Prediger 5:9-17

      9 Außerdem ist der Nutzen der Erde für alle da: dem König selbst wird vom Acker gedient. 10 Wer Silber liebt, wird mit Silber nicht satt; auch wer den Überfluss liebt, ist auch Eitelkeit. 11 Wenn Waren zu erhöhen, werden sie erhöht , die sie essen und was gut ist es davon an die Eigentümer, die betrachtende Einsparung von ihnen mit ihren Augen? 12 Der Schlaf eines Arbeiters ist süß, ob er wenig oder viel isst; aber die Fülle der Reichen lässt ihn nicht schlafen.

  13 Es gibt ein schlimmes Übel, das ich unter der Sonne gesehen habe, nämlich Reichtümer, die für ihre Besitzer zu ihrem Schaden aufbewahrt werden. 14 Aber diese Reichtümer gehen durch schlimme Mühsal verloren, und er zeugt einen Sohn, und er hat nichts in seiner Hand. 15 Wie er aus dem Leib seiner Mutter hervorgegangen ist, wird er nackt zurückkehren, um zu gehen, wie er gekommen ist, und wird nichts von seiner Arbeit nehmen, was er in seiner Hand wegtragen kann.

  16 Und dies ist auch ein schlimmes Übel, dass er in allem, wie er gekommen ist, auch gehen wird; und was hat der Gewinn für den Wind? 17 Auch ißt er sein ganzes Leben in Finsternis, und er hat viel Kummer und Zorn über seine Krankheit.

      Salomo hatte die Eitelkeit des Vergnügens, der Fröhlichkeit und der schönen Werke, der Ehre, der Macht und der königlichen Würde gezeigt; und es gibt viele habgierige Weltmenschen, die ihm zustimmen und so leise wie er über diese Dinge sprechen; aber Geld, denkt er, ist eine beträchtliche Sache, und wenn er nur genug davon haben kann, ist er glücklich. Dies ist der Fehler, den Salomo in diesen Versen angreift und zu korrigieren versucht; Er zeigt, dass in großen Reichtümern und der Lust des Auges ebenso viel Eitelkeit liegt wie in der Begierde des Fleisches und dem Hochmut des Lebens, und ein Mensch kann sich nicht glücklicher machen, indem er einen Besitz hortet, als indem man es ausgibt.

      I. Er gibt zu, dass die Produkte der Erde zur Unterstützung und zum Komfort des menschlichen Lebens wertvolle Dinge sind ( Prediger 5:9 Prediger 5:9 ): Der Nutzen der Erde ist für alle da. Der Körper des Menschen, da er aus der Erde besteht, hat daher seine Erhaltung ( Hiob 28:5 ); und dass es so ist , und dass ein unfruchtbares Land nicht seine Wohnung gemacht (wie er für rebellisch verdient hat, Psalter 68: 6 ), ist ein Beispiel für Gottes große Huld zu ihm.

Es gibt Gewinn aus der Erde, und zwar für alle; alle brauchen es; es ist für alle bestimmt; es ist genug für alle da. Es ist nicht nur für alle Menschen, sondern für alle minderwertigen Geschöpfe; derselbe Boden bringt Gras für das Vieh , das Kräuter zum Dienst an den Menschen bringt . Israel hatte Brot vom Himmel, Speise der Engel, aber (was eine demütigende Überlegung ist) ist die Erde unser Vorratshaus und die Tiere sind Mitbürger mit uns.

Der König selbst wird vom Felde bedient und wäre schlecht bedient, würde ohne seine Produkte ganz verhungern. Dies stellt eine große Ehre in die Berufung des Ackerbauers, da sie die notwendigste von allen ist, um das Leben des Menschen zu unterstützen. Die vielen haben den Vorteil davon; die Mächtigen können ohne sie nicht leben; es ist für alle; es ist für den König selbst. Diejenigen, die eine Fülle der Früchte der Erde haben, müssen sich daran erinnern, dass sie für alle da sind, und müssen sich daher nur als Verwalter ihrer Fülle betrachten, von denen sie denen geben müssen, die es brauchen.

Leckeres Fleisch und weiche Kleidung sind nur für einige da, aber die Frucht der Erde ist für alle da. Und selbst diejenigen, die die Fülle der Meere saugen ( Deuteronomium 33:19 ), können nicht ohne die Frucht der Erde sein, während diejenigen, die eine Kompetenz der Frucht der Erde haben, die Fülle der Meere verachten können .

      II. Er behauptet, dass die Reichtümer, die mehr sind als diese, die zum Horten, nicht zum Nutzen dienen, eitel sind und einen Menschen weder leicht noch glücklich machen werden. Was unser Heiland gesagt hat ( Lukas 12,15 ), dass das Leben eines Menschen nicht in der Fülle der Dinge besteht, die er besitzt, versucht Salomo hier durch verschiedene Argumente zu beweisen.

      1. Je mehr Männer haben, desto mehr hätten sie, Prediger 5:10 Prediger 5:10 . Ein Mann mag nur ein wenig Silber haben und damit zufrieden sein, kann wissen, wann er genug hat und nicht mehr begehren. Gottseligkeit mit Zufriedenheit ist ein großer Gewinn.

Ich habe genug, sagt Jacob; Ich habe alles und im Überfluss, sagt Paulus: aber (1.) Wer Silber liebt und sein Herz darauf setzt, wird nie denken, er habe genug, sondern vergrößert sein Verlangen wie die Hölle ( Habakuk 2,5 ), legt Haus an Haus und Feld an Feld ( Jesaja 5:8 ) und ruft wie die Töchter des Rossegels immer noch: Gib, gib.

Natürliche Wünsche ruhen, wenn das Gewünschte erreicht wird, aber verdorbene Wünsche sind unersättlich. Die Natur begnügt sich mit wenig, die Anmut mit weniger, aber die Lust mit nichts. (2.) Wer Silber im Überfluss hat und es immer so schnell auf sich zunimmt, findet dennoch keine feste Befriedigung seiner Seele. Es gibt körperliche Wünsche, die Silber selbst nicht befriedigen kann; Wenn ein Mann hungrig ist, werden Silberbarren nicht mehr tun, um seinen Hunger zu stillen, als Tonklumpen.

Much less will worldly abundance satisfy spiritual desires; he that has ever so much silver covets more, not only of that, but of something else, something of another nature. Those that make themselves drudges to the world are spending their labour for that which satisfies not (Jesaja 55:2), which fills the belly, but will never fill the soul, Hesekiel 7:19.

      2. The more men have the more occasion they have for it, and the more they have to do with it, so that it is as broad as it is long: When goods increase, they are increased that eat them,Prediger 5:11 Prediger 5:11.

The more meat the more mouths. Does the estate thrive? And does not the family at the same time grow more numerous and the children grow up to need more? The more men have the better house they must keep, the more servants they must employ, the more guests they must entertain, the more they must give to the poor, and the more they will have hanging on them, for where the carcase is the eagles will be.

What we have more than food and raiment we have for others; and then what good is there to the owners themselves, but the pleasure of beholding it with their eyes? And a poor pleasure it is. An empty speculation is all the difference between the owners and the sharers; the owner sees that as his own which those about him enjoy as much of the real benefit of as he; only he has the satisfaction of doing good to others, which indeed is a satisfaction to one who believes what Christ said, that it is more blessed to give than to receive; but to a covetous man, who thinks all lost that goes beside himself, it is a constant vexation to see others eat of his increase.

      3. The more men have the more care they have about it, which perplexes them and disturbs their repose, Prediger 5:12 Prediger 5:12. Refreshing sleep is as much the support and comfort of this life as food is. Now, (1.

) Those commonly sleep best that work hard and have but what they work for: The sleep of the labouring man is sweet, not only because he has tired himself with his labour, which makes his sleep the more welcome to him and makes him sleep soundly, but because he has little to fill his head with care about and so break his sleep. His sleep is sweet, though he eat but little and have but little to eat, for his weariness rocks him asleep; and, though he eat much, yet he can sleep well, for his labour gets him a good digestion.

The sleep of the diligent Christian, and his long sleep, is sweet; for, having spent himself and his time in the service of God, he can cheerfully return to God and repose in him as his rest. (2.) Those that have every thing else often fail to secure a good night's sleep. Either their eyes are held waking or their sleeps are unquiet and do not refresh them; and it is their abundance that breaks their sleep and disturbs it, both the abundance of their care (as the rich man's who, when his ground brought forth plentifully, thought within himself, What shall I do?Lukas 12:17) and the abundance of what they eat and drink which overcharges the heart, makes them sick, and so hinders their repose.

Ahasuerus, after a banquet of wine, could not sleep; and perhaps consciousness of guilt, both in getting and using what they have, breaks their sleep as much as any thing. But God gives his beloved sleep.

      4. The more men have the more danger they are in both of doing mischief and of having mischief done them (Prediger 5:13 Prediger 5:13): There is an evil, a sore evil, which Solomon himself had seen under the sun, in this lower world, this theatre of sin and woe--riches left for the owners thereof (who have been industrious to hoard them and keep them safely) to their hurt; they would have been better without them.

(1.) Their riches do them hurt, make them proud, secure, and in love with the world, draw away their hearts from God and duty, and make it very difficult for them to enter into the kingdom of heaven, nay, help to shut them out of it. (2.) They do hurt with their riches, which not only put them into a capacity of gratifying their own lusts and living luxuriously, but give them an opportunity of oppressing others and dealing hardly with them.

(3.) Often they sustain hurt by their riches. They would not be envied, would not be robbed, if they were not rich. It is the fat beast that is led first to the slaughter. A very rich man (as one observes) has sometimes been excepted out of a general pardon, both as to life and estate, merely on account of his vast and overgrown estate; so riches often take away the life of the owners thereof,Sprüche 1:19.

      5. The more men have the more they have to lose, and perhaps they may lose it all, Prediger 5:14 Prediger 5:14. Those riches that have been laid up with a great deal of pains, and kept with a great deal of care, perish by evil travail, by the very pains and care which they take to secure and increase them.

Many a one has ruined his estate by being over-solicitous to advance it and make it more, and has lost all by catching at all. Riches are perishing things, and all our care about them cannot make them otherwise; they make themselves wings and fly away. 

He that thought he should have made his son a gentleman leaves him a beggar; he begets a son, and brings him up in the prospect of an estate, but, when he dies, leaves it under a charge of debt as much as it is worth, so that there is nothing in his hand. This is a common case; estates that made a great show do not prove what they seemed, but cheat the heir.

      6. How much soever men have when they die, they must leave it all behind them (Prediger 5:15; Prediger 5:16): As he came forth of his mother's womb naked, so shall he return; only as his friends, when he came naked into the world, in pity to him, helped him with swaddling-clothes, so, when he goes out, they help him with grave-clothes, and that is all.

See Hiob 1:21; Psalter 49:17. This is urged as a reason why we should be content with such things as we have, 1 Timotheus 6:7. In respect of the body we must go as we came; the dust shall return to the earth as it was.

But sad is our case if the soul return as it came, for we were born in sin, and if we die in sin, unsanctified, we had better never have been born; and that seems to be the case of the worldling here spoken of, for he is said to return in all points as he came, as sinful, as miserable, and much more so. This is a sore evil; he thinks it so whose heart is glued to the world, that he shall take nothing of his labour which he may carry away in his hand; his riches will not go with him into another world nor stand him in any stead there.

If we labour in religion, the grace and comfort we get by that labour we may carry away in our hearts, and shall be the better for it to eternity; that is meat that endures. But if we labour only for the world, to fill our hands with that, we cannot take that away with us; we are born with our hands griping, but we die with them extended, letting go what we held fast. So that, upon the whole matter, he may well ask, What profit has he that has laboured for the wind? 

Note, Those that labour for the world labour for the wind, for that which has more sound than substance, which is uncertain, and always shifting its point, unsatisfying, and often hurtful, which we cannot hold fast, and which, if we take up with it as our portion, will no more feed us than the wind,Hosea 12:1. Men will see that they have laboured for the wind when at death they find the profit of their labour is all gone, gone like the wind, they know not whither.

      7. Those that have much, if they set their hearts upon it, have not only uncomfortable deaths, but uncomfortable lives too, Prediger 5:17 Prediger 5:17. This covetous worldling, that is so bent upon raising an estate, all his days eats in darkness and much sorrow, and it is his sickness and wrath; he has not only no pleasure of his estate, nor any enjoyment of it himself, for he eats the bread of sorrow (Psalter 127:2), but a great deal of vexation to see others eat of it.

His necessary expenses make him sick, make him fret, and he seems as if he were angry that himself and those about him cannot live without meat. As we read the last clause, it intimates how ill this covetous worldling can bear the common and unavoidable calamities of human life. 

When he is in health he eats in darkness, always dull with care and fear about what he has; but, if he be sick, he has much sorrow and wrath with his sickness; he is vexed that his sickness takes him off from his business and hinders him in his pursuits of the world, vexed that all his wealth will not give him any ease or relief, but especially terrified with the apprehensions of death (which his diseases are the harbingers of), of leaving this world and the things of it behind him, which he has set his affections upon, and removing to a world he has made no preparation for.

Er hat keinen Kummer nach göttlicher Art, er hat keinen Kummer zur Reue, aber er hat Kummer und Zorn, ist zornig auf die Vorsehung Gottes, zornig auf seine Krankheit, zornig auf alles, er ist verdrießlich und verdrießlich, was sein Leiden verdoppelt , die ein guter Mensch durch Geduld und Freude in seiner Krankheit lindert und erleichtert.