_A.M. 3027. B.C. 977._ In this chapter Solomon discourses concerning the worship of God, prescribing that as a remedy against all those vanities which he had already observed to be in wisdom, learning, pleasure, honour, power, and business. In order that we may not be deceived by those things, nor... [ Continue Reading ]
_Keep thy foot_ Thy thoughts and affections, by which men go to God, and walk with him. See that your hearts be upright before him, devoted to him, and furnished with those graces essential to the true worship of him, especially with reverence, humility, resignation, meekness, faith, and love. It is... [ Continue Reading ]
_Be not rash with thy mouth_ Speak not without due consideration; _and let not thy heart be hasty_ Do not give way to every sudden motion of thy heart, nor suffer it to break out of thy lips till thou hast well weighed it. We must think, and think twice, before we speak, when we are to speak, either... [ Continue Reading ]
_For a dream cometh_, &c. When men's minds are distracted and oppressed with too much business in the day, they are frequently disturbed with confused and perplexed dreams in the night. And as such dreams proceed from, and are the evidence of, a hurry of business filling the head, so many and hasty... [ Continue Reading ]
_When thou vowest a vow unto God_ When thou obligest thyself by a solemn promise to honour God, and serve the interest of his kingdom; or to do good to any of thy fellow-creatures in some particular way, to do which thou wast not under any antecedent obligation: when, for instance, under the sense o... [ Continue Reading ]
_Suffer not thy mouth_ By any rash vow, or in any other way; _to cause thy flesh to sin_ That is, thyself: the word _flesh_ being often put for the whole man; _neither say thou before the angel_ That is, as some interpret the expression, before the blessed angels, (the singular number being put for... [ Continue Reading ]
_For in the multitude_, &c. There is a great deal of folly, as _in a multitude of dreams_, which for the most part are vain and insignificant, so also in many words, especially in making many vows, whereby a man is exposed to many snares and temptations. _But fear thou God_ Fear the wrath of God, an... [ Continue Reading ]
_If thou seest the oppression:_ &c. Here is an account of another vanity, and a sovereign antidote against it. _Marvel not_ As if it were inconsistent with God's wisdom and justice to suffer such disorders. _For he that is higher than the highest_ The most high God, who is infinitely above the great... [ Continue Reading ]
_The profit of the earth is for all_ The fruits of the earth are necessary and beneficial to all men. The wise man, after some interruption, returns to his former subject, the vanity of riches; one evidence whereof he mentions in this verse, that the poor labourer enjoys the fruits of the earth as w... [ Continue Reading ]
_He that loveth silver shall not_, &c. The greatest treasures of silver do not satisfy the covetous possessor of it, both because his mind is insatiable, his desires being increased by and with his gains, and because silver of itself cannot satisfy his natural desires and necessities, as the fruits... [ Continue Reading ]
_The sleep of a labouring man is sweet_ Because he is free from those cares and fears wherewith the minds of rich men are often distracted, and their sleep disturbed; _whether he eat little_ For his weariness disposes him to sleep; _or much_ In which case his healthful constitution, and laborious co... [ Continue Reading ]
_There is a sore evil_, &c. “There is another thing, which is very calamitous, and may rather be called a grievous plague than a mere affliction; that these very treasures, which men have heaped up with a great deal of care, from thence expecting their felicity, prove, in the issue, their utter undo... [ Continue Reading ]
_As he came forth, &c., naked shall he return_ Into the womb, or belly of the earth, the common mother of all mankind. _And shall take nothing of his labour_ This is another vanity. If his estate be neither lost nor kept to his hurt, yet when he dies he must leave it behind him, and cannot carry one... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold that which I have seen_ That is, learned by study and experience; _it is good and comely Good_, or comfortable to a man's self, and _comely_, or amiable in the eyes of other men, as penuriousness is base and dishonourable; _for one to enjoy the good of his labour_ Both for the constant suppl... [ Continue Reading ]
_Every man also_, &c. “And whosoever he be whom God hath blessed, not only with plenty of worldly goods, but also with such a noble and generous mind that he is not their slave, but truly master of them,” (so the Hebrew, השׂלישׂו signifies,) “being able to enjoy them innocently, and that with cheerf... [ Continue Reading ]