Then I beheld all the work of God
Not of creation, but of Providence; took notice of it,
contemplated on it, considered it, and weighed it well; viewed
the various steps and methods of it, to find out, if possible, at
least, some general rule by which it proceeded: but all so
various and uncertain, that a man cannot find out the work
that is done under the sun:
he can find out that it is done, but not the reason why it is
done: the ways of God are in the deep, and not to be traced; they
are unsearchable and past finding out; there is a (bayov) , a depth of wisdom and
knowledge, in them, inscrutable by the wisest of men, ( Psalms 72:19
) ( Romans
11:33 ) ; because, though a man labour to seek [it]
out, yet he shall not find
[it];
Noldius and others render it "although"; not only a man that, in
a slight and negligent manner, seeks after the knowledge of the
works of divine Providence, and the reasons of them; but even one
that is diligent and laborious at it is not able to find them
out; they being purposely concealed by the Lord, to answer some
ends of his; yea, further, though a wise [man] think to
know [it], yet shall he not
be able to find [it];
a man of a great natural capacity, such an one as Solomon
himself, though he proposes to himself, and determines within
himself to find it out, and sets himself to the work, and uses
all the means and methods he can devise, and imagines with
himself he shall be able to find out the reasons of the divine
procedure, in his dispensations towards the righteous and the
wicked; and yet, after all, he is not able to do it. The Targum
is,
``what shall be done in the end of days;''wherefore it is best for a man to be easy and quiet, and enjoy what he has in the best manner he can, and submit to the will of God.