Ecclesiastes 8 (1)

Pray Psalm 116.5-7.
Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;
Yes, our God is merciful.
The LORD preserves the simple;
I was brought low, and He saved me.
Return to your rest, O my soul,
For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.

Read Ecclesiastes 8.1.

Prepare.
1. How does wisdom affect one’s appearance?

2. What does wisdom help us do?

Meditate.
Ecclesiastes 8 is Solomon’s “in your face” chapter, beginning with verse 1. This verse sounds almost like a cry of frustration: “Are you listening, son? When are you going to wise up?”

Solomon’s cry neatly summarizes his argument to this point: Wisdom is the thing; get wisdom. Only the wise man – the man who lives “under heaven” – can sort out the confusion, dilemmas, and challenges of life. Money won’t help you when problems are staring you in the face. Fun times will be of no avail when the enemy is at the gates. The wise man’s face shines with confidence, hope, and peace, while the fool’s face shows etched on it the ravages of anxiety, uncertainty, and a misspent youth. The plea to Rehoboam is to take the long view, think about more than himself, strive to be wise rather than a fool.

This little poetic intrusion follows a powerful pattern of Hebrew parallelism: Say something; say it again and extend it; say it one more time and punctuate it with a bit of irony. Just when it looks like the passage is mounting to soar, it crashes into the stiff, stern face of the fool.

This is “Aha!” writing at its best. It’s not hard to imagine Rehoboam becoming a little irritated with his father’s urgency, but that doesn’t matter. Solomon wanted to make his point boldly and clearly. He needed to get in his son’s face at least once during these exchanges.

In our day many believers are reluctant to confront the lost or to urge them with passion to forsake their folly and come to Christ, the very Wisdom of God. But people who are trapped in the lie of unbelief sometimes need a little more than an invitation.

Reflect.
1. Do people today want to be wise? Is wisdom considered a good thing? Explain.

2. How do you think people who do not know the Lord define wisdom? How do they interpret the world and their place in it?   

3. Solomon says wisdom has effects even on our countenance. Why is this true?

Here he means that the wisdom of a person makes the face shine, but not the face of the body, not a part of the flesh, but the face of the inner person.… The face of the inner person is illuminated by wisdom. But wisdom, light, Logos, truth and the other conceptions are identical when applied to Christ. Didymus the Blind (313-398), Commentary on Ecclesiastes 233.16

Let Your wisdom, and the hope that is within me, shine forth from me today, Lord, so that I may…

Pray Psalm 116.1-6.
Why do you love the Lord? Recount the reasons before Him in prayer, and ask Him to let His blessings and glory shine through you today.

Sing Psalm 116.1-6.
Psalm 116.1-6 (Mit Freuden Zart: All Praise to God Who Reigns Above)
I love the Lord because He hears my cries and pleas for mercy.
Because He bends to me His ears, my prayers shall ever thus be.
The snares of death encompassed me; hell’s grip could not unloosened be;
Distress and anguish pressed me.

I called to God, “O Lord, I pray, my soul redeem with favor!”
The Lord is gracious in His way, and righteous is our Savior.
His mercy to the simple flies; He lifted me up to the skies –
I rest in Him forever!

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).