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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Ecclesiastes VIII].</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. VIII.</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, comes to recommend wisdom to us as the most
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powerful antidote against both the temptations and vexations that arise
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from the vanity of the world. Here is,
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I. The benefit and praise of wisdom,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+8:1">ver. 1</A>.
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II. Some particular instances of wisdom prescribed to us.
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1. We must keep in due subjection to the government God has set over us,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+8:2-5">ver. 2-5</A>.
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2. We must get ready for sudden evils, and especially for sudden death,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+8:6-8">ver. 6-8</A>.
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3. We must arm ourselves against the temptation of an oppressive
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government and not think it strange,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+8:9,10">ver. 9, 10</A>.
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The impunity of oppressors makes them more daring
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+8:11">ver. 11</A>),
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but in the issue it will be well with the righteous and ill with the
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wicked
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+8:12,13">ver. 12, 13</A>),
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and therefore the present prosperity of the wicked and afflictions of
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the righteous ought not to be a stumbling-block to us,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+8:14">ver. 14</A>.
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4. We must cheerfully use the gifts of God's providence,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+8:15">ver. 15</A>.
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5. We must with an entire satisfaction acquiesce in the will of God,
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and, not pretending to find the bottom, we must humbly and silently
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adore the depth of his unsearchable counsels, being assured they are
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all wise, just, and good,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+8:16,17">ver. 16, 17</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ec8_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec8_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec8_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec8_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec8_5"> </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>The Excellence of Wisdom; The Duty of Subjects.</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 Who <I>is</I> as the wise <I>man?</I> and who knoweth the
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interpretation of a thing? a man's wisdom maketh his face to
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shine, and the boldness of his face shall be changed.
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2 I <I>counsel thee</I> to keep the king's commandment, and <I>that</I>
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in regard of the oath of God.
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3 Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil
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thing; for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him.
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4 Where the word of a king <I>is, there is</I> power: and who may
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say unto him, What doest thou?
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5 Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a
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wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is,
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I. An encomium of <I>wisdom</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+8:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
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that is, of true piety, guided in all its exercises by prudence and
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discretion. The wise man is the good man, that knows God and glorifies
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him, knows himself and does well for himself; his wisdom is a great
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happiness to him, for,
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1. It advances him above his neighbours, and makes him more excellent
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than they: <I>Who is as the wise man?</I> Note, Heavenly wisdom will
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make a man an incomparable man. No man without grace, though he be
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learned, or noble, or rich, is to be compared with a man that has true
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grace and is therefore accepted of God.
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2. It makes him useful among his neighbours and very serviceable to
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them: <I>Who</I> but the <I>wise man knows the interpretation of a
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thing,</I> that is, understands the times and the events of them, and
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their critical junctures, so as to direct <I>what Israel ought to
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do,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+12:32">1 Chron. xii. 32</A>.
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3. It beautifies a man in the eyes of his friends: <I>It makes his face
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to shine,</I> as Moses's did when he came down from the mount; it puts
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honour upon a man and a lustre on his whole conversation, makes him to
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be regarded and taken notice of, and gains him respect (as
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+29:7">Job xxix. 7</A>,
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&c.); it makes him lovely and amiable, and the darling and blessing of
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his country. <I>The strength of his face,</I> the sourness and severity
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of his countenance (so some understand the last clause), <I>shall be
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changed</I> by it into that which is sweet and obliging. Even those
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whose natural temper is rough and morose by <I>wisdom</I> are strangely
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altered; they become mild and gentle, and learn to look pleasant.
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4. It emboldens a man against his adversaries, their attempts and their
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scorn: <I>The boldness of his face shall be</I> doubled by wisdom; it
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will add very much to his courage in maintaining his integrity when he
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not only has an honest cause to plead, but by his wisdom knows how to
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manage it and where to find <I>the interpretation of a thing. He shall
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not be ashamed, but shall speak with his enemy in the gate.</I></P>
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<P>
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II. A particular instance of wisdom pressed upon us, and that is
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subjection to authority, and a dutiful and peaceable perseverance in
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our allegiance to the government which Providence has set over us.
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Observe,</P>
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<P>
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1. How the duty of subjects is here described.
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(1.) We must be observant of the laws. In all those things wherein the
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civil power is to interpose, whether legislative or judicial, we ought
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to submit to its order and constitutions: <I>I counsel thee;</I> it may
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as well be supplied, <I>I charge thee,</I> not only as a prince but as
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a preacher: he might do both; "I recommend it to thee as a piece of
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wisdom; I say, whatever those say that are given to change, <I>keep the
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king's commandment;</I> wherever the sovereign power is lodged, be
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subject to it. <I>Observe the mouth of a king</I>" (so the phrase is);
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"say as he says; do as he bids thee; let his word be a law, or rather
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let the law be his word." Some understand the following clause as a
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limitation of this obedience: "<I>Keep the king's commandment,</I> yet
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so as to have a <I>regard to the oath of God,</I> that is, so as to
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keep a good conscience and not to violate thy obligations to God, which
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are prior and superior to thy obligations to the king. <I>Render to
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Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's,</I> but so as to reserve
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pure and entire <I>to God the things that are</I> his."
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(2.) We must not be forward to find fault with the public
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administration, or quarrel with every thing that is not just according
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to our mind, nor quit our post of service under the government, and
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throw it up, upon every discontent
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+8:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>):
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"<I>Be not hasty to go out of his sight,</I> when he is displeased at
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thee
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+10:4"><I>ch.</I> x. 4</A>),
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or when thou art displeased at him; fly not off in a passion, nor
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entertain such jealousies of him as will tempt thee to renounce the
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court or forsake the kingdom." Solomon's subjects, as soon as his head
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was laid low, went directly contrary to this rule, when upon the rough
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answer which Rehoboam gave them, they were <I>hasty to go out of his
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sight,</I> would not take time for second thoughts nor admit proposals
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of accommodation, but cried, <I>To your tents, O Israel!</I> "There may
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perhaps be a just cause <I>to go out of his sight;</I> but <I>be not
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hasty</I> to do it; act with great deliberation."
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(3.) We must not persist in a fault when it is shown us: "<I>Stand not
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in an evil thing;</I> in any offence thou hast given to thy prince
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humble thyself, and do not justify thyself, for that will make the
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offence much more offensive. In any ill design thou hast, upon some
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discontent, conceived against thy prince, do not proceed in it; but
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<I>if thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or hast thought
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evil, lay thy hand upon thy mouth,</I>"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+30:32">Prov. xxx. 32</A>.
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Note, Though we may by surprise be drawn into an evil thing, yet we
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must not stand in it, but recede from it as soon as it appears to us to
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be evil.
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(4.) We must prudently accommodate ourselves to our opportunities, both
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for our own relief, if we think ourselves wronged, and for the redress
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of public grievances: <I>A wise man's heart discerns both time and
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judgment</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+8:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>);
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it is the wisdom of subjects, in applying themselves to their princes,
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to enquire and consider both at what season and in what manner they may
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do it best and most effectually, to pacify his anger, obtain his
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favour, or obtain the revocation of any grievous measure prescribed.
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Esther, in dealing with Ahasuerus, took a deal of pains to <I>discern
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both time and judgment,</I> and she sped accordingly. This may be taken
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as a general rule of wisdom, that every thing should be well timed; and
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our enterprises are <I>then</I> likely to succeed, when we embrace the
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exact opportunity for them.</P>
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<P>
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2. What arguments are here used to engage us to be subject to the
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higher powers; they are much the same with those which St. Paul uses,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+13:1">Rom. xiii. 1</A>,
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&c.
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(1.) We <I>must needs be subject, for conscience-sake,</I> and that is
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the most powerful principle of subjection. We must be subject because
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<I>of the oath of God,</I> the oath of allegiance which we have taken
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to be faithful to the government, <I>the covenant between the king and
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the people,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+23:16">2 Chron. xxiii. 16</A>.
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<I>David made a covenant,</I> or contract, <I>with the elders of
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Israel,</I> though he was king by divine designation,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+11:3">1 Chron. xi. 3</A>.
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"<I>Keep the king's commandments,</I> for he has sworn to rule thee in
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the fear of God, and thou hast sworn, in that fear, to be faithful to
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him." It is called <I>the oath of God</I> because he is a witness to it
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and will avenge the violation of it.
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(2.) <I>For wrath's sake,</I> because of the sword which the prince
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bears and the power he is entrusted with, which make him formidable:
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<I>He does whatsoever pleases him;</I> he has a great authority and a
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great ability to support that authority
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+8:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>):
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<I>Where the word of a king is,</I> giving orders to seize a man,
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<I>there is power;</I> there are many that will execute his orders,
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which makes <I>the wrath of a king,</I> or supreme government, like
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<I>the roaring of a lion</I> and like <I>messengers of death. Who may
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say unto him, What doest thou?</I> He that contradicts him does it at
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his peril. Kings will not bear to have their orders disputed, but
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expect they should be obeyed. In short, it is dangerous contending with
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sovereignty, and what many have repented. A subject is an unequal
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match for a prince. <I>He</I> may command me who has legions at
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command.
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(3.) For the sake of our own comfort: <I>Whoso keeps the
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commandment,</I> and lives a quiet and peaceable life, <I>shall feel no
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evil thing,</I> to which that of the apostle answers
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+13:3">Rom. xiii. 3</A>),
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<I>Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power</I> of the king? <I>Do
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that which is good,</I> as becomes a dutiful and loyal subject, <I>and
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thou shalt</I> ordinarily <I>have praise of the same.</I> He that does
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no ill shall feel no ill and needs fear none.</P>
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<A NAME="Ec8_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec8_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec8_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 Certainty of Death.</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>6 Because to every purpose there is time and judgment,
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therefore the misery of man <I>is</I> great upon him.
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7 For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him
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when it shall be?
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8 <I>There is</I> no man that hath power over the spirit to retain
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the spirit; neither <I>hath he</I> power in the day of death: and
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<I>there is</I> no discharge in <I>that</I> war; neither shall wickedness
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deliver those that are given to it.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Solomon had said
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+8:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>)
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that <I>a wise man's heart discerns time and judgment,</I> that is, a
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man's wisdom will go a great way, by the blessing of God, in moral
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prognostications; but here he shows that few have that wisdom, and that
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even the wisest may yet be surprised by a calamity which they had not
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any foresight of, and therefore it is our wisdom to expect and prepare
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for sudden changes. Observe,
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1. All the events concerning us, with the exact time of them, are
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determined and appointed in the counsel and foreknowledge of God, and
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all in wisdom: <I>To every purpose there is a time</I> prefixed, and it
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is the best time, for it <I>is time and judgment,</I> time appointed
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both in wisdom and righteousness; the appointment is not chargeable
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with folly or iniquity.
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2. We are very much in the dark concerning future events and the time
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and season of them: Man <I>knows not that which shall be</I> himself;
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and <I>who can tell him when</I> or how <I>it shall be?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+8:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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It cannot either be foreseen by him or foretold him; the stars cannot
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foretel a man what shall be, nor any of the arts of divination. God
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has, in wisdom, concealed from us the knowledge of future events, that
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we may be always ready for changes.
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3. It is our great unhappiness and misery that, because we cannot
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foresee an evil, we know not how to avoid it, or guard against it, and,
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because we are not aware of the proper successful season of actions,
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therefore we lose our opportunities and miss our way: <I>Because to
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every purpose there is</I> but one way, one method, one proper
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opportunity, <I>therefore the misery of man is great upon him;</I>
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because it is so hard to hit that, and it is a thousand to one but he
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misses it. Most of the miseries men labour under would have been
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prevented if they could have been foreseen and the happy time
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discovered to avoid them. Men are miserable because they are not
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sufficiently sagacious and attentive.
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4. Whatever other evils may be avoided, we are all under a fatal
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necessity of dying,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+8:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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(1.) When the soul is required it must be resigned, and it is to no
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purpose to dispute it, either by arms or arguments, by ourselves, or by
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any friend: <I>There is no man that has power over</I> his own
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<I>spirit, to retain it,</I> when it is summoned to return to God who
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gave it. It cannot fly any where out of the jurisdiction of death, nor
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find any place where its writs do not run. It cannot abscond so as to
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escape death's eye, though it is hidden from the eyes of all living. A
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man has no power to adjourn the day of his death, nor can he by prayers
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or bribes obtain a reprieve; no bail will be taken, no essoine
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[excuse], protection, or imparlance [conference], allowed. We have not
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<I>power over the spirit</I> of a friend, <I>to retain</I> that; the
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prince, with all his authority, cannot prolong the life of the most
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valuable of his subjects, nor the physician with his medicines and
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methods, nor the soldier with his force, not the orator with his
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eloquence, nor the best saint with his intercessions. The stroke of
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death can by no means be put by when our days are determined and the
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hour appointed us has come.
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(2.) Death is an enemy that we must all enter the lists with, sooner or
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later: <I>There is no discharge in that war,</I> no dismission from it,
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either of the men of business or of the faint-hearted, as there was
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among the Jews,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+20:5,8">Deut. xx. 5, 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
While we live we are struggling with death, and we shall never put off
|
|
the harness till we put off the body, never obtain a discharge till
|
|
death has obtained the mastery; the youngest is not released as a
|
|
fresh-water soldier, nor the oldest as <I>miles emeritus--a soldier
|
|
whose merits have entitled him to a discharge.</I> Death is a battle
|
|
that must be fought, <I>There is no sending to that war</I> (so some
|
|
read it), no substituting another to muster for us, no champion
|
|
admitted to fight for us; we must ourselves engage, and are concerned
|
|
to provide accordingly, as for a battle.
|
|
|
|
(3.) Men's wickedness, by which they often evade or outface the justice
|
|
of the prince, cannot secure them from the arrest of death, nor can the
|
|
most obstinate sinner harden his heart against those terrors. Though he
|
|
<I>strengthen himself</I> ever so much <I>in his wickedness</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+52:7">Ps. lii. 7</A>),
|
|
|
|
death will be too strong for him. The most subtle wickedness cannot
|
|
outwit death, nor the most impudent wickedness outbrave death. Nay,
|
|
the wickedness which men give themselves to will be so far from
|
|
delivering them from death that it will deliver them up to death.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ec8_9"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec8_10"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec8_11"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec8_12"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec8_13"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Evil of Oppressive Rulers.</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>9 All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work
|
|
that is done under the sun: <I>there is</I> a time wherein one man
|
|
ruleth over another to his own hurt.
|
|
10 And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from
|
|
the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where
|
|
they had so done: this <I>is</I> also vanity.
|
|
11 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed
|
|
speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in
|
|
them to do evil.
|
|
12 Though a sinner do evil a hundred times, and his <I>days</I> be
|
|
prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that
|
|
fear God, which fear before him:
|
|
13 But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he
|
|
prolong <I>his</I> days, <I>which are</I> as a shadow; because he feareth
|
|
not before God.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Solomon, in the beginning of the chapter, had warned us against having
|
|
any thing to do with seditious subjects; here, in these verses, he
|
|
encourages us, in reference to the mischief of tyrannical and
|
|
oppressive rulers, such as he had complained of before,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:16,4:1"><I>ch.</I> iii. 16; iv. 1</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. He had observed many such rulers,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+8:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
In the serious views and reviews he had taken of the children of men
|
|
and their state he had observed that many a time <I>one man rules over
|
|
another to his hurt;</I> that is,
|
|
|
|
(1.) To the hurt of the ruled (many understand it so); whereas they
|
|
ought to be God's ministers unto their subjects <I>for their good</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+13:14">Rom. xiii. 14</A>),
|
|
|
|
to administer justice, and to preserve the public peace and order, they
|
|
use their power for their hurt, to invade their property, encroach upon
|
|
their liberty, and patronise the acts of injustice. It is sad with a
|
|
people when those that should protect their religion and rights aim at
|
|
the destruction of both.
|
|
|
|
(2.) To the hurt of the rulers (so we render it), <I>to their own
|
|
hurt,</I> to the feeling of their pride and covetousness, the
|
|
gratifying of their passion and revenge, and so to the filling up of
|
|
the measure of their sins and the hastening and aggravating of their
|
|
ruin. <I>Agens agendo repatitur</I>--<I>What hurt men do to others will
|
|
return, in the end, to their own hurt.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He had observed them to prosper and flourish in the abuse of their
|
|
power
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+8:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I saw</I> those <I>wicked</I> rulers <I>come and go from the place
|
|
of the holy,</I> go in state to and return in pomp from the place of
|
|
judicature (which is called <I>the place of the Holy One</I> because
|
|
<I>the judgment is the Lord's,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:17">Deut. i. 17</A>,
|
|
|
|
and he <I>judges among the gods,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+82:1">Ps. lxxxii. 1</A>,
|
|
|
|
and <I>is with them in the judgment,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+19:6">2 Chron. xix. 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
and they continued all their days in office, were never reckoned with
|
|
for their mal-administration, but died in honour and were buried
|
|
magnificently; their commissions were <I>durante
|
|
vitâ</I>--<I>during life,</I> and not <I>quamdiu se bene
|
|
gesserint</I>--<I>during good behaviour. And they were forgotten in the
|
|
city where they had so done;</I> their wicked practices were not
|
|
remembered against them to their reproach and infamy when they were
|
|
gone. Or, rather, it denotes the vanity of their dignity and power, for
|
|
that is his remark upon it in the close of the verse: <I>This is also
|
|
vanity.</I> They are proud of their wealth, and power, and honour,
|
|
because they sit in <I>the place of the holy;</I> but all this cannot
|
|
secure,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Their bodies from being buried in the dust; <I>I saw</I> them laid
|
|
in the grave; and their pomp, though it attended them thither, could
|
|
<I>not descend after them,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+49:17">Ps. xlix. 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Nor their names from being buried in oblivion; for <I>they were
|
|
forgotten,</I> as if they had never been.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. He had observed that their prosperity hardened them in their
|
|
wickedness,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+8:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is true of all sinners in general, and particularly of wicked
|
|
rulers, that, <I>because sentence against their evil works is not
|
|
executed speedily,</I> they think it will never be executed, and
|
|
therefore they set the law at defiance and <I>their hearts are full in
|
|
them to do evil;</I> they venture to do so much the more mischief,
|
|
fetch a greater compass in their wicked designs, and are secure and
|
|
fearless in it, and commit iniquity with a high hand. Observe,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Sentence is passed against evil works and evil workers by the
|
|
righteous Judge of heaven and earth, even against the evil works of
|
|
princes and great men, as well as of inferior persons.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The execution of this sentence is often delayed a great while, and
|
|
the sinner goes on, not only unpunished, but prosperous and successful.
|
|
|
|
(3.) Impunity hardens sinners in impiety, and the patience of God is
|
|
shamefully abused by many who, instead of being led by it to
|
|
repentance, are confirmed by it in their impenitence.
|
|
|
|
(4.) Sinners herein deceive themselves, for, though the <I>sentence</I>
|
|
be <I>not executed speedily,</I> it will be executed the more severely
|
|
at last. Vengeance comes slowly, but it comes surely, and wrath is in
|
|
the mean time <I>treasured up against the day of wrath.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. He foresaw such an end of all these things as would be sufficient to
|
|
keep us from quarrelling with the divine Providence upon account of
|
|
them. He supposes a wicked ruler to do an unjust thing <I>a hundred
|
|
times,</I> and that yet his punishment is deferred, and God's patience
|
|
towards him <I>is prolonged,</I> much beyond what was expected, and the
|
|
days of his power are lengthened out, so that he continues to oppress;
|
|
yet he intimates that we should not be discouraged.
|
|
|
|
(1.) God's people are certainly a happy people, though they be
|
|
oppressed: "<I>It shall be well with those that fear God,</I> I say
|
|
with all those, and those only, <I>who fear before him.</I>" Note,
|
|
|
|
[1.] It is the character of God's people that they <I>fear God,</I>
|
|
have an awe of him upon their hearts and make conscience of their duty
|
|
to him, and this because they see his eye always upon them and they
|
|
know it is their concern to approve themselves to him. When they lie at
|
|
the mercy of proud oppressors they fear God more then they fear them.
|
|
They do not quarrel with the providence of God, but submit to it.
|
|
|
|
[2.] It is the happiness of <I>all that fear God,</I> that in the worst
|
|
of times <I>it shall be well with them;</I> their happiness in God's
|
|
favour cannot be prejudiced, nor their communion with God interrupted,
|
|
by their troubles; they are in a good case, for they are kept in a good
|
|
frame under their troubles, and in the end they shall have a blessed
|
|
deliverance from and an abundant recompence for their troubles. And
|
|
therefore "<I>surely I know,</I> I know it by the promise of God, and
|
|
the experience of all the saints, <I>that,</I> however it goes with
|
|
others, <I>it shall go well with them.</I>" All is well that ends well.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Wicked people are certainly a miserable people; though they
|
|
prosper, and prevail, for a time, the curse is as sure to them as the
|
|
blessing is to the righteous: <I>It shall not be well with the
|
|
wicked,</I> as others think it is, who judge by outward appearance, and
|
|
as they themselves expect it will be; nay, <I>woe to the wicked; it
|
|
shall be ill with them</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+3:10,11">Isa. iii. 10, 11</A>);
|
|
|
|
they shall be reckoned with for all the ill they have done; nothing
|
|
that befals them shall be really well for them. <I>Nihil potest ad
|
|
malos pervenire quod prosit, imo nihil quod non noceat--No event can
|
|
occur to the wicked which will do them good, rather no event which will
|
|
not do them harm.</I> Seneca. Note,
|
|
|
|
[1.] The wicked man's days <I>are as a shadow,</I> not only uncertain
|
|
and declining, as all men's days are, but altogether unprofitable. A
|
|
good man's days have some substance in them; he lives to a good
|
|
purpose. A wicked man's days are all <I>as a shadow,</I> empty and
|
|
worthless.
|
|
|
|
[2.] These days <I>shall not be prolonged</I> to what he promised
|
|
himself; he <I>shall not live out half his days,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+55:23">Ps. lv. 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
Though they may be <I>prolonged</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+8:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>)
|
|
|
|
beyond what others expected, yet his day shall come to fall. He shall
|
|
fall short of everlasting life, and then his long life on earth will be
|
|
worth little.
|
|
|
|
[3.] God's great quarrel with wicked people is for their <I>not fearing
|
|
before</I> him; that is at the bottom of their wickedness, and cuts
|
|
them off from all happiness.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ec8_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec8_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec8_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec8_17"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Mysteries of Providence.</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>14 There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there
|
|
be just <I>men,</I> unto whom it happeneth according to the work of
|
|
the wicked; again, there be wicked <I>men,</I> to whom it happeneth
|
|
according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also
|
|
<I>is</I> vanity.
|
|
15 Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing
|
|
under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for
|
|
that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life,
|
|
which God giveth him under the sun.
|
|
16 When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the
|
|
business that is done upon the earth: (for also <I>there is that</I>
|
|
neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:)
|
|
17 Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find
|
|
out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man
|
|
labour to seek <I>it</I> out, yet he shall not find <I>it;</I> yea further;
|
|
though a wise <I>man</I> think to know <I>it,</I> yet shall he not be able
|
|
to find <I>it.</I>
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Wise and good men have, of old, been perplexed with this difficulty,
|
|
how the prosperity of the wicked and the troubles of the righteous can
|
|
be reconciled with the holiness and goodness of the God that governs
|
|
the world. Concerning this Solomon here gives us his advice.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. He would not have us to be surprised at it, as though some strange
|
|
thing happened, for he himself saw it in his days,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+8:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
1. He saw <I>just men to whom it happened according to the work of the
|
|
wicked,</I> who, notwithstanding their righteousness, suffered very
|
|
hard things, and continued long to do so, as if they were to be
|
|
punished for some great wickedness.
|
|
|
|
2. He saw <I>wicked men to whom it happened according to the work of
|
|
the righteous,</I> who prospered as remarkably as if they had been
|
|
rewarded for some good deed, and that from themselves, from God, from
|
|
men. We see the just troubled and perplexed in their own minds, the
|
|
wicked easy, fearless, and secure,--the just crossed and afflicted by
|
|
the divine Providence, the wicked prosperous, successful, and smiled
|
|
upon,--the just, censured, reproached, and run down, by the higher
|
|
powers, the wicked applauded and preferred.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. He would have us to take occasion hence, not to charge God with
|
|
iniquity, but to charge the world with vanity. No fault is to be found
|
|
with God; but, as to the world, This <I>is vanity upon the earth,</I>
|
|
and again, <I>This is also vanity,</I> that is, it is a certain
|
|
evidence that the things of this world are not the best things nor were
|
|
ever designed to make a portion and happiness for us, for, if they had,
|
|
God would not have allotted so much of this world's wealth to his worst
|
|
enemies and so much of its troubles to his best friends; there must
|
|
therefore be another life after this the joys and griefs of which must
|
|
be real and substantial, and able to make men truly happy or truly
|
|
miserable, for this world does neither.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. He would have us not to fret and perplex ourselves about it, or
|
|
make ourselves uneasy, but cheerfully to enjoy what God has given us in
|
|
the world, to be content with it and make the best of it, though it be
|
|
much better with others, and such as we think very unworthy
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+8:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Then I commended joy,</I> a holy security and serenity of mind,
|
|
arising from a confidence in God, and his power, providence, and
|
|
promise, <I>because a man has no better thing under the sun</I> (though
|
|
a good man has much better things <I>above</I> the sun) <I>than to eat
|
|
and drink,</I> that is, soberly and thankfully to make use of the
|
|
things of this life according as his rank is, <I>and to be
|
|
cheerful,</I> whatever happens, <I>for that shall abide with him of his
|
|
labour.</I> That is all the fruit he has for himself of the pains that
|
|
he takes in the business of the world; let him therefore take it, and
|
|
much good may it do him; and let him not deny himself that, out of a
|
|
peevish discontent because the world does not go as he would have it.
|
|
<I>That shall abide with him</I> during <I>the days of his life which
|
|
God gives him under the sun.</I> Our present life is a life <I>under
|
|
the sun,</I> but we look for <I>the life of the world to come,</I>
|
|
which will commence and continue when <I>the sun shall be turned into
|
|
darkness</I> and shine no more. This present life must be reckoned by
|
|
days; this life is given us, and the days of it are allotted to us, by
|
|
the counsel of God, and therefore while it does last we must
|
|
accommodate ourselves to the will of God and study to answer the ends
|
|
of life.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. He would not have us undertake to give a reason for that which God
|
|
does, for <I>his way is in the sea and his path in the great
|
|
waters,</I> past finding out, and therefore we must be contentedly and
|
|
piously ignorant of the meaning of God's proceedings in the government
|
|
of the world,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+8:16,17"><I>v.</I> 16, 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
Here he shows,
|
|
|
|
1. That both he himself and many others had very closely studied the
|
|
point, and searched far into the reasons of the prosperity of the
|
|
wicked and the afflictions of the righteous. He, for his part, had
|
|
<I>applied his heart to know</I> this <I>wisdom, and to see the
|
|
business that is done,</I> by the divine Providence, <I>upon the
|
|
earth,</I> to find out if there were any certain scheme, any constant
|
|
rule or method, by which the affairs of this lower world were
|
|
administered, any course of government as sure and steady as the course
|
|
of nature, so that by what is done now we might as certainly foretel
|
|
what will be done next as by the moon's changing now we can foretel
|
|
when it will be at the full; this he would fain have found out. Others
|
|
had likewise set themselves to make this enquiry with so close an
|
|
application that they could not find time for <I>sleep, either day or
|
|
night,</I> nor find in their hearts to sleep, so full of anxiety were
|
|
they about these things. Some think Solomon speaks of himself, that he
|
|
was so eager in prosecuting this great enquiry that he could not sleep
|
|
for thinking of it.
|
|
|
|
2. That it was all labour in vain,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+8:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
When we look upon <I>all the works of God</I> and his providence, and
|
|
compare one part with another, we <I>cannot find</I> that there is any
|
|
such certain method by which <I>the work that is done under the sun</I>
|
|
is directed; we cannot discover any key by which to decipher the
|
|
character, nor by consulting precedents can we know the practice of
|
|
this court, nor what the judgment will be.
|
|
|
|
[1.] <I>Though a man</I> be ever so industrious, thou he <I>labour to
|
|
seek it out.</I>
|
|
|
|
[2.] Though he be ever so ingenious, <I>though</I> he be <I>a wise
|
|
man</I> in other things, and can fathom the counsels of kings
|
|
themselves and trace them by their footsteps. Nay,
|
|
|
|
[3.] Though he be very confident of success, though he <I>think to know
|
|
it, yet he shall not;</I> he cannot <I>find it out.</I> God's ways are
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above ours, nor is he tied to his own former ways, but <I>his judgments
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are a great deep.</I></P>
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