Behold, this have I found, &c.— Behold, this have I found (saith the orator), examining them one by one, to find out the reason of it: Ecclesiastes 7:28. Which my soul seeketh still, without being able to find it; one man, I say, among a thousand have I found, but a woman among them all I did not find. It is amazing how different the expositions have been of this very elliptical passage. The only supplement which can be had from the context is, that which the reader will find expressed in the paraphrase on the following verse; namely, that Solomon found most men so disposed, as to be easily taken in the snares which are laid; there having been but very few of his acquaintance, to whom this part of his observation could be applied; He who is good in the presence of God shall escape from her: and, with respect to the women of his acquaintance, that they had all answered the character he had given: Ecclesiastes 7:26 without finding a single one who was not like a band of hunters, out of whose hand the fugitive deer seldom escapes. Thus Solomon does in a manner fill up the vacancies which are seemingly left in the text. Let us observe, however, that through Divine Grace being good seems to be the best preservative against the spells of bad women; which induced me to preserve that expression of the original, Ecclesiastes 7:26 and not to change it, as the authors of the received version did, into that which is the infallible effect of being really good; viz. pleasing God, but not the thing itself.
REFLECTIONS.—1st, We have in this chapter strange paradoxes to the unwise, but great truths to him who understandeth.
1. A good name is better than precious ointment; a name eminent for the exercise of every gracious and christian temper, is infinitely preferable to all the possessions of earth, and more fragrant than the richest perfume. And,
2. The day of death than the day of one's birth; that is, to those who die in the Lord, and are dismissed from the burthens of mortality to tell in him; a consummation devoutly to be wished for, which for ever puts a period to all our sins and sorrows, and opens the golden gates of life and immortality.
3. It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting; society is not evil, but indulgence is always dangerous: to mourn is painful, but great good often arises from it; and especially apt are those melancholy seasons, when the dead are carried forth, and the corpse and the coffin are before us, to make impressions on our hearts more blessed in their issue and influence, than any that we should receive in the house of feasting. They bid us learn to die, remember, and prepare for it; they give us a striking exhibition of the end of all men, and make us feel that dust we are, and unto dust returning; and the living will lay it to his heart, at least those who are wise will do so, and not forget to make application of the subject to their own hearts.
4. Sorrow is better than laughter; better for our souls at least; for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better; when beholding departing friends, while we mourn over them, we are quickened to give greater diligence to follow them, and make our calling and election sure; or affected with godly sorrow for sin, which worketh repentance unto salvation, never to be repented of: while laughter often has ill effects, destroys the spirit of seriousness, makes the heart light and vain, and estranges it from God. Therefore the heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, in meditation, engaged with thoughts of mortality, though the objects be not before him; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth; they cannot bear a serious reflection: if a solemn impression of any scene of death have been made upon them, they hasten to some gay company to efface it; and are in their element when mirth and jollity reign.
5. It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise; however sharp or grating it may be at first, the effects of it will be salutary; and it will be our wisdom, and in the issue our comfort, to have heard and profited thereby: and therefore rather to be chosen than the song of fools; either their flatteries which tickle the ear, or their songs and carousals, which are vain, unprofitable, pernicious; for as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of a fool, loud and noisy, but suddenly expiring; and succeeded with groans and wailing without end. This also is vanity.
2nd, Solomon had observed the oppressions under the sun; here he notes one sad effect of them.
1. Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad; either under the length and severity of his own trials he is ready to grow impatient; or, observing the sufferings of the innocent under the power of the wicked, he is tempted to question the equity of the divine providence; and a gift destroyeth the heart, occasions justice to be perverted to oppression, or destroyeth a heart of gifts, such is the generous heart of the wise.
2. He exhorts to patient waiting for the issue; for, however dark and louring the scene may appear, when oppressors rule, yet mark the end; for better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof; God will break the rod of the wicked, as he did that of Pharaoh, and relieve the injured innocent, as his Israel of old, from their hands. Thus the patient in spirit, who meekly submits to God's providential afflictions, and waits quietly upon him, is better, a better man, and will soon be proved infinitely happier, than the proud in spirit, whose lofty looks God will abase, and who, unable to endure the chastisements brought upon them, as wild bulls in a net, fret and torment themselves only the more.
3. He warns us against the effusions of anger. Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry, impatient of contradiction or delay, and firing on every spark of provocation; but repress the risings of resentment; be flow to wrath; and, if it swells, see that it quickly subsides; for anger resteth in the bosom of fools; they entertain it, and, though they cover it with deceit, they wait only for an opportunity to take their revenge.
4. We must not be always complaining of the evil of our times, as men are too apt to be, and fancying the former days better than these; when, in truth, it is merely our ignorance of former days that makes us imagine this. The great concern of every man in bad days is, to mend one; and then the times will soon be better.
3rdly, We have,
1. Some of the great commendations of wisdom.
(1.) It is good with an inheritance; it is in its own nature good, but with an inheritance it renders a person more distinguished, and enables him to be more extensively useful; and by it there is profit to them that see the sun; men in general enjoy the blessing of a wise man's affluence.
(2.) Wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence, or a shadow, under which we sit in safety: severally, they are a protection; united, they mutually conspire to increase each other's efficacy.
(3.) It giveth life to them that have it, and this is wisdom's peculiar excellency: riches often endanger the life of their possessor, but, with divine knowledge, experimentally possessed, spiritual life is inseparably connected.
(4.) It is better than strength; for wisdom strengtheneth the wise, inspires them with courage, directs them how to act, and enables them to foil the attacks of their enemies, more than ten mighty men which are in the city; which is safer under the care of such prudent counsellors, than if guarded by numerous warriors.
2. Our duty is submission and conformity to the divine will. Consider the work of God, the perfection and excellence thereof, to silence all murmuring against the dispensations of his providence, which would be also vain as it is vile: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked? whatever afflictions he sends, or judgments he executes, none can stay his hand, or say unto him, what dost thou? therefore, in every condition, our duty is to make the best improvement of it. In the day of prosperity, when God showers down his spiritual and temporal blessings, be joyful, acknowledge his hand, praise him for the mercy, and improve it to his glory: but in the day of adversity, which will come in its turn, consider the end for which the affliction was sent, and seek to correspond with God's designs therein. Note; This is a changing world; we should neither be too much elated with prosperity, nor depressed with adversity; but rejoice with trembling, and look forward in hope: for God hath set the one over-against the other, each in its season to work together for his faithful people's good, to the end that men should find nothing after him; either nothing that he can amend in the work of God, or nothing certain here below; and therefore he must live upon the divine providence, and be prepared for whatever God hath prepared for him.
3. The dispensations of providence which seem most dark ought not to stagger us. All things have I seen in the days of my vanity, the days of his life, or those more afflictive ones of his departure from God: and perhaps the observations that he here makes might, on former occasions, have contributed to his fall, and tempted him to infidelity. There is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness, not eternally; for his state, God-ward, is secure; but the greatest piety does not exempt men from the heaviest afflictions; nay, perhaps it exasperates the enmity of the wicked against them, and gives occasion to their persecutors; and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedness, prospers, and is successful, even to old age; and, perhaps, protected by the very fruits of his injustice: but this is not the place of recompence; the day is at hand, when the calamities of the righteous shall be found their greatest mercies, and the prosperity of the wicked their ruin.
4. He gives an admonition to the self-righteous, and a warning to sinners. Be not righteous over-much; which does not refer to true righteousness, of which we cannot have too much; but to the affection of appearing righteous before men: when persons are rigid censurers of others, place religion in austerities which God never enjoined, or by intemperate zeal hurt that cause which they profess to defend: neither make thyself over-wise, either above what is written, or opinionated of thy abilities, severely critical, arrogantly dictating; why shouldest thou destroy thyself? by needless austerities, or meddling in other men's matters, to provoke their wrath; or, why shouldest thou be stupid? regarded as such, through thy foolish conduct; or desolate, every one shunning thy acquaintance, and hating thy company. Be not over-much wicked, run not into riot and excess; or, do not fright thyself, so as to be cast down into despair, under a sense of thy guilt; and thus it stands contrasted with the proud presumption before rebuked: neither be thou foolish, so as to be terrified with needless fear, or to grow profligate; why shouldest thou die before thy time? hastened to the grave by intemperance or the sword of justice.
5. The fear of God will be our best preservative. It is good that thou shouldest take hold of this admonition and advice; yea, also from this withdraw not thine hand, continue a diligent observer of these things; for, he that feareth God shall come forth of them all, saved from the dangerous extremes, preserved amidst all difficulties, and, under the divine guidance, enabled to walk in the straight path of wisdom and truth, without deviating to the right hand or the left.
6. Though to do good; and avoid evil, is the labour, desire, and prayer of every gracious soul that is born of God; yet infirmities cleave to the best: So that there is not a just man upon earth that doeth good to the full extent of the Adamic law—the law of works, and sinneth not: we must not expect to meet with any among the sons of men, who are not compassed with infirmity.
7. It is wise to turn a deaf ear to whatever might provoke or exasperate us. Take no heed unto all words that are spoken; be not curious to inquire what others think or say of you; and seem not to hear what had better be dropt in silence than brought to an explanation. Give not thine heart, in the original; be not uneasy or solicitous about it, lest thou hear thy servant curse thee, whose insolence and ingratitude would render the provocation the greater (and they who hearken to their servants' words will often hear disagreeable things). We must bear with others, if it were only through the consciousness of our having been in the same condemnation. For oftentime also thine own heart knoweth, that thou thyself likewise hast cursed others, wished them ill, spoken of them disrespectfully, or laid on them hard censures: the sense of our own failings should preserve us from anger, and the provocation remind us of, and humble us for, the sins of the like nature which we ourselves have committed.
4thly, Solomon had proved the vanity of all things by dear-bought experience, and here he acknowledges it.
1. He owns the defects of his wisdom, after all his pursuits. All this have I proved by wisdom; all that he has spoken in the foregoing Chapter s: I said, I will be wise; so far as the greatest industry would carry the most enlarged understanding, he was resolved to go: and with the most indefatigable diligence he pursued the research; but still it fled his grasp; he could not fathom the depths, either of nature, providence, or grace; many things were hid, and, while the effects were evident, the causes of them were mysterious. Thus it was far from me; the wisdom that he sought he was unable to attain; that which is far off, or far off that which has been; the works of creation and providence are far above the human comprehension, the knowledge of former things lost in oblivion, or that wisdom, which was originally in man, now departed from him; and exceeding deep, who can find it out? God's perfections and providences are by us unsearchable; the attempt to fathom them will but convince us of our own weakness.
2. He desired to be acquainted with folly as well as wisdom, and applied his heart to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness: sin is exceedingly deceitful; it requires pains to strip off the mask, and discover its deep malignity: but when its sinfulness is seen, then shall we upbraid our folly for having yielded to it, and count those pleasures madness which promised the highest satisfaction, especially those fleshly lusts, to which Solomon here seems particularly to allude. Note; True penitents cannot find a name bad enough with which to brand their abominations, and upbraid their own folly and sin.
3. The result of the inquiry was, a discovery of the great evil that he had committed in yielding to the sinful love of women; on which, with deepest anguish, he now reflects. I find more bitter than death, the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands; the sweets of sin were momentary, the pangs of it mortal and abiding. Now his convictions began to fasten upon his soul, he feels the very agonies of death in his conscience: the smiles and blandishments which promised so much pleasure have left a sting behind, the poison of which drinketh up the spirit: and, once entangled in these fatal cords, hard, very hard it is to recover; and every new indulgence adds strength to the snare, and tenders the hope of recovery the more desperate. Whoso pleaseth God, shall escape from her; he will preserve them in the hour of temptation; for of ourselves we have no power to withstand for a moment. If we be, therefore, kept from the temptation, or under it, we must regard it as a great mark of God's favour, and acknowledge it with deep thankfulness: but the sinner shall be taken by her; God will, in judgment, give him up to his own heart's desires, and suffer him to perish in the iniquities that he has chosen.
4. He observes the sad and sinful state of man in general, and concludes with pointing out the source whence all the evil proceeds. Behold, this have I found (saith the Preacher), the bitterness of a harlot's snares, or the fewness of the faithful; counting one by one, to find out the account, both men and women, within the compass of his knowledge, earnestly solicitous to find out, if but one excellent among them, which yet my soul seeketh, and hitherto had sought almost in vain, one man among a thousand have I found faithful; so few, so very few, then walked in the narrow way: or, of a thousand who have fallen into the snares of the adulteress, not more than one have escaped; but a woman among all those have I not found; of all the bad women he had known, not one in a thousand was ever reclaimed: or perhaps among all his wives and concubines, he found not one who answered that character of virtue and excellence which he sought. Lo! this only have I found from the scriptures of truth, that God hath made man upright, perfect in knowledge and righteousness; but sad experience now evinces how fearfully apostate he is become, and far removed from his once happy state. They have sought out many inventions; not content with the station in which God had placed them, they affected to be as wise as the Elohim, and, daring to pluck the forbidden fruit, lost their innocence, were plunged into sin, wretchedness, and shame, which their miserable excuses but rendered the more notorious; and their corrupted offspring copy their destructive ways: and yet, through the grace of God, a glorious multitude, which no one can number, have been and shall be saved from all these pollutions.