The Pulpit Commentary — Ecclesiastes — Section 182

rank among the children of men ; a good name attests that one has qualities of soul, of mind, heart, and disposition, proclaiming him a son of God and a peer of heaven. III. MoRE SATISFYING IN ENJOYMENT. Perfumed oil may yield a pleasant fragrance which gratifies the sense of smell and revives the body's vigour; the spiritual aroma of a good name not only diffuses happiness amongst those who come to hear of it, but imparts a sweet joy, holy and refreshing, to him who bears it. IV. MoRE DIFFUSIVE IN INFLUENCE. The odour of precious ointment extends to those in its immediate vicinity; the savour of a good name goes far and wide, often pervades the community in which the owner of it lives; sometimes, as in the instance of Mary of Bethany (Mark xiv. 9), spreads itself abroad through the whole world. V. MoRE ENDURING IN CONTINUANCE, The fragrance of the unguent ultimately ceases. Becoming feebler the longer it is exposed to the air and the wider it diffuses itself, it ultimately dies away. The savour of a good name never perishes (Ps. cxii. 6). It passes on from age to age, being handed down by affectionate tradition to succeed- ing, frequently to latest, generations. Witness the names of Noah, the preacher of righteousness; Abraham, the father of the faithful; Moses, the law-giver of Israel; David, the sweet singer of the Hebrew Church; John, the beloved disciple; Peter, the man of rock; Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles; with names like those of Polycarp, Cyprian, Origen, Athanasius, Augustine, Chrysostom, Luther, Calvin, Knox, etc. VL Mo&E BLESSED IN ITS ISSUE. Precious ointment can only secure for one entrance into earthly circles of rank and fashion; a good name will procure for him who bears it admission into the society of Heaven's peerage. LEssoNs. 1. Seek this good name. 2. Cherish it above all earthly distinctions. 3. Guard it from getting tarnished. 4. Walk worthy of it. Ver. l.-17ie day of death and the day of birth. I. The latter begins a life at tho longest brief (Ps. xc. 10) ; the former a life which shall never end (Luke xx. 36). II. The latter ushers into a field of toil (Ps. civ. 23); the former into a home of rest (Rev. xiv. 13). III. The latter admits into a scene of suffering (Job v. 7; xiv. 1); the former into a realm of felicity (Rev. vii. 16). IV. The latter introduces a life of sin (Gen. viii. 21; Job xiv. 4; Ps. Ii. 5; !viii. 3; Rom. v. 12); the former an existence of holiness (Jude 24; Rev. xxi. 27). V. The latter opens a state of condemnation (Rom. v. 18); the former a state of glory (2 Cor. iv. 17). LEsso~s. 1. The secret of living well-keeping an (lye on the day of one's death (Deut. xxxii. 29; Ps. xc. 12). 2. The secret of dying happily-living in the fear of God (.Acts xiii. 36; Phil. i. 21). Vere. 2-6.-The house of mourning and the house of feasting. I. TnE HOUSE OJ!' MOURNING A DIVTh'E INSTITUTION; THE BOUSE OF FEASTING AN ERE0TION OF MAN, 1. The l,ouse of mourning a Divine institution. 'l.'hough not true that "man was made to mourn" (Burns) in the sense that the Creator originally intended human experience on the earth to be one prolonged wail of sorrow, it is nevertheless certain that days of mourning, equally with days of death-and, indeed, just because of t\Jese--come to all by Heaven's decree. As no one of woman born can elude bereavement in some shape or form, so must every one in turn make acquaintance with the house of mourning. Hence mourning for departed relatives (Gen. xxiii. 2; xxvii. 41; I. 4; Numb. xx. 29; Deut. xxxiv. 8; 2 Sam. xi. 27) has not only been a universal custom amon!!: mankind, but has commended itself to men's judgments as in perfect accordance with the divinely implanted instincts of human nature. 'fo mourn for the dead in becoming manner is something more than to array one's self in "customary suits of solemn black," to affect the "windy suspiration of forced breath," with "the fruitful river in the eye," or to put on " the dejected 'haviour of the visage, together with all forms, modes, shapes of grief," which are at best only the outward "trappings and suits of woe" (Shakespeare, 'Hamlet,' act i. sc. 2); it is more even than to utter selfish lamentations over one's own loss in being deprived of the society of the departed, sighing like the psalmist, "Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness" (Ps. lxxxviii. 18); it is to bewail their abstraction from the light of heaven and thQ CIR. vn. 1-20.J EOOLESIABTES; OR, THE PREACHER. 169