CRITICAL NOTES.—
Ecclesiastes 8:1. The boldness of his face shall be changed.] Folly, in the form of selfishness, imparts a fierce aspect to the features; but wisdom graces them with a superior refinement.
Ecclesiastes 8:2. The King’s Commandment.] The Preacher falls back upon his authority as a king, striving to realise what is the Divine idea of the ruler of men. And that in regard of the oath of God.] An appeal to God as witness to that promise of obedience which every subject virtually makes to the king—the obligation of obedience strengthened by the sanctions of religion.
Ecclesiastes 8:3. Be not hasty to go out of His sight.] A becoming demeanour must be observed in the presence of the King. If he is not favourable to our petition, we must not show our vexation and disappointment by retiring from his presence with indecent haste. Stand not in an evil thing.] Do not excite His anger by the appearance of stubbornness, as if he could be forced into compliance by our stern attitude and bold persistency.
Ecclesiastes 8:5. The Commandment.] “The word of a king.” (Ecclesiastes 8:4.) The expressed will of an earthly authority as representing the Divine. Shall feel no evil thing.] Shall have the protection of the laws. A wise man’s heart discerneth both time and judgment.] The wise man will modify the common obligation to obedience, by reason and conscience. It may be his duty to resist.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Ecclesiastes 8:1-5
THE LIFE OF THE RIGHTEOUS MAN IN THE STATE
Ecclesiastes 8:1. He Recognises Duties towards Constituted Authority. The wise man is he who has true spiritual knowledge, and who makes that knowledge the guide of his life. Such will endeavour to discharge all the duties arising from the several relations in which they stand to God and man. All are members of civil society, and therefore subjects under some form of human government. Certain duties are owing to those whom Providence has set over us in the State.
1. The duty of loyal obedience. (Ecclesiastes 8:2.) If it is the will of God that men should exist in civil society, it must also be His will that there should be rulers, for these are necessary to the continuance and perfection of civil society. The actual rulers of mankind are in their places by that Providence which works in history. Properly constituted government affords that protection, and gives that opportunity, by which all the members of the State are able to fulfil their several duties. Our Lord and His Apostles taught that obedience must be rendered to rulers. Their memorable words on this subject must have acted as a powerful check, in the case of the first believers, to any tendency to exaggerate their Christian liberty; to which the temptation would be strong, on account of the corruption of existing governments. We should cultivate,
2. A proper sense of the sacred obligation of obedience. (Ecclesiastes 8:2.) “And that in regard of the oath of God.” Human authorities are called of God, appointed by Him, and fill their places, not on account of their own intrinsic excellencies or merit, but by His permission—by that act of Providence which has placed them where they are. We are under as sacred an obligation to obey them as if we had solemnly ratified the promise of obedience by a formal appeal to heaven. We should cultivate—
3. A delicate refinement of behaviour where duty has special difficulties. (Ecclesiastes 8:3.) In the king’s presence it is proper to maintain a reserved and careful behaviour. If the king grants not our request, it is unseemly to show our vexation by departing from his presence in haste. On the other hand, we should not carry our firmness so far as to appear obstinate. We may have to sacrifice our own private feeling to that veneration which is due to office. The indulgence of improper tempers towards lawful authority might sow the seeds of rebellion far and wide. It is wisdom to study that behaviour which is proper to the occasion, and to avoid all that tends to imperil the safety and good ordering of society. We should cultivate—
4. A proper reverence and awe of authority. (Ecclesiastes 8:4.) Rulers, for certain ends of civil society, stand to us in the place of God. We owe them reverence for the sake of their office, and should maintain a wholesome dread of the power committed to their hands.
II. Wisdom imparts Special Fitness for the Discharge of such Duties. “He who is truly wise, who fears God, and reverences what is God-like in man, does not delude himself by impossible theories of human society. He possesses that practical wisdom which teaches him how to pass through life smoothly, to abstain from infringing the rights of others, and to labour for the promotion of the general good. The wise man is the best servant of the state.
1. He has a better insight into the reasons and the nature of duty. (Ecclesiastes 8:1.) “He knoweth the interpretation of a thing.” Lit., “of the word.” To him the grounds of duty are clear; he is alive to the importance of social order, and brings to the consideration of law a correct moral judgment and the habit of obedience. The great principles of his life are adequate to all the requirements of right conduct between man and man, though they extend beyond it even to the realm of higher duties.
2. He is the subject of a civilising and refining influence. (Ecclesiastes 8:1.) Wisdom is not only a power in the mind and heart, an inward and sacred adornment, but is also a power working outwardly, revealing itself in the style and bearing of a man, and lighting up his countenance with noble expression. It softens all that is repulsive, so that the countenance does not wear that fierce aspect which results from coarse ideas and a selfish heart. This refinement of beauty is an image of that social order and harmony which wisdom tends to produce. It is the pledge of the world’s peace.
3. His obedience to authority is discriminating. (Ecclesiastes 8:5.) He renders not a passive, a blind obedience, as if every command proceeding from merely human authority must be obeyed without questioning. It may be allowed that, in general, it is safe to obey. “Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing.” He who renders unquestioning obedience may save himself from many troubles. But if he makes this rule absolute, he may have to compromise conscience. Therefore wisdom must be employed to discriminate when human authority is in conflict with those higher duties which we owe to God. A wise man may have to resist the king’s command, as Daniel did. An unreasoning, blind obedience is not taught in Scripture. Principle is dearer to the righteous man than safety and comfort. Where human and Divine authority are in conflict, his choice is made. He owes his highest allegiance to the “King of Kings.”
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Ecclesiastes 8:1. None is comparable to the wise man. He alone possesses that real and abiding treasure which cannot be gotten for gold.
The power to investigate the deep reasons of things imparts a majesty and stability to the religious life. The wise man is so fixed upon the solidities of truth that he is not carried about “by every wind of doctrine.” Piety without intelligence is exposed to the dangers of fanaticism.
Wisdom, though an inward power, hangs out her ensign upon the human countenance.
The power of wisdom to elevate and refine its possessor is a kind of renewal of his physical nature, an earnest of the redemption of the body.
The beauty of the “human face divine” lies in its expression. The light of wisdom within beams in the countenance, imparting to it the attractive aspect of intelligence and sensibility. It is a mild and lovely light. It does not dazzle and overpower by the studied brilliance of self-display, but with soft and gentle radiance inspires delight, and wins affection; for of genuine wisdom, self-diffident humility is the invariable associate. Such wisdom gives to the countenance the expression both of dignity and grace [Wardlaw].
“Boldness” may, with greater strictness and accuracy, be rendered by “effrontery,” or “arrogance.” What Solomon seems to say is, that wisdom communicates to the face of its owner an aspect of meekness and gentleness very different from that air of imperious and boastful confidence which it once wore. None is so arrogant as the ignorant or half-instructed; none so unpretending as the man of largest knowledge and deepest thought [Buchanan].
Ecclesiastes 8:2. Wisdom throws light upon every relation in which man is placed, and makes every duty to appear in clear definition. That book which reveals the highest truths does not disdain to give authoritative commands regarding the every-day work of man in the world.
“The powers that be are ordained of God,” says St. Paul (Romans 13:1). They are ordered and appointed by Him just as much as those who occupy the most sacred offices of the Church. Kings may be imperfect, but so were the Scribes and Pharisees who “sat in Moses’ seat;” yet this does not destroy the obligation to hear and obey their lawful words.
The wise man’s sense of duty to kings rests upon a higher motive than fear, or the love of security. It is with him a sacred obligation.
Since men must life in civil society, they have a right to consider how they shall thus live. The observance of the laws is necessary to secure the common good, and the king is but the living law.
Civil obedience is not a question between man and man merely; but, as we are here emphatically reminded, it is also a question between man and God.… The same “oath of God” expressed or understood, by which the subject is bound to keep the king’s commandment, limits and regulates the very obligation which it imposes. So long as obedience to the king’s command does not involve disobedience to any commandment of God Himself, obedience is imperative. The oath of God exalts loyalty into a religious duty [Buchanan].
Ecclesiastes 8:3. Our own vexation and disappointment should not destroy our proper reverence for those who represent the law.
A wise man will avoid everything in thought, temper, and action tending to sow the seeds of sedition.
Whilst your first and most sacred regard should be to the “oath of God,” yet your own interest is also involved. You are in the king’s power. He may degrade you from your station, deprive you of your emoluments, and inflict upon you such punishment as shall not be alleviated by the consciousness of its being undeserved. The headstrong passion that persists in evil because it cannot brook submission, is itself inexcusable, it may cost you too dear [Wardlaw].
Beware of rashly casting off allegiance to your lawful sovereign under any temporary influence of wounded pride or passion; or of being led away into sedition or rebellion by the specious plea of reforming the existing order of things. Ahithophel did this in the days of David, and he came, in consequence, to a miserable end.… Or, again, if any man have been seduced by evil counsel, or hurried by resentment or ambition into some unlawful attitude or act, let him not “stand” in the “evil thing.” To persist is only to aggravate the offence, and to make its punishment more inevitable and severe [Buchanan].
Passion, whether in the form of haughty disdain or of stubbornness, is unfriendly to the proper discharge of duty.
Ecclesiastes 8:4. Without power to enforce it, the law would be but mere advice.
The power of law and government is very great. The law never sleeps. It has a retentive memory, and it has long arms. Joab, proud and imperious, and confiding in the impunity which his position at the head of David’s army appeared to give him, trampled on the king’s commandment, but nevertheless he found to his cost, in the end, that where the word of a king is there is power [Buchanan].
There is no appeal from the king’s decree, as he acknowledges no earthly superior. Be it wise or foolish, good or evil, that decree must take effect. The victims of tyranny, suffering for a righteous cause, may indeed appeal to the Heavenly King; but that appeal cannot be heard till the final Judgment.
Authority could never command respect, or be invested with its fitting character of sacredness, if it were compelled to bear upon its very front a proclamation of the conditions upon which it might be set at naught. Hence the unqualified language in which Solomon speaks in this passage [Buchanan].
Ecclesiastes 8:5. The true liberty for the subject is the liberty of law. Obedience is the condition of safety and protection.
There are times in which obedience to human laws has peculiar difficulty and perplexity for the wise man. But his wisdom disposes him patiently to wait, to watch the time and opportunity, and to judge soberly what conduct is right for him.
Our cause may be righteous and good, but if we lack discretion, our best designs must fall to naught.
Mistaken zeal is ever ready to precipitate events. But “he that believeth shall not make haste.” He can afford calmly to wait.
There are three enquiries which the man of true wisdom is ever proposing to himself:—What should I do? When should I do it? How should it be done? He pays regard not only to the matter or quality of his actions, but to the time and the manner of them. He attends to circumstances in every department of his conduct; in imparting counsel, in administering reproof, in seeking the redress of grievances, in promoting needful improvements and reform;—never forgetting that success very often depends as much on the choice of a right season, and the adoption of a proper way of performing an action, as upon the action itself [Wardlaw].
What is fitting must be studied as well as what is right and good. A wise man observes the proprieties proper to the time, place, and occasion. St. Paul, while adhering firmly to principle, followed no unyielding methods of action; but by “becoming all things to all men,” thus won many to Christ.
Even innocence is but a poor and insufficient protection in a world like this. The wisdom of the serpent is needed as the trusty sentinel of the harmlessness of the dove.