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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. II.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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Solomon having pronounced all vanity, and particularly knowledge and
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learning, which he was so far from giving himself joy of that he found
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the increase of it did but increase his sorrow, in this chapter he goes
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on to show what reason he has to be tired of this world, and with what
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little reason most men are fond of it.
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I. He shows that there is no true happiness and satisfaction to be had
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in mirth and pleasure, and the delights of sense,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:11-11">ver. 1-11</A>.
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II. He reconsiders the pretensions of wisdom, and allows it to be
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excellent and useful, and yet sees it clogged with such diminutions of
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its worth that it proves insufficient to make a man happy,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:12-16">ver. 12-16</A>.
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III. He enquires how far the business and wealth of this world will go
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towards making men happy, and concludes, from his own experience, that,
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to those who set their hearts upon it, "it is vanity and vexation of
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spirit,"
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:17-23">ver. 17-23</A>),
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and that, if there be any good in it, it is only to those that sit
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loose to it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:24-26">ver. 24-26</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ec2_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec2_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec2_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec2_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec2_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec2_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec2_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec2_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec2_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec2_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec2_11"> </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>Vanity of Worldly Pleasure.</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 I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with
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mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also <I>is</I>
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vanity.
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2 I said of laughter, <I>It is</I> mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?
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3 I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet
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acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly,
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till I might see what <I>was</I> that good for the sons of men, which
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they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.
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4 I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me
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vineyards:
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5 I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them
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of all <I>kind of</I> fruits:
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6 I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that
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bringeth forth trees:
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7 I got <I>me</I> servants and maidens, and had servants born in my
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house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle
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above all that were in Jerusalem before me:
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8 I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure
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of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women
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singers, and the delights of the sons of men, <I>as</I> musical
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instruments, and that of all sorts.
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9 So I was great, and increased more than all that were before
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me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.
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10 And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I
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withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all
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my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour.
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11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought,
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and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all
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<I>was</I> vanity and vexation of spirit, and <I>there was</I> no profit
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under the sun.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Solomon here, in pursuit of the <I>summum bonum</I>--<I>the felicity</I>
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of man, adjourns out of his study, his library, his elaboratory, his
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council-chamber, where he had in vain sought for it, into the park and
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the playhouse, his garden and his summer-house; he exchanges the
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company of the philosophers and grave senators for that of the wits and
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gallants, and the beaux-esprits, of his court, to try if he could find
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true satisfaction and happiness among them. Here he takes a great step
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downward, from the noble pleasures of the intellect to the brutal ones
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of sense; yet, if he resolve to make a thorough trial, he must knock at
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this door, because here a great part of mankind imagine they have found
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that which he was in quest of.</P>
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<P>
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I. He resolved to try what mirth would do and the pleasures of wit,
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whether he should be happy if he constantly entertained himself and
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others with merry stories and jests, banter and drollery; if he should
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furnish himself with all the pretty ingenious turns and repartees he
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could invent or pick up, fit to be laughed over, and all the bulls, and
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blunders, and foolish things, he could hear of, fit to be ridiculed and
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laughed at, so that he might be always in a merry humour.
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1. This experiment made
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>):
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"Finding that <I>in much wisdom is much grief,</I> and that those who
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are serious are apt to be melancholy, <I>I said in my heart</I>" (to my
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heart), "<I>Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth;</I> I will try if
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that will give thee satisfaction." Neither the temper of his mind nor
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his outward condition had any thing in them to keep him from being
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merry, but both agreed, as did all other advantages, to further it;
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<I>therefore</I> he resolved to take a lease this way, and said,
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"<I>Enjoy pleasure,</I> and take thy fill of it; cast away care, and
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resolve to be merry." So a man may be, and yet have none of these fine
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things which he here got to entertain himself with; many that are poor
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are very merry; beggars in a barn are so to a proverb. Mirth is the
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entertainment of the fancy, and, though it comes short of the solid
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delights of the rational powers, yet it is to be preferred before those
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that are merely carnal and sensual. Some distinguish man from the
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brutes, not only as <I>animal rationale--a rational animal,</I> but as
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<I>animal risibile--a laughing animal;</I> therefore he that said to his
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soul, <I>Take thy ease, eat and drink,</I> added, <I>And be merry,</I>
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for it was in order to that that he would eat and drink. "Try
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therefore," says Solomon, "to laugh and be fat, to laugh and be happy."
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2. The judgment he passed upon this experiment: <I>Behold, this also is
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vanity,</I> like all the rest; it yields no true satisfaction,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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<I>I said of laughter, It is mad,</I> or, <I>Thou art mad,</I> and
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therefore I will have nothing to do with thee; <I>and of mirth</I> (of
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all sports and recreations, and whatever pretends to be diverting),
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<I>What doeth it?</I> or, <I>What doest thou?</I> Innocent mirth,
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soberly, seasonable, and moderately used, is a good thing, fits for
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business, and helps to soften the toils and chagrins of human life;
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but, when it is excessive and immoderate, it is foolish and fruitless.
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(1.) It does no good: <I>What doeth it? Cui bono--of what use is
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it?</I> It will not avail to quiet a guilty conscience; no, nor to ease
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a sorrowful spirit; nothing is more ungrateful than <I>singing songs to
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a heavy heart.</I> It will not satisfy the soul, nor ever yield it true
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content. It is but a palliative cure to the grievances of this present
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time. Great laughter commonly ends in a sigh.
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(2.) It does a great deal of hurt: <I>It is mad,</I> that is, it makes
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men mad, it transports men into many indecencies, which are a reproach
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to their reason and religion. They are mad that indulge themselves in
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it, for it estranges the heart from God and divine things, and
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insensibly eats out the power of religion. Those that love to be merry
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forget to be serious, and, while they take the timbrel and harp, they
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<I>say to the Almighty, Depart from us,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:12,14">Job xxi. 12, 14</A>.
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We may, as Solomon, <I>prove</I> ourselves, <I>with mirth,</I> and
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judge of the state of our souls by this: How do we stand affected to
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it? Can we be merry and wise? Can we use it as sauce, and not as food?
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But we need not try, as Solomon did, whether it will make a happiness
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for us, for we may take his word for it, <I>It is mad;</I> and <I>What
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does it?</I> Laughter and pleasure (says Sir William Temple) come from
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very different affections of the mind; for, as men have no disposition
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to laugh at things they are most pleased with, so they are very little
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pleased with many things they laugh at.</P>
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<P>
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II. Finding himself not happy in that which pleased his fancy, he
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resolved next to try that which would please the palate,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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Since the knowledge of the creature would not satisfy, he would see
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what the liberal use of it would do: <I>I sought in my heart to give
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myself unto wine,</I> that is, to good meat and good drink. Many give
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themselves to these without consulting their hearts at all, not looking
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any further than merely the gratification of the sensual appetite; but
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Solomon applied himself to it rationally, and as a man, critically, and
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only to make an experiment. Observe,
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1. He did not allow himself any liberty in the use of the delights of
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sense till he had tired himself with his severe studies. Till his
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<I>increase</I> of <I>sorrow,</I> he never thought of giving himself
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<I>to wine.</I> When we have spent ourselves in doing good we may then
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most comfortably refresh ourselves with the gifts of God's bounty.
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<I>Then</I> the delights of sense are rightly used when they are used
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as we use cordials, only when we need them; as Timothy drank wine for
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his health's sake,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ti+5:23">1 Tim. v. 23</A>.
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<I>I thought to draw my flesh with wine</I> (so the margin reads it) or
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<I>to wine.</I> Those that have addicted themselves to drinking did at
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first put a force upon themselves; they drew their flesh to it, and
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with it; but they should remember to what miseries they hereby draw
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themselves.
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2. He then looked upon it as folly, and it was with reluctance that he
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gave himself to it; as St. Paul, when he commended himself, called it a
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<I>weakness,</I> and desired to be borne with in his
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<I>foolishness,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+11:1">2 Cor. xi. 1</A>.
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He sought <I>to lay hold on folly,</I> to see the utmost that that
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folly would do towards making men happy; but he had like to have
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carried the jest (as we say) too far. He resolved that the folly should
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not take hold of him, not get the mastery of him, but he would lay hold
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on it, and keep it at a distance; yet he found it too hard for him.
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3. He took care at the same time to <I>acquaint</I> himself <I>with
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wisdom,</I> to manage himself wisely in the use of his pleasures, so
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that they should not do him any prejudice nor disfit him to be a
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competent judge of them. When he <I>drew his flesh with wine</I> he
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<I>led his heart with wisdom</I> (so the word is), kept up his pursuits
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after knowledge, did not make a sot of himself, nor become a slave to
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his pleasures, but his studies and his feasts were foils to each other,
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and he tried whether both mixed together would give him that
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satisfaction which he could not find in either separately. This Solomon
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proposed to himself, but he found it <I>vanity;</I> for those that
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think to give themselves to wine, and yet to acquaint their hearts with
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wisdom, will perhaps deceive themselves as much as those do that think
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to serve both God and mammon. <I>Wine is a mocker;</I> it is a great
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cheat; and it will be impossible for any man to say that thus far he
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will give himself to it and no further.
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4. That which he aimed at was not to gratify his appetite, but to find
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out man's happiness, and this, because it pretended to be so, must be
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tried among the rest. Observe the description he gives of man's
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happiness--it is <I>that good for the sons of men which they should do
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under the heaven all their days.</I>
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(1.) That which we are to enquire after is not so much the good we must
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have (we may leave that to God), but the good we must do; that ought to
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be our care. <I>Good Master, what good thing shall I do?</I> Our
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happiness consists not in being idle, but in doing aright, in being
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well employed. If we <I>do that which is good,</I> no doubt we shall
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have comfort and <I>praise of the same.</I>
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(2.) It is good to be done <I>under the heaven,</I> while we are here
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in this world, while it is day, while our doing time lasts. This is our
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state of work and service; it is in the other world that we must expect
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the retribution. Thither our works will follow us.
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(3.) It is to be done <I>all the days of our life.</I> The good we are
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to do we must persevere in the doing of to the end, while our doing
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time lasts, <I>the number of the days of our life</I> (so it is in the
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margin); the days of our life are numbered to us by him in whose hand
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our times are and they are all to be spent as he directs. But that any
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man should give himself to wine, in hopes to find out in that the best
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way of living in this world, was an absurdity which Solomon here, in
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the reflection, condemns himself for. Is it possible that this should
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be the good that men should do? No; it is plainly very bad.</P>
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<P>
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III. Perceiving quickly that it was folly to give himself to wine, he
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next tried the most costly entertainments and amusements of princes and
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great men. He had a vast income; the revenue of his crown was very
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great, and he laid it out so as might most please his own humour and
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make him look great.</P>
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<P>
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1. He gave himself much to building, both in the city and in the
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country; and, having been at such vast expense in the beginning of his
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reign to build a house for God, he was the more excusable if afterwards
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he pleased his own fancy in building for himself; he began his work at
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the right end
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+6:33">Matt. vi. 33</A>),
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not as the people
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hag+1:4">Hag. i. 4</A>),
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that <I>ceiled their own houses</I> while God's <I>lay waste,</I> and
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it prospered accordingly. In building, he had the pleasure of employing
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the poor and doing good to posterity. We read of Solomon's buildings
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+9:15-19">1 Kings ix. 15-19</A>),
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and they were all <I>great works,</I> such as became his purse, and
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spirit, and great dignity. See his mistake; he enquired after the
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<I>good</I> works he should do
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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and, in pursuit of the enquiry, applied himself to <I>great</I> works.
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<I>Good</I> works indeed are truly great, but many are reputed great
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works which are far from being good, wondrous works which are not
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gracious,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+7:22">Matt. vii. 22</A>.</P>
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<P>
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2. He took to love a garden, which is to some as bewitching as
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building. He <I>planted himself vineyards,</I> which the soil and
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climate of the land of Canaan favoured; he <I>made himself</I> fine
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<I>gardens and orchards</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
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and perhaps the art of gardening was no way inferior then to what it is
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now. He had not only forests of timber-trees, but <I>trees of all kinds
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of fruit,</I> which he himself had planted; and, if any worldly
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business would yield a man happiness, surely it must be that which Adam
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was employed in while he was in innocency.</P>
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<P>
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3. He laid out a great deal of money in water-works, ponds, and canals,
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not for sport and diversion, but for use, <I>to water the wood that
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brings forth trees</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>);
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he not only planted, but watered, and then left it to God to give the
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increase. <I>Springs of water</I> are great <I>blessings</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+15:19">Josh. xv. 19</A>);
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but where nature has provided them art must direct them, to make them
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serviceable,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+21:1">Prov. xxi. 1</A>.</P>
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<P>
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4. He increased his family. When he proposed to himself to do <I>great
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works</I> he must employ many hands, and therefore procured <I>servants
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and maidens,</I> which were bought with his money, and of those he
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<I>had servants born in his house,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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Thus his retinue was enlarged and his court appeared more magnificent.
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See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ezr+2:58">Ezra ii. 58</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
5. He did not neglect country business, but both entertained and
|
|
enriched himself with that, and was not diverted from it either by his
|
|
studies or by his pleasures. He <I>had large possessions of great and
|
|
small cattle,</I> herds and flocks, as his father had before him
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+27:29,31">1 Chron. xxvii. 29, 31</A>),
|
|
|
|
not forgetting that his father, in the beginning, was a keeper of
|
|
sheep. Let those that deal in cattle neither despise their employment
|
|
nor be weary of it, remembering that Solomon puts his having
|
|
<I>possessions of cattle</I> among his <I>great works</I> and his
|
|
pleasures.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
6. He grew very rich, and was not at all impoverished by his building
|
|
and gardening, as many are, who, for that reason only, repent it, and
|
|
call it <I>vanity and vexation.</I> Solomon scattered and yet
|
|
increased. He filled his exchequer with <I>silver and gold,</I> which
|
|
yet did not stagnate there, but were made to circulate through his
|
|
kingdom, so that he made <I>silver to be in Jerusalem as stones</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+10:27">1 Kings x. 27</A>);
|
|
|
|
nay, he had the <I>segullah, the peculiar treasure of kings and of the
|
|
provinces,</I> which was, for richness and rarity, more accounted of
|
|
than <I>silver and gold.</I> The neighbouring kings, and the distant
|
|
provinces of his own empire, sent him the richest presents they had, to
|
|
obtain his favour and the instructions of his wisdom.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
7. He had every thing that was charming and diverting, all sorts of
|
|
melody and music, vocal and instrumental, <I>men-singers and
|
|
women-singers,</I> the best voices he could pick up, and all the wind
|
|
and band-instruments that were then in use. His father had a genius for
|
|
music, but it should seem he employed it more to serve his devotion
|
|
than the son, who made it more for his diversion. These are called
|
|
<I>the delights of the sons of men;</I> for the gratifications of sense
|
|
are the things that the generality of people set their affections upon
|
|
and take the greatest complacency in. The delights of the children of
|
|
God are of quite another nature, pure, spiritual, and heavenly, and the
|
|
delights of angels.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
8. He enjoyed, more than ever any man did, a composition of rational
|
|
and sensitive pleasures at the same time. He was, in this respect,
|
|
<I>great, and increased more than all that were before him,</I> that he
|
|
was wise amidst a thousand earthly enjoyments. It was strange, and the
|
|
like was never met with,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That his pleasures did not debauch his judgment and conscience. In
|
|
the midst of these entertainments <I>his wisdom remained with him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
In the midst of all these childish delights he preserved his spirit
|
|
manly, kept the possession of his own soul, and maintained the dominion
|
|
of reason over the appetites of sense; such a vast stock of wisdom had
|
|
he that it was not wasted and impaired, as any other man's would have
|
|
been, by this course of life. But let none be emboldened hereby to lay
|
|
the reins on the neck of their appetites, presuming that they may do
|
|
that and yet retain their wisdom, for they have not such a strength of
|
|
wisdom as Solomon had; nay, and Solomon was deceived; for how did
|
|
<I>his wisdom remain with him</I> when he lost his religion so far as
|
|
to build altars to strange gods, for the humouring of his strange
|
|
wives? But thus far <I>his wisdom remained with him</I> that he was
|
|
master of his pleasures, and not a slave to them, and kept himself
|
|
capable of making a judgment of them. He went over into the enemies'
|
|
country, not as a deserter, but as a <I>spy, to discover the nakedness
|
|
of their land.</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) Yet his judgment and conscience gave no check to his pleasures,
|
|
nor hindered him from exacting the very quintessence of the delights of
|
|
sense,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
It might be objected against his judgment in this matter that if <I>his
|
|
wisdom remained with him</I> he could not take the liberty that was
|
|
necessary to a full experimental acquaintance with it: "Yea," said he,
|
|
"I took as great a liberty as any man could take, for <I>whatsoever my
|
|
eyes desired I kept not from them,</I> if it could be compassed by
|
|
lawful means, though ever so difficult or costly; and as <I>I withheld
|
|
not any joy from my heart</I> that I had a mind to, so <I>I withheld
|
|
not my heart from any joy,</I> but, with a <I>non-obstante--with the
|
|
full exercise</I> of my wisdom, I had a high gust of my pleasures,
|
|
relished and enjoyed them as much as ever any Epicure did;" nor was
|
|
there any thing either in the circumstances of his condition or in the
|
|
temper of his spirit to sour or embitter them, or give them any alloy.
|
|
In short,
|
|
|
|
[1.] He had as much pleasure in his business as ever any man had: <I>My
|
|
heart rejoiced in all my labour;</I> so that the toil and fatigue of
|
|
that were no damp to his pleasures.
|
|
|
|
[2.] He had no less profit by his business. He met with no
|
|
disappointment in it to give him any disturbance: <I>This was my
|
|
portion of all my labour;</I> he had this added to all the rest of his
|
|
pleasures that in them he did not only see, but eat, the labour of his
|
|
hands; and this was all he had, for indeed it was all he could expect,
|
|
from his labours. It sweetened his business that he enjoyed the success
|
|
of it, and it sweetened his enjoyments that they were the product of
|
|
his business; so that, upon the whole, he was certainly as happy as the
|
|
world could make him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
9. We have, at length, the judgment he deliberately gave of all this,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
When the Creator had made his great works he reviewed them, and
|
|
<I>behold, all was very good;</I> every thing pleased him. But when
|
|
Solomon reviewed <I>all his works that his hands had wrought</I> with
|
|
the utmost cost and care, <I>and the labour that he had laboured to
|
|
do</I> in order to make himself easy and happy, nothing answered his
|
|
expectation; <I>behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit;</I> he
|
|
had no satisfaction in it, no advantage by it; <I>there was no profit
|
|
under the sun,</I> neither by the employments nor by the enjoyments of
|
|
this world.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ec2_12"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec2_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec2_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec2_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec2_16"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Superiority of Wisdom to Folly.</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>12 And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and
|
|
folly: for what <I>can</I> the man <I>do</I> that cometh after the king?
|
|
<I>even</I> that which hath been already done.
|
|
13 Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light
|
|
excelleth darkness.
|
|
14 The wise man's eyes <I>are</I> in his head; but the fool walketh
|
|
in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth
|
|
to them all.
|
|
15 Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it
|
|
happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said
|
|
in my heart, that this also <I>is</I> vanity.
|
|
16 For <I>there is</I> no remembrance of the wise more than of the
|
|
fool for ever; seeing that which now <I>is</I> in the days to come
|
|
shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise <I>man?</I> as the
|
|
fool.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Solomon having tried what satisfaction was to be had in learning first,
|
|
and then in the pleasures of sense, and having also put both together,
|
|
here compares them one with another and passes a judgment upon
|
|
them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. He sets himself to consider both wisdom and folly. He had considered
|
|
these before
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+1:17"><I>ch.</I> i. 17</A>);
|
|
|
|
but lest it should be thought he was then too quick in passing a
|
|
judgment upon them, he here turns himself again to behold them, to see
|
|
if, upon a second view and second thoughts, he could gain more
|
|
satisfaction in the search than he had done upon the first. He was sick
|
|
of his pleasures, and, as nauseating them, he turned from them, that he
|
|
might again apply himself to speculation; and if, upon this rehearing
|
|
of the cause, the verdict be still the same, the judgment will surely
|
|
be decisive; <I>for what can the man do that comes after the king?</I>
|
|
especially such a king, who had so much of this world to make the
|
|
experiment upon and so much wisdom to make it with. The baffled trial
|
|
needs not be repeated. No man can expect to find more satisfaction in
|
|
the world than Solomon did, nor to gain a greater insight into the
|
|
principles of morality; when a man has done what he can still it is
|
|
<I>that which has been already done.</I> Let us learn,
|
|
|
|
1. Not to indulge ourselves in a fond conceit that we can mend that
|
|
which has been well done before us. Let us <I>esteem others better than
|
|
ourselves,</I> and think how unfit we are to attempt the improvement of
|
|
the performances of better heads and hands than ours, and rather own
|
|
how much we are beholden to them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+4:37,38">John iv. 37, 38</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. To acquiesce in Solomon's judgment of the things of this world, and
|
|
not to think of repeating the trial; for we can never think of having
|
|
such advantages as he had to make the experiment nor of being able to
|
|
make it with equal application of mind and so little danger to
|
|
ourselves.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. He gives the preference to wisdom far before folly. Let none
|
|
mistake him, as if, when he speaks of the vanity of human literature,
|
|
he designed only to amuse men with a paradox, or were about to write
|
|
(as a great wit once did) <I>Encomium moriæ--A panegyric in praise of
|
|
folly.</I> No, he is maintaining sacred truths, and therefore is
|
|
careful to guard against being misunderstood. I soon <I>saw</I> (says
|
|
he) <I>that there is an excellency in wisdom more than in folly,</I> as
|
|
much as there is in light above darkness. The pleasures of wisdom,
|
|
though they suffice not to make men happy, yet vastly transcend the
|
|
pleasures of wine. Wisdom enlightens the soul with surprising
|
|
discoveries and necessary directions for the right government of
|
|
itself; but sensuality (for that seems to be especially the folly here
|
|
meant) clouds and eclipses the mind, and is as darkness to it; it puts
|
|
out men's eyes, makes them to stumble in the way and wander out of it.
|
|
Or, though wisdom and knowledge will not make a man happy (St. Paul
|
|
shows a <I>more excellent way</I> than gifts, and that is grace), yet
|
|
it is much better to have them than to be without them, in respect of
|
|
our present safety, comfort, and usefulness; for <I>the wise man's eyes
|
|
are in his head</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>),
|
|
|
|
where they should be, ready to discover both the dangers that are to be
|
|
avoided and the advantages that are to be improved; a wise man has not
|
|
his reason to seek when he should use it, but looks about him and is
|
|
quick-sighted, knows both where to step and where to stop; whereas
|
|
<I>the fool walks in darkness,</I> and is ever and anon either at a
|
|
loss, or at a plunge, either bewildered, that he knows not which way to
|
|
go, or embarrassed, that he cannot go forward. A man that is discreet
|
|
and considerate has the command of his business, and acts decently and
|
|
safely, as those that walk in the day; but he that is rash, and
|
|
ignorant, and sottish, is continually making blunders, running upon one
|
|
precipice or other; his projects, his bargains, are all foolish, and
|
|
ruin his affairs. Therefore <I>get wisdom, get understanding.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. Yet he maintains that, in respect of lasting happiness and
|
|
satisfaction, the wisdom of this world gives a man very little
|
|
advantage; for,
|
|
|
|
1. Wise men and fools fare alike. "It is true the wise man has very
|
|
much the advantage of the fool in respect of foresight and insight, and
|
|
yet the greatest probabilities do so often come short of success that
|
|
<I>I myself perceived,</I> by my own experience, that <I>one event
|
|
happens to them all</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>);
|
|
|
|
those that are most cautious of their health are as so on sick as those
|
|
that are most careless of it, and the most suspicious are imposed
|
|
upon." David had observed that <I>wise men die,</I> and are involved in
|
|
the same common calamity with the fool and the brutish person,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+49:12">Ps. xlix. 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:11"><I>ch.</I> ix. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
Nay, it has of old been observed that <I>Fortune favours fools,</I> and
|
|
that half-witted men often thrive most, while the greatest projectors
|
|
forecast worst for themselves. The same sickness, the same sword,
|
|
devours wise men and fools. Solomon applies this mortifying observation
|
|
to himself
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>),
|
|
|
|
that though he was a wise man, he might not <I>glory in his wisdom; I
|
|
said to my heart,</I> when it began to be proud or secure, <I>As it
|
|
happens to the fool, so it happens to me, even to me;</I> for thus
|
|
emphatically it is expressed in the original: "So, <I>as for me,</I> it
|
|
happens to me. Am I rich? So is many a Nabal that fares as sumptuously
|
|
as I do. Is a foolish man sick, does he get a fall? So do I, <I>even
|
|
I;</I> and neither my wealth nor my wisdom will be my security. <I>And
|
|
why was I then more wise?</I> Why should I take so much pains to get
|
|
wisdom, when, as to this life, it will stand me in so little stead?
|
|
<I>Then I said in my heart that this also is vanity.</I>" Some make
|
|
this a correction of what was said before, like that
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+77:10">Ps. lxx. 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
"<I>I said, This is my infirmity;</I> it is my folly to think that wise
|
|
men and fools are upon a level;" but really they seem to be so, in
|
|
respect of the event, and therefore it is rather a confirmation of what
|
|
he had before said, That a man may be a profound philosopher and
|
|
politician and yet not be a happy man.
|
|
|
|
2. Wise men and fools are forgotten alike
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>There is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool.</I> It is
|
|
promised to the righteous that they <I>shall be had in everlasting
|
|
remembrance,</I> and <I>their memory shall be blessed,</I> and they
|
|
shall shortly <I>shine as the stars;</I> but there is no such promise
|
|
made concerning the wisdom of this world, that that shall perpetuate
|
|
men's names, for those names only are perpetuated that are <I>written
|
|
in heaven,</I> and otherwise the names of this world's wise men are
|
|
written with those of its fools in the dust. <I>That which now is in
|
|
the days to come shall all be forgotten.</I> What was much talked of in
|
|
one generation is, in the next, as if it had never been. New persons
|
|
and new things jostle out the very remembrance of the old, which in a
|
|
little time are looked upon with contempt and at length quite buried in
|
|
oblivion. <I>Where is the wise? Where is the disputer of this
|
|
world?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+1:20">1 Cor. i. 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
And it is upon this account that he asks, <I>How dies the wise man? As
|
|
the fool.</I> Between the death of a godly and a wicked man there is a
|
|
great difference, but not between the death of a wise man and a fool;
|
|
the fool is buried and forgotten
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+8:10"><I>ch.</I> viii. 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>and no one remembered the poor man that by his wisdom delivered the
|
|
city</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:15"><I>ch.</I> ix. 15</A>);
|
|
|
|
so that to both the grave is a <I>land of forgetfulness;</I> and wise
|
|
and learned men, when they have been awhile there out of sight, grow
|
|
out of mind, a new generation arises that <I>knew them not.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ec2_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec2_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec2_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec2_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec2_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec2_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec2_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec2_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec2_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec2_26"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Sources of Dissatisfaction; The Cheerful Use of Abundance.</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>17 Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought
|
|
under the sun <I>is</I> grievous unto me: for all <I>is</I> vanity and
|
|
vexation of spirit.
|
|
18 Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun:
|
|
because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me.
|
|
19 And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise <I>man</I> or a fool?
|
|
yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have
|
|
laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun.
|
|
This <I>is</I> also vanity.
|
|
20 Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all
|
|
the labour which I took under the sun.
|
|
21 For there is a man whose labour <I>is</I> in wisdom, and in
|
|
knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not laboured
|
|
therein shall he leave it <I>for</I> his portion. This also <I>is</I>
|
|
vanity and a great evil.
|
|
22 For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of
|
|
his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun?
|
|
23 For all his days <I>are</I> sorrows, and his travail grief; yea,
|
|
his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.
|
|
24 <I>There is</I> nothing better for a man, <I>than</I> that he should
|
|
eat and drink, and <I>that</I> he should make his soul enjoy good in
|
|
his labour. This also I saw, that it <I>was</I> from the hand of God.
|
|
25 For who can eat, or who else can hasten <I>hereunto,</I> more
|
|
than I?
|
|
26 For <I>God</I> giveth to a man that <I>is</I> good in his sight
|
|
wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth
|
|
travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to <I>him that
|
|
is</I> good before God. This also <I>is</I> vanity and vexation of
|
|
spirit.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Business is a thing that wise men have pleasure in. They are in their
|
|
element when they are in their business, and complain if they be out of
|
|
business. They may sometimes be tired with their business, but they are
|
|
not weary of it, nor willing to leave it off. Here therefore one would
|
|
expect to have found the good that men should do, but Solomon tried
|
|
this too; after a contemplative life and a voluptuous life, he betook
|
|
himself to an active life, and found no more satisfaction in it than in
|
|
the other; still it is all <I>vanity and vexation of spirit,</I> of
|
|
which he gives an account in these verses, where observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. What the business was which he made trial of; it was business
|
|
<I>under the sun</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:17-20"><I>v.</I> 17-20</A>),
|
|
|
|
about the things of this world, sublunary things, the riches, honours,
|
|
and pleasures of this present time; it was the business of a king.
|
|
There is business <I>above the sun,</I> perpetual business, which is
|
|
perpetual blessedness; what we do in conformity to that business (doing
|
|
<I>God's will as it is done in heaven</I>) and in pursuance of that
|
|
blessedness, will turn to a good account; we shall have no reason to
|
|
hate that labour, nor to despair of it. But it is <I>labour under the
|
|
sun,</I> labour for the <I>meat that perishes</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+6:27,Isa+55:2">John vi. 27; Isa. lv. 2</A>),
|
|
|
|
that Solomon here speaks of with so little satisfaction. It was the
|
|
better sort of business, not that of the <I>hewers of wood and drawers
|
|
of water</I> (it is not so strange if men hate all that labour), but it
|
|
was <I>in wisdom, and knowledge, and equity,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
It was rational business, which related to the government of his
|
|
kingdom and the advancement of its interests. It was labour managed by
|
|
the dictates of wisdom, of natural and acquired knowledge, and the
|
|
directions of justice. It was labour at the council-board and in the
|
|
courts of justice. It was labour wherein he <I>showed himself wise</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
which as much excels the labour wherein men only show themselves strong
|
|
as the endowments of the mind, by which we are allied to angels, do
|
|
those of the body, which we have in common with the brutes. That which
|
|
many people have in their eye more than any thing else, in the
|
|
prosecution of their worldly business, is to <I>show themselves
|
|
wise,</I> to get the reputation of ingenious men and men of sense and
|
|
application.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. His falling out with this business. He soon grew weary of it.
|
|
|
|
1. He <I>hated all his labour,</I> because he did not meet with that
|
|
satisfaction in which he expected. After he had had his fine houses,
|
|
and gardens, and water-works, awhile, he began to nauseate them, and
|
|
look upon them with contempt, as children, who are eager for a toy and
|
|
fond of it at first, but, when they have played with it awhile, are
|
|
weary of it, and throw it away, and must have another. This expresses
|
|
not a gracious hatred of these things, which is our duty, to love them
|
|
less than God and religion
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+14:26">Luke xiv. 26</A>),
|
|
|
|
nor a sinful hatred of them, which is our folly, to be weary of the
|
|
place God has assigned us and the work of it, but a natural hatred of
|
|
them, arising from a surfeit upon them and a sense of disappointment in
|
|
them.
|
|
|
|
2. He <I>caused his heart to despair of all his labour</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>);
|
|
|
|
he took pains to possess himself with a deep sense of the vanity of
|
|
worldly business, that it would not bring in the advantage and
|
|
satisfaction he had formerly flattered himself with the hopes of. Our
|
|
hearts are very loth to quit their expectations of great things from
|
|
the creature; we must go about, must fetch a compass, in arguing with
|
|
them, to convince them that there is not that in the things of this
|
|
world which we are apt to promise ourselves from them. Have we so often
|
|
bored and sunk into this earth for some rich mine of satisfaction, and
|
|
found not the least sign or token of it, but been always frustrated in
|
|
the search, and shall we not at length set our hearts at rest and
|
|
despair of ever finding it?
|
|
|
|
3. He came to that, at length, that he <I>hated life itself</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>),
|
|
|
|
because it is subject to so many toils and troubles, and a constant
|
|
series of disappointments. God had given Solomon such largeness of
|
|
heart, and such vast capacities of mind, that he experienced more than
|
|
other men of the unsatisfying nature of all the things of this life and
|
|
their insufficiency to make him happy. Life itself, that is so precious
|
|
to a man, and such a blessing to a good man, may become a burden to a
|
|
man of business.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The reasons of this quarrel with his life and labours. Two things
|
|
made him weary of them:--</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. That his business was so great a toil to himself: The <I>work that
|
|
he had wrought under the sun was grievous unto him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
His thoughts and cares about it, and that close and constant
|
|
application of mind which was requisite to it, were a burden and
|
|
fatigue to him, especially when he grew old. It is the effect of a
|
|
curse on that we are to work upon. Our business is said to be <I>the
|
|
work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord had
|
|
cursed</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+5:29">Gen. v. 29</A>)
|
|
|
|
and of the weakening of the faculties we are to work with, and of the
|
|
sentence pronounced on us, that in <I>the sweat of our face we must eat
|
|
bread.</I> Our labour is called <I>the vexation of our heart</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>);
|
|
|
|
it is to most a force upon themselves, so natural is it to us to love
|
|
our ease. A man of business is described to be uneasy both in his
|
|
<I>going out</I> and his <I>coming in,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
(1.) He is deprived of his pleasure by day, for <I>all his days are
|
|
sorrow,</I> not only sorrowful, but sorrow itself, nay, many sorrows
|
|
and various; his travail, or labour, all day, is grief. Men of business
|
|
ever and anon meet with that which vexes them, and is an occasion of
|
|
anger or sorrow to them. Those that are apt to fret find that the more
|
|
dealings they have in the world the oftener they are made to fret. The
|
|
world is a <I>vale of tears,</I> even to those that have much of it.
|
|
Those that <I>labour</I> are said to be <I>heavy-laden,</I> and are
|
|
therefore called to come to Christ for rest,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+11:28">Matt. xi. 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He is disturbed in his repose <I>by night.</I> When he is overcome
|
|
with the hurries of the day, and hopes to find relief when he lays his
|
|
head on his pillow, he is disappointed there; cares <I>hold his eyes
|
|
waking,</I> or, if he sleep, yet his heart wakes, and that <I>takes no
|
|
rest in the night.</I> See what fools those are that make themselves
|
|
drudges to the world, and do not make God their rest; night and day
|
|
they cannot but be uneasy. So that, upon the whole matter, it is <I>all
|
|
vanity,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>This is vanity</I> in particular
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:19,23"><I>v.</I> 19, 23</A>),
|
|
|
|
nay, it is <I>vanity and a great evil,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is a great affront to God and a great injury to themselves,
|
|
therefore a <I>great evil;</I> it is a vain thing <I>to rise up early
|
|
and sit up late</I> in pursuit of this world's goods, which were never
|
|
designed to be our chief good.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. That the gains of his business must all be left to others. Prospect
|
|
of advantage is the spring of action and the spur of industry;
|
|
<I>therefore</I> men labour, because they hope to get by it; if the
|
|
hope fail, the labour flags; and <I>therefore</I> Solomon quarrelled
|
|
with all the works, the great works, he had made, because they would
|
|
not be of any lasting advantage to himself.
|
|
|
|
(1.) He must leave them. He could not at death take them away with him,
|
|
nor any share of them, nor should he return any more to them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+7:10">Job vii. 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
nor would the remembrance of them do him any good,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+16:25">Luke xvi. 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
But I must <I>leave all to the man that shall be after me,</I> to the
|
|
generation that comes up in the room of that which is passing away. As
|
|
there were many before us, who built the houses that we live in, and
|
|
into whose purchases and labours we have entered, so there shall be
|
|
many after us, who shall live in the houses that we build, and enjoy
|
|
the fruit of our purchases and labours. Never was land lost for want
|
|
of an heir. To a gracious soul this is no uneasiness at all; why should
|
|
we grudge others their turn in the enjoyments of this world, and not
|
|
rather be pleased that, when we are gone, those that come after us
|
|
shall fare the better for our wisdom and industry? But to a worldly
|
|
mind, that seeks for its own happiness in the creature, it is a great
|
|
vexation to think of leaving the beloved pelf behind, at this
|
|
uncertainty.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He must leave them to those that would never have taken so much
|
|
pains for them, and will there by excuse himself from taking any pains.
|
|
He that raised the estate did it by <I>labouring in wisdom, and
|
|
knowledge, and equity;</I> but he that enjoys it and spends it (it may
|
|
be) <I>has not laboured therein</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>),
|
|
|
|
and, more than that, never will. The bee toils to maintain the drone.
|
|
Nay, it proves a snare to him: it is left him <I>for his portion,</I>
|
|
which he rests in, and takes up with; and miserable he is in being put
|
|
off with it for a portion. Whereas, if an estate had not come to him
|
|
thus easily, who knows but he might have been both industrious and
|
|
religious? Yet we ought not to perplex ourselves about this, since it
|
|
may prove otherwise, that what is well got may come to one that will
|
|
use it well and do good with it.
|
|
|
|
(3.) He knows not whom he must leave it to (for God makes heirs), or at
|
|
least what <I>he</I> will prove to whom he leaves it, whether <I>a wise
|
|
man or a fool,</I> a wise man that will make it more or a fool that
|
|
will bring it to nothing; <I>yet he shall have rule over all my
|
|
labour,</I> and foolishly undo that which his father wisely did. It is
|
|
probable that Solomon wrote this very feelingly, being afraid what
|
|
Rehoboam would prove. St Jerome, in his commentary on this passage,
|
|
applies this to the good books which Solomon wrote, in which he had
|
|
shown himself wise, but he knew not into whose hands they would fall,
|
|
perhaps into the hands of a fool, who, according to the perverseness of
|
|
his heart, makes a bad use of what was well written. So that, upon the
|
|
whole matter, he asks
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>What has man of all his labour?</I> What has he to himself and to
|
|
his own use? What has he that will go with him into another world?</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. The best use which is therefore to be made of the wealth of this
|
|
world, and that is to use it cheerfully, to take the comfort of it, and
|
|
do good with it. With this he concludes the chapter,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:24-26"><I>v.</I> 24-26</A>.
|
|
|
|
There is no true happiness to be found in these things. They are
|
|
<I>vanity,</I> and, if happiness be expected from them, the
|
|
disappointment will be <I>vexation of spirit.</I> But he will put us in
|
|
a way to make the best of them, and to avoid the inconveniences he had
|
|
observed. We must neither over-toil ourselves, so as, in pursuit of
|
|
more, to rob ourselves of the comfort of what we have, nor must we
|
|
over-hoard for hereafter, nor lose our own enjoyment of what we have to
|
|
lay it up for those that shall come after us, but serve ourselves out
|
|
of it first. Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. What that good is which is here recommended to us; and which is the
|
|
utmost pleasure and profit we can expect or extract from the business
|
|
and profit of this world, and the furthest we can go to rescue it from
|
|
its <I>vanity</I> and the <I>vexation</I> that is in it.
|
|
|
|
(1.) We must do our duty with them, and be more in care how to use an
|
|
estate well, for the ends for which we were entrusted with it, than how
|
|
to raise or increase an estate. This is intimated
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>,
|
|
|
|
where <I>those</I> only are said to have the comfort of this life who
|
|
are good in <I>God's sight,</I> and again, <I>good before God,</I>
|
|
truly good, as Noah, whom <I>God saw righteous before him.</I> We must
|
|
set God always before us, and give diligence in every thing to approve
|
|
ourselves to him. The Chaldee-paraphrase says, <I>A man</I> should
|
|
<I>make his soul to enjoy good by keeping the commandments of God and
|
|
walking in the ways that are right before him,</I> and
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>)
|
|
|
|
by <I>studying the words of the law, and being in care about the day of
|
|
the great judgment that is to come.</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) We must take the comfort of them. These things will not make a
|
|
happiness for the soul; all the good we can have out of them is for the
|
|
body, and if we make use of them for the comfortable support of that,
|
|
so that it may be fit to serve the soul and able to keep pace with it
|
|
in the service of God, then they turn to a good account. <I>There
|
|
is</I> therefore <I>nothing better for a man,</I> as to these things,
|
|
than to allow himself a sober cheerful use of them, according as his
|
|
rank and condition are, to have meat and drink out of them for himself,
|
|
his family, his friends, and so delight his senses and make his <I>soul
|
|
enjoy good,</I> all the good that is to be had out of them; do not lose
|
|
that, in pursuit of that good which is not to be had out of them. But
|
|
observe, He would not have us to give up business, and take our ease,
|
|
that we may <I>eat and drink;</I> no, we must <I>enjoy good in our
|
|
labour;</I> we must use these things, not to excuse us from, but to
|
|
make us diligent and cheerful in, our worldly business.
|
|
|
|
(3.) We must herein <I>acknowledge God;</I> we must see that <I>it is
|
|
from the hand of God,</I> that is,
|
|
|
|
[1.] The <I>good things</I> themselves that we enjoy are so, not only
|
|
the products of his creating power, but the gifts of his providential
|
|
bounty to us. And <I>then</I> they are truly pleasant to us when we
|
|
take them from the hand of God as a Father, when we eye his wisdom
|
|
giving us that which is fittest for us, and acquiesce in it, and taste
|
|
his love and goodness, relish them, and are thankful for them.
|
|
|
|
[2.] A heart to enjoy them is so; this is the gift of God's grace.
|
|
Unless he give us wisdom to make a right use of what he has, in his
|
|
providence, bestowed upon us, and withal peace of conscience, that we
|
|
may discern God's favour in the world's smiles, we cannot make our
|
|
souls enjoy any good in them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Why we should have this in our eye, in the management of ourselves
|
|
as to this world, and look up to God for it.
|
|
|
|
(1.) Because Solomon himself, with all his possessions, could aim at no
|
|
more and desire no better
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Who can hasten to this more than I?</I> This is that which I was
|
|
ambitious of: I wished for no more; and those that have but little, in
|
|
comparison with what I have, may attain to this, to be content with
|
|
what they have and enjoy the good of it." Yet Solomon could not obtain
|
|
it by his own wisdom, without the special grace of God, and therefore
|
|
directs us to expect it from the hand of God and pray to him for it.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Because riches are a blessing or a curse to a man according as he
|
|
has or has not a heart to make good use of them.
|
|
|
|
[1.] God makes them a reward to a good man, if with them he give him
|
|
<I>wisdom, and knowledge, and joy,</I> to enjoy them cheerfully himself
|
|
and to communicate them charitably to others. To those who are <I>good
|
|
in God's sight,</I> who are of a good spirit, honest and sincere, pay a
|
|
deference to their God and have a tender concern for all mankind,
|
|
<I>God will give wisdom and knowledge in this world, and joy with the
|
|
righteous in the world to come;</I> so the Chaldee. Or he will give
|
|
that wisdom and knowledge in things natural, moral, political, and
|
|
divine, which will be a constant joy and pleasure to them.
|
|
|
|
[2.] He makes them a punishment to a bad man if he denies him a heart
|
|
to take the comfort of them, for they do but tantalize him and
|
|
tyrannize over him: <I>To the sinner God gives by travail,</I> by
|
|
leaving him to himself and his own foolish counsels, to <I>gather and
|
|
to heap up</I> that, which, as to himself, will not only burden him
|
|
like <I>thick clay</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+2:6">Hab. ii. 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
but be <I>a witness against him and eat his flesh as it were fire</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+5:3">Jam. v. 3</A>);
|
|
|
|
while God designs, by an overruling providence, to give it to him that
|
|
is <I>good before him;</I> for the <I>wealth of the sinner is laid up
|
|
for the just,</I> and <I>gathered for him that will pity the poor.</I>
|
|
Note, <I>First, Godliness, with contentment, is great gain;</I> and
|
|
<I>those</I> only have true joy that are <I>good in God's sight,</I>
|
|
and that have it from him and in him. <I>Secondly,</I> Ungodliness is
|
|
commonly punished with discontent and an insatiable covetousness, which
|
|
are sins that are their own punishment. <I>Thirdly,</I> When God gives
|
|
abundance to wicked men it is with design to force them to a
|
|
resignation in favour of his own children, when they are of age and
|
|
ready for it, as the Canaanites kept possession of the good land till
|
|
the time appointed for Israel's entering upon it.
|
|
|
|
[3.] The burden of the song is still the same: <I>This is also vanity
|
|
and vexation of spirit.</I> It is vanity, at the best, even to the good
|
|
man; when he has all that the sinner has scraped together it will not
|
|
make him happy without something else; but it is <I>vexation of
|
|
spirit</I> to the sinner to see what he had laid up enjoyed by him that
|
|
is <I>good in God's sight,</I> and therefore evil in his. So that, take
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it which way you will, the conclusion is firm, <I>All is vanity and
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vexation of spirit.</I></P>
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