This is an evil among all things— This is an evil in all that happeneth under the sun, that the fate of all is alike; and also that the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil. Nay, they love that while they live which hath nothing but a fair appearance, and after that they go to the dead. They love vanities; they set their heart upon that which appears to them to be love-worthy; and as they walk, according to David's phrase, Psalms 39:6 in a vain show, they may be said to love that show, that appearance, that shadow of beauty, which strikes them as much as if it had the greatest solidity in it. See Desvoeux, p. 390. We have from Ecclesiastes 9:15 of the preceding chapter, to the present verse, the second instance, (see on chap. 8: Ecclesiastes 9:14.) which is that of the unjust preference generally given to this life, or rather, to the condition of those who enjoy it, above the condition of the dead. The injustice of that preference has been already proved, chap. Ecclesiastes 6:3-6. But the sacred orator here resumes the same subject, particularly to shew that our mistake on this point is not owing so much to our proceeding upon wrong principles, as to our not minding the certainty of a future state. To this effect he relates the two principal reasons which may be alleged in support of that preference, and allows both to be true in fact. In the mean time, he takes notice that in this very life which we are so fond of, we are at a loss how to place our affections; and we are so because we stop at what passes within our observation in this world, and go no farther. A strong confirmation of the main argument; and a strong presumption that we were not originally made for this world only! However, as this last observation is placed between the two reasons assigned for the preference given to life, the thread of the reasoning is thereby made more difficult to be followed, which induced me to give this previous notice. It is true, that earthly things can afford nothing better than the present fruition of what our benevolent Creator puts in our power to possess. Nay, this is so certain, that no other reason can be assigned why God Almighty should have made those things wherein we take comfort, except as the allay of all our toil during our abode in a world wherein he hath placed us, ch. Ecclesiastes 8:15. Men might be sufficiently convinced of this; yet so few act agreeably to their conviction in that respect; so few allow themselves time to rest from their labour, and to enjoy the fruit thereof, that this cannot be the only or the ultimate design of Providence. This appears farther from the seeming confusion which prevails in the world with respect to the recompensing of virtue and vice; Ecclesiastes 9:16-17. For, whereas one would expect from the hand of a righteous God, a distribution of good and evil proportionable to the conduct of every individual, we find that the fate of the virtuous man and that of the wicked is alike, to all outward appearance. Hence it is, that with respect to moral, as well as to natural things, men, in general, scarcely know what they should either love or hate, and are mostly determined by their corrupt passions with respect to the former, and by mere appearances with respect to the latter.
This is their case during their life, and death generally overtakes them before they rectify their notions, chap. Ecclesiastes 9:1-3.