The Pulpit Commentary — Ecclesiastes — Section 71

Vera. 4-11.-Another experiment: refoneq, voluptuousness. Riotous mirth havino- failed miserably to give him the settled happiness after which he sought, our autho~ records another o.nd more promising experiment which he made, the search for happiness in a life of culture-" the pursuit of beauty and ma"nificence in art." More promising it was, because it brought into play higher and pur:r emotions than those to which ordinary sensuality appeals; it cultivated the side of the nature which adjoins, and almost merges into, the spiritual. The Law of Moses, forbiddin" as it did the making of images or representations or natural objects or of living creatures for purposes of worship, had prevented much advance being made in sculpture and painting; but there were still extensive fields of artistic development left for cultivation. Architecture and gardening afforded abundant scope for the exhibition and gratification of a refined taste. And so Solomon built splendid palaces, and planted vineyards, and laid out parks and gardens, and filled them with the choicest fruit trees, and dug pools for the irrigation of his plantations in the time of summer drought. Nothing was omitted that could minister to his sense of the beautiful, or that could. enhance his splendour and dignity. A large household, great flocks of cattle, heaps of silver and gold, precious treasures from distant lands, the pleasures of music and of the harem are all enumerated as being procured by his wealth and power, and employed for his gratification. All thnt the eye could rest on with delight, all that the heart could desire, was brought within his reach. And all the time wisdom was with him, guiding him in the pursuit of pleasure, and not abandoning him in the enjoyment of it. Nothing occurred to prevent the experiment being carried through to the very end. The delights he enumerates were in themselves lawful, and therefore were indulged in without any uneasy sensation of transgressing against the Law of God or the dictates of conscience. Nay, the very fact that be had a moral end in view when he began the experiment seemed to give a high sanction to it. He was not interrupted by the intrusion of other thoughts and cares. No foreign enemy disturbed his peace; sickness did not incapacitate him; his wealth was not exhausted by the large tlemands made upon it for the support of his magnificence and luxury. And so he went to the utmost bounds of refined enjoyment, and found much that for a time amply rewarded him for the efforts be put forth. "My heart," he says, "rejoiced in all my labour" (ver. 10). His busy mind was kept occupied; bis senses were charmed by the beauty and richness of the treasures he had gathered together, and of the great works which gave such abundant evidence of his taste and wealth. His experiment was not quite fruitless, therefore. Present gratification he found in the course of his labours; but when they were completed, the 'pleasure they had yielded passed away. The charm of novelty was gone. Possession did not yield the joy and delight which acquisition had done. "When the palaces were finished, the gardens planted, the gems and rarities accumulated, the luxurious household established, and nothing left to do but to rest in the happiness that those things had been expected to secure, the sense of defeat and disappointment o.gain fell upon the king. "Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I hnd laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun." He does not try to explain the cause of his failure, but simply records the fact that he did fail. "He does not moralize, still less preach; he just paints the picture of his soul's sad wanderings, of the baffled effort of a human heart, and passes on." But we may find it highly profit- able to inquire what were the causes why the life of culture-which, without harshness, may be called a refined voluptuousness-fails to give satisfaction to the human soul. I. In the first place, IT IS A LIFE OF ISOLATION FROM Gon. As Solomon represents the courso he followed, we see that the thought of God was excluded from bis mind. The Divine gifts were enjoyed, the love of the beautiful which is implanted in the soul of man was gratified, every exquisite sensation of which we are capable was indulged, but the one thin~ needed to sanctify the happiness obtained and render it perfect was omitted. "God," says St. Augustine, "has mado us for himself, and we cannot rest until we rest in him." Emotions of gratitude, adoration, humility, and self-consecra- tion to His service cannot be suppressed without great loss-the loss even or that security and tranquillity of spirit which are essential to trno happiness. All tho resources upon which Solomon drew may furnish helps to happiness, but nono of them, nor all of them together, coul,1, apart from God, secure it. Compare with the failure .-,1 ECCLF:SIASTES; OR, THE PREACl-mR. [en. n. 1-2G.