Ecclesiastes 8:1-17
1 Who is like the wise?
Who knows the explanation of things?
A person’s wisdom brightens their face
and changes its hard appearance.
2 Obey the king’s command, I say, because you took an oath before God. 3 Do not be in a hurry to leave the king’s presence. Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases. 4 Since a king’s word is supreme, who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
5 Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm,
and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.
6 For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter,
though a person may be weighed down by misery.
7 Since no one knows the future,
who can tell someone else what is to come?
8 As no one has power over the wind to contain it,
so no one has power over the time of their death.
As no one is discharged in time of war,
so wickedness will not release those who practice it.
9 All this I saw, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun. There is a time when a man lords it over others to his own hurt. 10 Then too, I saw the wicked buried—those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless.
11 When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong. 12 Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him. 13 Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.
14 There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless. 15 So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.
16 When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the labor that is done on earth—people getting no sleep day or night— 17 then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.
The wise Solomon continues writing about his search for meaning in life in chapter eight of Ecclesiastes...He says that wisdom can brighten a man's face and change its hardened appearance... Wisdom is a good thing...King Solomon says to obey the King for he is the leader of his nation and yours too...Besides, whoever obeys the king's command will come to no harm, and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure...For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a person may be weighed down by misery...Since no one knows the future, who can tell someone else what is to come?...The king cannot see into the future...As no one has power over the wind to contain it, and no one has the power over the time of their death...As no one is discharged in time of war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it...
Solomon tells us that there is there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad...
Though we may be limited by kings and governments they are our leaders...The leaders, much like us in the grand scheme of things have no control over life or even the wind...A king cannot contain the wind, any more than one living under the king's rule...He does not know the future of things...The king does not control death, or evil, and are like the common soldier when in the battles of war...
All this Solomon saw and have seen in his life, and as he applied his thoughts and mind to everything done under the sun, he could not find the answer to many of these things...There is a time when a man lords it over others to his own hurt...Then too, I saw the wicked buried—those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise in the city where they did this...This too is meaningless...Is there justice for saying good things about the wicked when he is buried?...There is a time when God will make all things just...
And when a sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong...Delaying punishment on a crime or the wicked not being punished tends to influence more crime and more criminal activity...Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better with those who fear God, who are reverent before Him...Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow...There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve...The good suffer along with the wicked...This too, I say, is meaningless...So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad...Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun...There is a limit to how much success He will allow the wicked...And in the end, God will make all things right and good...God is patience in His judgement...There is this One who is Absolute in His Justice...There is One who is Absolutely Just...
When Solomon searched for answers to these things and applied his mind to know wisdom and to observe the labor that is done on earth—people getting no sleep day or night— then I saw all that God has done...Even with Solomon's great wisdom he could not comprehend all that goes on under the sun...No matter how much knowledge and wisdom we gain, there will always be mystery and things we do not understand...We will be ignorant in some things...Despite all our efforts to search it out, no one can discover all the meaning in all things...Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it...We must learn to live with our limited knowledge, and realize that life will always contain mystery...So let us eat, drink, and be glad in the things we do each day...Being with good friends, with good drink, together having good times are what we have on earth...Let us be glad for these things...We can be glad even not knowing all things...We must learn to live with those things we cannot and do not understand...We do not know, what we do not know...