Ecclesiastes Chapter 7 Verse 1

 Solomon sounds morbid in what he says in these first four verses but

you have to hear him beyond the words. That is often the work of

wisdom. See beyond the circumstance or hear beyond the words. Paul

wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:7, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” Faith

is a thing of the spirit. Sight is a thing of the flesh. Faith is a thing of

the unseen, the eternal, made evident and discoverable in the present,

in the physical, but not always immediately revealed…

 It's the first sentence of verse one that gives the perspective of faith to

the rest of verses 1 through 4. Everyone celebrates a birth and no one

celebrates the day of death. However, in the context of verse 1, all that

a person has done, has lived, has loved, has known, has been a part of

in the work of God in their lives and in the lives of others, that person

is so much more on the day of their departure than on the day of their

arrival. All of it predicated on a good name.

 A good name was everything in Solomon’s culture, the Jewish culture.

It was to say that you were. That value was and is there. Your name is

eternal in that culture and although life would come and go, your name

would not. This is why the Hall of Names is especially grievous within

the Yad Vashem Holocaust History Museum in Jerusalem.

 Roughly six million Jews were killed by Nazi Germany and its allies

during the Holocaust. Of those six million, about five million names

are known. Within the Hall of Names, there are one million memorials

that are blank. Folks that were lost, they don’t have their names, and

so for the Jewish people, those one million were a total loss. An

eternal loss. And a source of particular grief for the nation…

 So, to have a good name, to run your race well, to find the wisdom

that he has already covered in his book that any and all of life lived

outside the purpose of God is vanity and grasping for wind, to find

that worship is the source of all sustained joy and happiness, is to

have a good name. To have eternal life… That day of celebration,

better even than the day of birth.

Ecclesiastes Chapter 7 Verses 2 – 4

 These things are true and yet in the flesh not desirable. That is also a

part of faith! Walking by wisdom. To identify and understand the

moment to the point that profitability and joy isn’t missed. Because it

is true, when a season of mourning passes, the heart is strengthened.

 Psalm 30:5, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the

morning.” Days of mourning, days of sorrow, days of hunger, days of

sad countenance, none of us would ask for any of that and at the same

time, these are the things that deepen and mature a heart towards what

is truly meaningful and important. We call it perspective. Solomon

called it “living.” James called it perfection and maturity.

 James 1:2-8, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various

trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let

patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete,

lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who

gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a

wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man

suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-

minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

 This is the very valid point that Solomon is making. That when you

find the weight to be heavy, lift heavy. Our flesh says cast off the

weight, put it down, and you can do that, but you’ll never grow

stronger until you find the strength, the faith to press the weight rather

than avoiding it…

Ecclesiastes Chapter 7 Verses 5 - 7

 This is one of the most telling and symptomatic reveals as to where

someone is at in depth of character and personal maturity. Correct

them.

 Just correct them. See what they do. This one is so hard and it never

feels any better. That’s why it’s so revealing. Because no matter how

mature you are or how wise you are, correction, rebuke always is the

worst. It’s like a personal setback and a personal attack on your own

worth. So, here’s where you find out how much someone values how

they feel over how they value faith. Correct them.

 Let’s just be incredibly superiorly ground-level practical for 2

minutes. If you are being corrected, then that is an incredibly good

thing. Something is off, not helping you, not profiting you, not leading

you to the end that you yourself desire, and because of something or

other, you don’t see it for that moment or in that circumstance. So,

someone comes along and helps you out, showing you the correct way

and saving you from that miss, that loss. What could be better for you

in that moment?

 But it is always hard to take. Always feels terrible. Got that already.

How you handle rebuke reveals in that moment the size of the person

you are hiding inside. The word in the Hebrew for “rebuke” is

literally, “childing.” Worse right? Maybe…

 Jesus said in Matthew 18:3, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are

converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter

the kingdom of heaven.” See the code now? See the faith behind the

fact? Jesus was saying that wisdom comes to and grows within the

mature believer. Little children are corrected. They don’t like it but

they are compelled. Just like the one filled with the Spirit of wisdom…

Only you are now compelled by the wisdom of knowing… Knowing

for yourself exactly what Solomon says here…

 The song of fools burns out like sticks ablaze but the correction of

wisdom burns like the oil in the temple, miraculously throughout your

life. Here’s the thing though and what Solomon says in verse 7,

wisdom is easily defeated in this world. Just reject it… You can just

reject it through oppression and bribes… Ready? Defense, deflection,

denial, cut them off an move on to someone who says what you want

to hear… any and all of that defeats wisdom. Wisdom is fragile like

that. You have to welcome it… Or it doesn’t come.

Ecclesiastes Chapter 7 Verses 8 – 10

 As I get a little bit older, there are things that I’m realizing, and I know

that is natural. One thing is, no matter when you get out of bed, it’s not

going to be easy. If I get right up, snooze once, twice, ten times, I’m

still going to get up the same. Groaning! HA!

 Another thing is what Solomon is talking about here. The moment

lived is remembered sweeter than it was experienced. To look back

and say, “Those were the days,” is to forget, I had problems in those

days too! HA! And they were good days, in spite of those problems.

But so are these days…

 So, wisdom would have me not give too much of myself to my past

because what is truly important is what I do with my present. That’s

embedded in Solomon’s next statement…

Ecclesiastes Chapter 7 Verses 11 – 14

 God has His hand, His purpose, His love in every season and

occurrence of my life. He doesn’t will for me to sin or to have to deal

with the sin of others, He wills for me to strengthen. He doesn’t

foreordain evil from me or to me, but because He is perfect love

towards and for me, He can divinely use everything to progress me.

 This is why Paul said in Romans 8:28, “We know that all things work

together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called

according to His purpose.” So, in every season of life, lift your eyes to

the Lord and know that He is good. He hasn’t caused the thing, He

didn’t want the thing, He hates the thing, and if we can take His hand

through the thing, it will be ok.

 The translators have taken the Hebrew word and translated it

“appointed,” however it can also be translated as God dealing with

either. That this world, in its free will and fallen state, prosperity

comes and He knows how to deal with that in my life unto joy and

strength, and adversity comes and it’s the same. God can deal with it

to my good, which is absolutely His desire.

Ecclesiastes Chapter 7 Verses 15 – 18

 Get too high on yourself and that’s an absolute mess. Get too low on

yourself and that’s the same. Both are pride. High on self and or low

on self. Because both are concentrated and preoccupied with self.

Don’t remove your hand from the other…

 You are incredible. One of one. Authentic. Intricately complex;

fearfully and wonderfully made. Made in the image of God to bear the

image of divinity in creation. Capable of things yet known or seen.

You are the GOAT, because there’s only ever going to be one you!

 And, each one of us are a problem! Sinful. We all make messes! We

all need showers and razors, ha! It’s good to keep a good grasp on the

things that are amazing about you balanced with the truth that you and

I and everyone of us are so far from perfect that I’m surprised we can

even utter the word! He who fears God will escape them all! We will

master the ups and the downs, even about ourselves!

Ecclesiastes Chapter 7 Verses 19 – 22

 I love that and what a dig! Did you hear what Solomon just said!

Lions don’t care what the house cats say of them! HA! Goodness

people! We get all worked up on someone commenting on our social

media posts and we’ve never even met them! Don’t take to heart

EVERYTHING people say! What if the people don’t matter a bit in

your life! Just being real with ya!

Ecclesiastes Chapter 7 Verses 23 – 26

 Revelational as to why he wrote this book. He has searched for

wisdom, in all things and places, found it to be far from him and yet in

one place he says, “All of this I have proved by wisdom,” so he did

also find it. He found wisdom, purpose and meaning in only one thing

and that is in fearing the Lord.

 One thing he found in his escapades, specifically having 700 wives

and 300 concubines, is that for a man, a woman who is bitter in heart,

not joyful but critical and not bringing light and ease but darkness and

weight, is worse than death for the man that joins himself to her! Seek

the Lord in a wife or marry a snare! Don’t hate the messenger, I’m just

telling you what Solomon said! (Inspired by the Holy Spirit, mind

you!)

Ecclesiastes Chapter 7 Verses 27 – 29

 Solomon’s statement of the sexes speaks not to the reality of the

genders but rather to what he has found. His choice of female

companionship is questionable at best, so don’t get so offended that he

doesn’t find a starfish fishing in a crab tank!

 Truly, this is the stand-alone conclusion of Solomon for us in all his

searching, and he had the resources to flip every rock… God made

man upright, man messes it up. So, get back to God to get upright

again!