Text:\u00a0<\/strong>Ecclesiates 9:1-12<\/p>\n The Preacher concluded the eighth chapter with another of his oft-repeated observations that God’s ways are inscrutable to men, however wise (Ecclesiastes 8:17). Job, in his misery, twice asks plaintively: “But where can wisdom\u00a0be found? And where is the place of understanding?<\/em>” (Job 28:12, 20). He then answers his own question: “God understands its way, and He knows\u00a0its place<\/em>” (Job 28:23). What then are we\u00a0to do? He answers again: “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding<\/em>” (Job 28:28). Only to the degree God has revealed His plan to us can we understand. The rest is shrouded, and for that, we must trust Him. This, too, is Solomon’s unchanging answer to his repeated failures to grasp the nature of life under the sun fully.<\/p>\n One of the challenges in studying Ecclesiastes is the limited emphasis on God’s benevolent providence for the righteous amid all the pain and disappointments to which they are heir. There is a greater boldness in the New Testament on this subject (Romans 5:1-4; 8:28-39; Hebrews 12:5-11). In Ecclesiastes, this truth is more implicit than stated, but in chapter nine, it briefly surfaces. “For I considered all this<\/em> [life’s mysteries] in my heart<\/em>,” Solomon writes, “so that I could declare it all: that the righteous and the wise and all their works are\u00a0in the hand of God<\/em>” (Ecclesiastes 9:1). Heretofore the Preacher has simply stressed that divine justice will at last be done (Ecclesiastes 3:17; 8:12,13). Now, he stresses that through all the storms and stresses that beset the righteous, they are being carried in the gracious arms of an almighty God. As Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. ably summed it up: “Our quest for identity, meaning, and an explanation of the presence of evil, injustice, and inequities in life must end where\u00a0Solomon’s did — in the fact that God sits at the helm, ruling and overruling for good” [Ecclesiastes – Total Life<\/em>, p. 94].<\/p>\n Nevertheless, no matter how true\u00a0that is, the Preacher reemphasizes that such will not always be evident\u00a0in what we experience here: “People know neither love nor hatred by anything they see that is before them<\/em>” (Ecclesiastes 9:1). He illustrates his point by proving that “all things come alike\u00a0to all.” The same thing happens to both the righteous and the wicked, the good and the sinner, the religious and the non-religious, the committed and uncommitted. They all go to\u00a0the dead (Ecclesiastes 9:2-3). As a result, some heedless men fill themselves up with evil until they are crazy with it (Ecclesiastes 9:3; I Peter 4:3-5). And sin and madness surely do go together. We must be truly out of our minds if we think\u00a0we can push the God who created us out of our lives and practice all the things that dishonor Him and injure others. So mindless people waste the one life they are given and plunge headlong into the death they know is coming and which will offer them no opportunity to change their destiny. Whatever they were, it is done (Ecclesiastes 9:4-6). Solomon is not speaking here of annihilation (how could there be\u00a0a judgment?) but of the fact that\u00a0they will “nevermore have a share in anything done under the sun.<\/em>” The preciousness of life he has earlier stressed with a proverb: “But for him who is joined to the living there is hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion<\/em>” (Ecclesiastes 9:4).<\/p>\n So, if the righteous are not to be distinguished from the wicked in\u00a0their circumstances and their end, what should the righteous do? Should they allow their griefs and troubles\u00a0to consume them, to brood and\u00a0mope in pessimistic gloom? Solomon rejects this reaction as he has many times before (Ecclesiastes 2:24; 3:12-13, 22; 5:18-19; 8:15), and here his exhortation to joy comes to a rather powerful conclusion (Ecclesiastes 9:7-10). Don’t just hope\u00a0to live, he urges, live! Receive God’s gifts gratefully, and though you may not always have them, enjoy them when you do. Eat your food and savor it with gladness (Acts 2:46; the wine mentioned here is not a drug as in Proverbs 20:1; 23:29-35, but wholesome food as in Lamentations 2:11-12). Wear with gratitude the clothes you have been given and the soothing oil for your head, remembering that God has accepted your need for such things (Ecclesiastes 9:7-8). And even more importantly, live joyfully with the mate God has blessed you with and give yourself heartily to your work (Ecclesiastes 9:9-10).<\/p>\n And, how can we do that? Because, though the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, and death is certain (Ecclesiastes 9:11-12), we are in the hands of a gracious and all-powerful God who loves us.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Paul Earnhart via Biblical Insights, Vol. 15 No 2, February 2015 Text:\u00a0Ecclesiates 9:1-12 The Preacher concluded the eighth chapter with another of his oft-repeated observations that God’s ways are inscrutable to men, however wise (Ecclesiastes 8:17). Job, in his misery, twice asks plaintively: “But where can wisdom\u00a0be found? And where is the place of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[791,376,1287,182,188],"class_list":["post-67919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-ecclesiastes","tag-enjoyment","tag-joy","tag-suffering","tag-trials"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":33401,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/becoming-wise-men\/","url_meta":{"origin":67919,"position":0},"title":"Becoming Wise Men","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Steven Harper When Job had suffered some great losses due to the devil's personal attack on him,\u00a0we are told\u00a0\"when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25739,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wisdom-learned-from-the-animals\/","url_meta":{"origin":67919,"position":1},"title":"Wisdom Learned from the Animals","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 6, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Proverbs 2:1-6 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Lord God teaches us wisdom \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0His teaching comes in a variety of forms. We read His words and learn about right and wrong \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But God\u2019s teaching doesn\u2019t end there. Even in the world around us, through the creation of God, God\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62297,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/education\/","url_meta":{"origin":67919,"position":2},"title":"Education","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 28, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: Psalms 78:1-8 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Why go to school? What use is all those endless facts? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A question I\u2019m sure more school-aged children ask. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Does an education have value? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0To answer this we must compare the alternative. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0a.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Solomon did this and concluded wisdom, which is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13586,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-find-the-criticism-on-the-wisdom-of-solomon-out-of-order\/","url_meta":{"origin":67919,"position":3},"title":"I find the criticism on the Wisdom of Solomon out of order","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 14, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Regarding\u00a0the article on the Apocrypha, I find the criticism on the Wisdom of Solomon out of order and quotes \"Wisdom\" out of context by failing to quote the verses in full. For example, Wisdom 11:20 \"But even without these, they could have dropped dead at a single breath, pursued\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":95612,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-does-god-delay-so-long-in-bringing-justice\/","url_meta":{"origin":67919,"position":4},"title":"Why Does God Delay So Long in Bringing Justice?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 13, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Paul Earnhart via\u00a0Biblical Insights, Vol. 14 No. 8, August 2014 In Ecclesiastes 8, the Preacher concludes his wise counsels and observations with the frequently repeated warning that, however great may be the wisdom of men, it can never penetrate and explain God's work \"under the sun\" (Ecclesiastes 8:16-17; cf.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29079,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-is-the-one-man-among-a-thousand-and-why-couldnt-a-woman-be-found\/","url_meta":{"origin":67919,"position":5},"title":"Who is the one man among a thousand and why couldn’t a woman be found?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 21, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What does Ecclesiastes 7:28 mean? Who did Solomon refer to as the one upright man? Was it himself? Did Solomon manage to find a good wife, as some verses from Proverbs and Ecclesiastes seem to suggest not? If yes, how could he love them but not seem to trust\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67919\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}He leadeth me! O blessed tho’t!
\nO words with heavenly comfort fraught!
\nWhate’er I do, where-e’er I be,
\nStill ’tis God’s hand that leadeth me.
\n[Joseph H. Gilmore, 1862]<\/blockquote>\n