Ecclesiastes 3:10 - Exposition

I have seen the travail which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it; i . e . to busy themselves therewith ( Ecclesiastes 1:13 ). This travail, exercise, or business is the work that has to be done under the conditions prescribed of time and season in face of the difficulty of man's free action and God's ordering. We take infinite pains, we entertain ample desires, and strive restlessly to carry them out, but our efforts are controlled by a higher law, and results occur in the way and at the time arranged by Providence. Human labor, though it is appointed by God and is part of man's heritage imposed upon him by the Fall ( Genesis 3:17 , etc.), cannot bring contentment or satisfy the spirit's cravings.