The Pulpit Commentary — Ecclesiastes — Section 226

Yer. 16.-Man's b1rsy life. The Preacher was observant, not only of the phenomena nnd proc, sscs of nature, but also of the incidents and transactions of human life. In fo, t, man was his chief interest and his chief study. He observed the dili<rence of the lnb,1 rious; the incessai:it activity of the scheming, the restless, the acquisitive, How he ,rn1;1!,l have been aflec_ted by the spectacle ?f mo_deru commercial life-say in London Pr Pans, New York or Vienna-we can only 1mag1ne; but as things were then, he was impressed by the marvellous activity and untiring energy which were displayed by his follow-men in the various avocations of life. I. MAN'S OWN NATURE A~D CONSTITUTION IS ACTIVE. It would be an absurd mis• representation of man's being to consider him as capable only of feeling and of know- ledge. Intellectual and emotional he is ; but, possessed of will, he is enterprising inqniring, and active. Nature does indeed a.et upon him; but he reacts upon nature: subdues it to bis purposes, and impresses upon it his thoughts. • II. MAN'S CIRCUMSTANCES ARE SUCH AS TO CALL FORTH HIS ACTIVITY. -Human nature is endowed with wants, which prove, as a matter of fact, to be the means to his most valuable possessions and his chief enjoyments. His bodily necessities urge him to toil; and their supply and satisfaction, in many cases, absorb almost all disposable energy. His intellectual aspirations constrain to much endeavour; curiosity and inquiry prompt to efforts comiderable in themselves, and lasting all through life. The family and social relations are the motive to many labours. Oould one enter a market, an exchange, a port, and could one not merely witness the movements ·or- body and of fentures which strike every eye, but penetrate the motives and purposes, the hopes and fears, which dwell in secret in the breasts of the busy throng, something might be dis- cerned which would furnish a key to tbe busy activity of life. III. Busn,"'ESS ACTIVITY IB ACCOMPA.!>.'IED WITH MANY PERILS. The labourer, the craftsman, the merchant, the lawyer, all have their various employments and interests, which are in danger ·of becoming engrossing. Perhaps the main temptation of the very busy is towards worldliness. 'l'he active and toiling are prone to lose sight of every• thing whicb does not contribute to their prosperity, and especially of the higher rela- tions of their being and their immortal tJrospects. Young men entering upon professional and commercial life need especially to be warned against worldliness, to be reminded that it is possible to gain the whole world, and yet to lose the soul, the higher and worthier life. A man may become covetous, or at least avariciQus; he may lose his sensibilities to what is noblest, purest, and best; he may adopt a lower·standard of value, may move upon a lower plane of life. JV. YET THE LIFE OF CONSTANT ACTIVITY IB DESIGNED BY DIVINE WISDOM TOBE THE MEANS OF SPIRITUAL PROFIT, Like all the appointments of providence, this is dis- ci p1inary. Business is 'not only a temptation, it may be an occasion of progress, a means to moral improvement. A busy man may learn to consecrate his powers to his Creator's service and glory; in tbe discharge of active duties he may grow in wisdom, in patience, even in self-denial. He may do with bis might that which his hand findeth to do, be may redeem the time, he may prepare for the 1tecount to be rendered at last of the deeds done in the body.-T. Ver. 17.-The impenetrable, inscrutable mystery. Plain people often think that a wise man is a man who knows, if not all things, yet all things to which be has directed LiH attention. It does not enter into their mind that wisdom lies largely in the con- sciousness of the limitation of the human powerR. A great thinker has justly nu.l bcautirully said that the larger the circle of knowledge, the larger the external circu~- fcn-uce which reveals itself to the apprehension. The writer of Ecclesiastes was a wise man, but he confesses himself to have been baffled in hie endeavour to find out and master all the work of man, and much more the work of God. In this bonression he was not singular. The man who knows a little may be vain of his knowledge; but the rna::i who knows much knows full well how much there is which to him is unknown, and how 1niich more is uy him unknowable. o;r, vur. 1-17.J ECCLESIASTES; Olt, THE PREACHER. 215