Ecclesiastes 11 (4)

Pray 139.14.
…Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.

Read Ecclesiastes 11.6.

Prepare.
1. Summarize the teaching of this verse in one word. Why did you choose that word?

2. How do good works serve the cause of the Gospel?

Meditate.
A man has to be willing to work if he wants to prosper in life. The Law of God commands men to labor for six days of every week, working at a variety of tasks in order to exercise stewardship over their resources and opportunities. Evidently Rehoboam was thinking that being king wasn’t really a matter of work. The king gets others to work for him; his job is simply to enjoy the benefits of being king.

Rehoboam would find out soon enough that being king of Israel was hard work. Solomon’s counsel in this verse is for Rehoboam to seek the good of the nation by every means, and that would mean a life of hard work – founded on trust in God, Who knows everything and does all things well.

In our day, work is viewed in various ways: necessary evil, source of self-actualization, a way to contribute to the economy, or the means to becoming wealthy. But the work we’ve been given to do is greater than the job at which we work. We must work at our marriages, raising our children, caring for our property, participating in the life of our community, serving in our local church, investing for the future, nurturing friendships, and more. If we invest all our best energies in our job, then other crucial areas entrusted to us will not be as fruitful as God intends.

The wise person will accept all the work God has given him to do with gratitude, and labor at it continuously, seeking the good that comes to all from his labors.

Reflect.
1. What do we mean by saying “the work we’ve been given to do is greater than the job at which we work”?  

2. Meditate on Philippians 1.12. What does it mean to “work out” your salvation? Why should you do so in fear and trembling?

3. What can we do to ensure that all our work is according to the requirements of life “under heaven”?

Be not weary in well-doing, for in due season, in God’s time, you shall reap, Galatians 6.9. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Ecclesiastes 11.6

You have saved me for good works, O Lord. Help me to be diligent in serving You today, especially as I…

Pray Psalm 139.7-14.
God is with us at all times, to help us in the work He has given us to do. Meditate on the wondrous works of God, and what they suggest about how you should to your work today.

Sing Psalm 139.6-14.
Psalm 139.6-14 (Ripley: Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah, O My Soul)
Just to know this is more wondrous
than my seeking soul can know.
From Your ever-present Spirit
there is nowhere I can go.
Whether high above the heaven
or below the earth in hell,
Even there Your hand shall lead me
and Your Right Hand hold me well!

Neither light nor dark conceals me;
day as night is with You, Lord!
All my inward parts You fashioned
by Your all-decreeing Word.
Praise the Lord, for You have made me;
all Your wondrous works I’ll tell!
All Your works declare Your glory,
and my soul knows this full well!

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).