J. 'l'HE FAOT TIIAT THE THOUGHTFUL MAN IS UAFFLED JN IIIS ENDEAVOUR '1'0 c·rnr- PREIIEND Goo's WAYS, AND TO COMPREHEND HUMAN LIFE AND DESTINY, II. Tms IS JUST WHAT IB TO BE EXPECTED FROM A CONSIDERATION OF (1) man's finite nature, anrl (2) God's infinite wisdom. Ill. 'l'HE PROFITAnLENESS OF THIS ARRANGEMENT. 1. H tends to raise our thought of God to a juster elevation. 2. It calls forth (1) humility, (2) ;u\Jmission, and (3) faith. 3, It makes the future infinitely interesting and attractive. What we know not here we shall know hereafter. Now we know as in a mirror, dimly; th~n, face to face, "Here it is given only to survey Dawnings of bliss and glimmerings of day; Heaven's fuller affluence mocks our dazzled sight- Too swift its radiance and too clear its light." r. Ver. 8.-Death-'-fJw· power and our powerlessness. The Preacher Lr·ings before us the familiar fact of- I. OuR POWERLESSNESS IN THE PRESENCE OF DEATH. There are evils from which large resources, or high rank, or exceptional abilities may secure us ; but in these ueath is not included. No man may escape it. Some men have lived so long that" death has seemed to have forgotten them; " but their hour has come at last. Death is a cam- paign in which there is" no furlough" given. 'rherefore: 1. Let every man be in readi- ness for it; let us live "as those who to-day indeed are on the earth, but who to-morrow may be in heaven," Let not death surprise us with some urgent duty undooe, tho neglect of which will leave our nearest· relatives or dearest friends in difficulty or distress. 2, Let us all measure the limit or our lifo; and let us feel tbat since so much is to be done by us if we can, for narrower and for wider circles, and since there is but a brief period in which to do it, let us address ourselves seriously, energetically, patiently, devoutly, to the work which the Divine Husbandman has given us to do. But the statement of the Preacher, reminding us of this familiar truth, may suggest t<> us, by contrast-- II. Oun PROVINCE AND OUR POWER IN THE PROSPECT OF DEATH. Although it i3 utterly hopeless that we can avert tho stroke of the" last enemy," we may do much in regaru to it. 1. We can often defer its ·coming by the wise regulation of our life; w~ cannot "retain our spirit" when our hour is come, but we may put that hour much further on by prudence and virtue. Folly will ante-date, but wisdom will post-date it. ,ve cannot, indeed, measure Divine favour by the number of our years-there is a Christian reading of tile heathen adage, "Whom the gods love die young "-but it is very often true that "with long life" God will "satisfy" tho man who "sets his lovt upon him" (Ps. xci.14-16). 2. We can gain a spiritual victory over it; we can " , .. so live, that we may drclld The gmvo as little as our bed." We may so abide in Jesus Christ, and so live in the light of his holy truth, that the idea of death, instead of being a terror or even a dark shadow at its close, will bo positively welcome to our spirit. 3. We may find a friend in it when it comes; the frien,l whose kind hand opens for us the door of immortality, and ushers iuto tllo lifo which is free and full and endless.-C.
Vers. 9, 10.-Sin in power, Amid the obscurities and uncertainties in which the precise meaning of this verse is lost, we may allow it to speak to us or tho trutll tltat when sin is in power it is in all respects an unsatisfactory thing. It is- I. INJURIOUS TO THE PEOPLE, "A man rulcth over men to their hurt" (Cox). 'rho evils of misrule are obvious, for they have been only too often illustrated ; they ar\l these; the infliction of grave injustice; 1he encouragement of iniquity nnd dbcourage- ment of righteousness; disturbance and unsettlement, and consequent reuuction in various spheres of useful industry; decline of activity, morality, worship. 11. HURTFUL TO THE HOLDER lllMSELF. "One mau hnth power over another to his ow11 hurt" (Revised Version marginnl rc~ding). It is certainly and most profoundly ECCLESIASTES; OR, THE PREACHER. [en. vm. 1-17.