Even The Wise Do Not In The Last Analysis Have Any Advantage Over The Unthinking. So We Should Hold On To What God Gives Us Rather Than Dreaming Of More (Ecclesiastes 6:8-9).
‘For what advantage has the wise more than the fool? Or what advantage does the poor man have who knows how to walk before the living (or ‘who has understanding, in walking before the living)? Better is the sight of the eyes, than the wandering of the desire. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.'
In the face of these vicissitudes of life, and especially in the face of death (compare Ecclesiastes 6:6 and Ecclesiastes 2:14-16), what advantage does the wise man have over the fool? In the face of such circumstances neither can do anything about it. So both are in the same position. Nor could the poor man do anything in that situation, whatever understanding he may have about walking before the living. Illness and death are the great equalisers for all. Thus it is best to accept what we are given, holding on to what we can see rather than dreaming of what is unobtainable..
‘Better is the sight of the eyes, than the wandering of the desire.' It is better to have something which is real and can be seen, than a desire and dream which may never be fulfilled, caused by wandering longings. This expresses a general thought following the descriptions of the two men whose lives were sadly lacking. Its point is simply to stress the fact that if we have something good we should hold on to it, and not look for more, for if we are too ambitious we may lose what we have.
So his final word of counsel is to be content with what we have (compare. Hebrews 13:5). This is the last of nine times that the phrase "striving after wind" occurs (see Ecclesiastes 1:14; Ecclesiastes 1:17; Ecclesiastes 2:11; Ecclesiastes 2:17; Ecclesiastes 2:26; Ecclesiastes 4:4; Ecclesiastes 4:6; Ecclesiastes 4:16). It opens and closes the section of the book dealing with the futility of human achievement (Ecclesiastes 1:12 to Ecclesiastes 6:9), and stresses that that is what much of life can be if we do not walk with God, a striving after what cannot be obtained.