Ecclesiastes 7 (13)

Pray Psalm 30.7.
LORD, by Your favor You have made my mountain stand strong;
You hid Your face, and I was troubled.

Read Ecclesiastes 7.27, 28.

Prepare.
1. What was Solomon trying to “find out”?

2. What did he conclude?

Meditate.
G. K. Chesterton was once invited to submit an essay on the question, “What’s wrong with the world?” He answered in two words: “I am.”

Chesterton was saying that each of us brings our own sin to the world’s problems, and each of us must be primarily responsible for reining in that sin, lest it add to the world’s ills. It’s not our business to blame others for the world’s problems because of their sins; rather, we must encourage them to be responsible to live before God and according to His economy.

Solomon assessed the mess that had become his life, “adding one thing to another” (v. 27) to try to make sense of things, and to figure out whom to blame for his folly. He might have felt justified in blaming the women in his life for all his problems. If just one of them had stood up to him, he might not have given in to vanity. But he could not find one such woman. Instead, he pointed the finger at himself – the “one man” (v. 28) who was to blame for the mess that was his life. This is as clear a statement as we’ll get in Ecclesiastes of Solomon’s sense of having been the architect of his own downfall. We must all follow his example.

In a day such as ours, when so much sin is obvious on every hand, the Church errs when it spends all its efforts in denouncing sin by pointing out the evils that exist in the world. Those are obvious to most people, and the ones that aren’t will be soon enough. The Christian community needs to be more vigilant over its own household. If we were more consistent in dealing with our own sins, striving to become a holy community, one Body before the Lord, the quality of our character and service to the world would make our message more credible (cf. Mic. 4.1-8). As it stands, our practice of blaming the world for all the ills has marginalized us in our society, and made us the scorn of our enemies.

Reflect.
1. Is it possible that the Church is actually what’s wrong with the world? Explain.

2. To his credit, Solomon, at the end of his life, added everything up and tried to make sense of things. He will tell us his conclusion later; but for now, what should we learn from him about the value of spiritual self-assessment? Should we conduct such assessments? How?  

3. Why does it make no sense to blame our problems and shortcomings on others? What should we do instead?

Although a perfect apprehension of the truth is at present far removed from us by reason of the infirmity of the flesh, yet it is possible, as the Preacher himself has said, to perceive the madness of the impious, and having found it, to say that it is “more bitter than death.” Therefore for this reason, as perceiving this and able to find it out, I have written, knowing that to the faithful the detection of impiety is a sufficient information wherein piety consists. Athanasius (295-373), Letters to Monks 1.2

Lord, I don’t want to be the world’s problem, so help me today to…

Pray Psalm 30.6-12.
Use this time of prayer to prepare yourself to “never be moved” from you commitment to Jesus and His Word. Seek the Lord’s favor and strength for all the details and activities of your day.

Sing Psalm 30.6-12.
Psalm 30.6-12 (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!

Lord, hear our earnest plea –
            You have lifted us, O Lord!
and our strong Helper be –
            You have lifted us, O Lord!
You turn our tears to song; praises to You belong.
Thanks is our endless song!
            You have lifted us, O Lord!

T. M. Moore

Where does the book of Ecclesiastes fit in the overall flow of Scripture? Our series of studies, God’s Covenant, can show you, and help you discover the great beauty of the unity and diversity of Scripture, and how it all points to Christ. To order your copy of this important workbook, click here.

You can download all the studies in this series on Ecclesiastes by clicking here. If you value Scriptorium as a free resource for your walk with the Lord, please consider supporting our work with your gifts and offerings. You can contribute to The Fellowship by clicking the Contribute button  at the website or by sending your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 360 Zephyr Road, Williston, VT 05495.

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).