Eccl. 2:12. What man can imitate the King who has previously made him? In a beautiful and fitting periphrasis he describes God, as though he were to say: “God is our King. Not only has He made us, but He also continues to rule us, so that everything comes out for us according to His will. He alone persists from beginning to end, and His counsel and will cannot be hindered by anyone.” This is why Solomon preferred to call Him King rather than God. Some have wisdom, others temerity; but none can imitate his King, none can do what He does. For what He prescribes happens; His will and counsel have success. “He has previously made us, that is, before we existed.” There is a similar phrase in Paul (Rom. 11:35): “Who has given a gift to Him that he might be repaid?” Therefore as this King commands and rules, so everything comes out. In this way, therefore, he indicates that our counsels are nothing, because we have been made and are not the King. God does not want us and His creatures to be ruled by us, but the opposite; otherwise we would be Kings and Gods. Nothing is decided by our wisdom or our temerity, except that many have brought about evil by their temerity, and some by their wisdom, such as the very wise men Dio, Cicero, Brutus, Demosthenes, etc. God makes human counsels and efforts useless and makes sport of them, and everywhere He is provoking us to fear Him, so that we learn to concede to Him the laws of government and not to prescribe anything to Him.

Eccl. 2:14. And yet I perceived that one fate comes to all of them. That is, “I saw that both had the same fortune, that the wise man accomplishes nothing just as the madman accomplishes nothing. Things cannot be decided either by temerity or by wisdom, even though God may permit them to be decided both ways, but this does not become a rule. For if our counsel did prevail, it would always prosper; if temerity were an obstacle, it should never prosper. (Luther’s Works, v.15 p.40-41)

Thus he says here also Eccl. 2:14. The wise man has his eyes in his head. That is, they are not only prudent administrators of affairs, but circumspect, diligent, and watchful. They do indeed see how affairs are to be administered, but they cannot bring about the outcome. The fool, on the other hand, does not have his eyes in his forehead, because he is carried along by temerity and boldness. Eventually the affairs of both are decided by luck and fortune, that is, by God’s determination of the outcome, and not by either our counsel or our temerity. Both of them sometimes fall and sometimes prosper. But God does not want this to become the basis of rules. For the creatures are not in our hand, but in God’s, who gives them to us to use and who through us does what He wishes. What we add on our own, however, when we wish to determine this use by our own counsels and efforts, is in vain. Therefore he instructs us not to trust in our own wisdom and counsel but to do what He has given us to do; if it does not succeed, we should commit it to God. (Luther’s Works, v.15 p.40)