But a man cannot know. The result was that he saw “all the work of God,” and he also saw that a man cannot know what God is doing (v. 17). This is wisdom, wisdom discovered by a very wise man. The wise know how to identify what cannot be known. Solomon is not referring to the actions of God on the other side of the universe (which, of course, no one thinks we could know), but rather His governance of our lives here and now. He sets the limitation upon any man (v. 17) and not just upon himself and his own endeavors. Look around as you please, you do not know what is happening.
