Submission

Submission to G-d's will and providence.
[Ecc. 9] What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?
The inferences drawn from this observation, if our present state be subject to such vicissitude:
1. Then we must not expect our portion in it, for the good things of it are of no certainty, no continuance: What profit has he that works? All our pains and care will not alter either the changeable nature of the things themselves or the unchallengeable counsel of G-d concerning them.
2. Then we must look upon ourselves as upon our trial in it. There is indeed no profit in that wherein we labour; the thing itself, when we have it, will do us little good, if we make a right use of the disposals of Providence about it, there will be profit in that.
Profit - earthly pursuits, while lawful in their season, are "unprofitable" when made by man, what G-d never intended them to be, the chief good, out of G-d's order, is disappointment. Seeing then all events are out of man's power, and no man can do or enjoy any thing at his pleasure, but only when G-d pleases, as has been showed in many particulars, and is as true and certain in all others, hence it follows, that all men's labors, without G-d's blessing, are unprofitable, and utterly insufficient to make them happy
All our works of advancing ourselves, rubbing shoulders with just the right people, trying to get in front of the class to be noticed, and title seekers and for what – do we think we are the only ones G-d has given gifts or callings to? It is all of "no profit," because not in G-d's time and order, if He even meant it to be. There is a big difference in our will and His will, and His will does not change with every wind that blows in.
[10] I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.
I have seen the travail - not to make up a happiness by it, but to be exercised in it, to have various graces exercised by the variety of events, to have their dependence upon G-d tried by every change, and to be trained up to it, and taught both how to want and how to abound, Philippians 4:12.
1. There is a great deal of toil and trouble to be seen among the children of men. Labour and sorrow fill the world.
2. This toil and this trouble are what G-d has allotted us. He never intended this world for our rest, and therefore never appointed us to take our ease in it.
3. To many it proves a gift. G-d gives it to men, as the physician gives a medicine to his patient, to do him good. This travail is given to us to make us weary of the world and eager of the remaining rest.
4. It is given to us that we may be kept in action, and may always have something to do; for we were none of us sent into the world to be idle. Every change cuts us out some new work, which we should be more considerate about, than about the event.
Hath given - Which G-d has imposed upon men as their duty; to which therefore men ought quickly to submit.
Exercised - That hereby they might have constant matter of exercise for their diligence, and patience, and submission to G-d's will and providence.
[11] He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.
He hath made - by His providence in the government of the world) every thing (which He does either immediately, or by the ministry of men, or other creatures). We must make the best of that which is, and must believe it best for the present, and accommodate ourselves to it.
Ever thing –
1. Every thing is as G-d has made it; it is really as He appointed it to be, not as it appears to us.
2. That which to us seems most unpleasant is yet, in its proper time, altogether becoming. Cold is as becoming in winter as heat in summer; and the night, in its turn, is a black beauty, as the day, in its turn, and is a bright one.
3. There is a wonderful harmony in the divine Providence and all its disposals, so that the events of it, when they come to be considered in their relations and tendencies, together with the seasons of them, will appear very beautiful, to the glory of G-d and the comfort of those that trust in Him. Though we see not the complete beauty of Providence, yet we shall see it, and a glorious sight it will be, when the mystery of G-d shall be finished. Then every thing shall appear to have been done in the most proper time and it will be the wonder of eternity, Deuteronomy 32:4, Eze, 1:18.
Beautiful – excellent or praiseworthy in this context. Qohelet asserts that there is an appropriate time for almost every human activity imaginable. G-d has put eternity into human minds in such a way that we cannot find out what G-d has done from the beginning to the end. G-d has implanted in us an awareness of our inability to know everything we want to know. And G-d has made everything beautiful (praiseworthy) in its appropriate time, but G-d has done so in such a way that we humans cannot find out for sure which times are appropriate for which activities.
In his time – that is, in its proper season (Ps 1:3), opposed to worldlings putting earthly pursuits out of their proper time and place. It is actually masculine singular, raising the possibility that the sentence should be understood to mean that G-d makes everything beautiful in G-d’s own time. Circumstances determine whether a given action is good or bad and a given action can be either right or wrong, depending on what else is going on when it is done.
The world in their heart - We have the world so much in our hearts, are so taken up with thoughts and cares of worldly things, and are so exercised in our travail concerning them, that we have neither time nor spirit to eye G-d's hand in them. The world has not only gained possession of the heart, but has formed prejudices there against the beauty of G-d's works.
G-d has given them capacities to understand the world of nature as reflecting G-d's wisdom in its beautiful order and times (Rom. 1:19, 20). "Everything" answers to "world," in the parallelism.
So that - that is, but in such a manner that man only sees a portion, not the whole "from beginning to end" (8:17; Job 26:14; Rom. 11:33; Rev. 15:4).
No man - so man's mental dimness of sight as to the full mystery of G-d's works.
Find out the work - we must wait till the veil be rent, and not accuse G-d's proceedings nor pretend to pass judgment on them. Secret things belong not to us. This incapacity for "finding out" (comprehending) G-d's work is chiefly the fruit of the fall. The worldling ever since, not knowing G-d's time and order, labors in vain, because out of time and place.
Beginning to the end - We have seen what changes there are in the world, and must not expect to find the world more sure to us than it has been to others. The hand of G-d is in all those changes; it is He that has made every creature to be that to us which it is, and therefore we must have our eye always upon Him, for He is with us from the beginning to the end.
Who do you submit to – flesh or Spirit?