Key Verse: Ecclesiastes 8:1 "How wonderful to be wise, to understand things, to be able to analyze them and interpret them. Wisdom lights up a man's face, softening its hardness." (TLB)
Key Thought: Wisdom is the ability to see life from God's perspective and then to know the best course of action to take. Most would agree that wisdom is a valuable asset, but how can we acquire it? In Proverb 9:10, we learn that we can begin to find wisdom through reverence and fear of God. Wisdom, therefore, is a result of knowing and trusting God, not the way to find God. Knowing God will lead to understanding and to sharing this knowledge with others.
Read Ecclesiastes Chapter 8
Verses 1-5. None of the rich, the powerful, the honorable, or the accomplished of the sons of men, are so excellent, useful, or happy, as the wise man. Who else can interpret the words of God, or teach from His truths and dispensations? What madness must it be for weak and dependent creatures to rebel against the Almighty! What numbers form wrong judgments, and bring misery on themselves, in this life and that to come!
Verses 6-8. God has, in wisdom, kept away from us the knowledge of future events, that we may be always ready for changes. We must all die, no flight or hiding-place can save us, nor are there any weapons of effectual resistance. Ninety thousand die every day, upwards of sixty every minute, and one every moment. How solemn the thought! Oh that men were wise, that they understood these things, that they would consider their latter end! The believer alone is prepared to meet the solemn summons. Wickedness, by which men often escape human justice, cannot secure from death.
Verses 9-13. Solomon observed, that many a time one man rules over another to his hurt, and that prosperity hardens them in their wickedness. Sinners herein deceive themselves. Vengeance comes slowly, but it comes surely. A good man's days have some substance; he lives to a good purpose: a wicked man's days are all as a shadow, empty and worthless. Let us pray that we may view eternal things as near, real, and all-important.
If God doesn't punish us immediately, we must not assume that He doesn't care or that sin has no consequences. But how much easier it is to sin when we don't feel the consequences at once. When a young child does something wrong and it is not discovered, how much easier it will be for him to do it again. But God knows every wrong we commit, and one day we will have to answer for everything we have done (12:14).
Verses 12-14. Solomon's presentation, though pessimistic, nevertheless shows that life is ultimately better with God. His presence does not shield us from all trouble, but it guarantees us that we will have His power to meet adversity. Both our eternal destiny and our present trials are in His hands.
Verses 14-17. Faith alone can establish the heart in this mixed scene, where the righteous often suffer, and the wicked prosper. Solomon commended joy, and holy security of mind, arising from confidence in God, because a man has no better thing under the sun, though a good man has much better things above the sun, than soberly and thankfully to use the things of this life according to his rank. He would not have us try to give a reason for what God does. But, leaving the Lord to clear up all difficulties in His own time, we may cheerfully enjoy the comforts, and bear up under the trials of life; while peace of conscience and joy in the Holy Ghost will abide in us through all outward changes, and when flesh and heart shall fail.
Verses 16-17. Even if he had access to all the world's wisdom, the wisest man would know very little. There are always more questions than answers to life. But the unknown should not cast a shadow over our joy, faith, or work because we know that someone greater is in control and that we can put our trust in Him. Are you letting what you don't know about the future destroy the joy God wants to give you today?
1 Corinthians 3:18-20 "Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a fool so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: 'He catches the wise in their craftiness;' and again, 'The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile'."