V crs. 17-26.-'n!e vanity of toil. I. THE SECRET OF HAl;'PINESS LIES NOT IN DUSI- KESS. Granting that one applies himself to business, and succeeds through ability, perseverance, and skill in building up a fortune, if he looks for felicity either in his labour or in bis riches, he will find himselr rnistaken. Three things are fatal to a man's chances of finding happiness in the riches that come from business success. I. Sorrow in the getting of them. Toiling and moiling, labouring and striving, drudgjng and slaving, planning and plotting, scheming and contriving, rising up early and lying down late, hurrying and worrying-by these means for the most part are fortunes built up. How expressive is the Preacher's language concerning the successful man of business, that "all his days are sorrows, and his travail is grief," or "all his days are pains, and trouble is his occupation," "yea, even in the night his heart taketh no rest" (ver. 23) ! 2. Sorrow in the keeping of them. A constant anxiety besets the rich man, night and day, lest the riches he has amassed should suddenly take wings and flee away; by day looking out for sare investments, and by night wondering if his ventures will prove good, if the money he has painfully collected may not some day disappear and leaye him in the lurch. And even should this not happen, how often is it seen tbat when a man has made his fortune, he finds there is nothing in it; that success has been too long in coming, and that now, when he has wealth, he wants thG power to enjoy it (ver. 22; cf. eh. vi. 2); as the duke says to Claudio in the prison- " And when thou art old and rich, Thou bast neither heat, affection, limb, nor beauty, To make tl,y riches pleasant." (' Measure for Measure,' oct iii. sc. 1.) 3. Sorrow in the parting with them. '!'he results of all his labour he must leave to the man who shall be after him, without kuowing whether that successor shall be !l wise man or a fool (vers. 18, 19; cf. eh. v. 15); and though this does not greatly trouble the Christian, who knows there is laid up for him a better and more· enduring substance in heaven, yet for the worldly or insiucerely religious man it is on agitating thouuht. Mazarin, the cardinal, and first minister of Louis XIV., was accustomed, as he w~llre<l throuoh the galleries of hie palace, to whisper to himself," I must quit all this•" and Fred:rick William IV. of Prussia on one occasion, as he stood upon the Put,dam terrace, turned to Chevalier Bunsen beside him, and remarked, as they looked out to"etber on the garden," This too I must leave behind me;, (see Plnmptre, in loco). lT. llusrnEss MAY MINIB'rER TO MAN'S ENJOYMENT. 'l'he Preacher does not wish to trnc:b that happiness lies beyoud man's reach, but rather that it is attainable, if sou1J;ht iu the ri~ht way. He recognizes: 1. That there is nothing wrong in seelcing after h"n,iness: or even earthly en;'oyment. He admits there is nothin~ better, more per- mi-,,ble or desirable, amon" men than that one" should eat and dnnk, &nd ·make his so,ll c11joy i;ood in l1iB labo;r" (ver. 24). He even allows that this is from the hand of God, whi~h makes it plain that he is not now alluding to sinful indulg~nce of the 1,,JJily appelite, but speakinu0 uf that moderate enjoyment of the good thmgs of life God has so richly provided for man's support and entertainment. It is not God'6 cu. II. l-2G.J ECULESIAS'l'ES; OR, 'fHE PREACHER 1-3
wish, ha says, that man should be debarred or should debar himself from all enjoy- ment. Rather it is his earnest desire that man should eat and drink and enjoy what has been furnished for his entertainment, should not make of himself an ascetic, under pretence of religion denying himself of lawful pleasures and gratifications, but should so use them as to contribute to his highest welfare. 2. That no man CM1, make a good use of life's provisions unless in connection with the thought qf God. "Who can eat or have enjoyment, apart from him [i.e. God]?" (Revised Version, margin). This corrective thought the Preacher lays before his readers, that while the world's good things cannot impart happiness by themselves and apart from God, they can if enjoyed in conjunction with him, i.e. if recognized as coming from him (1 Chron. xxix. 14; 1 Tim. vi. 17; Jas. i. 17), and used for bis glory (1 Cor. x. 31). The last passages show that this was the New Testament ideal of life (1 Tim. iv. 4). 3. That he who seeks happiness in this way will succeed. "!<'or God giveth to a man that is good in his sight [or,' that plea.seth him'] wisdom, and knowledge, and joy" (ver. 26). So far from pronouncing felicity a dream, an unattainable good, a shadow without a substance, the Preacher believes that if a man will take God and religion with him into the world, and, remembering both the shortness of time and the certainty of a future life, will enjoy the world's good things in moderation and with thankfulness, be will derive therefrom, if not absolute and unmixed happiness, as near an approximation to it as man can expect to reach on#earth. God will graciously assist such a man to gather the best fruits of wisdom and knowledge, both human and Divine, and will inspire him with a joy the world can neither give nor take away (Job xxii. 21; Ps. xvi 8, 9; cxii. 1, 7, 8; John xvi. 22). This, if not happiness, is at least a lot immensely superior to that God assigns to the sinner, i.e. to the man who excludes God, religion, and immortality from his life. The lot of such a man is often as the Preacher describes, to toil away in making money, to heap it up till it becomes II pile, and then to die and leave it to be scattered to the winds, enjoyed by he knows not whom, and not unfre- quently by the good men he has despised (Job xxvii. 16, 17; Prov. xiii. 22; x.xviii. 8). LESSONS, 1. Be diligent in business (Rom. xii. 11). " Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do," etc. (eh. ix. 10). 2. But be "fervent in spirit, serving the Lord" (Rom. xii. 11). 3. Seek happiness in God himself rather than in his gilts (Ps. iv. 7; ix. 2; xl. 16; Luke i. 47; Phil. iii. 1).