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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Ecclesiastes IX].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>E C C L E S I A S T E S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. IX.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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Solomon, in this chapter, for a further proof of the vanity of this
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world, gives us four observations which he had made upon a survey of
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the state of the children of men in it:--
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I. He observed that commonly as to outward things, good and bad men
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fare much alike,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:1-3">ver. 1-3</A>.
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II. That death puts a final period to all our employments and
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enjoyments in this world
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:4-6">ver. 4-6</A>),
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whence he infers that it is our wisdom to enjoy the comforts of life
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and mind the business of life, while it lasts,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:7-10">ver. 7-10</A>.
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III. That God's providence often crosses the fairest and most hopeful
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probabilities of men's endeavour, and great calamities often surprise
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men ere they are aware,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:11,12">ver. 11, 12</A>.
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IV. That wisdom often makes men very useful, and yet gains them little
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respect, for that persons of great merit are slighted,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:13-18">ver. 13-18</A>.
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And what is there then in this world that should make us fond of
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it?</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ec9_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec9_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec9_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Mysteries in Providence.</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 For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all
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this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, <I>are</I> in
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the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred <I>by</I> all
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<I>that is</I> before them.
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2 All <I>things come</I> alike to all: <I>there is</I> one event to the
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righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and
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to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that
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sacrificeth not: as <I>is</I> the good, so <I>is</I> the sinner; <I>and</I> he
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that sweareth, as <I>he</I> that feareth an oath.
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3 This <I>is</I> an evil among all <I>things</I> that are done under the
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sun, that <I>there is</I> one event unto all: yea, also the heart of
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the sons of men is full of evil, and madness <I>is</I> in their heart
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while they live, and after that <I>they go</I> to the dead.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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It has been observed concerning those who have pretended to search for
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the philosophers' stone that, though they could never find what they
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sought for, yet in the search they have hit upon many other useful
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discoveries and experiments. Thus Solomon, when, in the close of the
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foregoing chapter, he <I>applied his heart to know the work of God,</I>
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and took a great deal of pains to search into it, though he despaired
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of finding it out, yet he found out that which abundantly recompensed
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him for the search, and gave him some satisfaction, which he here gives
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us; <I>for</I> therefore <I>he considered all this in his heart,</I>
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and weighed it deliberately, that he might <I>declare</I> it for the
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good of others. Note, What we are <I>to declare</I> we should first
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<I>consider;</I> think twice before we speak once; and what we have
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<I>considered</I> we should then <I>declare. I believed, therefore have
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I spoken.</I></P>
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<P>
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The great difficulty which Solomon met with in studying the book of
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providence was the little difference that is made between good men and
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bad in the distribution of comforts and crosses, and the disposal of
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events. This has perplexed the minds of many wise and contemplative
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men. Solomon discourses of it in
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:1-3">these verses</A>,
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and, though he does not undertake to find out this <I>work of God,</I>
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yet he says that which may prevent its being a stumbling-block to
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us.</P>
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<P>
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I. Before he describes the temptation in its strength he lays down a
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great and unquestionable truth, which he resolves to adhere to, and
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which, if firmly believed, will be sufficient to break the force of the
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temptation. This has been the way of God's people in grappling with
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this difficulty. Job, before he discourses of this matter, lays down
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the doctrine of God's omniscience
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+24:1">Job xxiv. 1</A>),
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Jeremiah the doctrine of his righteousness
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:1">Jer. xii. 1</A>),
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another prophet that of his holiness
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+1:13">Hab. i. 13</A>),
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the psalmist that of his goodness and peculiar favour to his own people
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+73:1">Ps. lxxiii. 1</A>),
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and that is it which Solomon here fastens upon and resolves to abide
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by, that, though good and evil seem to be dispensed promiscuously, yet
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God has a particular care of and concern for his own people: <I>The
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righteous and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God,</I>
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under his special protection and guidance; all their affairs are
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managed by him for their good; all their wise and righteous actions
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<I>are in his hand,</I> to be recompensed in the other world, though
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not in this. They seem as if they were given up <I>into the hand of
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their enemies,</I> but it is not so. Men have <I>no power against them
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but what is given them from above.</I> The events that affect them do
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not come to pass by chance, but all according to the will and counsel
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of God, which will turn that to be for them which seemed to be most
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against them. Let this make us easy, whatever happens, that all God's
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saints are in his hand,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+33:3,Joh+10:29,Ps+31:15">Deut. xxxiii. 3;
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John x. 29; Ps. xxxi. 15</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. He lays this down for a rule, that the love and hatred of God are
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not to be measured and judged of by men's outward condition. If
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prosperity were a certain sign of God's love, and affliction of his
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hatred, then it might justly be an offence to us to see the wicked and
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godly fare alike. But the matter is not so: <I>No man knows either love
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or hatred by all that is before him</I> in this world, by those things
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that are the objects of sense. These we may know by that which is
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within us; if we love God with all our heart, thereby we may know that
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he loves us, as we may know likewise that we are under his wrath if we
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be governed by that carnal mind which is enmity to him. These will be
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known by that which shall be hereafter, by men's everlasting state; it
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is certain that men are happy or miserable according as they are under
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the love or hatred of God, but not according as they are under the
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smiles or frowns of the world; and therefore if God loves a righteous
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man (as certainly he does) he is happy, though the world frown upon
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him; and if he hates a wicked man (as certainly he does) he is
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miserable, though the world smile upon him. Then the offence of this
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promiscuous distribution of events has ceased.</P>
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<P>
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III. Having laid down these principles, he acknowledges that <I>all
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things come alike to all;</I> so it has been formerly, and therefore we
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are not to think it strange if it be so now, if it be so with us and
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our families. Some make this, and all that follows to
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>,
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to be the perverse reasoning of the atheists against the doctrine of
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God's providence; but I rather take it to be Solomon's concession,
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which he might the more freely make when he had fixed those truths
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which are sufficient to guard against any ill use that may be made of
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what he grants. Observe here
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),</P>
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<P>
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1. The great difference that there is between the characters of the
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righteous and the wicked, which, in several instances, are set the one
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over-against the other, to show that, though <I>all things come alike
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to all,</I> yet that does not in the least confound the eternal
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distinction between moral good and evil, but that remains immutable.
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(1.) The righteous are <I>clean,</I> have <I>clean hands and pure
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hearts;</I> the wicked are <I>unclean,</I> under the dominion of
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unclean lusts, <I>pure</I> perhaps <I>in their own eyes,</I> but not
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<I>cleansed from their filthiness,</I> God will certainly put a
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difference <I>between the clean and the unclean, the precious and the
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vile,</I> in the other world, though he does not seem to do so in this.
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(2.) The righteous <I>sacrifice,</I> that is, they make conscience of
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worshipping God according to his will, both with inward and outward
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worship; the wicked <I>sacrifice not,</I> that is, they live in the
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neglect of God's worship and grudge to part with any thing for his
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honour. <I>What is the Almighty, that they should serve him?</I>
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(3.) The righteous are <I>good,</I> good in God's sight, they do good
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in the world; the wicked are <I>sinners,</I> violating the laws of God
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and man, and provoking to both.
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(4.) The wicked man <I>swears,</I> has no veneration for the name of
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God, but profanes it by swearing rashly and falsely; but the righteous
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man <I>fears an oath,</I> swears not, but is sworn, and then with great
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reverence; he fears to take an oath, because it is a solemn appeal to
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God as a witness and judge; he fears, when he has taken a oath, to
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break it, because God is righteous who takes vengeance.</P>
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<P>
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2. The little difference there is between the conditions of the
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righteous and the wicked in this world: <I>There is one event to</I>
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both. Is David rich? So is Nabal. Is Joseph favoured by his prince? So
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is Haman. Is Ahab killed in a battle? So is Josiah. Are the bad figs
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carried to Babylon? So are the good,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+24:1">Jer. xxiv. 1</A>.
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There is a vast difference between the original, the design, and the
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nature, of the same event to the one and to the other; the effects and
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issues of it are likewise vastly different; the same providence to the
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one is <I>a savour of life unto life,</I> to the other <I>of death unto
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death,</I> though, to outward appearance, it is the same.</P>
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<P>
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IV. He owns this to be a very great grievance to those that are wise
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and good: "<I>This is an evil,</I> the greatest perplexity, <I>among
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all things that are done under the sun</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>);
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nothing has given me more disturbance than this, <I>that there is one
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event unto all.</I>" It hardens atheists, and strengthens the hands of
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evil-doers; for therefore it is that <I>the hearts of the sons of men
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are full of evil</I> and <I>fully set in them to do evil,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+8:11"><I>ch.</I> viii. 11</A>.
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When they see that <I>there is one event to the righteous and the
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wicked</I> they wickedly infer thence that it is all one to God whether
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they are righteous or wicked, and therefore they stick at nothing to
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gratify their lusts.</P>
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<P>
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V. For the further clearing of this great difficulty, as he began this
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discourse with the doctrine of the happiness of the righteous (whatever
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they may suffer, they <I>and their works are in the hands of God,</I>
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and therefore in good hands, they could not be in better), so he
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concludes with the doctrine of the misery of the wicked; however they
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may prosper, <I>madness is in their heart while they live, and after
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that they go to the dead.</I> Envy not the prosperity of evil-doers,
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for,
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1. They are now madmen, and all the delights they seem to be blessed
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with are but like the pleasant dreams and fancies of a distracted man.
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They are <I>mad upon their idols</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+50:38">Jer. l. 38</A>),
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are mad against God's people,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+26:11">Acts xxvi. 11</A>.
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When the prodigal repented, it is said, <I>He came to himself</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+15:17">Luke xv. 17</A>),
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which intimates that he had been beside himself before.
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2. They will shortly be dead men. They make a mighty noise and bustle
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<I>while they live,</I> but after awhile, <I>they go to the dead,</I>
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and there is an end of all their pomp and power; they will then be
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reckoned with for all their madness and outrage in sin. Though, on this
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side death, the righteous and the wicked seem alike, on the other side
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death there will be a vast difference between them.</P>
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<A NAME="Ec9_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec9_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec9_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec9_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec9_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec9_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec9_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Consequences of Death; The Proper Enjoyment of Life.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>4 For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope:
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for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
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5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know
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not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the
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memory of them is forgotten.
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6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now
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perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any
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<I>thing</I> that is done under the sun.
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7 Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a
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merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.
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8 Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no
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ointment.
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9 Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of
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the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun,
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all the days of thy vanity: for that <I>is</I> thy portion in <I>this</I>
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life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.
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10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do <I>it</I> with thy might;
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for <I>there is</I> no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in
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the grave, whither thou goest.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Solomon, in a fret, had <I>praised the dead more than the living</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+4:2"><I>ch.</I> iv. 2</A>);
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but here, considering the advantages of life to prepare for death and
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make sure the hope of a better life, he seems to be of another
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mind.</P>
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<P>
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I. He shows the advantages which the living have above those that are
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dead,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:4-6"><I>v.</I> 4-6</A>.
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1. While there is life <I>there is hope. Dum spiro, spero--While I
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breathe, I hope.</I> It is the privilege of the living that they are
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<I>joined to the living,</I> in relation, commerce, and conversation,
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and, while they are so, <I>there is hope.</I> If a man's condition be,
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upon any account, bad, <I>there is hope</I> it will be amended. If
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<I>the heart be full of evil, and madness be in it,</I> yet while there
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is life <I>there is hope</I> that by the grace of God there may be a
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blessed change wrought; but after men <I>go to the dead</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>)
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it is too late then; he that is then filthy will be filthy still, for
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ever filthy. If men be thrown aside as useless, yet, while they are
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<I>joined to the living, there is hope</I> that they may yet again take
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root and bear fruit; he that is alive is, or may be, good for
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|
something, but he that is dead, as to this world, is not capable of
|
|
being any further serviceable. Therefore a <I>living dog is better than
|
|
a dead lion;</I> the meanest beggar alive has that comfort of this
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|
world and does that service to it which the greatest prince, when he is
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dead, is utterly incapable of.
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2. While there is life there is an opportunity of preparing for death:
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<I>The living know</I> that which the dead have no knowledge of,
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particularly they <I>know that they shall die,</I> and are, or may be,
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|
thereby influenced to prepare for that great change which will come
|
|
certainly, and may come suddenly. Note, <I>The living</I> cannot but
|
|
<I>know that they shall die,</I> that they must needs die. They know
|
|
they are under a sentence of death; they are already taken into custody
|
|
by its messengers, and feel themselves declining. This is a needful
|
|
useful knowledge; for what is our business, while we live, but to get
|
|
ready to die: <I>The living know they shall die;</I> it is a thing yet
|
|
to come, and therefore provision may be made for it. The dead know they
|
|
are dead, and it is too late; they are on the other side the great gulf
|
|
fixed.
|
|
|
|
3. When life is gone all this world is gone with it, as to us.
|
|
|
|
(1.) There is an end of all our acquaintance with this world and the
|
|
things of it: <I>The dead know not any thing</I> of that which, while
|
|
they lived, they were intimately conversant with. It does not appear
|
|
that they know any thing of what is done by those they leave behind.
|
|
Abraham is ignorant of us; they are removed <I>into darkness,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+10:22">Job x. 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) There is an end of all our enjoyments in this world: <I>They have
|
|
no more a reward</I> for their toils about the world, but all they got
|
|
must be left to others; they have a reward for their holy actions, but
|
|
not for their worldly ones. The meats and the belly will be destroyed
|
|
together,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+6:27,1Co+6:13">John vi. 27; 1 Cor. vi. 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is explained
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Neither have they any more a portion for ever,</I> none of that
|
|
which they imagined would be <I>a portion for ever,</I> of that which
|
|
<I>is done</I> and got <I>under the sun.</I> The things of this world
|
|
will not be a portion for the soul because they will not be a portion
|
|
for ever; those that choose them, and have them for <I>their good
|
|
things,</I> have only a <I>portion in this life,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+17:14">Ps. xvii. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
The world can only be an annuity for life, not a <I>portion for
|
|
ever.</I>
|
|
|
|
(3.) There is an end of their name. There are but few whose names
|
|
survive them long; the grave is a land of forgetfulness, <I>for the
|
|
memory of those</I> that are laid there <I>is</I> soon
|
|
<I>forgotten;</I> their <I>place knows them no more,</I> nor the lands
|
|
they called by their own names.
|
|
|
|
(4.) There is an end of their affections, their friendships and
|
|
enmities: <I>Their love, and their hatred, and their envy have now
|
|
perished;</I> the good things they loved, the evil things they hated,
|
|
the prosperity of others, which they envied, are now all at an end with
|
|
them. Death parts those that loved one another, and puts an end to
|
|
their friendship, and those that hated one another too, and puts an end
|
|
to their quarrels. <I>Actio moritur cum personâ--The person and
|
|
his actions die together.</I> There we shall be never the better for
|
|
our friends (their love can do us no kindness), nor ever the worse for
|
|
our enemies--their hatred and envy can do us no damage. <I>There the
|
|
wicked cease from troubling.</I> Those things which now so affect us
|
|
and fill us, which we are so concerned about and so jealous of, will
|
|
there be at an end.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Hence he infers that it is our wisdom to make the best use of life
|
|
that we can while it does last, and manage wisely what remains of
|
|
it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. Let us relish the comforts of life while we live, and cheerfully
|
|
take our share of the enjoyments of it. Solomon, having been himself
|
|
ensnared by the abuse of sensitive delights, warns others of the
|
|
danger, not by a total prohibition of them, but by directing to the
|
|
sober and moderate use of them; we may use the world, but must not
|
|
abuse it, take what is to be had out of it, and expect no more. Here we
|
|
have,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) The particular instances of this cheerfulness prescribed: "Thou
|
|
art drooping and melancholy, <I>go thy way,</I> like a fool as thou
|
|
art, and get into a better temper of mind."
|
|
|
|
[1.] "Let thy spirit be easy and pleasant; then let there be <I>joy</I>
|
|
and <I>a merry heart</I> within," <I>a good heart</I> (so the word is),
|
|
which distinguishes this from carnal mirth and sensual pleasure, which
|
|
are the evil of the heart, both a symptom and a cause of much evil
|
|
there. We must enjoy ourselves, enjoy our friends, enjoy our God, and
|
|
be careful to keep a good conscience, that nothing may disturb us in
|
|
these enjoyments. We must serve God with gladness, in the use of what
|
|
he gives us, and be liberal in communicating it to others, and not
|
|
suffer ourselves to be oppressed with inordinate care and grief about
|
|
the world. We must eat our bread as Israelites, <I>not in our
|
|
mourning</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+26:14">Deut. xxvi. 14</A>),
|
|
|
|
as Christians, <I>with gladness and</I> liberality <I>of heart,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+2:46">Acts ii. 46</A>.
|
|
|
|
See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+28:47">Deut. xxviii. 47</A>.
|
|
|
|
[2.] "Make use of the comforts and enjoyments which God has given thee:
|
|
<I>Eat thy bread, drink thy wine,</I> thine, not another's, not <I>the
|
|
bread of deceit,</I> nor <I>the wine of violence,</I> but that which is
|
|
honestly got, else thou canst not eat it with any comfort nor expect a
|
|
blessing upon it--<I>thy bread</I> and <I>thy wine,</I> such as are
|
|
agreeable to thy place and station, not extravagantly above it nor
|
|
sordidly below it; lay out what God has given thee for the ends for
|
|
which thou art entrusted with it, as being but a steward."
|
|
|
|
[3.] "Evidence thy cheerfulness
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Let thy garments be always white.</I> Observe a proportion in thy
|
|
expenses; reduce not thy food in order to gratify thy pride, nor thy
|
|
clothing in order to gratify thy voluptuousness. Be neat, wear clean
|
|
linen, and be not slovenly." Or, "<I>Let thy garments be white</I> in
|
|
token of joy and cheerfulness," which were expressed by <I>white
|
|
raiment</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+3:4">Rev. iii. 4</A>);
|
|
|
|
"and as a further token of joy, <I>let thy head lack no ointment</I>
|
|
that is fit for it." Our Saviour admitted this piece of pleasure at a
|
|
feast
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+26:7">Matt. xxvi. 7</A>),
|
|
|
|
and David observes it among the gifts of God's bounty to him.
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+23:5">Ps. xxiii. 5</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>Thou anointest my head with oil.</I> Not that we must place our
|
|
happiness in any of the delights of sense, or set our hearts upon them,
|
|
but what God has given us we must make as comfortable a use of as we
|
|
can afford, under the limitations of sobriety and wisdom, and not
|
|
forgetting the poor.
|
|
|
|
[4.] "Make thyself agreeable to thy relations: <I>Live joyfully with
|
|
the wife whom thou lovest.</I> Do not engross thy delights, making much
|
|
of thyself only, and not caring what becomes of those about thee, but
|
|
let them share with thee and make them easy too. Have a wife; for even
|
|
in paradise <I>it was not good for man to be alone.</I> Keep to thy
|
|
wife, to one, and do not multiply wives" (Solomon had found the
|
|
mischief of that); "keep to her only, and have nothing to do with any
|
|
other." How can a man live joyfully with one with whom he does not live
|
|
honestly? "Love thy wife; and <I>the wife whom thou lovest</I> thou
|
|
wilt be likely to <I>live joyfully with.</I>" When we do the duty of
|
|
relations we may expect the comfort of them. See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+5:19">Prov. v. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
"Live with thy wife, and delight in her society. <I>Live joyfully with
|
|
her,</I> and be most cheerful when thou art with her. Take pleasure in
|
|
thy family, thy vine and thy olive plants."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) The qualifications necessary to this cheerfulness: "Rejoice and
|
|
have <I>a merry heart,</I> if <I>God now accepts thy works.</I> If thou
|
|
art reconciled to God, and recommended to him, then thou has reason to
|
|
be cheerful, otherwise not." <I>Rejoice not, O Israel! for joy, as
|
|
other people, for thou hast gone a whoring from thy God,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+9:1">Hos. ix. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
Our first care must be to make our peace with God, and obtain his
|
|
favour, to do that which he will accept of, and then, <I>Go thy way,
|
|
eat thy bread with joy.</I> Note, Those whose works God has accepted
|
|
have reason to be cheerful and ought to be so. 'Now that thou eatest
|
|
the bread of thy sacrifices <I>with joy,</I> and partakest of the wine
|
|
of thy drink-offerings <I>with a merry heart,</I> now <I>God accepts
|
|
thy works.</I> Thy religious services, when performed with holy joy,
|
|
are pleasing to God; he loves to have his servants sing at their work,
|
|
it proclaims him a good Master.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(3.) The reasons for it. "Live joyfully, for,"
|
|
|
|
[1.] "It is all little enough to make thy passage through this world
|
|
easy and comfortable: <I>The days of thy life</I> are the days <I>of
|
|
thy vanity;</I> there is nothing here but trouble, and disappointment.
|
|
Thou wilt have time enough for sorrow and grief when thou canst not
|
|
help it, and therefore <I>live joyfully</I> while thou canst, and
|
|
perplex not thyself with thoughts and cares about to-morrow;
|
|
<I>sufficient to the day is the evil thereof.</I> Let a gracious
|
|
serenity of mind be a powerful antidote against the vanity of the
|
|
world."
|
|
|
|
[2.] "It is all thou canst get from this world: <I>That is thy portion
|
|
in</I> the things of <I>this life.</I> In God, and another life, thou
|
|
shalt have a better portion, and a better recompence for thy labours in
|
|
religion; but for thy pains <I>which thou takest</I> about the things
|
|
<I>under the sun</I> this is all thou canst expect, and therefore do
|
|
not deny this to thyself."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Let us apply ourselves to the business of life while life lasts, and
|
|
so use the enjoyments of it as by them to be fitted for the
|
|
employments: "Therefore <I>eat with joy</I> and <I>a merry heart,</I>
|
|
not that thy soul may take its ease (as
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+12:19">Luke xii. 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
but that thy soul may take the more pains and the joy of the Lord may
|
|
be its strength and oil to its wheels,"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Whatsoever thy hand finds to do do it with thy might.</I> Observe
|
|
here,
|
|
|
|
(1.) There is not only something to be had, but something to be done,
|
|
in this life, and the chief good we are to enquire after is <I>the good
|
|
we should do,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:3">Eccl. ii. 3</A>.
|
|
|
|
This is the world of service; that to come is the world of recompence.
|
|
This is the world of probation and preparation for eternity; we are
|
|
here upon business, and upon our good behaviour.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Opportunity is to direct and quicken duty. That is to be done
|
|
which <I>our hand finds to do,</I> which occasion calls for; and an
|
|
active hand will always find something to do that will turn to a good
|
|
account. What must be done, of necessity, our hand will here find a
|
|
price in it for the doing of,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+17:16">Prov. xvii. 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
(3.) What good we have an opportunity of doing we must do while we have
|
|
the opportunity, and <I>do it with our might,</I> with care, vigour,
|
|
and resolution, whatever difficulties and discouragements we may meet
|
|
with in it. Harvest-days are busy days; and we must make hay while the
|
|
sun shines. Serving God and working out our salvation must be done
|
|
with <I>all that is within us,</I> and all little enough.
|
|
|
|
(4.) There is good reason why we should <I>work the works of him that
|
|
sent us while it is day, because the night comes, wherein no man can
|
|
work,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+9:4">John ix. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
We must up and be doing now with all possible diligence, because our
|
|
doing-time will be done shortly and we know not how soon. But this we
|
|
know that, if the work of life be not done when our time is done, we
|
|
are undone for ever: "<I>There is no work</I> to be done, <I>nor
|
|
device</I> to do it, <I>no knowledge</I> for speculation, <I>nor
|
|
wisdom</I> for practice, <I>in the grave whither thou goest.</I>" We
|
|
are all going towards the grave; every day brings us a step nearer to
|
|
it; when we are <I>in the grave</I> it will be too late to mend the
|
|
errors of life, too late to repent and make our peace with God, too
|
|
late to lay up any thing in store for eternal life; it must be done now
|
|
or never. The grave is a land of darkness and silence, and therefore
|
|
there is no doing any thing for our souls there; it must be done now or
|
|
never,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+12:35">John xii. 35</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ec9_11"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec9_12"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Disappointment of Hopes.</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>11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race <I>is</I> not to
|
|
the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the
|
|
wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to
|
|
men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
|
|
12 For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are
|
|
taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the
|
|
snare; so <I>are</I> the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it
|
|
falleth suddenly upon them.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The preacher here, for a further proof of the vanity of the world, and
|
|
to convince us that <I>all our works are in the hand of God,</I> and
|
|
not in our own hand, shows the uncertainty and contingency of future
|
|
events, and how often they contradict the prospects we have of them. He
|
|
had exhorted us
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>)
|
|
|
|
to do what we have to do <I>with all our might;</I> but here he reminds
|
|
us that, when we have done all, we must leave the issue with God, and
|
|
not be confident of the success.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. We are often disappointed of the good we had great hopes of,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
Solomon had himself made the observation, and so has many a one since,
|
|
that events, both in public and private affairs, do not always agree
|
|
even with the most rational prospects and probabilities. <I>Nulli
|
|
fortuna tam dedita est ut multa tentanti ubique
|
|
respondeat</I>--<I>Fortune surrenders herself to no one so as to ensure
|
|
him success, however numerous his undertakings.</I> Seneca. The issue
|
|
of affairs is often unaccountably cross to every one's expectation,
|
|
that the highest may not presume, nor the lowest despair, but all may
|
|
live in a humble dependence upon God, from whom every man's judgment
|
|
proceeds.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. He gives instances of disappointment, even where means and
|
|
instruments were most encouraging and promised fair.
|
|
|
|
(1.) One would think that the lightest of foot should, in running, win
|
|
the prize; and yet <I>the race is not</I> always <I>to the swift;</I>
|
|
some accident happens to retard them, or they are too secure, and
|
|
therefore remiss, and let those that are slower get the start of them.
|
|
|
|
(2.) One would think that, in fighting, the most numerous and powerful
|
|
army should be always victorious, and, in single combat, that the bold
|
|
and mighty champion should win the laurel; but <I>the battle is not</I>
|
|
always <I>to the strong;</I> a host of Philistines was once put to
|
|
flight by Jonathan and his man; <I>one of you shall chase a
|
|
thousand;</I> the goodness of the cause has often carried the day
|
|
against the most formidable power.
|
|
|
|
(3.) One would think that men of sense should always be men of
|
|
substance, and that those who know how to live in the world should not
|
|
only have a plentiful maintenance, but get great estates; and yet it
|
|
does not always prove so; even <I>bread is not</I> always <I>to the
|
|
wise,</I> much less <I>riches</I> always <I>to men of
|
|
understanding.</I> Many ingenious men, and men of business, who were
|
|
likely to thrive in the world, have strangely gone backward and come to
|
|
nothing.
|
|
|
|
(4.) One would think that those who understand men, and have the art of
|
|
management, should always get preferment and obtain the smiles of great
|
|
men; but many ingenious men have been disappointed, and have spent
|
|
their days in obscurity, nay, have fallen into disgrace, and perhaps
|
|
have ruined themselves by those very methods by which they hoped to
|
|
raise themselves, for <I>favour is not</I> always <I>to men of
|
|
skill,</I> but fools are favoured and wise men frowned upon.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He resolves all these disappointments into an over-ruling power and
|
|
providence, the disposals of which to us seem casual, and we call them
|
|
<I>chance,</I> but really they are according to the determinate counsel
|
|
and foreknowledge of God, here called <I>time,</I> in the language of
|
|
this book,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:1,Ps+31:15"><I>ch.</I> iii. 1; Ps. xxxi. 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Time and chance happen to them all.</I> A sovereign Providence
|
|
breaks men's measures, and blasts their hopes, and teaches them that
|
|
the way of man is not in himself, but subject to the divine will. We
|
|
must use means, but not trust to them; if we succeed, we must give God
|
|
the praise
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:3">Ps. xliv. 3</A>);
|
|
|
|
if we be crossed, we must acquiesce in his will and take our lot.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. We are often surprised with the evils we were in little fear of
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Man knows not his time,</I> the time of his calamity, his fall, his
|
|
death, which, in scripture, is called <I>our day</I> and <I>our
|
|
hour.</I>
|
|
|
|
1. We know not what troubles are before us, which will take us off our
|
|
business, and take us out of the world, what <I>time and chance will
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happen to us,</I> nor what <I>one day,</I> or a night, <I>may bring
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forth.</I> It is <I>not for us to know the times,</I> no, not our own
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time, when or how we shall die. God has, in wisdom, kept us in the
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dark, that we may be always ready.
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2. Perhaps we may meet with trouble in that very thing wherein we
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promise ourselves the greatest satisfaction and advantage; as the
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fishes and the birds are drawn into the snare and net by the bait laid
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|
to allure them, which they greedily catch at, so are the sons of men
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often <I>snared in an evil time,</I> when it falls suddenly upon them,
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|
before they are aware. And these things too <I>come alike to all.</I>
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Men often find their bane where they sought their bless, and catch
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their death where they thought to find a prize. Let us therefore never
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be secure, but always ready for changes, that, though they may be
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sudden, they may be no surprise or terror to us.</P>
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<A NAME="Ec9_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec9_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec9_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec9_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec9_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec9_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Advantages of Wisdom.</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>13 This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it <I>seemed</I>
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great unto me:
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14 <I>There was</I> a little city, and few men within it; and there
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|
came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great
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|
bulwarks against it:
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15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his
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|
wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor
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|
man.
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16 Then said I, Wisdom <I>is</I> better than strength: nevertheless
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|
the poor man's wisdom <I>is</I> despised, and his words are not heard.
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17 The words of wise <I>men are</I> heard in quiet more than the cry
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|
of him that ruleth among fools.
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18 Wisdom <I>is</I> better than weapons of war: but one sinner
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|
destroyeth much good.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Solomon still recommends wisdom to us as necessary to the preserving of
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|
our peace and the perfecting of our business, notwithstanding the
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|
vanities and crosses which human affairs are subject to. He had said
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|
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
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|
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|
<I>Bread is not always to the wise;</I> yet he would not therefore be
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|
thought either to disparage, or to discourage, wisdom, no, he still
|
|
retains his principle, that <I>wisdom excels folly as much as light
|
|
excels darkness</I>
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|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:13"><I>ch.</I> ii. 13</A>),
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|
|
|
and we ought to love and embrace it, and be governed by it, for the
|
|
sake of its own intrinsic worth, and the capacity it gives us of being
|
|
serviceable to others, though we ourselves should not get wealth and
|
|
preferment by it. This wisdom, that is, this which he here describes,
|
|
wisdom which enables a man to serve his country out of pure affection
|
|
to its interests, when he himself gains no advantage by it, no, not so
|
|
much as thanks for his pains, or the reputation of it, this is the
|
|
wisdom which, Solomon says, <I>seemed great unto him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
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|
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|
A public spirit, in a private sphere, is wisdom which those who
|
|
understand things that differ cannot but look upon as very
|
|
magnificent.</P>
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|
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<P>
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|
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|
I. Solomon here gives an instance, which probably was a case in fact,
|
|
in some neighbouring country, of a <I>poor man</I> who with his wisdom
|
|
did great service in a time of public distress and danger
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>There was a little city</I> (no great prize, whoever was master of
|
|
it); there were but <I>few men within it,</I> to defend it, and men, if
|
|
men of fortitude, are the best fortifications of a city; here were
|
|
<I>few men,</I> and, because few, feeble, fearful, and ready to give up
|
|
their city as not tenable. Against this little city a <I>great king</I>
|
|
came with a numerous army, and besieged it, either in pride, or
|
|
covetousness to possess it, or in revenge for some affront given him,
|
|
to chastise and destroy it. Thinking it stronger than it was, he
|
|
<I>built great bulwarks against it,</I> from which to batter it, and
|
|
doubted not but in a little time to make himself master of it. What a
|
|
great deal of unjust vexation do ambitious princes give to their
|
|
harmless neighbours! This <I>great king</I> needed not fear this
|
|
<I>little city;</I> why then should he frighten it? It would be little
|
|
profit to him; why then should he put himself to such a great expense
|
|
to gain it? But as unreasonable and insatiably greedy as little people
|
|
sometimes are to <I>lay house to house, and field to field,</I> great
|
|
kings often are to lay city to city, and province to province, <I>that
|
|
they may be placed alone in the earth,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:8">Isa. v. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
Did victory and success attend the <I>strong?</I> No; there was found
|
|
in this little city, among the few men that were in it, <I>one poor
|
|
wise man</I>--a wise man, and yet poor, and not preferred to any place
|
|
of profit or power in the city; places of trust were not given to men
|
|
according to their merit, and meetness for them, else such a wise man
|
|
as this would not have been a poor man. Now,
|
|
|
|
1. Being wise, he served the city, though he was poor. In their
|
|
distress they found him out
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+11:7">Judg. xi. 7</A>)
|
|
|
|
and begged his advice and assistance; and <I>he by his wisdom delivered
|
|
the city,</I> either by prudent instructions given to the besieged,
|
|
directing them to some unthought-of stratagem for their own security,
|
|
or by a prudent treaty with the besiegers, as the woman at Abel,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+20:16">2 Sam. xx. 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
He did not upbraid them with the contempt they had put upon him, in
|
|
leaving him out of their council, nor tell them he was poor and had
|
|
nothing to lose, and therefore cared not what became of the city; but
|
|
he did his best for it, and was blessed with success. Note, Private
|
|
interests and personal resentments must always be sacrificed to public
|
|
good and forgotten when the common welfare is concerned.
|
|
|
|
2. Being poor, he was slighted by the city, though he was wise and had
|
|
been an instrument to save them all from ruin: <I>No man remembered
|
|
that same poor man;</I> his good services were not taken notice of, no
|
|
recompence was made him, no marks of honour were put upon him, but he
|
|
lived in as much poverty and obscurity as he had done before. <I>Riches
|
|
were not</I> to this <I>man of understanding,</I> nor <I>favour to</I>
|
|
this <I>man of skill.</I> Many who have well-merited of their prince
|
|
and country have been ill-paid; such an ungrateful world do we live in.
|
|
It is well that useful men have a God to trust to, who will be their
|
|
bountiful rewarder; for, among men, great services are often envied and
|
|
rewarded with evil for good.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. From this instance he draws some useful inferences, looks upon it
|
|
and receives instruction.
|
|
|
|
1. Hence he observes the great usefulness and excellency of wisdom, and
|
|
what a blessing it makes men to their country: <I>Wisdom is better than
|
|
strength,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
A prudent mind, which is the honour of a man, is to be preferred before
|
|
a robust body, in which many of the brute creatures excel man. A man
|
|
may by his wisdom effect that which he could never compass by his
|
|
strength, and may overcome those by out-witting them who are able to
|
|
overpower him. Nay, <I>wisdom is better than weapons of war,</I>
|
|
offensive or defensive,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Wisdom,</I> that is, religion and piety (for the wise man is here
|
|
opposed to a sinner), is better than all military endowments or
|
|
accoutrements, for it will engage God for us, and then we are safe in
|
|
the greatest perils and successful in the greatest enterprises. <I>If
|
|
God be for us, who can be against us</I> or stand before us?
|
|
|
|
2. Hence he observes the commanding force and power of wisdom, though
|
|
it labour under external disadvantages
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>The words of wise men are heard in quiet;</I> what they speak, being
|
|
spoken calmly and with deliberation (though, not being rich and in
|
|
authority, they dare not speak aloud nor with any great assurance),
|
|
will be hearkened to and regarded, will gain respect, nay, will gain
|
|
the point, and sway with men more than the imperious clamour of him
|
|
that <I>rules among fools,</I> who, like fools, chose him to be their
|
|
ruler, for his noise and blustering, and, like fools, think he must by
|
|
those methods carry the day with every body else. A few close arguments
|
|
are worth a great many big words; and those will strike sail to fair
|
|
reasoning who will answer those that hector and insult <I>according to
|
|
their folly. How forcible are right words!</I> What is spoken wisely
|
|
should be spoken calmly, and then it will be heard in quiet and calmly
|
|
considered. But passion will lessen the force even of reason, instead
|
|
of adding any force to it.
|
|
|
|
3. Hence he observes that wise and good men, notwithstanding this, must
|
|
often content themselves with the satisfaction of having done good, or
|
|
at least attempted it, and offered at it, when they cannot do the good
|
|
they would do nor have the praise they should have. Wisdom capacitates
|
|
a man to serve his neighbours, and he offers his service; but, alas! if
|
|
he be poor his wisdom is despised and <I>his words are not heard,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
Many a man is buried alive in poverty and obscurity who, if he had but
|
|
fit encouragement given him, might be a great blessing to the world;
|
|
many a pearl is lost in its shell. But there is a day coming when
|
|
wisdom and goodness shall be in honour, and the <I>righteous shall
|
|
shine forth.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. From what he had observed of the great good which one wise and
|
|
virtuous man may do he infers what a great deal of mischief one wicked
|
|
man may do, and what a great deal of good he may be the hindrance of:
|
|
<I>One sinner destroyeth much good.</I>
|
|
|
|
(1.) As to himself, a sinful condition is a wasteful condition. How
|
|
many of the good gifts both of nature and Providence does one sinner
|
|
destroy and make waste of--good sense, good parts, good learning, a
|
|
good disposition, a good estate, good meat, good drink, and abundance
|
|
of God's good creatures, all made use of in the service of sin, and so
|
|
destroyed and lost, and the end of giving them frustrated and
|
|
perverted! He who destroys his own soul destroys much good.
|
|
|
|
(2.) As to others, what a great deal of mischief may one wicked man do
|
|
in a town or country! One sinner, who makes it his business to debauch
|
|
others, may defeat and frustrate the intentions of a great many good
|
|
laws and a great deal of good preaching, and draw many into his
|
|
pernicious ways; one sinner may be the ruin of a town, as one Achan
|
|
troubled the whole camp of Israel. The wise man who delivered the city
|
|
would have had his due respect and recompence for it but that some one
|
|
sinner hindered it, and invidiously diminished the service. And many a
|
|
good project, well laid for the public welfare, had been destroyed by
|
|
some one subtle adversary to it. The wisdom of some would have healed
|
|
the nation, but, through the wickedness of a few, it would not be
|
|
healed. See who are a kingdom's friends and enemies, if one saint does
|
|
much good, and one sinner destroys much good.</P>
|
|
|
|
<!-- (End Body) -->
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