The Pulpit Commentary — Ecclesiastes — Section 166

11pproves, and the angele of God admire. 4. Moves on to a. glorious future. It does not end in the grave.-0. Ver, 10.-Heroism; infatuation; wisdom. Translating the latter part of thi! passage thue, "And it is very certain that even the greatest is but man, and cannot contend with him who is mightier than he" (Cox), we have our attention directed to three things. I. REAL HEROISM. This is found in opposing ourselves to the strong on behalf of the weak, even though the odds against us are very great, and apparently overwhelmin"'. Wonderful triumphe have been achieved, even though the agents have "been b~t men," when they have courageously and devoutly addressed themselves to the work before them. They have triumphed over (1) powerful "interests;" (2) imperious passions; (3) deep-rooted prejudices; (4) mighty numbers, in the cause of (a) their country, (JJ) truth, (c) Jesus Christ. II. PITIFgL INFATUATION. This is seen in those who are foolish enough to measure their poor strength (or their weakness) with the power of God, with "him who is mightier than they," And this they do when they: 1. Act as if he did not regard them; when they say, "How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the Most High?" (Ps. lxxiii 11). 2. Imagine they can outwit him; when they think they will sin and be forgiven; will corrnpt their lives and waste their powers, and yet fiml entrance at the last hour into his kingdom. But" God is not mocked; whatsoever a man sows, that does he reap." Sin always carries its penalty at one time and in some form, if not in another. 3. Live in simple defiance of his rule; go on in conscious wrong-doing, in the vague and senseless hope that somehow they will "escape the judgment of God." III. '!'RUE WISDOM. This is realized in: 1. Submitting to his will; in acknowledging his supreme claims, as Father and Saviour of our spirit, upon our worship and trust, our love, our service, and in yielding ourselves unreservedly to him. 2. Enlisting his Divine strength on our side. For if we are reconciled to him, and become his true and trusted children-" his disciples indeed "-then is God on our side; there is no need to speak of "contending" with him that is mightier than we; there is no further con test or variance. Surely" God is with us," bestowing upon us his fatherly favour, admitting us to his intimate friendship, accepting us as his fellow-labourers (1 Cor. iii. 9), over- ruling all adverse (or apparently adverse) forces and making them work our true and lasting good (Rom. viii. 28), guarding us from every evil thing, leading us on to a peaceful end and out to a glorious future.-C. Vers. 1-6.-Life withoue enjoyment valueless. The problem which occupies the Preacher (vers. 1, 2) is virtually the same as that in eh. iv. 7, 8. It is not that which is discussed in the Book of Job, and the thirty-seventh and seventy-third psalms, viz. why the wicked often prosper, and the righteous often suffer adversity. It is that of men blessed with riches, with children, and with loug life, and debarred all enjoyment of these blessings. In the Law of Moses these had been the rewards promised for obedience to God (Deut. xxviii. 1-14), but the Preacher sees that something more is needed for happiness than the mere possession of them. There is another "gift of God" needed in order that one may enjoy the good of any one of them. I. The first picture (vers. 1, 2) is that of A RICH MAN, able to gratify every desire, but incapable of making his wealth yield him any pleasure or satisfaction. He may he a miser, afraid to make use of his riches; he may be in ill health, and find that his wealth cannot procure for him any alleviation of his pains; his domestic circumstances may be so unho.ppy as to cast a cloud over his prosperity. From various causes, such o.s these, the evil upon which our author remarks is common enough in human society -great wealth failing to procure for its possessor any enjoyment he can relish, 1md perhaps passing at last, on his death, into the hands of a stranger, for want of an heir to whom he might have had some satisfaction in leaving it. II. A second case of a different kind is suggested in vers. 3-6. The rich man is NOT CHILDLESS, but has a numerous family, and lives out all his days; but he, too, often has no happiness in his life, and perhaps even fails to find honourable burial when he diee. His fate is worse than that of the stillborn child thnt has never tasted  LJ2 ECCLESIASTES; OR, THE PREACHER. [ell. vt. 1-12,