_Cast thy bread upon the waters; for thou shalt find it after many days._ CAST THY BREAD UPON THE WATERS This saying takes us to the banks of the Nile, where, every year, as the flood subsided, while the level lands were still all ooze and mud, the farmer went forth, and, without any ploughing, jus... [ Continue Reading ]
_If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth._ BLACK CLOUDS AND BRIGHT BLESSINGS It was raining very heavily when I was thinking over this text. When I came here I found that you had not had a drop of ram. This seemed to me like an example and an illustration of the soverei... [ Continue Reading ]
_He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap._ DIFFICULTIES VANQUISHED The principle of the text is, that we ought not to be deterred from discharging our duties by trivial difficulties. I. The nature of the duties to be discharged--sowing and reaping... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou knowest not the work of God, who doeth all _ CHRISTIAN AGNOSTICISM (with James 1:5):--The favourite intellectual mood of unbelief in recent times has been agnosticism. It declares that the greatest things we do not know, shall never know. Ecclesiastes is a very modern book in respect of thi... [ Continue Reading ]
_In the morning sow thy seed._ THE SEED-TIME OF LIFE The morning, as we apply it to Christian youth, stands for brightness, freshness, promise, for “regenerate hope, the salt of life,” for opportunity, activity, and corresponding responsibility. The morning is pre-eminently the sowing time. Noon an... [ Continue Reading ]
_Truly the light is sweet._ THE SWEET LIGHT OF LIFE The light of the sun is at all times sweet and pleasant. Glorious orb! His beams not only reveal, but create ten thousand forms of beauty, that lift the soul to its highest moods of thought and admiration. But there are other lights in life which... [ Continue Reading ]
_Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth._ JOY AND JUDGMENT Our translators have slipped in a “but” where there ought to be an “and,” and have thus made the Preacher set the joy of youth and the judgment of God over against each other: whereas, in fact, the judgment is put as part of the rejoicing: “Rej... [ Continue Reading ]