Nothing can be put to it - No new order of beings, whether animate or inanimate, can be produced. God will not create more; man cannot add.

Nor any thing taken from it - Nothing can be annihilated; no power but that which can create can destroy. And whatever he has done, he intended to be a means of impressing a just sense of his being, providence, mercy, and judgments, upon the souls of men. A proper consideration of God's works has a tendency to make man a religious creature; that is, to impress his mind with a sense of the existence of the Supreme Being, and the reverence that is due to him. In this sense the fear of God is frequently taken in Scripture. The Hebrew of this clause is strongly emphatic: wynplm waryyŤ hŤ[ µyhlahw vehaelohim asah sheiyireu millephanaiv; "And the gods he hath done, that they might fear from before his faces." Even the doctrine of the eternal Trinity in Unity may be collected from numberless appearances in nature. A consideration of the herb trefoil is said to have been the means of fully convincing the learned Erasmus of the truth of the assertion, These Three are One: and yet three distinct. He saw the same root, the same fibres, the same pulpy substance, the same membraneous covering, the same colour, the same taste, the same smell, in every part; and yet the three leaves distinct: but each and all a continuation of the stem, and proceeding from the same root. Such a fact as this may at least illustrate the doctrine. An intelligent shepherd, whom he met upon the mountains, is said to have exhibited the herb, and the illustration while discoursing on certain difficulties in the Christian faith. When a child, I heard a learned man relate this fact.

John Gill's Bible Commentary

This holds good of all his works, and acts of grace; election of persons to eternal life stands firm, not on the foot of works, but of grace, and has its certain effect; it can never be made void, nor be surer than it is; it will ever take place, and continue in its fruit and consequences: the covenant of grace, as it is made from everlasting, continues to everlasting; its promises never, fail, its blessings are the sure mercies of David: redemption by Christ is eternal; such as are redeemed from sin, Satan, and the law, are ever so, and shall never be brought into bondage to either again: the work of grace upon the heart being begun, shall be performed and perfected; the graces wrought in the soul, as faith, hope, and love, ever remain; the blessings of grace bestowed, as pardon, justification, adoption, and salvation, are never reversed, but ever continue; such as are regenerated, pardoned, justified, adopted, and saved, shall be ever so; and the work of God, as it is durable, so perfect; nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it ; the works of nature have been finished and perfected from the foundation of the world; the decrees of God are a complete system of his will, according to which he does all things invariably, in providence and grace; the covenant of grace is ordered in all things, and nothing wanting in it; the work of redemption is completely done by Christ, who is a rock, and his work is perfect; and the work of grace on the heart, though at present imperfect, shall be perfected; nor is it in the power of men to add anything to it, nor take anything from it; and God doth [it], that [men] should fear before him ; his works of creation being done in so much wisdom, and giving such a display of his power and goodness, command art awe of him in his creatures, ( Psalm 33:6-9); his works of providence, being all according to his wise purposes and decrees, should be patiently and quietly submitted to; and men should be still, and know that he is God, and humble themselves under his mighty hand: his decrees, respecting the present or future state of men, do not lead to despair, nor to a neglect of means, nor to a dissolute life, but tend to promote the fear of God and true holiness, which they are the source of; and the blessings of grace have a kind influence on the same; particularly the blessing of pardoning grace, which is with God, that he may be feared, ( <19D004> Psalm 130:4 Hosea 3:5); and one principal part of the work of grace on the heart is the fear of God; and nothing more strongly engages to the whole worship of God, which is often meant by the fear of him, than his grace vouchsafed to men; (see Hebrews 12:28 Ecclesiastes 12:14). The Targum refers this to the vengeance of God in the world: and Jarchi, to the unusual phenomena in it; as the flood, the sun’s standing still and going backward, and the like.

Matthew Henry Commentary

Eccl. 3:1-10 To expect unchanging happiness in a changing world, mus end in disappointment. To bring ourselves to our state in life, is ou duty and wisdom in this world. God's whole plan for the government of the world will be found altogether wise, just, and good. Then let u seize the favourable opportunity for every good purpose and work. The time to die is fast approaching. Thus labour and sorrow fill the world This is given us, that we may always have something to do; none wer sent into the world to be idle.

Eccl. 3:11-15 Every thing is as God made it; not as it appears to us We have the world so much in our hearts, are so taken up with thought and cares of worldly things, that we have neither time nor spirit to see God's hand in them. The world has not only gained possession of the heart, but has formed thoughts against the beauty of God's works. We mistake if we think we were born for ourselves; no, it is our busines to do good in this life, which is short and uncertain; we have but little time to be doing good, therefore we should redeem time Satisfaction with Divine Providence, is having faith that all thing work together for good to them that love him. God doeth all, that me should fear before him. The world, as it has been, is, and will be There has no change befallen us, nor has any temptation by it taken us but such as is common to men.

Eccl. 3:16-22 Without the fear of the Lord, man is but vanity; set tha aside, and judges will not use their power well. And there is anothe Judge that stands before the door. With God there is a time for the redressing of grievances, though as yet we see it not. Solomon seems to express his wish that men might perceive, that by choosing this worl as their portion, they brought themselves to a level with the beasts without being free, as they are, from present vexations and a futur account. Both return to the dust from whence they were taken. What little reason have we to be proud of our bodies, or bodil accomplishments! But as none can fully comprehend, so few conside properly, the difference between the rational soul of man, and the spirit or life of the beast. The spirit of man goes upward, to be judged, and is then fixed in an unchangeable state of happiness of misery. It is as certain that the spirit of the beast goes downward to the earth; it perishes at death. Surely their case is lamentable, the height of whose hopes and wishes is, that they may die like beasts. Le our inquiry be, how an eternity of existence may be to us an eternit of enjoyment? To answer this, is the grand design of revelation. Jesu is revealed as the Son of God, and the Hope of sinners __________________________________________________________________

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