CRITICAL NOTES.—
Ecclesiastes 5:20. He shall not much remember the days of his life] An even joy is diffused through them—they pass smoothly and pleasantly along. Answereth him in the joy of his heart. Answers him by satisfying his desire, and thus prolonging his joy.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Ecclesiastes 5:18-20
THE GIFTS OF PROVIDENCE—A SOURCE OF SPIRITUAL CULTURE
The plentiful gifts of Providence only serve to develop the depravity of some. They give loose reins to the passions, lead to forgetfulness of God, to fretfulness and despair. But, to the wise, they are a source of spiritual culture. They learn,
I. To Use Them with Cheerfulness. (Ecclesiastes 5:18.) They do not insult the Creator and Preserver of men by spurning His gifts, or by the voluntary humility of self-inflicted austerities. Their cheerfulness is not the transient rapture of the children of worldly pleasure, but a habit of the soul. It is,
1. The cheerfulness of pious gratitude. The wise and good accept the bounties of this life as from the hands of God. Admiration for the source of all good awakens gratitude, and gratitude becomes a luxury. The joy of pious breasts is thankful, it is a deep and perpetual spring. It is,
2. The cheerfulness of conscious integrity. The wise and good follow the path of duty. They work diligently at the tasks of life, not turned from their calm and steady purpose by a restless ambition, or by grasping avarice. Their joy is not the intemperate sallies of worldly mirth; it is controlled by wisdom, it is generated by the consciousness of duty performed. Conscious rectitude alone gives true and abiding cheerfulness. The world’s joy is a vanishing and unsubstantial thing. It is but gilding over a surface of misery which time will soon wear off. It is,
3. The cheerfulness arising from the possession of a high purpose. No man can have any deep and essential joy who is not conscious of possessing some high purpose in life. To him who can live above and beyond the world, who has higher aims than men around him, life becomes a sacred thing. The joy of his soul is invigorated by the imperial air of a better country. Feeling that his purpose is true and sublime, he has a sense of kinship with the most exalted ranks of God’s servants. They learn,
II. To Enjoy Them with Contentment. (Ecclesiastes 5:19.) Whether their lot in life be poor and humble, or wealthy and distinguished, they take it as their portion, and rejoice in it as the gift of God. (Ecclesiastes 5:19.) They are content with the appointments of Providence.
1. Because they are marked by Supreme wisdom. It is impotent and vain to rebel against our appointed portion in life, and to challenge the wisdom of Divine Providence. We are not proper judges of what is best for us, and our highest wisdom is to do our duty in that state to which we are called. The belief that the plan of our life is a Divine idea is the soul of contentment.
2. Because there are evils attendant on every condition of life. Both poverty and riches have their own peculiar evils and temptations. It is difficult to say what, on the balance, is the social condition most to be desired. Without Divine help, any condition of life must lead to fretfulness, vexation, and misery. But if God is acknowledged, and His gifts received with thankfulness, poverty is sweetened, and riches are enjoyed with moderation and prevented from becoming a vain confidence for the soul. When God is served with a willing mind, the evils of every condition are mitigated.
3. Because the present arrangements of Providence are not final. The outward conditions of men are not in accordance with their mental or spiritual characters. Great souls here are not always surrounded by the trappings of wealth, nor invested with the importance of station. But though the good man may feel that his present state is out of frame with Eternal Justice, he accepts the allotment of Providence with resignation, does his duty, and waits for the end. He who can look beyond the present life, and see the ultimate triumph of goodness and truth, easily learns the lesson of contentment with his portion in this world. The heir of immortality can wait in patience and hope for his full investiture and recognition. They learn,
III. That Piety is the Secret of True Happiness. (Ecclesiastes 5:20.) Human life has many miseries for the poor, the rich have many cares; all have to bear some portion of the load of trouble. But there are Divine consolations. There is a way of happiness whose secret must be caught from Heaven.
1. Help granted in answer to prayer. The godly man feels that he has no native ability to do the work of life well, to overcome its temptations, and to bear its trials. Weak and helpless, he goes to prayer, and rises strong and full of hope. He draws a joy from above which abides with him through all the changes of life.
2. A life of inward peace is the gift of God to the good. They only have peace who have righteousness. He who is conscious that he has well discharged his duty by Divine help, and with a sublime motive, inherits the blessing of a deep and settled peace. He does “not much remember the days of his life,” it flows so smoothly on. A constant joy in the breast alleviates the sorrows of memory, and the impressions of the sharpest trials are worn down by a sense of the infinite goodness of God, and of the precious hopes inspired by religion.
3. God alone can satisfy man’s deepest want. That deepest want is not happiness merely, but peace. We want a refuge from the upbraidings of the past, and the evil forebodings of the future. We want all thoughts and feelings resolved in one direction, and made to minister to one great aim and purpose of life. Then the soul rests truly in God. Peace gives the hand to true contentment, dwelling in the same breast. Then there is no discord between our desires and our outward lot; no discord between our affections and our mind; no painful doubts of the rectitude of God’s dealings. The scenes of life, however diversified by joy or sorrow, are turned for the pious into the school of religion where the spirit of man is fitted to be advanced to immortality.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Ecclesiastes 5:18. The good things of this life should be the means of rational enjoyment, not the object of a grasping avarice.
There are some who rest in the present world, making it their chief end, and the highest object of the mind and heart. But the wise have made a better choice, passing through the world with higher aims and aspirations, yet tasting with gratitude the pleasures provided by the way.
The practical recognition of God imparts a beauty to the most common actions of human life.
The covetous man pursues wealth with such insane devotion that he shuts out all true happiness. It is folly to allow our labour to degenerate into a heartless slavery so as to leave no room for the wise enjoyment of the fruits of it.
Thankfully to use and enjoy the portion appointed by Providence is the easiest recompense we can render to heaven.
It was a sultry day, and an avaricious old man who had hoarded up a large amount, was toiling away and wasting his little remaining strength, when a heavenly apparition stood before him. “I am Solomon,” it said, with a friendly voice; “what are you doing?” “If you are Solomon,” answered the old man, “how can you ask? When I was young you sent me to the ant, and told me to consider her ways; and from her I learned to be industrious and gather stores.” “You have only half learned your lesson,” replied the spirit; “go once more to the ant, and learn to rest the winter of your years and enjoy your collected treasures” [Lessing’s Fables].
Ecclesiastes 5:19. Religion does not prohibit the acquirement of wealth, but teaches how it may best be enjoyed and bestowed.
He who has wisdom with his riches guides himself between the two extremes of avarice and prodigality.
The acknowledgment of God in the plentiful gifts of His Providence prevents them from becoming a snare.
The adoration of the Highest—the spiritual vision of the Supremely Good One, preserves the soul from all degrading worship. He who acknowledges the Giver will not make His gifts the occasion of idolatry.
As men’s wealth and riches are God’s gifts, so the power to use these for strengthening them in His service is a second gift; and wisdom to take their own due portion, neither depriving themselves of their own allowance, nor others to whom they are bound to give a part of theirs, is a third gift. And the grace to comfort themselves in so doing is a fourth. And so the Lord should be acknowledged and depended upon for our daily bread, for our appetite after it, for the heart to take and use it, for wisdom and grace to take neither more nor less than our allowance of it, and to take that cheerfully [Nisbet].
A wise man enjoys wealth by a thankful use of it himself—by making it a channel of good to others—by turning it into a means of self culture and improvement. It is a great favour of Providence when God gives both wealth and large-heartedness.
Ecclesiastes 5:20. The way to sweeten man’s short and sorrowful life, to banish the sad thoughts of by-past crosses, and the fearful forecasting of future, is much correspondence with God, frequent prayer for refreshment from Heaven, and taking every comfortable passage of Scripture or Providence, which cheers the heart in God’s service, for a joyful answer from God [Nisbet].
Prayer heals the sorrows of memory, lays the ruggedness of life even, and draws down from heaven a perpetual joy.
The attention of the wise man is not directed too much towards himself. He looks to God and to duty, not fretting nor worrying himself concerning the rest. No man can be healthy who is always thinking about his own health.
The sorrows of the past are perpetuated by handing them over to the care of memory. All our philosophy cannot banish them. But when a superior joy takes possession of our breast, they cease to torment. The old feeling is overwhelmed by the new.
The joy of God in the heart is a light which transfigures the whole scene of life, and makes it a more blessed and diviner thing.