If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be. (4) He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. (5) As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all. (6) In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.
Nothing can be more beautiful than these verses; and both in a natural and spiritual sense, they open a large scope for the most improving meditation. The chief tendency of the whole passage, however, is to teach the inability of man in his highest attainments, to cater for himself; and how much the wisest ought to look up in every concern, both of this world, and of that which is to come, for divine direction. Under the similitude of the husbandman's unconsciousness, whether the morning seed, or the evening seed, be most prosperous, the attention to winds or clouds, for the regulation of his conduct and the like, the Preacher most strikingly sets forth the blessedness of waiting upon the Lord for direction. If the farmer sows his seed in ever so promising a soil, yet unless the dew and the rain from heaven, and the sun's heat, and cloud's fatness, be graciously dispensed in their season, there will be no harvest. Reader! can you need a more striking subject of instruction, respecting the spiritual seed of the gospel? is it not the Lord that gives us fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness? Is not Jesus the bread of life to his people? And is he not the Father's gift to his people? And as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, is it not Jesus that by his coming from heaven, hath visited the earth, and blessed it, and made it very plenteous? It is true, indeed, that the kingdom of God cometh not by observation. And so the Lord Jesus himself observes in that beautiful parable, Mark 4:26-29 - But this is similar to what the wise man here said in this chapter. We know not even in natural things, how the bones of the child grow in the womb: and is it wonderful that in spiritual things, the seed of grace cast into the heart, should spring we know not how? But is it not blessed to refer all, and to depend for all, and seek a blessing for all, from Him who is excellent in counsel, and faithful in his promises? Isaiah 55:10-11; Deuteronomy 32:2; Acts 14:17. Perhaps there is not a portion in the whole Bible more pointed, to set forth the nothingness of man, and the necessity of referring all things to the divine agency, than these verses of Solomon.