him cannot live without meat. As we read
|
|
the last clause, it intimates how ill this covetous worldling can bear
|
|
the common and unavoidable calamities of human life. When he is in
|
|
health he <I>eats in darkness,</I> always dull with care and fear about
|
|
what he has; but, if he be sick, <I>he has much sorrow and wrath with
|
|
his sickness;</I> he is vexed that his sickness takes him off from his
|
|
business and hinders him in his pursuits of the world, vexed that all
|
|
his wealth will not give him any ease or relief, but especially
|
|
terrified with the apprehensions of death (which his diseases are the
|
|
harbingers of), of leaving this world and the things of it behind him,
|
|
which he has set his affections upon, and removing to a world he has
|
|
made no preparation for. He has not any <I>sorrow after a godly
|
|
sort,</I> does not <I>sorrow to repentance,</I> but he has <I>sorrow
|
|
and wrath,</I> is angry at the providence of God, angry at his
|
|
sickness, angry at all about him, fretful and peevish, which doubles
|
|
his affliction, which a good man lessens and lightens by patience and
|
|
joy in his sickness.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ec5_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec5_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec5_20"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Grateful Enjoyment.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>18 Behold <I>that</I> which I have seen: <I>it is</I> good and comely
|
|
<I>for one</I> to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his
|
|
labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life,
|
|
which God giveth him: for it <I>is</I> his portion.
|
|
19 Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and
|
|
hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and
|
|
to rejoice in his labour; this <I>is</I> the gift of God.
|
|
20 For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because
|
|
God answereth <I>him</I> in the joy of his heart.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Solomon, from the vanity of riches hoarded up, here infers that the
|
|
best course we can take is to use well what we have, to serve God with
|
|
it, to do good with it, and take the comfort of it to ourselves and our
|
|
families; this he had pressed before,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:24,3:22"><I>ch.</I> ii. 24; iii. 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. What it is that is here recommended to us, not to indulge the
|
|
appetites of the flesh, or to take up with present pleasures or profits
|
|
for our portion, but soberly and moderately to make use of what
|
|
Providence has allotted for our comfortable passage through this world.
|
|
We must not starve ourselves through covetousness, because we cannot
|
|
afford ourselves food convenient, nor through eagerness in our worldly
|
|
pursuits, nor through excessive care and grief, but <I>eat and
|
|
drink</I> what is fit for us to keep our bodies in good plight for the
|
|
serving of our souls in God's service. We must not kill ourselves with
|
|
<I>labour,</I> and then leave others <I>to enjoy the good</I> of it,
|
|
but take the comfort of that which our hands have laboured for, and
|
|
that not now and then, but <I>all the days of our life which God gives
|
|
us.</I> Life is God's gift, and he has appointed us <I>the number of
|
|
the days</I> of our life
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+14:5">Job xiv. 5</A>);
|
|
|
|
let us therefore spend those days in <I>serving the Lord our God with
|
|
joyfulness and gladness of heart.</I> We must not do the business of
|
|
our calling as a drudgery, and make ourselves slaves to it, but we must
|
|
<I>rejoice in our labour,</I> not grasp at more business than we can go
|
|
through without perplexity and disquiet, but take a pleasure in the
|
|
calling wherein God has put us, and go on in the business of it with
|
|
cheerfulness. This it to <I>rejoice in our labour,</I> whatever it is,
|
|
as <I>Zebulun in his going out and Issachar in his tents.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. What is urged to recommend it to us.
|
|
|
|
(1.) That <I>it is good and comely</I> to do this. It is well, and it
|
|
looks well. Those that cheerfully use what God has given them thereby
|
|
honour the giver, answer the intention of the gift, act rationally and
|
|
generously, do good in the world, and make what they have turn to the
|
|
best account, and this is both their credit and their comfort; <I>it is
|
|
good and comely;</I> there is duty and decency in it.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That it is all the good we can have out of the things of this
|
|
world: <I>It is our portion,</I> and in doing thus we take our portion,
|
|
and make the best of bad. This is our part of our worldly possession.
|
|
God must have his part, the poor theirs, and our families theirs, but
|
|
this is ours; it is all that falls to our lot out of them.
|
|
|
|
(3.) That a heart to do thus is such a gift of God's grace as crowns
|
|
all the gifts of his providence. If God has given a man <I>riches and
|
|
wealth,</I> he completes the favour, and makes that a blessing indeed,
|
|
if withal he <I>gives him power to eat thereof,</I> wisdom and grace to
|
|
take the good of it and to do good with it. If this <I>is God's
|
|
gift,</I> we must <I>covet</I> it <I>earnestly</I> as <I>the best
|
|
gift</I> relating to our enjoyments in this world.
|
|
|
|
(4.) That this is the way to make our own lives easy and to relieve
|
|
ourselves against the many toils and troubles which our lives on earth
|
|
are incident to
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>He shall not much remember the days of his life,</I> the days of his
|
|
sorrow and sore travail, his working days, his weeping days. He shall
|
|
either forget them or remember them as waters that pass away; he shall
|
|
not much lay to heart his crosses, nor long retain the bitter relish of
|
|
them, <I>because God answers him in the joy of his heart,</I> balances
|
|
all the grievances of his labour with the joy of it and recompenses him
|
|
for it by giving him to <I>eat the labour of his hands.</I> If he does
|
|
not answer all his desires and expectations, in the letter of them, yet
|
|
he answers them with that which is more than equivalent, <I>in the joy
|
|
of his heart.</I> A cheerful spirit is a great blessing; it makes the
|
|
yoke of our employments easy and the burden of our afflictions
|
|
light.</P>
|
|
|
|
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