Ecclesiastes 7 (9)

Pray Psalm 30.4, 5.
Sing praise to the LORD, you saints of His,
And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.
For His anger is but for a moment,
His favor is for life;
Weeping may endure for a night,
But joy comes in the morning.

Read Ecclesiastes 7.15.

Prepare.
1. What seems wrong with this picture? Why?

2. But is it really wrong, or just a temporary aberration? Explain.

Meditate.
Let’s remember: God is sovereign, and God is an unending source of joy, come what may.

Very often in life it seems as though justice is elusive. Things don’t work out the way we think they should. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Good men die young. “The best lack all conviction,/while the worst are filled with passionate intensity” (Yeats).

This is how Solomon saw things in his “days of vanity”, that is, while he was wandering from God and trying to make sense of things apart from God. But apart from God life seems only vain, wrong, and not the way it’s supposed to be.

However, “under heaven” we know that there is a time and a place for everything. We even understand that the things that “aren’t supposed to be” actually are just what they’re supposed to be. And even though we can’t always understand why things happen the way they do, we trust in the Lord, Who rules all things and is infinitely wise and good (Eccl. 3).

If you try to make sense of life “under the sun” you’ll only end up despairing.

There is no escaping the powerful effects of sin on every aspect of human life. Sin not only resides in the souls of men; it pervades all they do, as well as the creation itself. The believer understands this; however, he is not content with it. Thus, he engages all his relationships, roles, and responsibilities in an effort to restore all things back to God (2 Cor. 5.18-20). And, while we know we cannot attain complete restoration in this life, we keep our eyes on Jesus (Heb. 2.9), and look forward to – and actually live toward – the day of full reconciliation and restoration. Then our lives “under heaven” will become life in the new heavens and new earth, where righteousness dwells.

Keep your eye on that promise as you struggle with the things that seem like they are not what they’re supposed to be in your life.

Reflect.
1. How widespread are the effects of sin? How do we see the effects of sin far beyond the moral choices people make?

2. Why can believers be content and even joyful amid things that are not the way they’re supposed to be?  

3. Christ has reconciled the world to God; our job is to restore it, beginning in our own Personal Mission Field. What progress have you seen of late in your own work of restoration?

Every true believer is ready to say, God be merciful to me a sinner. Forget not at the same time, that personal righteousness, walking in newness of life, is the only real evidence of an interest by faith in the righteousness of the Redeemer. Matthew Henry (1662-1714)), Commentary on Ecclesiastes 7.11-22

Lord, set me at war against sin, beginning in my own life, and extending to my Personal Mission Field. Today help me to…

Pray Psalm 30.6-9.
Thank God that He holds you firmly in His hand. Call on Him to strengthen you for today’s work of restoration.

Sing Psalm 30.6-9.
Psalm 30.6-9 (Madrid: Come Christians, Join to Sing)
Firmly in You we stand –
            You have lifted us, O Lord!
Kept by Your gracious hand –
            You have lifted us, O Lord!
Lord, when You hide Your face, I cry to You for grace.
Living, I’ll sing Your praise –
            You have lifted us, O Lord!

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006). All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).