mh_parser/vol_split/21 - Ecclesiastes/Chapter 11.xml

<div2 id="Ec.xii" n="xii" next="Ec.xiii" prev="Ec.xi" progress="94.61%" title="Chapter XI">
<h2 id="Ec.xii-p0.1">E C C L E S I A S T E S</h2>
<h3 id="Ec.xii-p0.2">CHAP. XI.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ec.xii-p1">In this chapter we have, I. A pressing exhortation
to works of charity and bounty to the poor, as the best cure of the
vanity which our worldly riches are subject to and the only way of
making them turn to a substantial good account, <scripRef id="Ec.xii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.11.1-Eccl.11.6" parsed="|Eccl|11|1|11|6" passage="Ec 11:1-6">ver. 1-6</scripRef>. II. A serious admonition to
prepare for death and judgment, and to begin betimes, even in the
days of our youth, to do so, <scripRef id="Ec.xii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.11.7-Eccl.11.10" parsed="|Eccl|11|7|11|10" passage="Ec 11:7-10">ver.
7-10</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Ec.xii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.11" parsed="|Eccl|11|0|0|0" passage="Ec 11" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ec.xii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.11.1-Eccl.11.6" parsed="|Eccl|11|1|11|6" passage="Ec 11:1-6" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Eccl.11.1-Eccl.11.6">
<h4 id="Ec.xii-p1.5">The Obligations to Be Liberal; Answers to
Objections against Liberality.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ec.xii-p2">1 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt
find it after many days.   2 Give a portion to seven, and also
to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.
  3 If the clouds be full of rain, they empty
<i>themselves</i> upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the
south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth,
there it shall be.   4 He that observeth the wind shall not
sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.   5 As
thou knowest not what <i>is</i> the way of the spirit, <i>nor</i>
how the bones <i>do grow</i> in the womb of her that is with child:
even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.   6
In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine
hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or
that, or whether they both <i>shall be</i> alike good.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xii-p3">Solomon had often, in this book, pressed it
upon rich people to take the comfort of their riches themselves;
here he presses it upon them to do good to others with them and to
abound in liberality to the poor, which will, another day, abound
to their account. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xii-p4">I. How the duty itself is recommended to
us, <scripRef id="Ec.xii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.11.1" parsed="|Eccl|11|1|0|0" passage="Ec 11:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. 1. <i>Cast
thy bread upon the waters,</i> thy <i>bread-corn upon the low
places</i> (so some understand it), alluding to the husbandman, who
<i>goes forth, bearing precious seed,</i> sparing bread-corn from
his family for the seedness, knowing that without that he can have
no harvest another year; thus the charitable man takes from his
bread-corn for seed-corn, abridges himself to supply the poor, that
he may <i>sow beside all waters</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.xii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.32.20" parsed="|Isa|32|20|0|0" passage="Isa 32:20">Isa. xxxii. 20</scripRef>), because as he sows so he
must <i>reap,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.xii-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Gal.6.7" parsed="|Gal|6|7|0|0" passage="Ga 6:7">Gal. vi. 7</scripRef>.
We read of the <i>harvest of the river,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.xii-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.23.3" parsed="|Isa|23|3|0|0" passage="Isa 23:3">Isa. xxiii. 3</scripRef>. Waters, in scripture, are put
for multitudes (<scripRef id="Ec.xii-p4.5" osisRef="Bible:Rev.16.5" parsed="|Rev|16|5|0|0" passage="Re 16:5">Rev. xvi.
5</scripRef>), and there are multitudes of poor (we do not want
objects of charity); waters are put also for mourners: the poor are
men of sorrows. Thou must give <i>bread,</i> the necessary supports
of life, not only give good words but <i>good things,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.xii-p4.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.7" parsed="|Isa|58|7|0|0" passage="Isa 58:7">Isa. lviii. 7</scripRef>. It must be <i>thy</i>
bread, that which is honestly got; it is no charity, but injury, to
give that which is none of our own to give; first <i>do justly,</i>
and then <i>love mercy. "Thy bread,</i> which thou didst design for
thyself, let the poor have a share with thee, as they had with Job,
<scripRef id="Ec.xii-p4.7" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.17" parsed="|Job|31|17|0|0" passage="Job 31:17"><i>ch.</i> xxxi. 17</scripRef>. Give
freely to the poor, as that which is <i>cast upon the waters.</i>
Send it a voyage, send it as a venture, as merchants that trade by
sea. Trust it <i>upon the waters;</i> it shall not sink."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xii-p5">2. "<i>Give a portion to seven and also to
eight,</i> that is, be free and liberal in works of charity." (1.)
"Give much if thou hast much to give, not a pittance, but <i>a
portion,</i> not a bit or two, but a mess, a meal; give a large
dole, not a paltry one; give <i>good measure</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.xii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.6.38" parsed="|Luke|6|38|0|0" passage="Lu 6:38">Luke vi. 38</scripRef>); be generous in giving,
as those were when, on festival days, they <i>sent portions to
those for whom nothing was prepared</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.xii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Neh.8.10" parsed="|Neh|8|10|0|0" passage="Ne 8:10">Neh. viii. 10</scripRef>), worthy portions." (2.) "Give
to many, <i>to seven, and also to eight;</i> if thou meet with
seven objects of charity, give to them all, and then, if thou meet
with an eighth, give to that, and if with eight more, give to them
all too. Excuse not thyself with the good thou hast done from the
good thou hast further to do, but hold on, and mend. In hard times,
when the number of the poor increases, let thy charity be
proportionably enlarged." God is rich in mercy to all, to us,
though unworthy; he <i>gives liberally, and upbraids not</i> with
former gifts, and we must be merciful as our heavenly Father
is.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xii-p6">II. The reasons with which it is pressed
upon us. Consider,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xii-p7">1. Our reward for well-doing is very
certain. "Though thou <i>cast it upon the waters,</i> and it seem
lost, thou thinkest thou hast given thy good word with it and art
likely never to hear of it again, yet <i>thou shalt find it after
many days,</i> as the husbandman finds his seed again in a
plentiful harvest and the merchant his venture in a rich return. It
is not lost, but well laid out, and well laid up; it brings in full
interest in the present gifts of God's providence, and graces and
comforts of his Spirit; and the principal is sure, laid up in
heaven, for it is <i>lent to the Lord.</i>" Seneca, a heathen,
could say, <i>Nihil magis possidere me credam, quam bene donata—I
possess nothing so completely as that which I have given away.
Hochabeo quodcunque dedi; hæ sunt divitiæ certæ in quacunque sortis
humanæ levitate—Whatever I have imparted I still possess; these
riches remain with me through all the vicissitudes of life. "Thou
shalt find it,</i> perhaps not quickly, <i>but after many days;</i>
the return may be slow, but it is sure and will be so much the more
plentiful." Wheat, the most valuable grain, lies longest in the
ground. Long voyages make the best returns.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xii-p8">2. Our opportunity for well-doing is very
uncertain: "<i>Thou knowest not what evil may be upon the
earth,</i> which may deprive thee of thy estate, and put thee out
of a capacity to do good, and therefore, while thou hast
wherewithal, be liberal with it, improve the present season, as the
husbandman in sowing his ground, before the frost comes." We have
reason to expect <i>evil upon the earth,</i> for we are born to
trouble; what the evil may be we <i>know not,</i> but that we may
be ready for it, whatever it is, it is our wisdom, in the day of
prosperity, to be in good, to be doing good. Many make use of this
as an argument against giving to the poor, because they know not
what hard times may come when they may want themselves; whereas we
should therefore the rather be charitable, that, when <i>evil days
come,</i> we may have the comfort of having done good while we were
able; we would then hope to find mercy both with God and man, and
therefore should now show mercy. If by charity we trust God with
what we have, we put it into good hands against bad times.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xii-p9">III. How he obviates the objections which
might be made against this duty and the excuses of the
uncharitable.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xii-p10">1. Some will say that what they have is
their own and they have it for their own use, and will ask, Why
should we <i>cast</i> it thus <i>upon the waters?</i> Why should
<i>I take my bread, and my flesh, and give it to I know not</i>
whom? So Nabal pleaded, <scripRef id="Ec.xii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.25.11" parsed="|1Sam|25|11|0|0" passage="1Sa 25:11">1 Sam. xxv.
11</scripRef>. "Look up, man, and consider how soon thou wouldest
be starved in a barren ground, <i>if the clouds</i> over thy head
should plead thus, that they have their waters for themselves; but
thou seest, when they are <i>full of rain, they empty themselves
upon the earth,</i> to make it fruitful, till they are wearied and
spent with watering it, <scripRef id="Ec.xii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.37.11" parsed="|Job|37|11|0|0" passage="Job 37:11">Job xxxvii.
11</scripRef>. Are the heavens thus bountiful to the poor earth,
that is so far below them, and wilt thou grudge thy bounty to thy
poor brother, who is <i>bone of thy bone?</i> Or thus: some will
say, Though we give but little to the poor, yet, thank God, we have
as charitable a heart as any." Nay, says Solomon, <i>if the clouds
be full of rain, they will empty themselves;</i> if there be
charity in the heart, it will show itself, <scripRef id="Ec.xii-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Jas.2.15-Jas.2.16" parsed="|Jas|2|15|2|16" passage="Jam 2:15,16">Jam. ii. 15, 16</scripRef>. He that <i>draws out his
soul to the hungry</i> will reach forth his hand to them, as he has
ability.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xii-p11">2. Some will say that their sphere of
usefulness is low and narrow; they cannot do the good that they see
others can, who are in more public stations, and therefore they
will sit still and do nothing. Nay, says he, <i>in the place where
the tree falls,</i> or happens to be, <i>there it shall be,</i> for
the benefit of those to whom it belongs; every man must labour to
be a blessing to that place, whatever it is, where the providence
of God casts him; wherever we are we may find good work to do if we
have but hearts to do it. Or thus: some will say, "Many present
themselves as objects of charity who are unworthy, and I do not
know whom it is fit to give it to." "Trouble not thyself about
that" (says Solomon); "give as discreetly as thou canst, and then
be satisfied that, though the person should prove undeserving of
thy charity, yet, if thou give it with an honest heart, thou shalt
not lose thy reward; which way soever the charity is directed,
<i>north</i> or <i>south,</i> thine shall be the benefit of it."
This is commonly applied to death; <i>therefore</i> let us do good,
and, as good trees, <i>bring forth the fruits of righteousness,</i>
because death will shortly come and cut us down, and we shall then
be determined to an unchangeable state of happiness or misery
according to what was done in the body. As the tree falls at death,
so it is likely to lie to all eternity.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xii-p12">3. Some will object the many
discouragements they have met with in their charity. They have been
reproached for it as proud and pharisaical; they have but little to
give, and they shall be despised if they do not give as others do;
they know not but their children may come to want it, and they had
better lay it up for them; they have taxes to pay and purchases to
make; they know not what use will be made of their charity, nor
what construction will be put upon it; these, and a hundred such
objections, he answers, in one word (<scripRef id="Ec.xii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.11.4" parsed="|Eccl|11|4|0|0" passage="Ec 11:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>): <i>He that observes the wind
shall not sow,</i> which signifies doing good; <i>and he that
regards the clouds shall not reap,</i> which signifies getting
good. If we stand thus magnifying every little difficulty and
making the worst of it, starting objections and fancying hardship
and danger where there is none, we shall never go on, much less go
through with our work, nor make any thing of it. If the husbandman
should decline, or leave off, sowing for the sake of every flying
cloud, and reaping for the sake of every blast of wind, he would
make but an ill account of his husbandry at the year's end. The
duties of religion are as necessary as sowing and reaping, and will
turn as much to our own advantage. The discouragements we meet with
in these duties are but as winds and clouds, which will do us no
harm, and which those that put on a little courage and resolution
will despise and easily break through. Note, Those that will be
deterred and driven off by small and seeming difficulties from
great and real duties will never bring any thing to pass in
religion, for there will always arise some wind, some cloud or
other, at least in our imagination, to discourage us. Winds and
clouds are in God's hands, are designed to try us, and our
Christianity obliges us to endure hardness.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xii-p13">4. Some will say, "We do not see in which
way what we expend in charity should ever be made up to us; we do
not find ourselves ever the richer; why should we depend upon the
general promise of a blessing on the charitable, unless we saw
which way to expect the operation of it?" To this he answers,
"<i>Thou knowest not the work of God,</i> nor is it fit thou
shouldst. Thou mayest be sure he will make good his word of
promise, though he does not tell thee how, or which way, and though
he works in a way by himself, according to the counsels of his
unsearchable wisdom. He will work, and none shall hinder; but then
he will work and none shall direct or prescribe to him. The
blessing shall work insensibly but irresistibly. God's work shall
certainly agree with his word, whether we see it or no." Our
ignorance of the work of God he shows, in two instances:—(1.) We
<i>know not what is the way of the Spirit, of the wind</i> (so
some), we <i>know not whence it comes, or whither it goes,</i> or
when it will turn; yet the seamen lie ready waiting for it, till it
turns about in favour of them; so we must do our duty, in
expectation of the time appointed for the blessing. Or it may be
understood of the human soul; we know that God made us, and gave us
these souls, but how they entered into these bodies, are united to
them, animate them, and operate upon them, we know not; the soul is
a mystery to itself, no marvel then that <i>the work of God</i> is
so to us. (2.) We know not <i>how the bones are fashioned in the
womb of her that is with child.</i> We cannot describe the manner
either of the formation of the body or of its information with a
soul; both, we know, are <i>the work of God,</i> and we acquiesce
in his work, but cannot, in either, trace the process of the
operation. We doubt not of the birth of the child that is
conceived, though we know not how it is formed; nor need we doubt
of the performance of the promise, though we perceive not how
things work towards it. And we may well trust God to provide for us
that which is convenient, without our anxious disquieting cares,
and therein to recompense us for our charity, since it was without
any knowledge or forecast of ours that our bodies were curiously
wrought in secret and our souls found the way into them; and so the
argument is the same, and urged to the same intent, with that of
our Saviour (<scripRef id="Ec.xii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Matt.6.25" parsed="|Matt|6|25|0|0" passage="Mt 6:25">Matt. vi. 25</scripRef>),
<i>The life,</i> the living soul that God has given us, <i>is more
than meat; the body,</i> that God has made us, <i>is more than
raiment;</i> let him therefore that has done the greater for us be
cheerfully depended upon to do the less.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xii-p14">5. Some say, "We have been charitable, have
given a great deal to the poor, and never yet saw any return for
it; many days are past, and we have not <i>found it again,</i>" to
which he answers (<scripRef id="Ec.xii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.11.6" parsed="|Eccl|11|6|0|0" passage="Ec 11:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>), "Yet go on, proceed and persevere in well-doing; let
slip no opportunity. <i>In the morning sow thy seed</i> upon the
objects of charity that offer themselves early, <i>and in the
evening do not withhold thy hand,</i> under pretence that thou art
weary; as thou hast opportunity, be doing good, some way or other,
all the day long, as the husbandman follows his seedness from
morning till night. <i>In the morning</i> of youth lay out thyself
to do good; give out of the little thou hast to begin the world
with; <i>and in the evening</i> of old age yield not to the common
temptation old people are in to be penurious; even then <i>withhold
not thy hand,</i> and think not to excuse thyself from charitable
works by purposing to make a charitable will, but do good to the
last, <i>for thou knowest not</i> which work of charity and piety
<i>shall prosper,</i> both as to others and as to thyself, <i>this
or that,</i> but hast reason to hope that <i>both shall be alike
good. Be not weary of well-doing, for in due season,</i> in God's
time and that is the best time, <i>you shall reap,</i>" <scripRef id="Ec.xii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Gal.6.9" parsed="|Gal|6|9|0|0" passage="Ga 6:9">Gal. vi. 9</scripRef>. This is applicable to
spiritual charity, our pious endeavours for the good of the souls
of others; let us continue them, for, though we have long laboured
in vain, we may at length see the success of them. Let ministers,
in the days of their seedness, sow both morning and evening; <i>for
who</i> can tell <i>which shall prosper?</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Ec.xii-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.11.7-Eccl.11.10" parsed="|Eccl|11|7|11|10" passage="Ec 11:7-10" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Eccl.11.7-Eccl.11.10">
<h4 id="Ec.xii-p14.4">A Caution to the Young; Exhortation to Early
Piety.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ec.xii-p15">7 Truly the light <i>is</i> sweet, and a
pleasant <i>thing it is</i> for the eyes to behold the sun:  
8 But if a man live many years, <i>and</i> rejoice in them all; yet
let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All
that cometh <i>is</i> vanity.   9 Rejoice, O young man, in thy
youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and
walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes:
but know thou, that for all these <i>things</i> God will bring thee
into judgment.   10 Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart,
and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth
<i>are</i> vanity.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xii-p16">Here is an admonition both to old people
and to young people, to think of dying, and get ready for it.
Having by many excellent precepts taught us how to live well, the
preacher comes now, towards the close of his discourse, to teach us
how to die well and to put us in mind of our latter end.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xii-p17">I. He applies himself to the aged, writes
to them as fathers, to awaken them to think of death, <scripRef id="Ec.xii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.11.7-Eccl.11.8" parsed="|Eccl|11|7|11|8" passage="Ec 11:7,8"><i>v.</i> 7, 8</scripRef>. Here is, 1. A
rational concession of the sweetness of life, which old people find
by experience: <i>Truly the light is sweet;</i> the light of <i>the
sun</i> is so; it is <i>a pleasant thing for the eyes to behold</i>
it. Light was the first thing made in the formation of the great
world, as the eye is one of the first in the formation of the body,
the little world. It is pleasant to see the light; the heathen were
so charmed with the pleasure of it that they worshipped the sun. It
is pleasant by it to see other things, the many agreeable prospects
this world gives us. The light of life is so. Light is put for
life, <scripRef id="Ec.xii-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.3.20 Bible:Job.3.23" parsed="|Job|3|20|0|0;|Job|3|23|0|0" passage="Job 3:20,23">Job iii. 20, 23</scripRef>.
It cannot be denied that life is sweet. It is sweet to bad men
because they have <i>their portion in this life;</i> it is sweet to
good men because they have this life as the time of their
preparation for a better life; it is sweet to all men; nature says
it is so, and there is no disputing against it; nor can death be
desired for its own sake, but dreaded, unless as a period to
present evils or a passage to future good. Life is sweet, and
therefore we have need to double a guard upon ourselves, lest we
love it too well. 2. A caution to think of death, even in the midst
of life, and of life when it is most sweet and we are most apt to
forget death: <i>If a man live many years, yet let him remember the
days of darkness</i> are coming. Here is, (1.) A summer's day
supposed to be enjoyed—that life may continue long, even many
years, and that, by the goodness of God, it may be made comfortable
and a man may <i>rejoice in them all.</i> There are those that
<i>live many years</i> in this world, escape many dangers, receive
many mercies, and therefore are secure that they shall want no
good, and that no evil shall befal them, that the pitcher which has
come so often from the well safe and sound shall never come home
broken. But who are those that <i>live many years and rejoice in
them all?</i> Alas! none; we have but hours of joy for months of
sorrow. However, some rejoice in their years, their many years,
more than others; if these two things meet, a prosperous state and
a cheerful spirit, these two indeed may do much towards enabling a
man to <i>rejoice in them all,</i> and yet the most prosperous
state has its alloys and the most cheerful spirit has its damps;
jovial sinners have their melancholy qualms, and cheerful saints
have their gracious sorrows; so that it is but a supposition, not a
case in fact, that a man should <i>live many years and rejoice in
them all.</i> But, (2.) Here is a winter's night proposed to be
expected after this summer's day: <i>Yet let</i> this hearty old
man <i>remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many.</i>
Note, [1.] There are <i>days of darkness</i> coming, the days of
our lying in the grave; there the body will lie in the dark; there
the eyes see not, the sun shines not. The darkness of death is
opposed to the light of life; the grave is a <i>land of
darkness,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.xii-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.10.21" parsed="|Job|10|21|0|0" passage="Job 10:21">Job x. 21</scripRef>.
[2.] Those <i>days of darkness</i> will <i>be many;</i> the days of
our lying under ground will be more than the days of our living
above ground. They are many, but they are not infinite; many as
they are, they will be numbered and finished when <i>the heavens
are no more,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.xii-p17.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.14.12" parsed="|Job|14|12|0|0" passage="Job 14:12">Job xiv.
12</scripRef>. As the longest day will have its night, so the
longest night will have its morning. [3.] It is good for us often
to remember those <i>days of darkness,</i> that we may not be
lifted up with pride, nor lulled asleep in carnal security, nor
even transported into indecencies by vain mirth. [4.]
Notwithstanding the long continuance of life, and the many comforts
of it, <i>yet</i> we must <i>remember the days of darkness,</i>
because those will certainly come, and they will come with much the
less terror if we have thought of them before.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xii-p18">II. He applies himself to the young, and
writes to them as children, to awaken them to think of death
(<scripRef id="Ec.xii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.11.9-Eccl.11.10" parsed="|Eccl|11|9|11|10" passage="Ec 11:9,10"><i>v.</i> 9, 10</scripRef>); here
we have,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xii-p19">1. An ironical concession to the vanities
and pleasures of youth: <i>Rejoice, O young man! in thy youth.</i>
Some make this to be the counsel which the atheist and the epicure
give to the young man, the poisonous suggestions against which
Solomon, in the close of the verse, prescribes a powerful antidote.
But it is more emphatic if we take it, as it is commonly
understood, by way of irony, like that of Elijah to the priests of
Baal (<i>Cry aloud, for he is a god</i>), or of Micaiah to Ahab
(<i>Go to Ramoth-Gilead, and prosper</i>), or of Christ to his
disciples, <i>Sleep on now. "Rejoice, O young man! in thy
youth,</i> live a merry life, follow thy sports, and take thy
pleasures; <i>let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy
youth,</i> cheer thee with its fancies and foolish hopes; entertain
thyself with thy pleasing dreams; <i>walk in the ways of thy
heart;</i> do whatever thou hast a mind to do, and stick at nothing
that may gratify the sensual appetite. <i>Quicquid libet,
licet</i>—<i>Make thy will thy law. Walk in the ways of thy heart,
and</i> let thy heart walk after <i>thy eyes,</i> a rambling heart
after a roving eye; what is pleasing in thy own eyes do it, whether
it be pleasing in the eyes of God or no." Solomon speaks thus
ironically to the young man to intimate, (1.) That this is that
which he would do, and which he would fain have leave to do, in
which he places his happiness and on which he sets his heart. (2.)
That he wishes all about him would give him this counsel, would
prophesy to him such smooth things as these, and cannot brook any
advice to the contrary, but reckons those his enemies that bid him
be sober and serious. (3.) To expose his folly, and the great
absurdity of a voluptuous vicious course of life. The very
description of it, if men would see things entirely, and judge of
them impartially, is enough to show how contrary to reason those
act that live such a life. The very opening of the cause is enough
to determine it, without any argument. (4.) To show that if men
give themselves to such a course of life as this it is just with
God to give them up to it, to abandon them to their own heart's
lusts, that they may <i>walk in their own counsels,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.xii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.7" parsed="|Hos|4|7|0|0" passage="Ho 4:7">Hos. iv. 7</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xii-p20">2. A powerful check given to these vanities
and pleasures: "<i>Know thou that for all these things God shall
bring thee into judgment,</i> and duly consider that, and then live
such a luxurious life if thou canst, if thou darest." This is a
<b><i>kolasterion</i></b>—<i>a corrective</i> to the foregoing
concession, and plucks in the reins he had laid on the neck of the
young man's lust. "<i>Know then,</i> for a certainty, that, if thou
dost take such a liberty as this, it will be thy everlasting ruin;
thou hast to do with a God who will not let it go unpunished."
Note, (1.) There is a judgment to come. (2.) We must every one of
us be brought into judgment, however we may now put far from us
that evil day. (3.) We shall be reckoned with for all our carnal
mirth and sensual pleasures in that day. (4.) It is good for all,
but especially for young people, to know and consider this, that
they may not, by the indulgence of their youthful lusts,
<i>treasure up unto themselves wrath against that day of wrath,</i>
the wrath of the Lamb.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xii-p21">3. A word of caution and exhortation
inferred from all this, <scripRef id="Ec.xii-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.11.10" parsed="|Eccl|11|10|0|0" passage="Ec 11:10"><i>v.</i>
10</scripRef>. Let young people look to themselves and manage well
both their souls and their bodies, their heart and their flesh.
(1.) Let them take care that their minds be not lifted up with
pride, nor disturbed with anger, or any sinful passion: <i>Remove
sorrow,</i> or anger, <i>from thy heart;</i> the word signifies any
disorder or perturbation of the mind. Young people are apt to be
impatient of check and control, to vex and fret at any thing that
is humbling and mortifying to them, and their proud hearts rise
against every thing that crosses and contradicts them. They are so
set upon that which is pleasing to sense that they cannot bear any
thing that is displeasing, but it goes with sorrow to their heart.
Their pride often disquiets them, and makes them uneasy. "Put that
away, and the love of the world, and lay thy expectations low from
the creature, and then disappointments will not be occasions of
sorrow and anger to thee." Some by sorrow here understand that
carnal mirth described <scripRef id="Ec.xii-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.11.9" parsed="|Eccl|11|9|0|0" passage="Ec 11:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>, the end of which will be bitterness and sorrow. Let
them keep at a distance from every thing which will be sorrow in
the reflection. (2.) Let them take care that their bodies be not
defiled by intemperance, uncleanness, or any fleshly lusts: "<i>Put
away evil from the flesh,</i> and let not the members of thy body
be instruments of unrighteousness. The evil of sin will be the evil
of punishment, and that which thou art fond of, as good for the
flesh, because it gratifies the appetites of it, will prove evil,
and hurtful to it, and therefore put it far from thee, the further
the better."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.xii-p22">III. The preacher, to enforce his
admonition both to old and young, urges, as an effectual argument,
that which is the great argument of his discourse, the vanity of
all present things, their uncertainty and insufficiency. 1. He
reminds old people of this (<scripRef id="Ec.xii-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.11.8" parsed="|Eccl|11|8|0|0" passage="Ec 11:8"><i>v.</i>
8</scripRef>): <i>All that comes is vanity;</i> yea, though <i>a
man live many years and rejoice in them all,</i> All that has come
already, and all that is yet to come, how much soever men promise
themselves from the concluding scenes, it is all <i>vanity.</i>
What will be will do no more to make men happy than what has been.
<i>All that come</i> into the world are <i>vanity;</i> they are
altogether so, at their best estate. 2. He reminds young people of
this: <i>Childhood and youth are vanity.</i> The dispositions and
actions of childhood and youth have in them a great deal of
impertinence and iniquity, sinful vanity, which young people have
need to watch against and get cured. The pleasures and advantages
of childhood and youth have in them no certainty, satisfaction, nor
continuance. They are passing away; these flowers will soon wither,
and these blossoms fall; let them therefore be knit into good
fruit, which will continue and abound to a good account.</p>
</div></div2>