CRITICAL NOTES.—
Ecclesiastes 8:14. There is a vanity which is done upon the earth.] These seeming anomalies in the moral government of God are part of that vanity to which man has been made subject on account of sin.
Ecclesiastes 8:16. And to see the business that is done upon the earth.] Travail, or torment; not business. Compare with Chap. Ecclesiastes 2:26, and Ecclesiastes 3:10. The painful labour of seriously considering human life and destiny. Neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes.] The “travail” is so earnestly carried on as to interfere with proper rest.
Ecclesiastes 8:17. All the work of God.] His universal dominion—the whole sphere of the Divine operation as observed by man. He shall not find it.] He shall not be able to comprehend, or fathom it. Compare with Chap. Ecclesiastes 3:11, and Ecclesiastes 7:24.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Ecclesiastes 8:14-17
OUR DUTY UNDER THE MORAL DISCREPANCIES OF THE PRESENT LIFE
The origin of evil is a profound mystery, but not less so is the permission of evil. These exercise the wisest with painful speculation; they remain a difficulty and a sore trial, even for the best. Still there is a course of duty which is clear, and a light of faith which is sufficient. There are moral discrepancies in the present life (Ecclesiastes 8:14), but they do not set aside great moral duties, and wise efforts to reach after a more satisfactory state of things, which God, in his own good time, shall bring in. Our duty is indicated here.
I. We Should Feel their Temporary Character. “I said that this also is vanity.” We see the wicked prosper as if they were rewarded for their works, and the good afflicted, and abandoned to cruel wrongs and oppressions, as if they were punished for their righteousness. We must survey this seeming confusion of right and wrong not with wild amazement, but calmly. It is our duty to explore our situation in the world, and to discover what course is best for us. The just man beaten down by calamity, while he beholds the wicked apparently enjoying the rewards of virtue, may feel a strange perplexity. But he has to consider that even this is “vanity.” There is little in it to cause him any permanent anxiety or pain. He may reflect—
1. That these discrepancies exist under the rule of a Moral Governor who is both wise and good. Physical and moral evil exist in the world. God is both wise and good. We must admit these two facts as beyond debate. However difficult their reconcilement may be, we are bound to believe that no disorders of this present time can obscure those bright attributes of the Divine Nature. The good man has faith in the character of God, and waits till He shall make all clear.
2. Such a condition of things cannot be final. To a narrow view, it might appear as if Providence was entirely regardless of moral qualities in human character; yea, as if the stamp of approval was affixed to wickedness. Yet God’s meek and patient children know that these disorders cannot be endured for ever. They are but passing shadows, and the full glory of God will yet shine forth. The stern realities of things will appear in the light of eternity. Slowly the ages pass on for us; but to the eye of God they are but as “yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.”
3. These moral discrepancies have no practical significance for us. If we are the true and faithful servants of God, these things to us are mere vanity. They amount to nothing. If we have a lively sense of the eternal verities, we can afford to despise them. What do they signify for us, since life is so short, and the scenes of retribution so soon to be unfolded? With such a thought, St. Paul consoles Christians even in slavery; “Art thou called being a servant (i.e., a bond-servant—a slave)? care not for it” (1 Corinthians 7:21). Nothing is of practical significance to the good man but those things that abide.
II. We should Enjoy with Contentment the Blessings that Remain. (Ecclesiastes 8:15.) The disordered condition of things may be puzzling; yea, in some of their aspects, disheartening; but there are present blessings. There are great facts and duties appearing in clear light. There is enough left which we may contentedly and soberly enjoy.
1. This enjoyment is reasonable. “Then I commended mirth because a man hath no better thing under the sun.” This is the best and most reasonable course for us, to cultivate a cheerful spirit which gladly enjoys whatever lies within its reach. In the worst state of things, there are some blessings remaining; and if God is the portion of our inheritance, we cannot be entirely destitute. Anxious care only brings torment, and leads to no good. It is the highest prudence to make the best of what lies before us. Besides, the godly are sustained by the consciousness of the good that is reserved for them.
2. It is the safe course. “For that shall abide with him.” Changes occur in the outward conditions of life, but the habit of cheerful gratitude abides with a man. It is to him an accession of spiritual treasure which the most disastrous reverses of fortune cannot alienate.
3. It is godly. The mirth here commended is not the coarse, thoughtless mirth of the children of this world, but that joy which flows from piety. It is the cheerful acceptance, on the part of the righteous man, of those blessings “which God giveth him under the sun.” Such a man hath faith in God, and is distinguished by that elevation of character which comes of taking a large and comprehensive view.
III. We should Abstain from Fruitless Speculations. (Ecclesiastes 8:16-17.) To enquire into “the business that is done upon the earth” is to investigate the “travail” that is connected with human life, action, and fate. But a wise man will not allow such speculations unduly to distress his mind, or to attract him from the paths of humble duty. We may say of such enquiries, when pushed beyond the bounds of soberness,
1. They are a wearisome effort. They may be carried so far as to interfere with present enjoyment, and even to rob us of the needful rest of sleep. (Ecclesiastes 8:16.)
2. They are a profitless effort. (Ecclesiastes 8:17.) The bottom of the mystery cannot be reached by the greatest labours of the wisest. To know “all the work of God” completely is far beyond our depth. God’s great secrets lie hidden.
3. They lead to no good practical result. That restless curiosity and impatience of mystery, which is the temptation of some minds, does but weaken the capacity for duty and humble trust in God. In the mazes of speculation a man may lose the clear sight of what lies before him. It is best to do what is close at hand, and to await in faith and hope the disclosures of futurity.
4. They interfere with our spiritual life. It is the plan of God to begin with what is comparatively imperfect, and to proceed to greater perfection. Thus chaos was before order, and darkness before light. This life is but the commencement of our existence, and it is marked by imperfection. Yet this imperfection is necessary to the life of faith. The full vision, which the future shall alone disclose, would interfere with that life. If we can see but one step before us, it is enough. Light, in the fulness of it, is a reward “sown for the righteous.” It is an “inheritance” reserved and guarded for us while we are in our minority, but into whose full possession we shall come when we have attained to the full manhood of our existence. Colossians 1:12.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Ecclesiastes 8:14. Look at Joseph in the dungeon. He has been a disciple of heavenly wisdom. He has resisted a strong temptation to sin, and it has happened to him according to the work of the wicked. He is loaded with reproach and shame—he is left to languish in prison, either forgotten or despised. Look at Paul bruised and bleeding, when he has been all but stoned to death at the gates of Lystra, or writhing under the cruel and ignominious scourge at Philippi, or dragged through the streets and beaten by the infuriated populace at Jerusalem. Or, once more, take a far more illustrious example than either of these—look at Him who was the very impersonation and living embodiment of wisdom. Was He not all His life long a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief? Was He not despised and rejected of men? And did He not terminate His earthly career upon a malefactor’s cross? [Buchanan.]
God rewards His people with better things than the perishing good of this life.
The righteous are often taught by the course of Providence that godliness cannot be turned to outward gain.
It is not certain that even the best men will have prosperity in this life, or any external reward of goodness. How vain then to set our hearts upon that which is not, and to lose sight of a certain and enduring reward!
The seeming confusion of good and evil in the world is part of the vanity of our present state. Faith sees this old order passing away and giving place to the new. The sons of God shall yet be delivered from this vanity.
Ecclesiastes 8:15. The measure of a man’s earthly prosperity, and of the success of his labour, is a matter of complete uncertainty, but a cheerful and contented spirit, disposed to enjoy whatever portion is sent, is a sure and constant blessing. The secret of happiness, as far as it depends on the things of time, is to enjoy prosperity cheerfully, and without the irksome and depressing apprehensions of an anxious mind, as long as it continues; and if it is lessened or withdrawn, still to receive our diminished and stinted supplies with the same cheerful and buoyant gratitude; thus making the best of that which, both in its degree and its continuance, is so proverbially uncertain. Amidst all changes, this happy frame of spirit may be preserved [Wardlaw].
Our labour is often in vain, our works perish; but the habit of cheerfulness, arising from the conviction that our portion of life is from God, abides with us. The possessions of the mind and soul survive all outward changes.
Of our labour, the most valuable remaining product—saved, as it were, from the wreck of it—is the spiritual dispositions which it has served to generate in us.
He who manifests the spirit of a pious and sober joy is imitating one of the qualities of the Divine nature. The reward of heaven consists in the entering into God’s own joy.
The Preacher having spoken of the oppressions of the wicked, and of the troubles of the righteous, here he showeth a good remedy against them, and an excellent carriage in them. “Then I commended mirth;” when he had considered the troubles of man’s life, then he commended cheerfulness as a thing worthy of praise in itself; he commended it unto men as a thing bringing much good unto them. And this it is which the prophet David commended, “Serve the Lord with gladness, come before His presence with singing” [Jermin].
Ecclesiastes 8:16. That wisdom which is possible to man can only be attained by the earnest application of all our powers.
He who engages in the study of the condition and character of man has laid upon himself a difficult and painful task. He has accepted the burden of humanity, thus attracting upon himself the penalty of restless anxiety and the sorrows of a disappointing search after that which must for ever lie beyond his reach.
The unreflecting multitude, whose minds are never exercised on such questions at all, have no conception of the amount both of time and effort which it costs to master them. They do not know, though it is a fact, that there are men who, in handling such profound problems as the mysteries of Divine Providence, in connection with the state and prospects of the human race, present, “neither day nor night see sleep will their eyes [Buchanan].
Ecclesiastes 8:17. There are works of God quite beyond the range of our observation, and which, therefore, we cannot fathom. But even those works of God which concern human affairs, though they lie near and about us, are beyond our capacity fully to explore.
A wise man may be tempted to impatience of mystery, and thus weary himself with fruitless endeavours to rest on the much-desired ground of ultimate truths. But it is the highest wisdom contentedly to accept the fact of our ignorance.
Mere human reason could do nothing to explain the origin or the existence, under the government of an all-wise, almighty, and infinitely righteous God, of a state of things in which it should ever happen to just men to be treated according to the deserts of the wicked, or to wicked men to be treated according to the deserts of the righteous. There is no human philosophy that could ever have thrown one ray of true and satisfying light on an anomaly so great. Even divine revelation itself, though it tells us how it came to pass, does not tell us why this was permitted. That it was permitted for God’s glory, we do indeed confidently infer and unhesitatingly believe, because that is and must be the grand final cause of all things. But still, as regards the principle that is to harmonize the existence of sin and misery in God’s universe with the infinite perfections of His own being, it is altogether hidden from us—it is far above and beyond the grasp, at least in its present feeble condition, of any human mind [Buchanan].