Ecclesiastes 6:9

9 It is better to enjoy the good that is present than the wandering of desire; this is also vanity and vexation of spirit.

Ecclesiastes 6:9 Meaning and Commentary

Ecclesiastes 6:9

Better [is] the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the
desire
By "the sight of the eyes" is not meant the bare beholding outward riches, as in ( Ecclesiastes 5:11 ) ; but the enjoyment of present mercies; such things as a man is in the possession of, and with which he should be content, ( Hebrews 13:5 ) ; and by "the wandering of the desire", the craving appetite and insatiable lust of the covetous mind, which enlarges its desire as hell, after a thousand things, and everything it can think of; such a mind roves through the whole creation, and covets everything under the sun: now it is better to enjoy contentedly things in sight and in possession, than to let the mind loose in vague desires, after things that may never be come at, and, if attained to, would give no satisfaction; this [is] also vanity and vexation of spirit:
a most vain thing, to give the mind such a loose and liberty in its unbounded desires after worldly things; and a vexation of spirit it is to such a craving mind, that it cannot obtain what it is so desirous of.

Ecclesiastes 6:9 In-Context

7 All the labour of man is for his mouth, and with all this the appetite is not filled.
8 For what has the wise more than the fool? what more has the poor that knows how to walk among the living?
9 It is better to enjoy the good that is present than the wandering of desire; this is also vanity and vexation of spirit.
10 He that is has been named already; and it is known that he is man and that he shall not be able to contend with him that is mightier than he.
11 Certainly the many words multiply vanity, what more does man have?
The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010