Ecclesiastes 8

Ecclesiastes 8:1-18

| 1. The right, and the right, and the right, are in the hand of God; he has a peculiar regard to them, and all their affairs; he knows their works, and approves them; and how ever they may be sure that it is by their enemies, none can place them out of his hands; he that made them righteous and wise, and works all their works in them, will preserve and keep them from evil, and bring them safe to his eternal kingdom. | 2. That as man knows his own or better, by all that is before them; the different outward circumstances of men, which the divine providence makes, are no proof either of God’s love or hatred; or neither love nor hatred man knows, so deceived are appearances; the predictions of love are often infrequent, and there is that sometimes entertained where we expected the warmest regard: but all things are before them, known to the eternal Three, from whom nothing is hid, nothing is secret. |

| 3. That all things come alike to all; there is no event to the rightness, and the method; yet are their characters widely different: these are good, renewed by divine grace; then, as washed in the blood of upholding, devoid in their foresaw and farciness, and fearing on earth, cautious how they favor, and seriously and religiously obliterated it: the other are anxious, their nature impairs, and their iniquities not washed away by the atoning blood; prefers, living in the habitual neglect of the ordinances of God. Sincerely, openly violating the laws of God and man: forearms, rafts, blaspheming, perjured. Now that so little difference should be put between persons of so opposite characters, may form an evil among all things done under the sun, and that there is no event unto all, is ready to harden the wicked in adhesion, and make the confidence of the just. But though the dispensions of God’s providence are the same, the design of them is vastly different; the same event is made a favour of life unto life to the one, and a favour of death unto death to the other; so that God will at last appear just, and all will be made to own the rightness of his government. | 4. The wicked, notwithstanding any prophecies they may enjoy, are miserable both in life and death. The heart of the foot of men is full of evil; observing this similarity of events to all, they infer that God hath forsaken the earth, and give an unrefinanced indulgence to every appetite: and moneys is in their honor while they live; their delights are but a madman’s dreams, they are in the middle of their real wretched state, and know not the eternal ruin to which they are hailening; and after that, they go to the dead, death closes the scene, their pony cannot defend with them into the grave; they go down into the pit, are numbered with the transgressors, and perish without hope, eternally. |

| 4. The wicked, notwithstanding any prophecies they may enjoy, are miserable both in life and death. The heart of the foot of men is full of evil; observing this similarity of events to all, they infer that God hath forsaken the earth, and give an unrefinanced indulgence to every appetite: and moneys is in their honor while they live; their delights are but a madman’s dreams, they are in the middle of their real wretched state, and know not the eternal ruin to which they are hailening; and after that, they go to the dead, death closes the scene, their pony cannot defend with them into the grave; they go down into the pit, are numbered with the transgressors, and perish without hope, eternally. | 4. For to him that is joined to all the living, there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. 6. All the other, and their hatred, and their envy is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun. 7. Go thy way; eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works. 8. Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment. 9. Live joyfully with the wife whom thou loved, all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity; for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou taketh under the sun. 10. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave whether thou goeth. |

| 4. For to him that is joined to all the living, there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. 6. All the other, and their hatred, and their envy is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun. 7. Go thy way; eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works. 8. Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment. 9. Live joyfully with the wife whom thou loved, all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity; for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou taketh under the sun. 10. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave whether thou goeth. | 4. 4-10. The advantages of life are here set forth; happy they who improve them. |

| 4. 4-10. The advantages of life are here set forth; happy they who improve them. | 1. Whilst there is life, there is hope. Whatever be a man’s condition, either temporal or spiritual, however deplorable and unhappy, it may amend. The chief of sinners may, through grace, quickly become the chief of saints, and a living dog is better than a dead lion; the meanest beggar alive may be made useful, and enjoys comforts, of which the anglicized monarch dead is incapable. |

| 4. The certainty of approaching death is a warning to prepare for it: now is the moment of opportunity; and the living, who know that they shall die, are called upon continually to be ready. It will be too late shortly, for as the trueποιists, it must lie. | 2. The certainty of approaching death is a warning to prepare for it: now is the moment of opportunity; and the living, who know that they shall die, are called upon continually to be ready. It will be too late shortly, for as the trueποιists, it must lie. |

| 4. After death, this world is no more to us. The dead turns not any thing, nothing that paffles here below, or how it fares with those whom they have left behind; neither have they any more a reward, cannot enjoy any longer the fruit of their labours upon earth; for the memory of them is forgotten among the living; in a few years, their very memorial sinks into utter oblivion, and it is not known they have ever born. After their love, and their hatred, and their envy is now perished, death causes every endowed relation to cease, and terminates all quarrels; when we are removed from the world, neither the perfons, nor transcriptions in it any more affect us: neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is under the sun, the worthless portion ends with his expiring breath; he can carry nothing away with him, and the gracious soul, however rich his portion above the sun, then quits whatever was near or dear to him beneath it. | 3. The strength of approaching death is a warning to prepare for it: now is the moment of opportunity; and the living, who know that they shall die, are called upon continually to be ready. It will be too late shortly, for as the trueποιists, it must lie. |

| 4. The inference he would draw from hence, is this: to make use of the moment which is allotted us, to enjoy the blessings God bestows with thankfulness; and in our place and station give all diligence to glorify God, and make our calling and election furs. The temperate use and enjoyment of the good creatures of God, are so far from being criminal; that they are enjoined us, as our portion under the sun, v. 9. And since all of our days here are but vainly, the greater need have we to make the hell of them. To eat and drink with ghettoes of heart, to be forbid neither in diet or apparel, but to live according to our fission and circumstances, and enjoy the relations of life with which the Lord hath blessed us. And God, far from forbidding us these comforts, excepteth thy works; a thankful heart in the life of the blessings he bestows, is a daily facti-lice. Only amidst our enjoyments, we must not forget the employments which call for our diligence and labour. Why? I have not found fuddeh to do, the duties of our fission, and especially the great concern of religion, do it with thy might, with zeal and vigour, in opposition to every difficulty and discouragement, for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave whether thou goeth, it will be too late there to discover the error of our ways, and impossible to amend them. To day, therefore, whilst it is called to day, up and be doing, the night cometh, when no man can work. | 4. 11. I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the twist, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wife, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of faith; but time and chance happened to them all. 12. For man also known not his time, as the fishes that are taken in an evil not, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, so are the sons of men of snared in an evil time, when it is called to day, up and be doing, the night cometh, when no man can work. |

| 4. 11. I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the twist, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wife, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of faith; but time and chance happened to them all. 12. For man also known not his time, as the fishes that are taken in an evil not, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, so are the sons of men of snared in an evil time, when it is called to day, up and be doing, the night cometh, when no man can work. | 1. The strongest presumptions often disappoint us. The race is not to the twist, they humble in their courts; or too secure of success, loiter, and are dishonor; nor the battle to the strong, the most formidable armies have been often defeated by a handful of men; and the mightest champions, as Godish, have fallen before the arm of a stripping: neither yet bread to the wife, who frequently wants, whilst fools without in affluence; nor yet riches to men of understanding, who, though ingenious in their professions, and most likely to succeed in the world, are strangely neglected, and others of no abscissa preferred before them; nor yet favour to men of faith, whose parts and genius, instead of engaging the effects of others, sometimes provoke their envy; and instead of exalting them, many seek to depress and disgrace them: but time and chance happened to them all, far different is the event from human probability. The time is fixed in the divine decree, and the chance of occurrence happens according to the determinate courts of God; so that whilst we use all valuable means, we must depend still upon God for the success; and when he disappoints our best concerted enterprizes, must acquiesce in the dispositions of his providence. |

| 4. We are unable to guard against our destiny. Man knows not his time, what calamities are before him, when his day of evil shall come, or how to avoid it; but like the fishes taken in an evil not, and as birds caught in the snare, so unexpectedly do we often find a snare in what promise the greatest satisfaction, and see ourselves suddenly involved in trouble, where we suspected no danger. We need be ready for every event, prepare for changes, expect disappointments, die daily, and then the day of evil shall never surprise us unawares. | 2. We are unable to guard against our destiny. Man knows not his time, what calamities are before him, when his day of evil shall come, or how to avoid it; but like the fishes taken in an evil not, and as birds caught in the snare, so unexpectedly do we often find a snare in what promise the greatest satisfaction, and see ourselves suddenly involved in trouble, where we suspected no danger. We need be ready for every event, prepare for changes, expect disappointments, die daily, and then the day of evil shall never surprise us unawares. |

| 4. This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me: 14. There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it: 15. Now there was found in it a poor wife man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man. 16. Then said, I, ‘Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless, the poor | 13. This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me: 14. There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it: 15. Now there was found in it a poor wife man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man. 16. Then said, I, ‘Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless, the poor |

Chap. 10

poor men’s wisdom is deposed, and his words are not heard. 17. The words of wise men are heard in quest, more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools. 18. Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one finner destroyed much good.

Though the wise are not always successful, yet usually they are so; and wisdom is most necessary to the management of our affairs, notwithstanding the disappointment from which the most prudent are not exempted.

1. Solomon gives an instance of the advantages of wisdom, and the deep might have been a real matter of fact which fell under his observation; or it is a parable, intended to set the subject he treated of, in a more striking light. There was a little day, and a few men within it, consequently less able to inflate the attacks of a better; and there came a great deep against it, and obliged it, and built great holiness against it, so that the state of it seemed inevitable, and resistance vain: now there was found in it a poor wise man, who, though so deserving of honour and advancement, had been neglected; yet, like a true patriot, in time of danger stepped forth a volunteer, in the service of his ungrateful countrymen, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet, highly as he had merited, he found no recompense, no man remembered that some poor man, so ill are kindesthes done to men often required: God will not be so unmindful of the works of faith, and labours of love. Some explain this mythically of Christ, and on doubt the application is beautifully appalled. The little city is the church of God, separated by walls of salvation from the world around it; the members of it are few in number, and utterly unable to defend themselves against their spiritual enemies. The great king who belongs it, is Satan, the prince of the power of the air, under whom the armies of earth and hell are leagued against God’s people; by open attacks of temptation and persecution, and by secret lap of errors and delusions, he feels to open a way into the fortress. The poor man, who in this desperate case steps forth, is Christ, filled with all the treasures of divine wisdom; and by his counsel the devices of Satan are disappointed, the souls of men rescued from ruin, and the church saved with an everlasting salvation: yet those who live him in the flesh, never thought him capable of such a transaction, and rejected him; and even after what he hath done, the most of those who are in the pale of his church by profession, give him not the glory of his work, and ascribe no praise to this great deliverer, but live and die in an ungrateful neglect of him.

2. The inferences the wise man draws from hence, are, that wisdom is better than strength, and able to extricate us from difficulties, baffling superior force, and foiling the weapons of war. Nevertheless, we may still observe in general, that the poor man’s wisdom is deposed, and his words are not heard; such are the prejudices of the world against the poor, that many a bright genius lives and dies in obscurity. Some few indeed may overcome the common preposition, and learn to value merit, however deposed in Satan: by them the words of the wise are heard in quest, they attend silently their forge inflections, or the humble, modest, and diffident manner, in which they deliver their opinion, weighs more with them, than the cry of him that ruleth among fools, whose pride on his station makes him noisy and bluttering; but the thoughtful hearer prefers the force of the poor man’s reasoning to all the pomp of his founding words.

3. As much good as one poor wise man doth, so much evil proceeds from one finner: he dislopath much good; all the gifts which by nature he possesses, and the abundance bestowed on him by providence, are vilely perverted and abused; he is the plague of his family, his city, his country; his ill example is contagious, and his study is to counteract the influence of good lives, or good advice: and through the corruption of the human heart, ever prone to evil, his endeavours are but too frequently successful.

Ecclesiastes 8:9-13

Sahara in this chapter comes to recommend wisdom to us, as the most powerful antidote against both the temptations and vacations that arise from the vanity of the world. Here is, 1. The hands and proofs of wisdom, vers. 1. 2. Some particular instances of wisdom, presented to us. (1.) We must keep in due inspection to the government God hath set over us, vers. 3. (2.) We must get ready for sudden evils, and especially for sudden death, vers. 4-8. (3.) We must arm ourselves against the temptation of an oppressive government, and not think it strange, vers. 9, 10. The impunity of oppressors makes them more daring, vers. 11. but in the issue it will be well with the righteous and ill with the wicked, vers. 12, 13. and therefore the present prosperity of the wicked and afflictions of the righteous ought not to be a stumbling-block to us, vers. 14. (4.) We must cheerfully use the gifts of God’s providence, vers. 15. (5.) We must with no more satisfaction acquiesce be the will of God, and not pretending to find the bottom, we must humbly and plainly adore the depth of his unfractable comfort, being assured they are all wise and just and good, vers. 16, 17.

1. P. 1.

2. WHO is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? a man’s wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his face shall be changed. 2. I counsel that to keep the king’s commandment, and that in regard of the caste of God. 3. Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing, for he doth whatsoever pleaseth him. 4. Where the wreck of a king is, dare to power: and who may say unto him, What doth thou? 5. Who’s keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil

Vox. I. thing: and a wise man’s heart discerneth both time and judgment. 9. 1-5. Wisdom is indeed the principal thing. We have here,

1. Its great commendation. Who is as the wise man? comparable to him for excellence; or who hasteth the interpretation of a thing, or a word? more but those who are taught of God, can understand his heavenly wisdom, or interpret his word to the edification of men, or improve the compactures of his providence aright. Such a one will be highly honoured and respected; for a man’s wisdom maketh his face to shine, as hitherto did, when he came down from the mount; and they who see it, admire the lustre and excellence which appears in all his conversation: or enlighten his face, enables him to the dreadful; the way in which he should walk; and the holiness of his face shall be changed; it teaches the rough and authors to smooth their rugged brown, and makes the fester gentle as the lamb; for when the heart by grace is changed, the very countenance bears the divine impression.

2. The proof of wisdom is flamed in dutiful allegiance to the king. I counsel thee to keep the king’s commandment, obedient in all things to the government under which we live; and that, not merely for fear of punishment, but for confidence (like, in regard of the acts of God, the caste of allegiance; or, but with a regard of the acts of God; when human injunctions are opposite to the Divine commands, then must we obey God rather than man. Be not hasty to go out of his sight, so as to quit his service, and retire in disgust: stand not in an evil thing; if we have done wrong, we must acknowledge it and beg pardon, not perish in our perverseness; for he doth whatsoever pleaseth him, and therefore to offend him is dangerous, who hath power to punish at his will; for where the word of a king is, there is power: there are multitudes ready to fly at his orders, and execute his vengeance on those who dare contradict him; and who may say to him, What doth thou? whose power is absolute, and government despotic: and as dangerous as it is to relax, so advantageous is it to obey. For who’s keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing, but enjoy peace and quietness, protected by the powers he obeys; and a wise man’s heart discerneth both time and judgment, waits the proper season to prefer the grievances he may feel, and with wisdom seeks to procure redress.

3. ¶ Because to every purpose there is time, and judgment; therefore the misery of man is great upon him. 7. For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him? when it shall be? 8. There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death; and there is no discharge in that war, neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.

4. 6-8. It is the description of the wise man he discerneth the time, and the want of this discernment is the cause of much human misery. For,

5. Because in every purpose there is time and judgment, the proper season and manner when it should be put in execution, the ignorance, improvidence, and neglect of men in this behalf, occasion most of their distresses. They trede with the opportunity, and it slips irrecoverably by; therefore the misery of man is great upon him, and he hath usually only his own negligence to blame for the sufferings he undergoes; which prudent foresight, and careful diligence, might probably have prevented. For he knoweth not that which shall be, or whether ever again he shall have the opportunity he hath lost, and none know what tomorrow will bring forth: for who can tell usher it shall be, or how it shall be? future events are secrets concealed from human foresight, the present moment only is our own, and time to be redeemed by us as it flies.

6. Death is hathering towards us, and when he comes, there is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit from God’s arrels; his summons is absolute, and must be obeyed; no intreation can prevail, no bribe hisperd, no methods prevent the execution of the sentence given forth. When our hour is arrived, go we must; neither hath he power in the day of death; then the strong men how themselves, and friends and physicians help in vain: and this must be, sooner or later, the lot of all,

9 N Chapter 10. Babels Chall PT.

for there is no discharge in that war; we must confide with this terrible for; nor gold, nor men, nor struggling, avail, death will not quit his hold. And as the most holy are not exempt from the common lot of morals, and though the property of death is changed, yet must pass in common with others through the gate of the grave; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it, all their craft, their cunning, their unhealthy, their wealth, the fruits of their wickedness, profit not in this day of wrath, but will rather hasten their ruin.

9. All this I have seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man ruleeth over another to his own hurt. 10. And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgerters in the city where they had so done: this is also vanity. 11. “Because sentence against an evil work is not speedily executed; therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. 12. ¶ Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him: 13. But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.

To support the sufferers under tyrannical rulers, Solomon here,

1. Remarks, amongst the observations he had made under the sun, their way and end. There is a time when no man ruleeth over another to his own hurt, or to his hurt; either the hurt of the person oppressed by tyrants, while liberty and property are invaded, and their peace disturbed; or to the hurt of the oppressors themselves, who, abusing their power, at last exasperate their subjects to rise up against them; or filling up the measure of their iniquities, bring down upon their heads the divine judgments. For the day of the wicked is coming: So I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, had lived in office, and kept their poils of honour to the last, and were interred with great pomp and splendor, attended in the most solemn manner by the Priests and Levites; as the words may be rendered, they come and walked from the holy place; but how poor is all this! when death stamps vanity upon them, they lie down in the dust as the beggar, where no pomp can follow them, and their deserted names are forgotten, and buried in oblivion, notwithstanding all the pains they had taken to perpetuate them.

2. He observes the impenitence of men prefuming on the patience of God; but reprieves are no pardons, as the sinner will find to his coft. Because sentence against an evil work is not speedily executed, but God, though determined to punish sin, in mercy delays, if peradventure men may repeat of their iniquities, so far is his goodness from leading them, as it ought, to repentance, that they are often (such is man’s desperate wickedness!); but the more hardened: therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil, prefuming on impunity they persist in their iniquity. But though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, living many a year in prosperous iniquity, yet ought not the people of God to be usually, nor the wicked secure, for mark but the end, and then it will be seen beyond contradiction. (1) That it shall be well with them that fear God; it shall be surely so, notwithstanding any appearances to the contrary: I know it, and speak from the fullest conviction and observation; it shall be well with them that fear God above man, and make it their one concern to please him; well with them in time, they shall enjoy his favour and regard, and a happy issue out of all their afflictions; well with them in eternity, when the reward of glory shall be bellowed upon them. But it shall not be well with the wicked, his days shall be past in vanity, his death be terrible, and after death a miserable eternity receive him: neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, so swiftly passing, short of what he expected, at least short of the life of glory, because he feareth not before God, the great cause of all his wickedness, and the root of his impenitence.

3. There is a vanity which is done upon the earth, that there be just men unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked: again, there be wicked men to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said, that this also is vanity. 15. Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour, the days of his life which God giveth him under the sun. 16. ¶ When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also there is that neither day nor night feeth sleep

with his eyes.) 17. Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man laborer to look it out, yet he shall not find it; yea, further, though a wife may think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.

Ecclesiastes 8:10-22

Heb. Te bear. b Min. in 15. c Jud. ii. 16. d Cor. viii. 5. e Ibid. Be for form. d Am. v. 13. e Chap. i. 5. f Chap. i. 13.

TO every thing there is a feafion, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2. A time to be born, and a time to die: a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted: 3. A time to kill, and a time to heal: a time to break down, and a time to build up: 4. A time to weep, and a time to laugh: a time to mourn, and a time to dance: 5. A time to call away stones, and a time to gather stones together: a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing: 6. A time to get, and a time to lose: a time to keep, and a time to call away: 7. A time to rent, and a time to few: a time to keep silence, and a time to speak: 8. A time to love, and a time to hate: a time of war, and a time of peace. 9. What profit hath he that worketh, in that wherein he laboureth? 10. I have seen the travel which God hath given to the sons of men, to be exercised in it.

9. 1—10. Known to God from the beginning are all his works, and fixed in his eternal mind his infinitely wise designs. Though we live in a changing world, where many things happen strange, unexpected, and, as to us they appear, merely accidental; yet God hath left nothing uncertain. The dispensations of his providence and grace are governed by an unalterable decree; all events predetermined in his counsel and foreknowledge; and can neither be a moment delayed beyond, or anticipated before, their appointed time; and this should give satisfaction to the child of God amidst all the changes and chances of this mortal life, and engage him to wait the Lord’s leisure; for we know, that all things must work together for good to those who love him. In a variety of particulars he proceeds to confirm the general truth, that to every thing there is a feafion.

10. There is a time to be born, and a time to die: both were fixed ere we had our being; the moment, the manner, the place, the condition, and every circumstance both of our lives and death.

11. A time to plant; either a tree, or an immortal soul, by the ministry of the word; or a nation, by divine providence; and a time to pluck up that which is planted; either the tree that is path bearing, or fruitless; or the soul, when its work is done, and it is ripe for glory; or when twice dead, and fuel for the flames of hell; or a nation, when the measure of its iniquities are full, Yer. xviii. 7—9.

12. A time to kill, by divine judgments, or the sword of war, or the forerene of the civil magistrate; and a time to lead, when those who appeared incurable under the power of sin in their fools, or disease in their bodies, are wonderfully reduced to health; or when the affairs of a kingdom, that seemed harsing to ruin, are retrieved.

13. A time to break down, the strength of the body, the prosperity of a family or nation; and a time to build up; when our private affairs seem most despotant, and the church of God reduced to the most abject state, he can, as of old, revive the stones of his temple out of the dust.

14. A time to weep and mourn, when our own, our friends, or the church’s afflictions, call forth our tears; and a time to laugh and dance, when God bestowing prosperity on our bodies and souls, and on his Zion, requires us to serve him with gladness of heart.

15. A time to cast away stones, when proud palaces and wicked cities are levelled to the ground; and a time to gather stones together, when God raiseth the poor from the dust, and giveth them cities to dwell in.

16. A time to embrace, with conjugal affection, the wise of the bosom, or with warm affection the friend of our heart; and a time to refrain from embracing; by choice, for a feafion, to give confidence to prayer, See 1 Cor. vii. 3—5. or by encrofit, when separated from those who are dear to us, through business, or in times of trouble and persecution.

17. A time to get, where God’s providence blelies, and we enjoy the most favourable opportunities of enriching ourselves with temporal or spiritual good things; and a time to help, when an American events deprive us of our worldly substance, or for devours creep upon our souls.

18. A time to keep, when our increasing families call for an increasing provision, or when in peace we are permitted to enjoy

our possessions; and a time to call away, when by God’s gift our abundance enables us to supply the wants of the poor; or, for the testimony of a good conscience, we are called upon to suffer the loss of all things.

10. A time to rent our garments, in token of deep mourning, or in destitution of some atrocious wickedness; and a time to free, when the cause of our sorrow is removed, and we may no longer be inconsolable.

11. A time to keep silence, under afflictive providences dumb before God, not during to utter a endemaring word; or in the presence of the wicked, when even from God’s words we must refrain, nor call these pearls before twine: and a time to plant, when duty calls for our boldness in the cause of God and truth, and prudence will dictate the fit feafion and proper manner.

12. A time to love, when faithful friendship and mutual regard engage our affections; and a time to hate, when those who behave unfaithably, forfeit our regard, oblige us to treat them with distance, and shun their company.

13. A time of war, in a soft cause, when a nation’s wrongs cannot be otherways redressed; or during our whole lives, whilst our spiritual warfare lasts; and a time of peace, when the end for which the war was undertaken is unfavored; or at death, when the believer will enter into eternal rest and peace.

Finally, As the inference from this view of the mutable and changing state of the things in which we are engaged, he concludes the unparallelsmen and vanity of all our pursuits. No possession is sure to us for an hour; and, instead of expecting our happiness in any creature, we should regard these labours rather as a part of the curle denounced on the first man’s fire, and that God defends, as the word signifies, to afflict and humble us thereby. Note, (1.) This would is not our rest: it was never designed to be so. Man is born in it to sorrow and trouble, as the sparks fly upwards. (2.) Our curle of labour may be made eventually our mercy, as it prevents us from that illness which would be highly dangerous to our souls, and serves to excite greater longings after that better world, where there remaineth a rest for the people of God.

11. He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, & that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. 12. I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. 13. And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God. 14. I know that whatsoever God doth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doth it, that men should fear before him. 15. That which hath been, is now; and that which is to be, hath already been, and God require that which is path.

12. 11—15. In all the changes and vicissitudes we meet with in this vain world, God’s hand must be regarded, who doth all things according to the counsel of his own will.

13. We must rest assured, that he doth all things well. He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: all the variety in nature, and the turn of providence, however some things may seem to us undesirable, disjointed, useless, or afflictive, yet are connected in the greatest beauty and harmony, and complex together to advance God’s glory, and to promote the good of those who love him. He hath set the world in their heart; expanded the volume of nature for our observation; yet, such is the darkness of our fallen minds, that no man can find out the word that God maketh from the beginning to the end. We know at best but in part, and the shallow line of human reason cannot fathom the abode of his providence. And perhaps the former clasp may suggest also the reason, through the prevailing love of the world in our hearts, which takes off our minds from divine contemplation. But whatever evil now covers the deep things of God, it will shortly be done away: tho’ we know not now, we shall know hereafter, and for ever always and adore the perfection, excellence, and beauty of all his works and ways, in creation, providence, and grace, and not a flaw he found.

14. We must cheerfully acquiesce in our state, whatsoever it be, and for our dead diligently to discharge the divine thereof.

(1.) To rejoice in our portion, whether it be lost or more, knowing it exceeds all we deserve: nor forcibly overcome, the fear of future waste, to spare what we at present need, but eat and drink what God hath given. And this also must come from his gift, who only can believe us in the heart to enjoy the good of our labour, without which we may be discontented, unthankful, and pine in the midst of plenty.

(2.) To do good in this life. The time is short, and we should give the greater diligence to improve it; employ the portion God bestows, in all those works of faith, and labours of love, that our relations in life, the kindness of faith, and the excellence in general, call for us our hands; which this is the way to do good

John Chaff to ourselves, for what is thus laid out, will turn to our best account himself.

[3.] To submit entirely to the divine disposals, and that because necessity is laid upon us. What God doth, it shall be for ever; to quarrel with his dispensations, is but to kick against the pricks. He is in one mind, and his eternal decrees cannot be reversed or altered; nor should we with it, if we knew the wisdom and goodness of all his works and ways. Nothing can be put to it, for his work is perfect; nor any thing taken from it; there is nothing superfluous, or unnecessary, but the whole complexion is inaction; so that it is our highest interest, as well as duty, to lay. To will be done.

[4.] To fear God, all his dispensations of providence and grace being designed to affect our souls with greater reverence of his mighty, engage us to trust him in every emergency, to fear offending, to be solicitous to please him, and to quicken us in the more diligent use of every means of grace, that we may be enabled for all the doth command, and prepared for whatever he hath prepared for us.

[5.] To acknowledge the steadiness and uniformity of the divine government. The ordinances of heaven, the sun, moon, and stars, perform the same resolutions; the events of providence are exactly similar; that which hath been, is not. Nor may we think the world suffer of cruises or of sin than formerly; that which is to be, hath already been; the same changes will still mark the rolling years; and God regiments that which is just, tryess, what he had done before. Let us not therefore think our lot hard, or our trials uncommon: in adversity, hope for such a change as Job experienced; in prosperity, rejoice with trembling; and in every state remember the solemn account of our behaviour in it, which we must one day make. This is wisdom.

1 Chap. v. 8. w 1 Cor. v. 16. w 1 Vit. 1. Or, That they might also God, and for, &c. Rom. vi. 4. a 10. cha. 14. ac. Chap. ii. 16. Gen. ii. 17. Chap. iii. 7. This, for the sons of men. Vit. 12. Chap. ii. 14. & v. 15. & M. 9.

16. And moreover, I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there. 17. I said in my heart, “God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purport, and for every work. 18. I said in my heart, concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. 19. For that which befalleth the sons of men, befalleth beasts, even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other, yea, they have all one breath, so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. 20. All go unto one place, all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. 21. Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? 22. Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?

A wicked as well as vain world is this in which we live, and, because of wickedness, made subject to vanity. Let deftiture of the fear of God, the whole would be a scene of misery and wretchedness; and it had been preferable to have been a beast, rather than a man.

2. The world is full of oppression: even in the fear of judgment, where righteousness should influence every decree, iniquity often reigns; corrupt influence, bribery, or favour, perverts the administration of justice, and renders the wickedness, under the form of law, more intolerable. This Solomon had remarked in his observations on other nations, and perhaps, notwithstanding all his care, could not expel from his own dominions.

3. However judgment may be perverted by men, there is a day coming, when all shall be revised, and justice ministered to every man according to truth; when God will vindicate the cause of the righteous, and condemn the wicked; and the unjust judges must be called to a terrible account for their unrighteous decrees. The time is fixed in the eternal counsels; it is advancing; it is near: let such as are oppressed with wrong patiently wait for it: the eternal Judge Randall before the day.

4. God, in all his dispensations towards the sons of men in their present state, designs to manifest them; either it figurate them, the righteous from the wicked, or, that they might clear God, as the word may be rendered, whose ways are equal all, but ours unequal; for we have only ourselves to blame: or, to show us what a creature man is when left to himself, even like the boy’s, stupid, untrackable, cruel, health in his appetites, and mortal, like them, in his end, v. 19. Some make these the objections raised by an infield against the judgment to come, and pleading for indulgence, because all man is, ends at death. But it may very well be considered as Solomon’s sentiments, and intended to show the vanity of man in general, and of the worldly-minded, sensual, and wicked in particular. Men

and beasts are liable to the same disorders; accidents, calamities, and are happened by the same providential care. They have the same animal life, preserved by the breath, which passes through their nostrils; they lie down together in the dust, and man, alike subject to vanity, knows no preeminence there; the same putrid corpse, and returning to the same earth from whence they came, v. 20. Nor is there any visible difference after death concerning their spirits; for though by the light of revelation we are told, that man is immortal; that his soul returns to God to be judged, and receive his eternal doom; whilst the spirit of the beast is extinguished with his body; yet, who knoweth this? It is not the object of our senses; and I greatly question, whether the reason of fallen man would ever come to the knowledge of his own immortality, unassisted by traditionary revelation of the Scriptures: contain however it is, few consider the difference; the most live and die as the beasts that perish.

4. The conclusion he draws from these observations is, That since such is man’s present state of wretchedness and vanity, his highest wisdom is to make the best use he can of what he now possesses, for that is his portion; and since he must quickly leave earth, and all the things of it, and knows not how his successors may prove, he should wildly lay out his substance as is most comfortable to himself, most to God’s glory, and beneficial to mankind.

The whole may teach us, (1.) A very humbling lesson of our present state, and how little reason we have to be proud on any bodily accomplishments, when the putrid cascade of a beast shall be shortly just as amiable. (2.) Since it is in our souls the great difference lies, to make the concerns of them our greatest care. It is a trivial consideration how we fare in time; the grand object is, to secure our well-being in eternity.

Ecclesiastes 8:14-17

It hath been of odd a matter of stumbling and difficulty, to behold the righteous afflicted, the wicked in affluence. But,

1. We must not be surprised at the fight. It is a part of this world’s vanity to see the just suffering, as if they had been wicked; and the ungodly prospering, as if they had been righteous. But God hath wise ends to answer in these, as they seem to us, mysterious dispensations of his providence. This is not our rest, God will have his children know it; we must look forward to eternity, there the mystery will be explained, and God’s wisdom, justice, grace, and love therein acknowledged.

2. Since all before is so poor and empty, it is wise to make the best of it we can. Then I commanded mirth, holy chiefs/blaners and serenity; joy in what we possess, and contentment under what we want; to use with soriety and thankfulness, the creatures of God is all the comfort we can expect under the sun. And as this is all we can get by our labour under the sun, herein ought we to abide all our days: they are few, and evil, and shortly must end. Let us therefore correspond with the Divine Providence, and accommodate ourselves to God’s will.

3. We should be satisfied to be ignorant, where God hath set bounds to our researches. Solomon had applied his heart to know wisdom, to investigate the nature and causes of things, and to be the business that is done under the sun, all the labours of men, or the works of divine providence; and day and night, with restless toil, he pursued his enquiries, v. 16. but after all, he confesses how little he knew, v. 17. His way is in the sun, unfathomably deep, and his findings in the great waters, unthankable; and if he, who was the wisest of all the sons of men, make such an acknowledgment, they who come after him may well despair: he never so curious, impulsive, indefatigable, day and night in the enquiry, yet he shall not find it: yea, though he be wise, and may think to know it, by taking some new and untried method of investigating the secrets of nature and providence, yet shall he not be able to find it, an impenetrable will is stretched over many things; he that set bounds to the sea, hath set bounds to the human understanding, and said, hitherto shall thou come, and no farther: to attempt to exceed these bounds, would only prove the arrogance of folly, and end in disappointment.