Ecclesiastes 6:1-12
1 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men:
2 A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.
3 If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he.
4 For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness.
5 Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest than the other.
6 Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?
7 All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetitea is not filled.
8 For what hath the wise more than the fool? what hath the poor, that knoweth to walk before the living?
9 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit.
10 That which hath been is named already, and it is known that it is man: neither may he contend with him that is mightier than he.
11 Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, what is man the better?
12 For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, allb the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?
Ecclesiastes 6:2. But a stranger eateth it. The richer families in Israel had often foreign servants, who rose to influence in their master's house. But greater was the affliction from invading armies, who devoured the houses of the rich, and scattered their bones in the open fields.
REFLECTIONS.
The moral philosopher continues his subject. He is appalled to see a wealthy man unable to enjoy his mansion, his pleasure grounds and superabundant riches. No man seems satisfied with his present condition. His mansion becomes melancholy: he wants a change. The visions of happiness sport at a distance, and shun his breast. The court has pleasures, the city has bustle and life, the sea-coast has extensive views and refreshing breezes. So he changes his residence, but retains his heart. The man is diseased, and not conscious that the seat of the malady is within. The godlike mind of man cannot be localized to clods of earth. It walks through the heavens, and grasps at the infinite. If such a man should have, like an oriental monarch, a hundred children, or if he should live to the great age of a patriarch; alas! some political storm overtakes him, his children are slain by his rival, and himself perhaps deprived of any funeral, except that which is conferred by foxes and vultures. In like cases he concludes that the sorrows of life overbalance its joys, and an untimely birth is better than the life of one so pursued with unceasing wars of passion and events.
He notes also, that the labours of man are chiefly for his mouth. Food and raiment are nearly all that he can have on earth, yet his desires are not satisfied. He wants a God for his centre, for his rest, and for his hope; for as to his worldly portion, how is the wise man's hope better than that of a fool! Who then knoweth what is good for man on earth. When the question was once asked in the Grecian schools, and with the promise of reward, what is the chief good of man? Two hundred and eighty four opinions were sent in; so many proofs that the schools did not know the chief good of man. This science is taught by revelation, and by revelation only. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and all thy soul, and all thy mind, and all thy strength.”