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