The Pulpit Commentary — Ecclesiastes — Section 48

final possession of speculative truth which he now vainly anticipates a.s the consum- mation of hiY intellectual happiness. And what is true of science is true, indeed, of all human activity. It is ever the contest that pleases us, and not the victory. 'l'hus it is in play; thus it is in hunting; thus it is in the search of truth; thus it is in life. 'l'he past does not interest, the present does not satisfy; the future alone is the object which engages us. 'It is not the goal, but the course, that makes us happy,' says Richter " (Hamilton,' Meta.physics'). But in the case before us we find that the pleasure afford eel by intellectual activity is not regarded by the Preacher as an end sufficient in itself to engage his energies. It is a practical end he has in view; and when he finds that earthly pursuits cannot alter destinies, cannot change the conditions nnder which we live, cannot set ri~ht that which is wrong, or supply that which is wanting for human happiness, he loathes them altogether. The very wisdom and knowledge which he had acquired in his investigations seem to him useless lumber. He wanted to find in lifo an adequate aim and end, something in which man could find repose. He found it not. "The light which the wisdom he had learned cast on human destiny only exhibited to him the illusions of life, but did not show him one perfect object on which he might rest as a final aim of existence. And therefore he says that 'be that increaseth know- ledge increaseth sorrow,' since he only thus perceives more and more illusions, whilst nothing is the result, and nihilism is only sorrow of heart" (vide Martensen,' Christhn Ethics'). The Preacher then says a.bout the pursuit of wisdom, that though it is implanted by God in the heart of man (ver. 13), it is (1) a severe and laborious task, and (2) the results it yields are grief and sorrow. . I. In the first place, then, HE DESCRIBES THE PURSUIT OF WISDOM AS A SEVERE A~-n LABORIOUS TASK, He looks back upon the course of inquiry he had followed, and declares that it has been a rugged, thorny road. "This sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith." And it is quite in harmony with the spirit of the book that the name of God, which occurs here for the first time, should be coui,led with the thought of his laying heavy burdens upon men, since it was by him that this profitless search had been appointed. He remembers all the labours of the way by which he had come-the weariness of brain, the laborious days, the sleepless nights, the frustrated hopes, the disappointments he had experienced; and he counts the pursuit of wisdom but another of the vanities of life. The common run of men, who have no high aims, no desires after a. wisdom more than that needed for procuring e. livelihood, who a.re undisturbed by the great problems of life, are spared this painful discipline. It is those who rise above their fellows, that a.re called to spend their strength and-resources, to deny themselves pleasures, and to separate themselres from much of that in which mankind delight and find solace, only to find keener sorrows than those knowu to their fellows. 1'hey do indeed hear and obey the voice of God, but it calls them to suffering and to self-sacrifice. In these days, when the sciences open up before men vast fields for research, there must be many who can verify from their own experience what Solomon says about the laboriousness of the methods used. 'l'he infinite patience needed, the observation and ce.taloguing of multitudinous facts, the inventing of fresh mechanical appliances for facilitating research, the varied experi- ments, the careful examination of evidence, and the construction and testing of new theories and hypotheses, are the "sore travail" here spoken of. II. In the second place, THE WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE so LABORIOUSLY GAUIBD ONLY MEAN INCREASE OF GRIEF AND SORROW. (Ver. 18.) There is abundant evidence of the truth of this statement in the experience of those who have made great attain- ments in intellectual wisdom. For progress in knowledge only convinces man of the little he knows, as compared with the vast universe of being that lies undiscovered. He is convinced of the weakness of his powers, the shortness of the time at his disposal, and the infinite extent of the field, which he desires, but can never hope to take possession of. This thought is expressed in the well-known words of Sir Isaac Newton: "I see.m to have been only like a. boy playing ou the seashore, and diverting myself now and then with a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, wh~e the ocean of truth lay undiscovered before me." With increase of intellectual know- ledae with enlarged acquaintance with the thoughts of men, and the various theories of th~ universe.that have been held, and the various solutions of difficulties that have been &iven, there often comes, too, 11nwillin~ncss or inability to rest content with l\ny  El 'C'LESIASTES; OH, 'l'Im PREACIIEH. [on. 1. 1-18,