Solomon,
in this chapter, comes to recommend wisdom to us as the most powerful
antidote against both the temptations and vexations that arise from the
vanity of the world. Here is, I. The benefit and praise of wisdom, ver. 1.
II. Some particular instances of wisdom prescribed to us. 1. We must keep in
due subjection to the government God has set over us, ver. 2-5. 2. We must
get ready for sudden evils, and especially for sudden death, ver. 6-8. 3. We
must arm ourselves against the temptation of an oppressive government and
not think it strange, ver. 9, 10. The impunity of oppressors makes them more
daring (ver. 11), but in the issue it will be well with the righteous and
ill with the wicked (ver. 12, 13), and therefore the present prosperity of
the wicked and afflictions of the righteous ought not to be a
stumbling-block to us, ver. 14. 4. We must cheerfully use the gifts of God's
providence, ver. 15. 5. We must with an entire satisfaction acquiesce in the
will of God, and, not pretending to find the bottom, we must humbly and
silently adore the depth of his unsearchable counsels, being assured they
are all wise, just, and good, ver. 16, 17.
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The
Excellence of Wisdom; The Duty of Subjects.
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1
Who is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation of
a thing? a man's wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his
face shall be changed. 2 I counsel thee to keep the king's
commandment, and that in regard of the oath of God. 3 Be not
hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth
whatsoever pleaseth him. 4 Where the word of a king is, there is
power: and who may say unto him, What doest thou? 5 Whoso keepeth the
commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both
time and judgment.
Here is, I. An encomium of
wisdom (v. 1), that is, of true piety, guided in all its
exercises by prudence and discretion. The wise man is the good man, that
knows God and glorifies him, knows himself and does well for himself; his
wisdom is a great happiness to him, for, 1. It advances him above his
neighbours, and makes him more excellent than they: Who is as the wise
man? Note, Heavenly wisdom will make a man an incomparable man. No man
without grace, though he be learned, or noble, or rich, is to be compared
with a man that has true grace and is therefore accepted of God. 2. It makes
him useful among his neighbours and very serviceable to them: Who but
the wise man knows the interpretation of a thing, that is,
understands the times and the events of them, and their critical junctures,
so as to direct what Israel ought to do, 1 Chron. xii. 32. 3. It
beautifies a man in the eyes of his friends: It makes his face to shine,
as Moses's did when he came down from the mount; it puts honour upon a man
and a lustre on his whole conversation, makes him to be regarded and taken
notice of, and gains him respect (as Job xxix. 7, &c.); it makes him
lovely and amiable, and the darling and blessing of his country. The
strength of his face, the sourness and severity of his countenance (so
some understand the last clause), shall be changed by it into that
which is sweet and obliging. Even those whose natural temper is rough and
morose by wisdom are strangely altered; they become mild and gentle,
and learn to look pleasant. 4. It emboldens a man against his adversaries,
their attempts and their scorn: The boldness of his face shall be
doubled by wisdom; it will add very much to his courage in maintaining his
integrity when he not only has an honest cause to plead, but by his wisdom
knows how to manage it and where to find the interpretation of a thing.
He shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with his enemy in the gate.
II. A particular instance
of wisdom pressed upon us, and that is subjection to authority, and a
dutiful and peaceable perseverance in our allegiance to the government which
Providence has set over us. Observe,
1. How the duty of
subjects is here described. (1.) We must be observant of the laws. In all
those things wherein the civil power is to interpose, whether legislative or
judicial, we ought to submit to its order and constitutions: I counsel
thee; it may as well be supplied, I charge thee, not only as a
prince but as a preacher: he might do both; "I recommend it to thee as
a piece of wisdom; I say, whatever those say that are given to change, keep
the king's commandment; wherever the sovereign power is lodged, be
subject to it. Observe the mouth of a king" (so the phrase is);
"say as he says; do as he bids thee; let his word be a law, or rather
let the law be his word." Some understand the following clause as a
limitation of this obedience: "Keep the king's commandment, yet
so as to have a regard to the oath of God, that is, so as to keep a
good conscience and not to violate thy obligations to God, which are prior
and superior to thy obligations to the king. Render to Cæsar the things
that are Cæsar's, but so as to reserve pure and entire to God the
things that are his." (2.) We must not be forward to find fault
with the public administration, or quarrel with every thing that is not just
according to our mind, nor quit our post of service under the government,
and throw it up, upon every discontent (v. 3): "Be not hasty
to go out of his sight, when he is displeased at thee (ch. x. 4),
or when thou art displeased at him; fly not off in a passion, nor entertain
such jealousies of him as will tempt thee to renounce the court or forsake
the kingdom." Solomon's subjects, as soon as his head was laid low,
went directly contrary to this rule, when upon the rough answer which
Rehoboam gave them, they were hasty to go out of his sight, would not
take time for second thoughts nor admit proposals of accommodation, but
cried, To your tents, O Israel! "There may perhaps be a just
cause to go out of his sight; but be not hasty to do it; act
with great deliberation." (3.) We must not persist in a fault when it
is shown us: "Stand not in an evil thing; in any offence thou
hast given to thy prince humble thyself, and do not justify thyself, for
that will make the offence much more offensive. In any ill design thou hast,
upon some discontent, conceived against thy prince, do not proceed in it;
but if thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or hast thought
evil, lay thy hand upon thy mouth," Prov. xxx. 32. Note, Though we
may by surprise be drawn into an evil thing, yet we must not stand in it,
but recede from it as soon as it appears to us to be evil. (4.) We must
prudently accommodate ourselves to our opportunities, both for our own
relief, if we think ourselves wronged, and for the redress of public
grievances: A wise man's heart discerns both time and judgment (v.
5); it is the wisdom of subjects, in applying themselves to their princes,
to enquire and consider both at what season and in what manner they may do
it best and most effectually, to pacify his anger, obtain his favour, or
obtain the revocation of any grievous measure prescribed. Esther, in dealing
with Ahasuerus, took a deal of pains to discern both time and judgment,
and she sped accordingly. This may be taken as a general rule of wisdom,
that every thing should be well timed; and our enterprises are then
likely to succeed, when we embrace the exact opportunity for them.
2. What arguments are here
used to engage us to be subject to the higher powers; they are much the same
with those which St. Paul uses, Rom. xiii. 1, &c. (1.) We must needs
be subject, for conscience-sake, and that is the most powerful principle
of subjection. We must be subject because of the oath of God, the
oath of allegiance which we have taken to be faithful to the government, the
covenant between the king and the people, 2 Chron. xxiii. 16. David
made a covenant, or contract, with the elders of Israel, though
he was king by divine designation, 1 Chron. xi. 3. "Keep the king's
commandments, for he has sworn to rule thee in the fear of God, and thou
hast sworn, in that fear, to be faithful to him." It is called the
oath of God because he is a witness to it and will avenge the violation
of it. (2.) For wrath's sake, because of the sword which the prince
bears and the power he is entrusted with, which make him formidable: He
does whatsoever pleases him; he has a great authority and a great
ability to support that authority (v. 4): Where the word of a king
is, giving orders to seize a man, there is power; there are many
that will execute his orders, which makes the wrath of a king, or
supreme government, like the roaring of a lion and like messengers
of death. Who may say unto him, What doest thou? He that contradicts him
does it at his peril. Kings will not bear to have their orders disputed, but
expect they should be obeyed. In short, it is dangerous contending with
sovereignty, and what many have repented. A subject is an unequal match for
a prince. He may command me who has legions at command. (3.) For the
sake of our own comfort: Whoso keeps the commandment, and lives a
quiet and peaceable life, shall feel no evil thing, to which that of
the apostle answers (Rom. xiii. 3), Wilt thou then not be afraid of the
power of the king? Do that which is good, as becomes a dutiful
and loyal subject, and thou shalt ordinarily have praise of the
same. He that does no ill shall feel no ill and needs fear none.
6
Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of
man is great upon him. 7 For he knoweth not that which shall
be: for who can tell him when it shall be? 8 There is no man
that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he
power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that
war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.
Solomon had said (v.
5) that a wise man's heart discerns time and judgment, that is, a
man's wisdom will go a great way, by the blessing of God, in moral
prognostications; but here he shows that few have that wisdom, and that even
the wisest may yet be surprised by a calamity which they had not any
foresight of, and therefore it is our wisdom to expect and prepare for
sudden changes. Observe, 1. All the events concerning us, with the exact
time of them, are determined and appointed in the counsel and foreknowledge
of God, and all in wisdom: To every purpose there is a time prefixed,
and it is the best time, for it is time and judgment, time appointed
both in wisdom and righteousness; the appointment is not chargeable with
folly or iniquity. 2. We are very much in the dark concerning future events
and the time and season of them: Man knows not that which shall be
himself; and who can tell him when or how it shall be? v.
7. It cannot either be foreseen by him or foretold him; the stars cannot
foretel a man what shall be, nor any of the arts of divination. God has, in
wisdom, concealed from us the knowledge of future events, that we may be
always ready for changes. 3. It is our great unhappiness and misery that,
because we cannot foresee an evil, we know not how to avoid it, or guard
against it, and, because we are not aware of the proper successful season of
actions, therefore we lose our opportunities and miss our way: Because to
every purpose there is but one way, one method, one proper opportunity, therefore
the misery of man is great upon him; because it is so hard to hit that,
and it is a thousand to one but he misses it. Most of the miseries men
labour under would have been prevented if they could have been foreseen and
the happy time discovered to avoid them. Men are miserable because they are
not sufficiently sagacious and attentive. 4. Whatever other evils may be
avoided, we are all under a fatal necessity of dying, v. 8. (1.) When
the soul is required it must be resigned, and it is to no purpose to dispute
it, either by arms or arguments, by ourselves, or by any friend: There is
no man that has power over his own spirit, to retain it, when it
is summoned to return to God who gave it. It cannot fly any where out of the
jurisdiction of death, nor find any place where its writs do not run. It
cannot abscond so as to escape death's eye, though it is hidden from the
eyes of all living. A man has no power to adjourn the day of his death, nor
can he by prayers or bribes obtain a reprieve; no bail will be taken, no
essoine [excuse], protection, or imparlance [conference], allowed. We have
not power over the spirit of a friend, to retain that; the
prince, with all his authority, cannot prolong the life of the most valuable
of his subjects, nor the physician with his medicines and methods, nor the
soldier with his force, not the orator with his eloquence, nor the best
saint with his intercessions. The stroke of death can by no means be put by
when our days are determined and the hour appointed us has come. (2.) Death
is an enemy that we must all enter the lists with, sooner or later: There
is no discharge in that war, no dismission from it, either of the men of
business or of the faint-hearted, as there was among the Jews, Deut. xx. 5,
8. While we live we are struggling with death, and we shall never put off
the harness till we put off the body, never obtain a discharge till death
has obtained the mastery; the youngest is not released as a fresh-water
soldier, nor the oldest as miles emeritus--a soldier whose merits have
entitled him to a discharge. Death is a battle that must be fought, There
is no sending to that war (so some read it), no substituting another to
muster for us, no champion admitted to fight for us; we must ourselves
engage, and are concerned to provide accordingly, as for a battle. (3.)
Men's wickedness, by which they often evade or outface the justice of the
prince, cannot secure them from the arrest of death, nor can the most
obstinate sinner harden his heart against those terrors. Though he strengthen
himself ever so much in his wickedness (Ps. lii. 7), death will
be too strong for him. The most subtle wickedness cannot outwit death, nor
the most impudent wickedness outbrave death. Nay, the wickedness which men
give themselves to will be so far from delivering them from death that it
will deliver them up to death.
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The
Evil of Oppressive Rulers.
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9
All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done
under the sun: there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to
his own hurt. 10 And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and
gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where
they had so done: this is also vanity. 11 Because sentence
against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the
sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. 12 Though a sinner do
evil a hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know
that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him:
13 But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his
days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.
Solomon, in the beginning
of the chapter, had warned us against having any thing to do with seditious
subjects; here, in these verses, he encourages us, in reference to the
mischief of tyrannical and oppressive rulers, such as he had complained of
before, ch. iii. 16; iv. 1.
1. He had observed many
such rulers, v. 9. In the serious views and reviews he had taken of
the children of men and their state he had observed that many a time one
man rules over another to his hurt; that is, (1.) To the hurt of the
ruled (many understand it so); whereas they ought to be God's ministers unto
their subjects for their good (Rom. xiii. 14), to administer justice,
and to preserve the public peace and order, they use their power for their
hurt, to invade their property, encroach upon their liberty, and patronise
the acts of injustice. It is sad with a people when those that should
protect their religion and rights aim at the destruction of both. (2.) To
the hurt of the rulers (so we render it), to their own hurt, to the
feeling of their pride and covetousness, the gratifying of their passion and
revenge, and so to the filling up of the measure of their sins and the
hastening and aggravating of their ruin. Agens agendo repatitur--What
hurt men do to others will return, in the end, to their own hurt.
2. He had observed them to
prosper and flourish in the abuse of their power (v. 10): I saw
those wicked rulers come and go from the place of the holy, go
in state to and return in pomp from the place of judicature (which is called
the place of the Holy One because the judgment is the Lord's,
Deut. i. 17, and he judges among the gods, Ps. lxxxii. 1, and is
with them in the judgment, 2 Chron. xix. 6), and they continued all
their days in office, were never reckoned with for their mal-administration,
but died in honour and were buried magnificently; their commissions were durante
vitâ--during life, and not quamdiu se bene gesserint--during
good behaviour. And they were forgotten in the city where they had so done;
their wicked practices were not remembered against them to their reproach
and infamy when they were gone. Or, rather, it denotes the vanity of their
dignity and power, for that is his remark upon it in the close of the verse:
This is also vanity. They are proud of their wealth, and power, and
honour, because they sit in the place of the holy; but all this
cannot secure, (1.) Their bodies from being buried in the dust; I saw
them laid in the grave; and their pomp, though it attended them thither,
could not descend after them, Ps. xlix. 17. (2.) Nor their names from
being buried in oblivion; for they were forgotten, as if they had
never been.
3. He had observed that
their prosperity hardened them in their wickedness, v. 11. It is true
of all sinners in general, and particularly of wicked rulers, that, because
sentence against their evil works is not executed speedily, they think
it will never be executed, and therefore they set the law at defiance and their
hearts are full in them to do evil; they venture to do so much the more
mischief, fetch a greater compass in their wicked designs, and are secure
and fearless in it, and commit iniquity with a high hand. Observe, (1.)
Sentence is passed against evil works and evil workers by the righteous
Judge of heaven and earth, even against the evil works of princes and great
men, as well as of inferior persons. (2.) The execution of this sentence is
often delayed a great while, and the sinner goes on, not only unpunished,
but prosperous and successful. (3.) Impunity hardens sinners in impiety, and
the patience of God is shamefully abused by many who, instead of being led
by it to repentance, are confirmed by it in their impenitence. (4.) Sinners
herein deceive themselves, for, though the sentence be not
executed speedily, it will be executed the more severely at last.
Vengeance comes slowly, but it comes surely, and wrath is in the mean time treasured
up against the day of wrath.
4. He foresaw such an end
of all these things as would be sufficient to keep us from quarrelling with
the divine Providence upon account of them. He supposes a wicked ruler to do
an unjust thing a hundred times, and that yet his punishment is
deferred, and God's patience towards him is prolonged, much beyond
what was expected, and the days of his power are lengthened out, so that he
continues to oppress; yet he intimates that we should not be discouraged.
(1.) God's people are certainly a happy people, though they be oppressed:
"It shall be well with those that fear God, I say with all
those, and those only, who fear before him." Note, [1.] It is
the character of God's people that they fear God, have an awe of him
upon their hearts and make conscience of their duty to him, and this because
they see his eye always upon them and they know it is their concern to
approve themselves to him. When they lie at the mercy of proud oppressors
they fear God more then they fear them. They do not quarrel with the
providence of God, but submit to it. [2.] It is the happiness of all that
fear God, that in the worst of times it shall be well with them;
their happiness in God's favour cannot be prejudiced, nor their communion
with God interrupted, by their troubles; they are in a good case, for they
are kept in a good frame under their troubles, and in the end they shall
have a blessed deliverance from and an abundant recompence for their
troubles. And therefore "surely I know, I know it by the promise
of God, and the experience of all the saints, that, however it goes
with others, it shall go well with them." All is well that ends
well. (2.) Wicked people are certainly a miserable people; though they
prosper, and prevail, for a time, the curse is as sure to them as the
blessing is to the righteous: It shall not be well with the wicked,
as others think it is, who judge by outward appearance, and as they
themselves expect it will be; nay, woe to the wicked; it shall be ill
with them (Isa. iii. 10, 11); they shall be reckoned with for all the
ill they have done; nothing that befals them shall be really well for them. Nihil
potest ad malos pervenire quod prosit, imo nihil quod non noceat--No event
can occur to the wicked which will do them good, rather no event which will
not do them harm. Seneca. Note, [1.] The wicked man's days are as a
shadow, not only uncertain and declining, as all men's days are, but
altogether unprofitable. A good man's days have some substance in them; he
lives to a good purpose. A wicked man's days are all as a shadow,
empty and worthless. [2.] These days shall not be prolonged to what
he promised himself; he shall not live out half his days, Ps. lv. 23.
Though they may be prolonged (v. 12) beyond what others
expected, yet his day shall come to fall. He shall fall short of everlasting
life, and then his long life on earth will be worth little. [3.] God's great
quarrel with wicked people is for their not fearing before him; that
is at the bottom of their wickedness, and cuts them off from all happiness.
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The
Mysteries of Providence.
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14
There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be just men,
unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there be
wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the
righteous: I said that this also is vanity. 15 Then I
commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to
eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his
labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun. 16
When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is
done upon the earth: (for also there is that neither day nor night
seeth sleep with his eyes:) 17 Then I beheld all the work of God,
that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because
though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it;
yea further; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he
not be able to find it.
Wise and good men have, of
old, been perplexed with this difficulty, how the prosperity of the wicked
and the troubles of the righteous can be reconciled with the holiness and
goodness of the God that governs the world. Concerning this Solomon here
gives us his advice.
I. He would not have us to
be surprised at it, as though some strange thing happened, for he himself
saw it in his days, v. 14. 1. He saw just men to whom it happened
according to the work of the wicked, who, notwithstanding their
righteousness, suffered very hard things, and continued long to do so, as if
they were to be punished for some great wickedness. 2. He saw wicked men
to whom it happened according to the work of the righteous, who
prospered as remarkably as if they had been rewarded for some good deed, and
that from themselves, from God, from men. We see the just troubled and
perplexed in their own minds, the wicked easy, fearless, and secure,--the
just crossed and afflicted by the divine Providence, the wicked prosperous,
successful, and smiled upon,--the just, censured, reproached, and run down,
by the higher powers, the wicked applauded and preferred.
II. He would have us to
take occasion hence, not to charge God with iniquity, but to charge the
world with vanity. No fault is to be found with God; but, as to the world,
This is vanity upon the earth, and again, This is also vanity,
that is, it is a certain evidence that the things of this world are not the
best things nor were ever designed to make a portion and happiness for us,
for, if they had, God would not have allotted so much of this world's wealth
to his worst enemies and so much of its troubles to his best friends; there
must therefore be another life after this the joys and griefs of which must
be real and substantial, and able to make men truly happy or truly
miserable, for this world does neither.
III. He would have us not
to fret and perplex ourselves about it, or make ourselves uneasy, but
cheerfully to enjoy what God has given us in the world, to be content with
it and make the best of it, though it be much better with others, and such
as we think very unworthy (v. 15): Then I commended joy, a
holy security and serenity of mind, arising from a confidence in God, and
his power, providence, and promise, because a man has no better thing
under the sun (though a good man has much better things above the
sun) than to eat and drink, that is, soberly and thankfully to make
use of the things of this life according as his rank is, and to be
cheerful, whatever happens, for that shall abide with him of his
labour. That is all the fruit he has for himself of the pains that he
takes in the business of the world; let him therefore take it, and much good
may it do him; and let him not deny himself that, out of a peevish
discontent because the world does not go as he would have it. That shall
abide with him during the days of his life which God gives him under
the sun. Our present life is a life under the sun, but we look
for the life of the world to come, which will commence and continue
when the sun shall be turned into darkness and shine no more. This
present life must be reckoned by days; this life is given us, and the days
of it are allotted to us, by the counsel of God, and therefore while it does
last we must accommodate ourselves to the will of God and study to answer
the ends of life.
IV. He would not have us
undertake to give a reason for that which God does, for his way is in the
sea and his path in the great waters, past finding out, and therefore we
must be contentedly and piously ignorant of the meaning of God's proceedings
in the government of the world, v. 16, 17. Here he shows, 1. That
both he himself and many others had very closely studied the point, and
searched far into the reasons of the prosperity of the wicked and the
afflictions of the righteous. He, for his part, had applied his heart to
know this wisdom, and to see the business that is done, by the
divine Providence, upon the earth, to find out if there were any
certain scheme, any constant rule or method, by which the affairs of this
lower world were administered, any course of government as sure and steady
as the course of nature, so that by what is done now we might as certainly
foretel what will be done next as by the moon's changing now we can foretel
when it will be at the full; this he would fain have found out. Others had
likewise set themselves to make this enquiry with so close an application
that they could not find time for sleep, either day or night, nor
find in their hearts to sleep, so full of anxiety were they about these
things. Some think Solomon speaks of himself, that he was so eager in
prosecuting this great enquiry that he could not sleep for thinking of it.
2. That it was all labour in vain, v. 17. When we look upon all
the works of God and his providence, and compare one part with another,
we cannot find that there is any such certain method by which the
work that is done under the sun is directed; we cannot discover any key
by which to decipher the character, nor by consulting precedents can we know
the practice of this court, nor what the judgment will be. [1.] Though a
man be ever so industrious, thou he labour to seek it out. [2.]
Though he be ever so ingenious, though he be a wise man in
other things, and can fathom the counsels of kings themselves and trace them
by their footsteps. Nay, [3.] Though he be very confident of success, though
he think to know it, yet he shall not; he cannot find it out.
God's ways are above ours, nor is he tied to his own former ways, but his
judgments are a great deep.
Contents
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Next Section
