V' era. 13-18.- Wisdom and strength. The picture ,which is _here drawn is both pictUle and •parable;' it portrays a constantly recurring scene in human history. It speaks to us of- I. THE ijANGE OF WISDOM. Wisdom is a word that covers many things; its import varies much. It includes: 1. Knowledge; familiarity with the objects and the laws of nature, and with the ways and the history of mankind. 2. Keenness of intellect; that quickness <if perception and subtlety of understanding which sees through the devices of other men, and keeps a watchful eye upon all that is passing, always reaLly to take advantage of another's mistake. 3. Sagacity; that nobler quality which forecasts the future; which weighs well many considerations of various kinds; which baffles the designs of the wicked; which defeats the machinations and the measures of the strong (vcrs. 14, 15); which is worth far more than much enginery (ver. 18); which builds up great institutions; which goes forth on hazardous and yet admirable enterprises. 4. Wisdom itself; that which is more properly considered and called such, viz. the discernment of the true end, with the adoption of the best means of attaining it; and this applied not merely to the particulars of human life, but to human life itself; the determination to seek that good thing, as our true heritage, which is in harmony with the will of God, and to seek it in the divinely appointed way. To us who live in this Christian era, and to whom Jesus Christ is himself" the 'Wisdom of God," this is found in seeking· and :finding, in trusting· and following, in loving and serving him. ,II. ITs FAILURE TO BE APPRECIATED. "No man remembered that same poor mau." Wisdom in each one of its particular spheres is valuable; in the larger and higher spheres it "is of very great account, being far more effective than any CJ.U:mtity of m~re 244 ECCLESIASTES; OR, THE PREACHE!t [ea. IX. 1-18.
material force or of worldly wealth; in the highest sphere of all it is simply invaluable. But it is Jiau!~ to _be disregarded, especially if it be found in the person of poverty and obscurity. 1. It 1s often forgotten, and thus overlooked (text). 2. It is eithe1· rejected or visited with contumely in the person of its author. "Is not this the carpenter'& Son?" it is asked. "And they were offended in him," it is added. Many a man, with much learning in his head, much shrewdness in his speech, much weight in his counsel, much wisdom in his soul, walks, unrecognized and unhonoured, along some very lowly path of life. Ill. lTs REWARD. 1. It is often heeded when mere noise and station are disree1ardod. "'The words of the wise are listened to with more pleasure than the loud behe;ts of a foolish ruler (ver. 17)" (Cox). And it is a satisfaction to the wise that they do often prevail in their quietness and their obscurity when the clamorous and the consequential are dismissed as they deserve to be. 2. The time will come when they who speak the truth will gain the car of the world; there are generations to come, and we may leave our reputation to them, as many of the wisest and worthiest of our race have done. 3. To be useful is a better reward than to be applauded or to be enriched; how much better to have" delivered the city" than to have been honoured by it! 4. Our record is on high.-C. Ver. 18.-The destructiveness of one evil life. How much of destruction may flow from one single life may be seen if we look at the sul\ject- I. NEGATIVELY. We may judge of the magnitude of the evil by considering: 1. How one evil life may hinder the work of God; e.g. Achan, Sanballat, Herod, Nero. Who shall say how much of Christian influence has been arrested by one grossly inconsistent member of a. Church, or by one arch-persecutor of the gospel of Christ? 2. How much a. man may fail to do by refusing to spend his powers in the service of God. To a. man with large means, greo.t resources, brilliant capacities, almost any- thing is open in the direction of holy Wlefulness, of widespread and far-descending influence. All this is lost, and in a sense destroyed, by a selfish and guilty withhold- ment of it all from the service of God and man, II. POSITIVELY. We may estimate the serious and lamentable mischief of an evil life if we think that a godless man may be injuring his neighbours: 1. By weakening or undermining their faith ; causing them to lose their hold on Divine truth, and thus sinking into the miseries of doubt or into the darkness and despair of utter unbelief. 2. By undoing the integrity of the upright; leading them into the fatal morass of an immoral life. 3. By cooling, or even killing, the consecration of the zealous; causing them to slacken their speed or even to leave the field of noble service. One man, by his own evil example, by his words of folly and falsity, by his deeds of wrong, may enfeeble many mi□ ds, may despoil many hearts, may misguide many souls, may blight and darken many lives.-C. Vers. l-6.-Inexorable destiny. The teaching in this section of the book is very similar to that in eh. vi. 10-12. The Preacher lays stress upon the powerlessness and short-sightedness of man with regard to the future. A higher power controls all the events of human life, and fixes the conditions in which each individual is to live- cunditions which powerfully affect his character and destiny. Such a thought has been to many a. source of consolation and strength. "My times," said the psalmist, "are in thy hand" (Ps. xxxi. 15). "Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things," said Jesus (Matt. vi. 32), when he counselled his disciples against undue anxiety for the future. But no such comfort is drawn by the Preacher from the consideration that "the righteous, and the wise, and their works, a.re in the hand of God" (ver. 1). It suggests to him rather an iron destiny, a cage against the bars of which the soul may beat its wings in vain, than a gracious Providence. The loss of freedom implied in it afflicts him-the thought that not even the feelings and emotions of the heart are under man's control. They are excited by persons and things with whom or with which he is brought in contact. A slight change of circumstances would make his love hatred, and his hatred love; and these circumstances he cannot change or modify. Events of all kinds a.re before us, and God arranges whnt is to happen to us. "Vvhether it. be love or hatred, man knoweth it not; all is before olt. IX, 1-18.J ECCLESIASTES; OR, THE PREAUIIF.:R