Ecclesiastes 9:1
This is the sober second thought of a wise man who has been sorely
troubled in his mind by dwelling on the mysteries of Providence. His
first hasty conclusion is one which is too often drawn from such
observations; viz., that, inasmuch as Providence shows no special
favour to the wo... [ Continue Reading ]
Ecclesiastes 8:16-10
I. At the end of chap. viii. and the beginning of chap. ix., Koheleth
points out that it is impossible for us to construct a satisfactory
policy of life. "The work of God," or, as we say, the ways of
Providence, cannot be fathomed. To the wisest man, labour as he may,
the drift... [ Continue Reading ]
Ecclesiastes 9:4
The lesson of the Preacher is an old one. While there is life there is
hope, and only while there is life. Let us be up and doing, for the
night cometh, in which no man can work. Our actual opportunities,
small and trifling though they may seem, are, simply because they are
still in... [ Continue Reading ]
Ecclesiastes 9:7
I. This is one of those passages, so remarkable in the writings of
Solomon, in which the words of sinful men in the world are taken up by
the Holy Ghost, to be applied in a Christian sense. As they stand in
Ecclesiastes, it seems very plain that they are intended to represent
the sa... [ Continue Reading ]
Ecclesiastes 9:10
What, then, is the work which we are placed here to do? Our work is to
prepare for eternity. This brief, busy, passing life is the time of
our probation, our trial whether we will be God's or not, and
consequently whether we are to dwell with Him or be separated from Him
for ever.... [ Continue Reading ]
Ecclesiastes 9:11
I. Life reigns in all the worlds, however powerful the hindrances to
life at times may be. The real work of the world is not done by the
swift or the strong, but by the multitudinous, universal push of
humble, irrepressible life. Light and sunbeams, and rain and dews,
call gently... [ Continue Reading ]
Ecclesiastes 9:12
I. There are many cases in which to our weak eyes the love of God is
apparently most questionable, in which men and women seem absolutely
abandoned to tyrannous circumstances, to the wicked wills of others,
to their own weakness, without a grain of help being afforded them.
This is... [ Continue Reading ]
Ecclesiastes 9:14
I. The little city. At first sight it may seem rather paradoxical to
compare this great world of ours, with its almost innumerable
inhabitants, its vast area, its enormous resources, to the little city
with few men within it. But do we not, comparatively speaking, take
too exalted... [ Continue Reading ]