The Pulpit Commentary — Ecclesiastes — Section 114

HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Ver.1.-The oppressed and the oppressor. Liberty ha8 ever been the object of human desire and aspiration. Yet how seldom and how partially has this boon been secured during the long period of human history I Especially in the East freedom ha.~ been but little known. Despotism has been and is very general, and there have seldom been states of society in which there has heen no room for reflections such as those recorded in this verse. I. 'l'HE TYRANNY OF THE OPPRESSOR.. 1. This implies power, which may arise from physical strength, from hereditary authority, from rank and wealth, or from civil and political position and dignity. Power will always exist in hnman society; drive it out at one door, and it will re-enter by another. It may be checked and restrained; but it is inseparable from our nature and state. 2. It implies the misuse of power. It may be good to have a giant's strength, but "tyrannous to use it like a giant." The great and powerful use their strength and influence aright when they protect and care for those who are beneath them. But our experience of human nature leads us to believe that where there is power there is likely to be abuse. Delight in the exercise of power is too generally found to lead to the contempt of the rights of others; hence the prevalence of oppression. II. THE SORROWFUL LOT OF THE OPPRESSED. 1. 'l'he sense of oppresilion creates grief and distress, depicted in the tears of those suffering from wrong. Pain is one tbing; wrong is another and a bitterer thing. A man will endure patiently the ills which nature or his own conduct brings upon him, whilst he frets or even rages under the evil wrought by his neighbour's injustice. 2. The absence of consolation adds to the trouble. Twice it is said of the oppressed, "They had no comforter." Tho oppressors are indisposed, and fellow-sufferers are unable, to succour and relieve them. 3. 'l'he consequence is the slow formation of the habit of dejection, which may deepen into despondency. III. 'l.'nE REFLECTIONS SUGGESTED BY SUCH SPECTACLES. 1. No right-miuded person can look upon instances of oppression without discerning the prevalence and lamenting the pernicious effects of sin. To oppress a fellow-man is to do despite to the image of God himself. 2. '£he mind iR often perplexed when it looks, and looks in vain, for the interposition of the just Governor of all, who defers to intervene for the rectification of human wrongs. "How long, 0 Lor!f I" is the exclamation of many a pious believer in Divine providence, who looks upon the injustice of the haughty and contemptuous, and npon the woes of the helpless who are smitten and afflicted. 3. Yet there is reason patiently to wait for the great deliverance. He who has effected a glorious salvation on man's behalf, who has "visited and redeemed his people," will in due time humble the selfish tyrant, break the bonds of the captive, and let the oppressed go free.-'£. Vers. 2 3.-Pessimism. It would be a mistake to regard this language as expressing the delib~rate and final conviction of the author of Ecclesiastes. It represents a mood of his mind 1 and indeed of many a mind, oppressed by the sorrows, the wrongs, and the perplexities of human life, Pessimism is at the root a philosophy; but its manifestation :itC0LESIASTES, H 98 ECCLESIASTES; OR, TRE PREACHER. [on, 1v, 1-16,