The Pulpit Commentary — Ecclesiastes — Section 298

years, let him rejoice in them "'11; but let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many, All that cometh is vanity." The light here praised is the light of life ; the existence passed in the world on which the sun shines, as contrasted with the darkneee of the grave, the unseen world, which to the mind of the Preacher, unillumined by the full revelation in Christ, seemed a region of shadows, dreary and insubstantial. To our thoughts each a view of the world beyond the grave, if world it could be called, in which all·was dark and without any order (Job x. 21, 22), would seem calculated to rob the present of tll delights. But evidently our author did not regard it as neces- sarily doing so. Neither did those ancient Egyptians, who had the representation of a corpse in its cerements at their banquets. •ro grosser minds among them the sight probably suggested the thought, "Let us eat and drink; for to-morrow we die." But doubtless to graver minds it suggested something nobler-that pleasure, chastened and restrained by wise foresight, is pure and more lasting than any other. So, too, the enjoyment of life commended by the Preacher is not found by him incompatible 1Vith a contemplation of death. He does not say, "Let the young and thoughtless have out their time of frivolity and short-lived mirth; the sad thoughts by which the closing years of life are naturally darkened will only come to them too soon." He rather would have men to rejoice in all the years of their life, though they be many. "Days of evil may come; clouds may, during long hours of sorrow, obscure the glory of the sun; but even if a man live many days, he should endeavour to rejoice in them all: and all the more so, if a long night of darkness awaits him at the close of his earthly career" (Wright). By the days of darkness, which are many, he evidently means the condition after death; for he distinctly differentiates them from the days of life, in all of which there should be joy, in spite of passing trials and distresses. For all men days of darkness are in store; let all, therefore, make the most of the present, and by a wise guidance of their conduct, by a beneficent activity, let them acquire the right and the ability to enjoy the innocent joys with which God has been pleased to bless and enrich our lives, seeing that "all that cometh" after life is vanity. It is true that to us the world beyond the grave appears in a different light. We believe in the everlasting felicity of the righteous in the" many mansions" which remain for those who have during this life been faithful to God, and have qualified themselves for higher service and more perfect enjoyment of him in the world to come. But this belief need not, should not, lead us to despise the bounties we have in this world from the hand of God. A devout and grateful acceptance and use of all the blessings be bas bestowed upon us, a joy in living and seeing the light of the sun, should be much easier to us if wo are conscious of reconciliation to God, and regard death as the entrance to a higher life.-J. W. Ver. 9-ch. xii. 7.-Youth and age. The greater part of the Book of Ecclesiastes is of a sombre character. It records the experiences of one who sought on all sides and with passionate eagerness for that which would satisfy the higher wants of his nature -the hunger and thirst of the soul-but who sought in vain. Ordinary coarse, sensual pleasures soon lost their charm for him; for be deliberately tried-a dangerous experi- ment-to see if in self-indulgence any real satisfaction could be found. From this failure he turned to a more promising quarter. He sought in "culture," the pursuit ot· beauty and magnificence in art, the pathway to the highest good, on the discovery of which his soul was set. He used his great wealth to procure all that could minister to a refined taste. He built palaces, planted viueyards and gardens and orchards; he filled his palaces with all that was beautiful and costly, and cultivated every pleasure which is within the reach of man. " Whatsoever mine eyes desired," he says, "I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy. . . . Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on all the labour that I had laboured to do: ,mcl, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there w11s no profit under the sun." From this he turned to the joys and employments of nn iutellectual li(e-acquire,l knowledge and wisdom, studied the works of nature, analyzed human character iu all its phases, and applied himself to the solution of aU. those great problems connected with the moral government of the world and the destiuy of the soul of man. Here he was baffled. The discoveries he made were, he found, useless for curing any of the rvils of life, and at every point he met with mysteries Wilich he could not solve, 1md his sense of failure and defeat convinced hiu,. that tnough "wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light  ECCLESIASTES; OR, 'l'l-IE PREACBEJR. [ou. xr. 1-10,