Prov. xiv. 13. Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful ; and the end of that mirth is heaviness.
WE are apt to imagine, that whatever is sanctioned by the approbation and practice of the world at large, must be right : but we cannot have a more erroneous standard than popular opinion. This is sufficiently evi- dent from the estimation in which mirth and laughter are generally held : they are supposed to constitute the chief happiness of man ; whereas they are far from producing any solid happiness at all. To this mistake Solomon refers, in the w-ords preceding the text ; and in the text itself he confirms the truth of his own position.
We shall, I. Demonstrate the vanity of carnal mirth —
We mean not to condemn all kinds and degrees of mirth : there certainly is a measure of it that is con- ducive to good, rather than to evil ; " A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance," and " doeth good like a medicine." But carnal mirth is distinct from cheerfulness of disposition ; inasmuch as it argues a light frivolous state of mind, and indisposes us for serious and heavenly contemplations. Of this mirth we affirm, that it is,
1. Empty —
[Let us examine the mirth which we have at any time experienced ; let us weigh it in a balance ; let us compare it with that sobriety of mind which results from scenes of woe, and with that tenderness of spirit which is the offspring of sympathy and compassion ; and we shall confess, with Solomon, that "'it is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting * :" yea, the more we examine it, the more shall we be constrained, like him, to " say of laughter, It is mad ; and of mirth, What doeth it''?" It may be justly called, " a filling of our belly with the east wind^"]
2. Fictitious —
[The gaiety which is exhibited in worldly company is often assumed, for the purpose of concealing the real feelings
a Eccl. vii. 1—3. ^ Eccl. ii. 1,2. <= job xv. 2.