The Pulpit Commentary — Ecclesiastes — Section 72

of Solomon the success of those who have often, in circumstances of extreme discomfort and suffering, enjoyed the peace of God that passcth all understanding. The sixty- third psalm, written by David in the time of exile and hardship, illustrates the truth that in communion with God the soul enjoys a happiness which cannot be found else- where. "A man's life does not consist in the abundance of the things which he po~~esseth." Apart from the favour of God anrl the service of God, the richest pos- sess10ns and the m~st skilful employment of them can secure no lasting satisfaction. For we are so constituted as creatures that our life is not complete if we are dissevered from our Creator. II. In the second place, IT IS A SELFISH LIFE. All that Solomon describes are his efforts to secure certain durable results for himself; to indulge liis love for the beautiful in nature and art, and to sunound himself with luxury and splendour. He would have been more successful in his search for happiness if he had endeavoured to relieve the wants of others-to clothe the naked, to feed the hungry, to comfort the afflicted and to instruct the ignorant. Self-denial and self-sacrifice for the sake of others ,;ould have brought him nearer the goal of his desire. The penalty of his selfish pursuit fell heavily upon him. He could not live at a height above mankind, in the enjoyment of his own felicity, for long; "the riddle of the painful earth" filled him with thoucrhts of self-loathing and despair, which shattered all his happiness. Do what he might, old age, disease, and death were foes he could not conquer, aud all about him in human society he could discern moral evils and inequalities which he could not set right nor even explain. Such selfish isolation as that into which for a time he had withdrawn himself failed to secure the object he had in view, for he could not really dissever his lot from that of his fellows, or escape the evils which afflicted them. The idea of a life of luxurious ease, undisturbed by the sight or thought of the miseries and hardships of lifo, was a vain dream, from which he soon awoke. In his poem, 'The Palace of Art,' Tennyson has given a most luminous and suggestive commentary upon this portion of the Book of Ecclesiastes. In it he represents the soul as seeking forgiveness for the sin of selfish isolation by penitence, prayer, and self-renunciation, and a:s anticipating a resumption of all the joys of culture and art in companionship with others. In communion with God, in fellowship with others, all things that are noble and pure and lovely are taken into holy keeping, and form a lasting source of joy and happiness.-J. W.- Vers. 12-17.-The valv,e ·and the/utility of wisdom, Solomon had now made many experiments to try and discover something .that was good in itself, that ,vas an end for which one might labour, a goal for which one might make, a resting-place for the sonl. The acquisition of knowledge had first of all attracted him, but after a long course of study, in which he traversed the whole field of learning and reached the limits of human thought, the futility of his labours dawned upon him. 'fhen he turned to sensual enjoyments, and gave himself up to them for a time, with the deliberate purpose of seeking to discover if there were _in this quarter any permanent gain; if it were possible so to prolong the pleasures of life as to silence, if not to satisfy, the cravings of the soul. The experiment was but a short one; he soon found out that pleasure is short-lived, and that mirth and laughter are followed by weariness and melancholy. His resources were not, however, yet exhausted. A new course was open to him, and one which his richly endowed nature qualified him for trying, and bis kingly power and wealth laid open to him. This was the cultivation of those arts by which human life is beautified; the gratification of those tastes that distinguish man from the lower creatures, and that have something in them that is noble and pure. He built stately palaces, planted gardens and forests; he surrounded himself with all the luxury and pageantry of an Oriental court; he accumulated treasures such as kings only could afford to procure; music and song, and whatever could delight a refined taste, and a love of the beautiful were sedulously cultivated. But all in vain; restheticism proved as fruitless as the pursuit of knowledge, or tbo indulgence of the coarser appetites, to give rest to the soul. And now in sober meditation he reviewed all bis experience; having come to the end of his resources, he inquires into actual results attained, and pronounces upon them. First of nll, he is convinced that he hM 2;iven a fair trial to all the various means by which men seek 011, tr. 1-20.] lWCLESIASTES; OR, THE PREACHER.