15 That which is crooked cannot be made straight; and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.
For wisdom is a defence [as] money is a defence; but the excellency of knowledge is, [that] wisdom maketh them that possess it to live. Consider the work of God; for who can make straight what he hath made crooked?
Every valley shall be raised up, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places a plain.
And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom, how that they are the double of what is realised; and know that +God passeth by [much] of thine iniquity!
When he giveth quietness, who then will disturb? and when he hideth [his] face, who shall behold him? and this towards a nation, or towards a man alike;
And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; and he doeth according to his will in the army of the heavens, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Ecclesiastes 1
Commentary on Ecclesiastes 1 Matthew Henry Commentary
An Exposition, With Practical Observations, of
The Book of Ecclesiastes
Chapter 1
In this chapter we have,
And, if this is vanity and vexation, all other things in this world, being much inferior to it in dignity and worth, must needs be so too. A great scholar cannot be happy unless he be a true saint.
Ecc 1:1-3
Here is,
Ecc 1:4-8
To prove the vanity of all things under the sun, and their insufficiency to make us happy, Solomon here shows,
Ecc 1:9-11
Two things we are apt to take a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction in, and value ourselves upon, with reference to our business and enjoyments in the world, as if they helped to save them from vanity. Solomon shows us our mistake in both.
Ecc 1:12-18
Solomon, having asserted in general that all is vanity, and having given some general proofs of it, now takes the most effectual method to evince the truth of it,