mh_parser/vol_split/21 - Ecclesiastes/Chapter 8.xml

<div2 id="Ec.ix" n="ix" next="Ec.x" prev="Ec.viii" progress="93.12%" title="Chapter VIII">
<h2 id="Ec.ix-p0.1">E C C L E S I A S T E S</h2>
<h3 id="Ec.ix-p0.2">CHAP. VIII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ec.ix-p1">Solomon, in this chapter, comes to recommend
wisdom to us as the most powerful antidote against both the
temptations and vexations that arise from the vanity of the world.
Here is, I. The benefit and praise of wisdom, <scripRef id="Ec.ix-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.8.1" parsed="|Eccl|8|1|0|0" passage="Ec 8:1">ver. 1</scripRef>. II. Some particular instances of wisdom
prescribed to us. 1. We must keep in due subjection to the
government God has set over us, <scripRef id="Ec.ix-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.8.2-Eccl.8.5" parsed="|Eccl|8|2|8|5" passage="Ec 8:2-5">ver.
2-5</scripRef>. 2. We must get ready for sudden evils, and
especially for sudden death, <scripRef id="Ec.ix-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.8.6-Eccl.8.8" parsed="|Eccl|8|6|8|8" passage="Ec 8:6-8">ver.
6-8</scripRef>. 3. We must arm ourselves against the temptation of
an oppressive government and not think it strange, <scripRef id="Ec.ix-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.8.9-Eccl.8.10" parsed="|Eccl|8|9|8|10" passage="Ec 8:9,10">ver. 9, 10</scripRef>. The impunity of
oppressors makes them more daring (<scripRef id="Ec.ix-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.8.11" parsed="|Eccl|8|11|0|0" passage="Ec 8:11">ver.
11</scripRef>), but in the issue it will be well with the righteous
and ill with the wicked (<scripRef id="Ec.ix-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.8.12-Eccl.8.13" parsed="|Eccl|8|12|8|13" passage="Ec 8:12,13">ver. 12,
13</scripRef>), and therefore the present prosperity of the wicked
and afflictions of the righteous ought not to be a stumbling-block
to us, <scripRef id="Ec.ix-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.8.14" parsed="|Eccl|8|14|0|0" passage="Ec 8:14">ver. 14</scripRef>. 4. We must
cheerfully use the gifts of God's providence, <scripRef id="Ec.ix-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.8.15" parsed="|Eccl|8|15|0|0" passage="Ec 8:15">ver. 15</scripRef>. 5. We must with an entire
satisfaction acquiesce in the will of God, and, not pretending to
find the bottom, we must humbly and silently adore the depth of his
unsearchable counsels, being assured they are all wise, just, and
good, <scripRef id="Ec.ix-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.8.16-Eccl.8.17" parsed="|Eccl|8|16|8|17" passage="Ec 8:16,17">ver. 16, 17</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Ec.ix-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.8" parsed="|Eccl|8|0|0|0" passage="Ec 8" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ec.ix-p1.11" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.8.1-Eccl.8.5" parsed="|Eccl|8|1|8|5" passage="Ec 8:1-5" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Eccl.8.1-Eccl.8.5">
<h4 id="Ec.ix-p1.12">The Excellence of Wisdom; The Duty of
Subjects.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ec.ix-p2">1 Who <i>is</i> as the wise <i>man?</i> and who
knoweth the interpretation of a thing? a man's wisdom maketh his
face to shine, and the boldness of his face shall be changed.
  2 I <i>counsel thee</i> to keep the king's commandment, and
<i>that</i> in regard of the oath of God.   3 Be not hasty to
go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth
whatsoever pleaseth him.   4 Where the word of a king <i>is,
there is</i> power: and who may say unto him, What doest thou?
  5 Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing:
and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.ix-p3">Here is, I. An encomium of <i>wisdom</i>
(<scripRef id="Ec.ix-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.8.1" parsed="|Eccl|8|1|0|0" passage="Ec 8:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>), that is, of
true piety, guided in all its exercises by prudence and discretion.
The wise man is the good man, that knows God and glorifies him,
knows himself and does well for himself; his wisdom is a great
happiness to him, for, 1. It advances him above his neighbours, and
makes him more excellent than they: <i>Who is as the wise man?</i>
Note, Heavenly wisdom will make a man an incomparable man. No man
without grace, though he be learned, or noble, or rich, is to be
compared with a man that has true grace and is therefore accepted
of God. 2. It makes him useful among his neighbours and very
serviceable to them: <i>Who</i> but the <i>wise man knows the
interpretation of a thing,</i> that is, understands the times and
the events of them, and their critical junctures, so as to direct
<i>what Israel ought to do,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.ix-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.12.32" parsed="|1Chr|12|32|0|0" passage="1Ch 12:32">1
Chron. xii. 32</scripRef>. 3. It beautifies a man in the eyes of
his friends: <i>It makes his face to shine,</i> as Moses's did when
he came down from the mount; it puts honour upon a man and a lustre
on his whole conversation, makes him to be regarded and taken
notice of, and gains him respect (as <scripRef id="Ec.ix-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.29.7" parsed="|Job|29|7|0|0" passage="Job 29:7">Job xxix. 7</scripRef>, &amp;c.); it makes him lovely
and amiable, and the darling and blessing of his country. <i>The
strength of his face,</i> the sourness and severity of his
countenance (so some understand the last clause), <i>shall be
changed</i> by it into that which is sweet and obliging. Even those
whose natural temper is rough and morose by <i>wisdom</i> are
strangely altered; they become mild and gentle, and learn to look
pleasant. 4. It emboldens a man against his adversaries, their
attempts and their scorn: <i>The boldness of his face shall be</i>
doubled by wisdom; it will add very much to his courage in
maintaining his integrity when he not only has an honest cause to
plead, but by his wisdom knows how to manage it and where to find
<i>the interpretation of a thing. He shall not be ashamed, but
shall speak with his enemy in the gate.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.ix-p4">II. A particular instance of wisdom pressed
upon us, and that is subjection to authority, and a dutiful and
peaceable perseverance in our allegiance to the government which
Providence has set over us. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.ix-p5">1. How the duty of subjects is here
described. (1.) We must be observant of the laws. In all those
things wherein the civil power is to interpose, whether legislative
or judicial, we ought to submit to its order and constitutions:
<i>I counsel thee;</i> it may as well be supplied, <i>I charge
thee,</i> not only as a prince but as a preacher: he might do both;
"I recommend it to thee as a piece of wisdom; I say, whatever those
say that are given to change, <i>keep the king's commandment;</i>
wherever the sovereign power is lodged, be subject to it.
<i>Observe the mouth of a king</i>" (so the phrase is); "say as he
says; do as he bids thee; let his word be a law, or rather let the
law be his word." Some understand the following clause as a
limitation of this obedience: "<i>Keep the king's commandment,</i>
yet so as to have a <i>regard to the oath of God,</i> that is, so
as to keep a good conscience and not to violate thy obligations to
God, which are prior and superior to thy obligations to the king.
<i>Render to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's,</i> but so as to
reserve pure and entire <i>to God the things that are</i> his."
(2.) We must not be forward to find fault with the public
administration, or quarrel with every thing that is not just
according to our mind, nor quit our post of service under the
government, and throw it up, upon every discontent (<scripRef id="Ec.ix-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.8.3" parsed="|Eccl|8|3|0|0" passage="Ec 8:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>): "<i>Be not hasty to go
out of his sight,</i> when he is displeased at thee (<scripRef id="Ec.ix-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.10.4" parsed="|Eccl|10|4|0|0" passage="Ec 10:4"><i>ch.</i> x. 4</scripRef>), or when thou art
displeased at him; fly not off in a passion, nor entertain such
jealousies of him as will tempt thee to renounce the court or
forsake the kingdom." Solomon's subjects, as soon as his head was
laid low, went directly contrary to this rule, when upon the rough
answer which Rehoboam gave them, they were <i>hasty to go out of
his sight,</i> would not take time for second thoughts nor admit
proposals of accommodation, but cried, <i>To your tents, O
Israel!</i> "There may perhaps be a just cause <i>to go out of his
sight;</i> but <i>be not hasty</i> to do it; act with great
deliberation." (3.) We must not persist in a fault when it is shown
us: "<i>Stand not in an evil thing;</i> in any offence thou hast
given to thy prince humble thyself, and do not justify thyself, for
that will make the offence much more offensive. In any ill design
thou hast, upon some discontent, conceived against thy prince, do
not proceed in it; but <i>if thou hast done foolishly in lifting up
thyself, or hast thought evil, lay thy hand upon thy mouth,</i>"
<scripRef id="Ec.ix-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.32" parsed="|Prov|30|32|0|0" passage="Pr 30:32">Prov. xxx. 32</scripRef>. Note, Though
we may by surprise be drawn into an evil thing, yet we must not
stand in it, but recede from it as soon as it appears to us to be
evil. (4.) We must prudently accommodate ourselves to our
opportunities, both for our own relief, if we think ourselves
wronged, and for the redress of public grievances: <i>A wise man's
heart discerns both time and judgment</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.ix-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.8.5" parsed="|Eccl|8|5|0|0" passage="Ec 8:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>); it is the wisdom of subjects, in
applying themselves to their princes, to enquire and consider both
at what season and in what manner they may do it best and most
effectually, to pacify his anger, obtain his favour, or obtain the
revocation of any grievous measure prescribed. Esther, in dealing
with Ahasuerus, took a deal of pains to <i>discern both time and
judgment,</i> and she sped accordingly. This may be taken as a
general rule of wisdom, that every thing should be well timed; and
our enterprises are <i>then</i> likely to succeed, when we embrace
the exact opportunity for them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.ix-p6">2. What arguments are here used to engage
us to be subject to the higher powers; they are much the same with
those which St. Paul uses, <scripRef id="Ec.ix-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.13.1" parsed="|Rom|13|1|0|0" passage="Ro 13:1">Rom. xiii.
1</scripRef>, &amp;c. (1.) We <i>must needs be subject, for
conscience-sake,</i> and that is the most powerful principle of
subjection. We must be subject because <i>of the oath of God,</i>
the oath of allegiance which we have taken to be faithful to the
government, <i>the covenant between the king and the people,</i>
<scripRef id="Ec.ix-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.23.16" parsed="|2Chr|23|16|0|0" passage="2Ch 23:16">2 Chron. xxiii. 16</scripRef>.
<i>David made a covenant,</i> or contract, <i>with the elders of
Israel,</i> though he was king by divine designation, <scripRef id="Ec.ix-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.11.3" parsed="|1Chr|11|3|0|0" passage="1Ch 11:3">1 Chron. xi. 3</scripRef>. "<i>Keep the king's
commandments,</i> for he has sworn to rule thee in the fear of God,
and thou hast sworn, in that fear, to be faithful to him." It is
called <i>the oath of God</i> because he is a witness to it and
will avenge the violation of it. (2.) <i>For wrath's sake,</i>
because of the sword which the prince bears and the power he is
entrusted with, which make him formidable: <i>He does whatsoever
pleases him;</i> he has a great authority and a great ability to
support that authority (<scripRef id="Ec.ix-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.8.4" parsed="|Eccl|8|4|0|0" passage="Ec 8:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>): <i>Where the word of a king is,</i> giving orders to
seize a man, <i>there is power;</i> there are many that will
execute his orders, which makes <i>the wrath of a king,</i> or
supreme government, like <i>the roaring of a lion</i> and like
<i>messengers of death. Who may say unto him, What doest thou?</i>
He that contradicts him does it at his peril. Kings will not bear
to have their orders disputed, but expect they should be obeyed. In
short, it is dangerous contending with sovereignty, and what many
have repented. A subject is an unequal match for a prince.
<i>He</i> may command me who has legions at command. (3.) For the
sake of our own comfort: <i>Whoso keeps the commandment,</i> and
lives a quiet and peaceable life, <i>shall feel no evil thing,</i>
to which that of the apostle answers (<scripRef id="Ec.ix-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Rom.13.3" parsed="|Rom|13|3|0|0" passage="Ro 13:3">Rom. xiii. 3</scripRef>), <i>Wilt thou then not be afraid
of the power</i> of the king? <i>Do that which is good,</i> as
becomes a dutiful and loyal subject, <i>and thou shalt</i>
ordinarily <i>have praise of the same.</i> He that does no ill
shall feel no ill and needs fear none.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ec.ix-p6.6" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.8.6-Eccl.8.8" parsed="|Eccl|8|6|8|8" passage="Ec 8:6-8" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Eccl.8.6-Eccl.8.8">
<h4 id="Ec.ix-p6.7">The Certainty of Death.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ec.ix-p7">6 Because to every purpose there is time and
judgment, therefore the misery of man <i>is</i> great upon him.
  7 For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell
him when it shall be?   8 <i>There is</i> no man that hath
power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither <i>hath he</i>
power in the day of death: and <i>there is</i> no discharge in
<i>that</i> war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are
given to it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.ix-p8">Solomon had said (<scripRef id="Ec.ix-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.8.5" parsed="|Eccl|8|5|0|0" passage="Ec 8:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>) that <i>a wise man's heart
discerns time and judgment,</i> that is, a man's wisdom will go a
great way, by the blessing of God, in moral prognostications; but
here he shows that few have that wisdom, and that even the wisest
may yet be surprised by a calamity which they had not any foresight
of, and therefore it is our wisdom to expect and prepare for sudden
changes. Observe, 1. All the events concerning us, with the exact
time of them, are determined and appointed in the counsel and
foreknowledge of God, and all in wisdom: <i>To every purpose there
is a time</i> prefixed, and it is the best time, for it <i>is time
and judgment,</i> time appointed both in wisdom and righteousness;
the appointment is not chargeable with folly or iniquity. 2. We are
very much in the dark concerning future events and the time and
season of them: Man <i>knows not that which shall be</i> himself;
and <i>who can tell him when</i> or how <i>it shall be?</i>
<scripRef id="Ec.ix-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.8.7" parsed="|Eccl|8|7|0|0" passage="Ec 8:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. It cannot either
be foreseen by him or foretold him; the stars cannot foretel a man
what shall be, nor any of the arts of divination. God has, in
wisdom, concealed from us the knowledge of future events, that we
may be always ready for changes. 3. It is our great unhappiness and
misery that, because we cannot foresee an evil, we know not how to
avoid it, or guard against it, and, because we are not aware of the
proper successful season of actions, therefore we lose our
opportunities and miss our way: <i>Because to every purpose there
is</i> but one way, one method, one proper opportunity,
<i>therefore the misery of man is great upon him;</i> because it is
so hard to hit that, and it is a thousand to one but he misses it.
Most of the miseries men labour under would have been prevented if
they could have been foreseen and the happy time discovered to
avoid them. Men are miserable because they are not sufficiently
sagacious and attentive. 4. Whatever other evils may be avoided, we
are all under a fatal necessity of dying, <scripRef id="Ec.ix-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.8.8" parsed="|Eccl|8|8|0|0" passage="Ec 8:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. (1.) When the soul is required it
must be resigned, and it is to no purpose to dispute it, either by
arms or arguments, by ourselves, or by any friend: <i>There is no
man that has power over</i> his own <i>spirit, to retain it,</i>
when it is summoned to return to God who gave it. It cannot fly any
where out of the jurisdiction of death, nor find any place where
its writs do not run. It cannot abscond so as to escape death's
eye, though it is hidden from the eyes of all living. A man has no
power to adjourn the day of his death, nor can he by prayers or
bribes obtain a reprieve; no bail will be taken, no essoine
[excuse], protection, or imparlance [conference], allowed. We have
not <i>power over the spirit</i> of a friend, <i>to retain</i>
that; the prince, with all his authority, cannot prolong the life
of the most valuable of his subjects, nor the physician with his
medicines and methods, nor the soldier with his force, not the
orator with his eloquence, nor the best saint with his
intercessions. The stroke of death can by no means be put by when
our days are determined and the hour appointed us has come. (2.)
Death is an enemy that we must all enter the lists with, sooner or
later: <i>There is no discharge in that war,</i> no dismission from
it, either of the men of business or of the faint-hearted, as there
was among the Jews, <scripRef id="Ec.ix-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.20.5 Bible:Deut.20.8" parsed="|Deut|20|5|0|0;|Deut|20|8|0|0" passage="De 20:5,8">Deut. xx. 5,
8</scripRef>. 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> (<scripRef id="Ec.ix-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.52.7" parsed="|Ps|52|7|0|0" passage="Ps 52:7">Ps. lii.
7</scripRef>), 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>
</div><scripCom id="Ec.ix-p8.6" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.8.9-Eccl.8.13" parsed="|Eccl|8|9|8|13" passage="Ec 8:9-13" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Eccl.8.9-Eccl.8.13">
<h4 id="Ec.ix-p8.7">The Evil of Oppressive
Rulers.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ec.ix-p9">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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.ix-p10">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, <scripRef id="Ec.ix-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.16 Bible:Eccl.4.1" parsed="|Eccl|3|16|0|0;|Eccl|4|1|0|0" passage="Ec 3:16,4:1"><i>ch.</i>
iii. 16; iv. 1</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.ix-p11">1. He had observed many such rulers,
<scripRef id="Ec.ix-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.8.9" parsed="|Eccl|8|9|0|0" passage="Ec 8:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. 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> (<scripRef id="Ec.ix-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.13.14" parsed="|Rom|13|14|0|0" passage="Ro 13:14">Rom. xiii. 14</scripRef>), 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 class="indent" id="Ec.ix-p12">2. He had observed them to prosper and
flourish in the abuse of their power (<scripRef id="Ec.ix-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.8.10" parsed="|Eccl|8|10|0|0" passage="Ec 8:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>): <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> <scripRef id="Ec.ix-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.1.17" parsed="|Deut|1|17|0|0" passage="De 1:17">Deut. i.
17</scripRef>, and he <i>judges among the gods,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.ix-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.82.1" parsed="|Ps|82|1|0|0" passage="Ps 82:1">Ps. lxxxii. 1</scripRef>, and <i>is with them in
the judgment,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.ix-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.19.6" parsed="|2Chr|19|6|0|0" passage="2Ch 19:6">2 Chron. xix.
6</scripRef>), 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> <scripRef id="Ec.ix-p12.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.49.17" parsed="|Ps|49|17|0|0" passage="Ps 49:17">Ps. xlix. 17</scripRef>.
(2.) Nor their names from being buried in oblivion; for <i>they
were forgotten,</i> as if they had never been.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.ix-p13">3. He had observed that their prosperity
hardened them in their wickedness, <scripRef id="Ec.ix-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.8.11" parsed="|Eccl|8|11|0|0" passage="Ec 8:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. 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 class="indent" id="Ec.ix-p14">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> (<scripRef id="Ec.ix-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.10-Isa.3.11" parsed="|Isa|3|10|3|11" passage="Isa 3:10,11">Isa. iii. 10,
11</scripRef>); 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>
<scripRef id="Ec.ix-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.55.23" parsed="|Ps|55|23|0|0" passage="Ps 55:23">Ps. lv. 23</scripRef>. Though they may
be <i>prolonged</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.ix-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.8.12" parsed="|Eccl|8|12|0|0" passage="Ec 8:12"><i>v.</i>
12</scripRef>) 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>
</div><scripCom id="Ec.ix-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.8.14-Eccl.8.17" parsed="|Eccl|8|14|8|17" passage="Ec 8:14-17" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Eccl.8.14-Eccl.8.17">
<h4 id="Ec.ix-p14.5">The Mysteries of Providence.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ec.ix-p15">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></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.ix-p16">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 class="indent" id="Ec.ix-p17">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, <scripRef id="Ec.ix-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.8.14" parsed="|Eccl|8|14|0|0" passage="Ec 8:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. 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 class="indent" id="Ec.ix-p18">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 class="indent" id="Ec.ix-p19">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 (<scripRef id="Ec.ix-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.8.15" parsed="|Eccl|8|15|0|0" passage="Ec 8:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>): <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 class="indent" id="Ec.ix-p20">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, <scripRef id="Ec.ix-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.8.16-Eccl.8.17" parsed="|Eccl|8|16|8|17" passage="Ec 8:16,17"><i>v.</i> 16, 17</scripRef>. 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, <scripRef id="Ec.ix-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.8.17" parsed="|Eccl|8|17|0|0" passage="Ec 8:17"><i>v.</i>
17</scripRef>. 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 above ours, nor is he tied to
his own former ways, but <i>his judgments are a great deep.</i></p>
</div></div2>