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 ]