And God requireth that which is past - i.e., That it may return again in its proper order. The heavens themselves, taking in their great revolutions, show the same phenomena. Even comets are supposed to have their revolutions, though some of them are hundreds of years in going round their orbits.

But in the economy of grace, does not God require that which is past? Whatever blessing or influence God gives to the soul of man, he intends shall remain and increase; and it will, if man be faithful. Reader, canst thou produce all the secret inspirations of his Spirit, all the drawings of his love, his pardoning mercy, his sanctifying grace, the heavenly- mindedness produced in thee, thy holy zeal, thy spirit of prayer, thy tender conscience, the witness of the Spirit, which thou didst once receive and enjoy? WHERE are they? God requireth that which is past.

John Gill's Bible Commentary

This will also hold true of natural things, and of the identity of them; of some individuals, as the sun, moon, and stars, which are as they always were, and will be; the sun rises and sets as it used to do; and the moon increases and decreases, as it always has done; and the stars keep the same station or course, and so they ever will, as they have: the same seasons are now in their turn as heretofore, and such as will be have been already; as summer, winter, spring, autumn, seedtime, harvest, cold, heat, night, and day: the same kinds and species of creatures, that have been, are; and what will be have been already; so that there is no new thing under the sun; the same thing is here expressed as in ( Ecclesiastes 1:9); and God requireth that which is past ; his decrees and purposes to be fulfilled, which are past in his mind; the same seasons to return which have been; and the same kinds and species of creatures to exist which have already. The words may be rendered, “and God seeketh that which is pursued”, or “persecuted” f90 : and accordingly the whole will bear a different sense; and the preacher may be thought to have entered upon a new subject, which he continues in some following verses, the abuse of power and authority: and the meaning then is, the same acts of injustice, violence, and persecution, have been done formerly as now, and now as formerly; and what hereafter of this kind may be, will be no other than what has been; from the beginning persecution was; Cain hated and slew his brother, because of his superior goodness; and so it always has been, is, and will be, that such who are after the flesh persecute those who are after the spirit; but God will make inquisition for blood, and require it at the hands of those that shed it; he will seek out the persecuted, and vindicate him, and, avenge his persecutor. This way the Midrash, Jarchi, and Alshech, and the Septuagint version, render the words; and so the Syriac version, “God seeketh him that is afflicted, who is driven away”; and to this agrees the Targum, “and in the great day which shall be, the Lord will require the mean and poor man of the hands of the wicked that persecute him.”

And what follows seems to confirm this sense.

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 __________________________________________________________________

Original Hebrew