Ecclesiastes 1:13-14 And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven… 1. This wisdom and knowledge, if a man is determined to go far beyond his fellows in the acquisition of it, must be discovered, and examined, and appropriated, by "much study": and this, as Solomon observes, is "a weariness of the flesh." The incessant stretch of the mind's faculties, frequent harassing and anxious perplexity, studious days and sleepless nights, must be his portion, who sets his heart on the attainment of unusual eminence, in science in general, or in any of its various departments. 2. In this pursuit, as in others, there are many disappointments to be expected, to fret, and mortify, and irritate the spirit: — such as, experiments failing, some of them perhaps long-continued, promising, and costly; — facts turning out contradictory, and unsettling or overturning favourite theories; — the means of prosecuting a train of discovery falling short, at the very moment, it may be, when they are most desirable; — trifling and worthless results arising, after much labour, long-tried patience, and sanguine expectation; — the anticipated honour and pleasure of introducing a new and important invention or discovery, the product of the experiments and investigations of years, lost on the very eve of arrival, by the priority of an unknown competitor. 3. There are some parts of knowledge which are, in their very nature, painful and distressing. In a world where sin reigns, many must be the scenes of misery, many the afflicting occurrences and facts, which present themselves to the observant and investigating mind, that is in quest of general and extensive information. They abound both in the past and present history of mankind. They are fitted to fill the heart with "grief" and "sorrow": and the more a man's knowledge extends, — the more he reads, and hears, and observes, the more copious will this source of bitterness become. 4. There is to be taken into account the mortification of pride that must be experienced, in consequence of the limited nature o! the human faculties. 5. There is a similar feeling of mortification, arising from the very circumstance, that, with all the knowledge and wisdom that are acquired, there is still a blank, — still a consciousness of want and deficiency, in regard to true happiness. 6. The man of "much wisdom" and "increased knowledge," generally, if not universally, becomes the marked object of the scorn of some, and the envy of others. Some depreciate his studies and all their results, laugh at them, and hold them up to contempt and ridicule. Others are stung with secret jealousy; which is the odious parent of all the hidden arts of detraction and calumny, and of injurious and unworthy attempts to deprive him of his well-earned honours, and to "cast him down from his excellency." 7. The man who occupies his powers in the pursuit and acquisition of human wisdom alone, careless of God, and uninfluenced by regard to His authority and to His glory, is leaving eternity a wretched blank; has no solid and satisfactory support in the anticipation of it, when the thought intrudes itself upon his mind; and is treasuring up grief and sorrow for the close of his career. (R. Wardlaw, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith. |
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