Annotations on the book of Ecclesiastes

But that which seems most agreeable to the scope of the place, and grammar of the words, is this; God hath indeed made every thing beautiful in his time, and thereupon men ought with quiet and cheerful hearts to observe Gods providence in all things, and therein to rest, without anxiety or discruciating care: but man cannot find out the work of God, nor observe the beauty thereof so exactly as he should, which is the reason that he doth not so patiently acquiesce therein. Of this defect he giveth two reasons:

But that which seems most agreeable to the scope of the place, and grammar of the words, is this; God hath indeed made every thing beautifull in his time, and thereupon men ought with quiet and cheerfull hearts to observe Gods providence in all things, and therein to rest, without anxiety or discruciating care: but man cannot find out the work of God, nor observe the beauty thereof so exactly as he should, which is the reason that he doth not so patiently aquiesce therein. Of this defect he giveth two reasons:

1. That they have the world in their hearts, they are so taken up with the thoughts and cares of worldly things, and are so exercised in the sore travel belonging unto them, that they do not naturally look up to the wise and holy disposition of God, so as to rest therein. This duty is the remedy of such cares, Matth. 6.26, 30, 32. and such cares as are the hindrance of this duty.

2. They cannot find out the work which God doth from the beginning to the end] Man being of short continuance doth not many times live to observe a full point in the works of God. Their beginning may be in ⟨p. 107⟩one age, and their end in another. That part which I see in my days, may appear to me full of disorder and confusion, as heaps of stone and lime, and other provisions towards a goodly building: whereas if I did live to see the end of God in such works, it would appear, that in their time, or maturity they would be full of beauty: that fruit which is most sweet and delicate in its season, is sour and unpleasant while it is yet green. It is the End of Gods work which sets forth its beauty. Works of Providence, as works of Creation, may begin in a Chaos, and seem without form and void, Gen. 1.2. but they end in admirable order and beauty, Chap. 8.17. Psal. 37.37, 38. Jam. 5.11. Hab. 2.3. So here is the doctrine of the excellent beauty which is in Gods Providence. The reason why man is not thereby persuaded unto contentment and patience in all estates, namely, his natural impotency to observe the same. The grounds of that Impotency, 1. His worldly-mindedness. 2. His short continuance: yet he ought by faith, and by the evidence of Gods dealings in other ages, to rectify this defect, and upon that ground to build his cheerful enjoyment of blessing while God bestows them upon him. So it follows,

2. They cannot find out the work which God doth from the beginning to the end] Man being of short continuance doth not many times live to observe a full point in the works of God. Their beginning may be in ⟨p. 107⟩one age, and their end in another. That part which I see in my dayes, may appear to me full of disorder and confusion, as heaps of stone and lime, and other provisions towards a goodly building: whereas if I did live to see the end of God in such works, it would appear, that in their time, or maturity they would be full of beauty: that fruit which is most sweet and delicate in its season, is sour and unpleasant while it is yet green. It is the End of Gods work which sets forth its beauty. Works of Providence, as works of Creation, may begin in a Chaos, and seem without form and void,

V. 13. And also that every man should eat, &c.] Here are the parts of this contentment, to eat, drink, enjoy our labours, and to rejoice in them. Whereby is meant not a gluttonous, luxurious, and intemperate use of these things, as they, 1 Cor. 15.32. Matth. 44.49. but a free and comfortable use, without anxious thoughts for the future, moderated by the fear of God, as before, Chap. 2.24.

V. 13. And also that every man should eat, &c.] Here are the parts of this contentment, to eat, drink, enjoy our labours, and to rejoyce in them. Whereby is meant not a gluttonous, luxurious, and intemperate use of these things, as they, 1 Cor. 15.32. Matth. 44.49. but a free and comfortable use, without anxious thoughts for the future, moderated by the fear of God, as before, Chap. 2.24.

V. 14. I know that whatsoever God doth it shall be for ever, &c.] Here from the unchangeableness of Gods providence, the permanent and irrecoverable course of his counsels, the Absolute perfection of his works, wherein there is nothing defective, which requires addition, nothing superfluous, or to be taken from them; he doth further teach us with willingness and contentment to submit to God, whose Counsels we are ⟨p. 109⟩notable by all our cares to alter or disannul.

V. 14. I know that whatsoever God doth it shall be for ever, &c.] Here from the unchangeableness of Gods providence, the permanent and irrecoverable course of his counsels, the Absolute perfection of his works, wherein there is nothing defective, which requires addition, nothing superfluous, or to be taken from them; he doth further teach us with willingness and contentment to submit to God, whose Counsels we are ⟨p. 109⟩no•able by all our cares to alter or disanul.

shall be for ever] The w•• •s themselves may alter and vanish, but the Counsel of God is constant and immutable, and he doth in a stable and fixed way dispose of all things to holy ends, beyond the power of any Creature, either to alter or evade it, Mal. 3.6. His decrees are like chariots proceeding out of mountains of brass to note firmitude and immutability, Zach. 6.1.2. which no power can shake or remove, Isa. 38.10. Job 38.31—35. & 40.8. & 42.2. Job 9.12. Isa. 14.27. & 46.10.

and God doth it, that men should fear before him] Gods decrees and immutable providence should not drive us either into despair and a wilful neglect of all means, in the use whereof God expecteth that we should wait upon him, and in which as in the way of his providence, he useth to work good for his people: nor do they allow us to lean on our own wisdom, and to deify our own counsels, or burn incense to our own nets; but by them we are taught, in consideration of the Sovereignty, power, and wisdom of God in all things, to stand in awe of him, to submit unto him; in blessings to be thankful, in sufferings to be patient, because still it is the Lord that decrees, orders, disposeth and over-ruleth all, Job 1.21. 1 ⟨p. 110⟩Sam. 3.18. 2 Sam. 15.25, 26. Psal. 37.5▪ 7.

and God doth it, that men should fear before him] Gods decrees and immutable providence should not drive us either into despair and a wilfull neglect of all means, in the use whereof God expecteth that we should wait upon him, and in which as in the way of his providence, he useth to work good for his people: nor do they allow us to lean on our own wisdome, and to deifie our own councels, or burn incense to our own nets; but by them we are taught, in consideration of the Soveraignty, power, and wisdom of God in all things, to stand in awe of him, to submit unto him; in blessings to be thankfull, in sufferings to be patient, because still it is the Lord that decrees, orders, disposeth and over-ruleth all, Job 1.21. 1 ⟨p. 110⟩Sam. 3.18.

V. 15. That which hath been, is now, and that which is to, &c.] Chap. 1.9. This is an explication of what was last said, V. 14. to show how what God doth, is for ever: The things themselves pass, and others succeed in their places, but this series of things is carried on regularly and uniformly by a standing Law and fixed decree, appointing a perpetual and proportionable Succession of things one after another, as it hath been from the beginning, Gen. 8.22. Jer. 31.35, 36. Job 38.10, 33.

V. 15. That which hath been, is now, and that which is to, &c.] Chap. 1.9. This is an explication of what was last said, V. 14. to shew how what God doth, is for ever: The things themselves pass, and others succeed in their places, but this series of things is carried on regularly and uniformly by a standing Law and fixed decree, appointing a perpetual and proportionable Succession of things one after another, as it hath been from the beginning, Gen. 8.22. Jer. 31.35, 36. Job 38.10, 33.

and God requireth that which is past.] That which time thrusteth forward, and so maketh to be past, God restores and brings it back again. And this is also an excellent argument of contentment in our estate, be it what it will: 1. Because God dealeth not in a strange and unusual manner with us, otherwise then with others before us; that which now is our Case, hath been the case of other good men, and will be the case of others when we are gone, 1 Cor. 10.13. A human Temptation there, is that which God doth usually exercise men withal, as elsewhere the rod of a man, 2 Sam. 7.14. 2. Because God tempereth our lives, and doth not keep us always in one and the same estate. In trouble he bringeth back ⟨p. 111⟩and restoreth comfort to those that wait on on him, Psal. 126.1, 4. as to Job, Chap. 42.12. In abundance, he can shake our mountain which we thought immovable, and bring back our sorrows again, Psal. 30.6, 7. so that in both respects we ought to carry an awful, reverend, and humble heart towards God in all conditions, quietly referring our selves in every estate unto his Fatherly disposal, who best knoweth what is good for us.

and God requireth that which is past.] That which time thrusteth forward, and so maketh to be past, God restores and brings it back again. And this is also an excellent argument of contentment in our estate, be it what it will: 1. Because God dealeth not in a strange and unusual manner with us, otherwise then with others before us; that which now is our Case, hath been the case of other good men, and will be the case of others when we are gone, 1 Cor. 10.13. A humame Temptation there, is that which God doth usually exercise men withall, as elsewhere the rod of a man, 2 Sam. 7.14. 2. Because God tempereth our lives, and doth not keep us alwayes in one and the same estate. In trouble he bringeth back ⟨p. 111⟩

V. 16. And moreover I saw under the Sun the place of Judgement, &c.] I saw another Vanity under the Sun. Having formerly showed the vanity of knowledge, and of pleasures, and of humane Labours, in regard of the internal anxiety & travel of mind that doth accompany them, and of the external changes they are subject unto, and manifold miscarriages and disappointments which are incident unto them, together with the remedy hereof, a free and cheerful enjoyment of Gods blessings with piety towards him for the present; and a comfortable dependence on his holy providence, with godly fear for the future: upon a visible objection which might be made against the providence of God, (which he had so much commended) with which Temptation many good men have been shaken, to wit, the prosperous impiety and oppressions of wicked ⟨p. 112⟩men, and the sad condition of the innocent and oppressed, Job 21.3.—13. Psal. 7.2.—5. Jer. 12.1. Habak. 1.13, 14. he proceedeth to vindicate the doctrine of providence, and to show the vanity of men in honour and great place without the fear of God: (for all the vanities in this book are still to be understood in that sense, the fear of God being the remedy of it, and that which maketh all other outward good things sweet and comfortable to us,) The greatest honour without a holy use of it, is so far from making a man happy, that it is an occasion of much wickedness amongst men, one man proving a devil and wolf unto another, and making no other use of power, then lions or bears do, to mischief others by. This wickedness is aggravated, in that it was committed under the pretence of Gods Ordinance; Magistracy and Courts of Justice were erected by Gods appointment to be Sanctuaries and places of refuge for wronged innocency to repair unto for succour and relief: now then, for those who were ordained to comfort and help poor and oppressed persons, to be themselves through bribery, partiality, and injustice, the greatest oppressors, and that with so high a hand, as to make the very tribunals of judgement, to be slaughterhouses, and shops of cruelty, This was a ⟨p. 113⟩

We here note, 1. That power without Piety, is very apt to degenerate into cruelty and oppression. It is an unwieldy and a wilful thing, that wants much balance of humility and self-denial to temper and allay it, Isa. 1.21, 22, 23. & 10.13, 14. Jer. 22.14, 17. Mic. 3.9, 10, 11. Habak. 1.13, 14. Ezek. 22.25.

We here note, 1. That power without Piety, is very apt to degenerate into cruelty and oppression. It is an unweildy and a wilfull thing, that wants much ballance of humility and self-denyal to temper and allay it, Isa. 1.21, 22, 23. & 10.13, 14. Jer. 22.14, 17. Mic. 3.9, 10, 11. Habak. 1.13, 14. Ezek. 22.25.

2. That it is the height of impiety, to fetch power and advantage from any ordinance of God, to commit it, Isa. 5.20. 1. Sam. 2.17. Jer. 23.25, 38. Jer. 14.14, 15. 1 Reg. 22.11, 12, 24. Joh. 19.10. Isa. 36.10. Mal. 2.8.

3. That wickedness is many times grossly aggravated by the circumstance of place where it is committed, Hos. 6.8. Ezek. 8.6, 9, 17. Isa. 27.10. Mal. 1.7. Matth. 21.12, 13.

3. That wickedness is many times grosly aggravated by the circumstance of place where it is committed, Hos. 6.8. Ezek. 8.6, 9, 17. Isa. 27.10. Mal. 1.7. Matth. 21.12, 13.

and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there] This is the same thing repeated, as the use of that tongue, and of the Scripture is, whereby may be signified, How usual a thing it was in places of Judgement, here and there, one as well as another, to find this corruption, Jer. 5.5. Isa. 5.7.

V. 17. I said in my heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, &c. This is the censure Solomon passeth upon this vanity, that though power do oppress, and the poor be oppressed, yet this ought not to discourage good men from contented waiting on the providence of God, nor to encourage or embolden wicked men in their ways of tyranny or oppression, because the Lord will in due time review all again, and pass a righteous judgement upon the one and the other.

V. 17. I said in my heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, &c. This is the censure Solomon passeth upon this vanity, that though power do oppress, and the poor be oppressed, yet this ought not to discourage good men from contented waiting on the providence of God, nor to encourage or embolden wicked men in their wayes of tyranny or oppression, because the Lord will in due time review all again, and pass a righteous judgement upon the one and the other.