The Pulpit Commentary — Ecclesiastes — Section 68

t.o acquire may b~ pitied, a_n~ if he finds his life to have a large measure of vauity ho may be excused tor cornp\arumg; but here is- I. Tm: COMPLAI?-.'T OF TRE SUCCESSFUL. The speaker (of the text) is made (or makes himself) miserable because he has gained much by the expenditure of time and strength, and he has to leave it behind him when he dies; he has to leave it to one who "has not laboured" (ver. 21), and pos~ibly to a man who is not as wise ns. himself, but is "a fool " (ver. 19), and he may scatter or misuse it, And the thought of the }nse- c-urity of life, together with the certainty of leaving all behind to the man who comes after, 1,hoever or whatever he mny be, makes day and night wretched (ver. 23). II. WHEREIN IT IS sorNo. It is quite right that a man should ask himself what will become of his acquisition. To be satisfied with present pleasure is ignoble; ,to be careless of what is coming after us-" Apres moi le deluge "-is shamefully selfish. It becomes e1·ery man to consider what the long results of his labour will be, whether satisfactory or unfruitful. III. WHEREIN IT IS UNSOUND. 1. There is nothing painful in the thought of part- ing with our treasure. We :inherited much from those who w,ent before us, and we may be well content to band down all we have to those who come after us. We spent no labour on that which we inherited: why should we be> aggrieved because our heirs will have spent none on what they take from us ? 2. If we did not hoard our treasures, but distributed them while we lived, putting them into the hands of the wise; or if (again) we chose our heirs according to their spiritual rather than their fleshly affinities, we ,;hould be spared the misery of accumulating the substance which a fool will scatter. But let us look a.t a still better aspect of the subject. IV. THE LEGACY AND THE HOPE OF TilE WISE. 1. His best legacy, We may and we should so spend our time and our strength that what we leave behind us is not wealth that can be dissipated or .stolen, but worth that cannot fail to bless-Divine tl1lth lodged in many minds, good principles planted in many hearts, a pure and noble character built up in many souls. '!'his is what no fool can divert or destroy; ;this is that which will live on, and multiply and blese, when we are far from all mo1:tal s_cenos. Immeasurably better is the legacy of holy influence than that of "uncertain riches;" the former must be a lasting bl~sing, the latter may be an incalculable curse. 2..His best and purest bope. What if the dying man feels that his grasp on earthly gain is about to be finally relaxed? is he not about to open his hand in a heavenly sphere, where the Divine Father will enrich him with a. heavenly herit11,ge, which will make all material treasures seem poor indeed ?~C. Ver. 24.-(See homily on eh. iiL 12, 13, 22.)-C. Ver. 26.-Piety and impiety; recompense and penalty. We ask and .answer the twofold question, viz. what is- I. OuB EXPECTATION. We should certainly expect two things, judging ante- cedently. I. That piety would be richly rewarded; for who would not e,xpect that the bountiful, just, and resourceful Father would give 1liberally, in many ways, to those who sought his favour, and were "good in his sight"?. 2. That impiety would bear plain marks of Divine disapproval; for who would suppose that men, .would defy their Maker, break his laws, injure his children, spoil his holy l\nd benignant purpose, and not suffer marked and manifold evils as the j~st penalty ofthei~ presump- tion and their guilt? • We naturally look for. much happiness and prosperity for the former, much misery and _defeat for the latter. • . Il. OuB EXPERIENCE. What do we find? 1. That God does reward his servants, The Preacher mentions three good gifts of his hand; they are not exhaustive, though they include or suggest much of the righteous man's heritage. (1) Knowle_dge, Most of all and best of all, the knowledge of God himself; and to know God 1s thii very C'B~ence and substance of true human life. Beside this, the knowledge of man. It is, in truth, only the good man who understand.8 human nature. Vice, iniquity, flatters itself that it has this knowledge. But it is mistaken; its conception of mankind is distorted, erroneous, fatally mistaken. It does not know whe.t it is in man to be and to do and to become. "Only the good discern t.he good," and only they have o. know- ledge of our race which is profoundly true. (2) WiBdCJm. An enlightened conception OH. II, 1-26.] ECCLESIASTES; OR, THE PREACHER. 51