17 Then I saw all the work of God, and that man may not get knowledge of the work which is done under the sun; because, if a man gives hard work to the search he will not get knowledge, and even if the wise man seems to be coming to the end of his search, still he will be without knowledge.
He has made everything right in its time; but he has made their hearts without knowledge, so that man is unable to see the works of God, from the first to the last.
When my thoughts were turned to see the reason of this, it was a weariness in my eyes;
Who does great things outside our knowledge, wonders without number:
All this I have put to the test by wisdom; I said, I will be wise, but it was far from me. Far off is true existence, and very deep; who may have knowledge of it?
Are you able to take God's measure, to make discovery of the limits of the Ruler of all? They are higher than heaven; what is there for you to do? deeper than the underworld, and outside your knowledge; Longer in measure than the earth, and wider than the sea.
O Lord my God, great are the wonders which you have done in your thought for us; it is not possible to put them out in order before you; when I would give an account of them, their number is greater than I may say.
O Lord, how great is the number of your works! in wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of the things you have made.
I have not got wisdom by teaching, so that I might have the knowledge of the Holy One. Who has gone up to heaven and come down? who has taken the winds in his hands, prisoning the waters in his robe? by whom have all the ends of the earth been fixed? what is his name, and what is his son's name, if you are able to say?
As you have no knowledge of the way of the wind, or of the growth of the bones in the body of her who is with child, even so you have no knowledge of the works of God who has made all.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Ecclesiastes 8
Commentary on Ecclesiastes 8 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 8
Solomon, in this chapter, comes to recommend wisdom to us as the most powerful antidote against both the temptations and vexations that arise from the vanity of the world. Here is,
Ecc 8:1-5
Here is,
Ecc 8:6-8
Solomon had said (v. 5) that a wise man's heart discerns time and judgment, that is, a man's wisdom will go a great way, by the blessing of God, in moral prognostications; but here he shows that few have that wisdom, and that even the wisest may yet be surprised by a calamity which they had not any foresight of, and therefore it is our wisdom to expect and prepare for sudden changes. Observe,
Ecc 8:9-13
Solomon, in the beginning of the chapter, had warned us against having any thing to do with seditious subjects; here, in these verses, he encourages us, in reference to the mischief of tyrannical and oppressive rulers, such as he had complained of before, ch. 3:16; 4:1.
Ecc 8:14-17
Wise and good men have, of old, been perplexed with this difficulty, how the prosperity of the wicked and the troubles of the righteous can be reconciled with the holiness and goodness of the God that governs the world. Concerning this Solomon here gives us his advice.