Wisdom Amidst Uncertainty | Ecclesiastes 9:11-18

As we consider life and death this morning, we

find ourselves again in Ecclesiastes. It's a

book that has not shied away from the reality

of death. Really, it encourages us to live in

light of knowing that death is coming. And we've

arrived this morning, the end of another season,

at least in terms of sermons, finishing chapter

nine today. Lord willing, we'll get to continue

this book study sometime. after Christmas. So

it might be quite a while before Solomon provokes

your thinking. So I'm going to pray that this

morning is both a challenge and an encouragement

for you, as it has been for me. Last time, we

wrapped up with the idea of wisdom to live. Knowing

that death is coming should influence how we

enjoy and pursue the life provided to us. We

concluded with a timeless and encouraging truth.

Death is not the end for those who are in Christ.

And that's what we got to celebrate with Chris

this morning. Now, the questions that we had

last time pushed us to consider how we're living,

taking stock of our priorities, our dreams, our

aspirations, and to be specific in enjoying this

life for God's glory. Now today, the conversation

that Solomon's having with us is going to continue,

but he's going to pivot a little bit to show

us something unique. And while we ponder the

temporary nature of life and the uncertainties

that come our way, we're also going to see something

that surprised a man who seemingly would be very

difficult to surprise. I forgot my clicker, so

I'm going to ask Casey to help me out today.

He's got me. So let's go to that first slide.

I want you to take a look at the outline to see

how today's theme fits within the book. I'm going

to have to look backwards because my monitor

is not working either. I'm just calling out all

the tech. That's my fault on the clicker, though.

You see where it fits with the prescription for

living with vanity today, wisdom amidst uncertainty.

So in keeping with that theme, we're going to

see how wisdom helps us in the uncertainties

or the unexpected parts of life. Now let's stand

for the reading of God's word in Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes 9 · chapter mention

chapter 9. Beginning in verse 11, you can either

listen or follow along in your Bibles as I read.

that the race is not to the swift and the battle

is not to the mighty, and neither is bread to

the wise nor riches to the discerning nor favor

to men who know. For time and misfortune overtake

them all. Moreover, man does not know his time.

Like fish seized in an evil net and birds seized

in a trap, so the sons of men are ensnared at

an evil time when it suddenly falls on them.

Also this I came to see as wisdom under the sun,

and it was great to me. There was a small city

with few men in it, and a great king came to

it, surrounded it, and built large siege works

against it. But there was found in it a poor

wise man, and he provided a way of escape for

the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered

that poor man. So I said, wisdom is better than

strength. but the wisdom of the poor man is despised

and his words are not heard. The words of the

wise heard in restfulness are better than the

shouting of a ruler among fools. Wisdom is better

than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys

much good. Amen. You can be seated. So hopefully

you see today will not be overly complicated,

but there are some shrouded statements that will

be helpful for us to unpack. Now looking at the

outline for today, I see two sections, the unpredictability

of life and the remarkably forgotten poor wise

man. I'm really looking forward to explaining

that second one, but let's start with verses

11 through 12. Solomon is observing something

unique. We noted before that Proverbs deals with

norms. Ecclesiastes deals with exceptions. In

other words, Proverbs tells us how things typically

work. They're not promises, but they are generalities.

You could imagine, though, we often take the

norms as promises, even though that's not their

intent. Now, Ecclesiastes deals with the exceptions,

the things that break the norms, the things that

confuse us because they're against how things

normally operate. And verse 11 is a perfect example

of this nuance. Don't you think that the race

should go to the swift? Don't you think that

the battle should be to the strong and to the

mighty? So he's contradicting what we have come

to expect in this life, but he's doing so to

help us not be so surprised, even though we are

surprised when such things occur. He gives us

five negative categories that we would expect

to have different outcomes. These are the exceptions

that trouble us. Five examples of situations,

I underlined which ones, when things don't work

like we expect. The swift doesn't win the race.

The strong or the mighty doesn't win the battle.

The wise doesn't get the meal. The discerning

doesn't get the riches. The skilled or knowledgeable

one doesn't get favor. Each of those can be explained

biblically. We're going to work through them

at face value. But before we go to the exceptions

and the explanations of these, let me summarize

these two verses. Solomon's pointing out that

what you thought the outcome would be may not

be the outcome. You see the swift, you think

they're going to win, but what about when they

don't? When you think the strong is going to

win the battle, what about when he doesn't? The

wise, discerning, the knowledgeable people, aren't

they guaranteed with blessings? He says, no,

no, they're not. You can't guarantee outcomes

in this life. There will always be exceptions

that shock and surprise you. That's what he's

bringing in front of us. Now, to begin to understand

the nature first, starting with the swift, we

actually get to do a little bit of history. So

Jeff will be excited on this one. We get to dig

into Judah and Israel and a story that happened

with Solomon's dad. Remember who his dad is,

hopefully? David. Good. Okay, good. We're there.

Now, up on the screen, we have some characters

because there might be some names that you're

less familiar with. familiar with. And there

might be some that you remember, but this is

taken from second Samuel chapter two. You don't

need to go there if you don't want to, because

I'm not going to read the whole thing. I'm going

to paraphrase the story, but we have to assume,

we have to assume that Solomon grew up hearing

the tales of what happened during his dad's life,

right? You read the opening chapters of Proverbs.

He says, when I was young and I sat at the feet

of my father, the feet of my mother, and I learned,

what do you think he was listening to? All the

stories. You've heard your own parents' stories.

I'm sure Solomon heard his dad's. Now, the story

in 2 Samuel 2 takes place after Saul's demise,

and it has a description, really, that is the

exact scenario that we see in Ecclesiastes 9,

Ecclesiastes 9:11

verse 11. So here, setting the stage, Saul and

Jonathan have died. David has lamented. And now

we have Abner, who is the commander of Saul's

army, coming to grips with what is to happen

in the kingdom. Now, it's not officially labeled

the divided kingdom at this point, but it is

after, because that happens after Solomon's reign.

But functionally, it's not yet the united kingdom.

Functionally, it is actually a divided kingdom.

And Abner was key to this dynamic. David, see,

he was anointed as king over Judah. Abner, though,

seems to be pursuing Saul's son, Ish -boshet,

if you like to say fun names, as the king over

Israel. That's what he was working towards. And

all this takes place over several years. Now,

we know the guy as Joab. If you were to say it

in Hebrew, it would be Yoav. But Joab is who

we always call him. He's serving David essentially

as his commander of the army. And here's where

the situation comes to bear. He brings some warriors.

To a place of meeting where Abner is coming with

his warriors to a place of meeting. They each

bring 12. Now Joab and Abner, these are the guys.

These are the warrior leaders of their day. They

commanded thousands. These guys are living legends.

I can only imagine the situation. You have these

guys that they've killed. They've destroyed on

the battlefield. They've been strategic. They're

respected. They're really skilled warriors and

leaders. They meet at this place called Gibeon.

There's a cistern there that they come to, and

it's a fascinating thing. If you try to envision

it, I didn't use AI or anything. I'm going to

try to paint it with my words the old school

way, right? That's not a knock, by the way. That's

just, anyone could do that, right? Think of the

movies, though, that you've seen. With the ancient

warriors that are wearing their armor and they

have their weapons with them. These guys, they're

not showing up in a phalanx to go and attack,

but they're walking up ready for action. They're

ready to fight. It's an okay corral. If you guys

like Westerns, although this didn't happen in

Westerns, that's why I like the old ones. You

got to think like, I don't know, Achilles or

something like that. But they show up with all

their gear. All their weapons of war, but they're

not attacking each other. Could you imagine how

odd that would be? Two opposing forces. In chess,

this would be a check. Saying, hey, I got you.

I'm here. Joab shows up to let Abner know they're

not going to give the kingdom away easily. They're

not going to give up Judah easily. And Abner

arrives with an equal resolve. Remember, Abner,

he's Saul's man. He makes a wager. He sees it.

They see it. They didn't bring their armies on

purpose. They brought 12 on purpose. They were

going to settle this much smaller. He makes a

wager, and he says, rather than go to war, why

don't we just bring these warriors and let the

young men fight it out? And whoever wins, that

can have the throne. Whoever wins. My 12 best,

your 12 best. Let's see who wins. Well, Joab

goes for it. 12 versus 12. And they say it was

a bloody, bloody fierce battle. Lasted all day

is what it says. And Abner's men are ultimately

losing. And this is hand -to -hand combat. Not

ranged combat. This is hand -to -hand, vicious

combat. Joab, the leader of David's army, he

wasn't alone in terms of his family when he came

to that meeting. He brought his brothers, and

I listed them up there so you could see the relation.

Joab. was David's nephew. He had two brothers.

One of them is named Asael. Someone you need

to pay attention to because he was quoted as

being swift -footed, like a gazelle. Keep that

in mind. Now near the end of the battle, as it

was clear that Israel and Abner's men are losing,

Abner seems to flee, to run away. He knows the

battle's lost. He's going to go away. But Asael

would not allow it. He was determined to put

an end to Abner and began chasing him. Now Abner,

he's running and he looks back and he sees who's

chasing him. He says, is that you, Asael? He

knows him. This is a famous warrior. And he tells

him, turn around, turn around, go to your left

or to your right. Take one of those young men

and the spoils, but don't come after me. Asael

wouldn't turn to the left or the right. Abner

warned him again and even told him that he didn't

want to strike him down. He said, how can I look

upon the face of your brother Joab if I strike

you down? So Abner gives him another warning.

Abner respected the warrior Joab. He respected

Asael. He didn't go to strike him first. He gave

him a warning, but Asael would not turn. So the

story goes, Abner struck him with the butt of

his spear. Text is very clear on this. The spear

has an end that's intended to pierce. That's

the front. The butt of the spear is not intended

to pierce the same way. That's the end that he

struck Asael with. And it says he ran him through

entirely. Through his back. So shocking was his

death that the text in 2 Samuel 2 says that the

soldiers came to where Asael was struck and they

stood still. They were shocked. They were stunned

in disbelief. How could this swift and fierce

soldier have fallen? That same word for swift

in Ecclesiastes 9 -11 is used of Asael in 2 Samuel

2 -18. It says that the three sons of Zariah,

we say Zariah, that's not the right way. Anyone

can correct me later. But Yoab. Abishai and Asael.

Asael was swift -footed as one of the gazelles

in the field. That's the way it describes him.

He was famous. Surely Solomon grew up hearing

tales of this soldier and the personal history

of his father David, how Abner didn't initially

yield to his kingship after the death of Saul.

Surely Solomon heard about the warriors of his

father David's day, and surely Solomon knew this

battle. Surely he knew how the soldiers stopped

in awe after their swift and fierce warrior friend

shockingly fell in battle. Because the race is

not always to the swift. Solomon learned this

as a young man, hearing lessons and stories from

his father. He would also know how things ended

for Abner if he were... Listening several weeks

or months ago, Jeff was walking us through the

nature of a front gate. Remember, we're talking

about Mordecai and being at a front gate. And

he gave the example that Abner was murdered at

the gate. But it's not a gate like we think of

it. There were rooms to the gate. And the example

he gave was Abner being killed by Joab. And why

was he being killed? Because Abner killed Asael.

So even though Abner... Won that day, survived

that day. He went on to be killed another day.

So the race wasn't to the swift in Asael's case,

nor was it to the mighty in Abner's case. What's

another one we could think of when the battle

is not guaranteed to the strong? How about 1

Samuel 17? The story of this very, very large

man named Goliath. And there's that young shepherd

boy. Who was it again? David, Solomon's dad.

That mighty giant, he struck fear into every

Israelite, and yet he was felled by a single

stone from a shepherd boy. Because that youth,

what David said that day was that the victory

wasn't going to be by sword or spear, but by

Yahweh, by God himself. And when he won, the

Philistines, they scattered when their mighty

warrior fell in a surprising feat. They were

shocked. Laughter one moment of this boy who

was going to fight this monster of a man. And

the next moment, fleeing in fear because their

greatest and mightiest warrior came down from

a stone. The race is not to the swift, nor is

the battle to the mighty. But there are other

exceptions that Solomon gives as well. So we'll

continue here, paying attention to the wise.

The discerning are those with knowledge. We've

already dealt with several of these actually

in Ecclesiastes already. In chapter 5, verses

13 through 16, Solomon talks about the reality

of bad business ventures. In one moment, everything

is going your way. The next moment, everything

is taken and you have nothing. That happens.

You didn't do anything wrong, just things ended

poorly. Think about those who were impacted by

the financial fallout of the mortgage crisis

in 2008. Some of you are old enough to remember

that. That had an impact. That affected many

people. Most of us probably are not old enough

to remember the Great Depression, but we probably

heard stories about it. We know that people were

impacted by things outside of what they were

doing. Any season of life or history could be

similar where difficulties come unexpectedly.

You can be wise, you can be discerning, but you

can't guarantee that things will end up the way

you want them to. Still, we shouldn't give up

on wisdom. We just don't depend on it. You don't

depend on wisdom like you ought to depend on

the Lord. Remember Job? He had everything and

then he had nothing. And then he had everything

again. And Job says, blessed be the Lord who

gives and takes away. That should be our heart

posture as well. No amount of skill or knowledge

can make things go your way. You remember Joseph

in Genesis 40? He's interpreting dreams, has

an amazing skill. Even in prison, he interprets

for the cupbearer who was supposed to tell of

him to Pharaoh. But how long did he forget? Two

years. Two years Joseph persisted in prison because

the cupbearer forgot until he remembered. So

much for that skill. Life is unpredictable. There's

no simple formula to get an outcome, no matter

how swift or strong or wise or discerning or

knowledgeable. What Solomon's teaching is that

misfortune or bad outcomes, they come upon us

all and no one is immune from that reality. No

one gets their way 100 % of the time. I remember

a tragic incident in 2015. I was working with

Children's Hunger Fund with a pastor in Nepal.

There was an earthquake there that year. I don't

know how many of you remember. It was massive.

Thousands of lives were claimed. I was working

with this pastor and he shared a story. of over

100 testimonies of children who were at home

when the earthquake struck. And whether by landslide

or by the home falling down, parents and family,

they perished in a moment. In a moment, these

children became orphans. They didn't see it coming.

They didn't know what was about to happen. No

one can predict what's going to happen next.

And when the outcome is not what we expected,

that's when we're shocked the most. And tragedy

strikes when we least expect it, right? We think

that things are going to go a certain way. We're

comfortable with the norms. But when the exceptions

happen, when the unexpected befalls us, then

that's when we're shook to the core. But we need

to learn something. You know, chance is not what

you think it is. Or at least I should say, chance

is not what the world tells us it is. To the

world, they understand chance as an idea of randomness,

that anything can happen or befall anyone for

any reason at any time. Now, that's a source

of all kinds of irrational fear. You know, all

the phobias that the world likes to diagnose,

fear of flying, fear of driving, fear of germs.

Fear of spiders, sorry, any of you. But really,

all of them can be termed fear of getting a bad

outcome. That's what it should be called. Fear

of not getting your way. Such fear is not really

rooted in knowing God. Yes, bad things can happen.

Actually, they will happen. Bad things will happen.

And yes, there are certain activities that may

be more risky than others. If you're jumping

and skydiving out of an airplane, there's a bigger

risk than walking with two feet on the ground

in terms of falling out of an airplane, right?

That should make sense. But you need to know

this. And if you don't know it, by God's grace,

you'll learn it today. And if you know it, remind

yourself of this constantly when you're prone

to forget it. There is no such thing as chance

in terms of things being random. No such thing.

Now at times, you might foolishly think that

there is a randomness nature to chance, but if

it were true for even one millisecond, then God

would not be God. If he is truly all -powerful,

if he is all -knowing, all -seeing, all -purposing,

all the things that he says he is, then chance

is not a thing. Not like we have come to understand

it. Because nothing bad can happen to us that

is not overseen or even intended by God. Now

that might be uncomfortable to think about. But

there is no randomness with a sovereign creator

and God. Everything has purpose. Everything has

meaning, but it's all according to him and his

ways. And yes, he even uses hardship and pain

in a fallen world to bring about his good purposes.

And in case you're going to say, yeah, but look

at the wisdom from Proverbs 21. There is no wisdom,

no discernment, and no counsel against Yahweh.

What does that mean? He knows what he's doing

and you and I are not able to question him. Even

when that fish gets unexpectedly caught in the

evil net, even when the bird is snared, sometimes

it's because we pursue evil and then bad things

happen. And sometimes evil befalls us because

we live in a broken, fallen world. We may not

have an answer for that, but God does. And we're

not the ones to question him. Friends, people

have heart attacks. People in shape die. The

seemingly perfect couple gets a divorce when

one spouse is unfaithful. The friendship ends

due to a silly misunderstanding or difference

of opinion. The sports star flops in their big

break due to an injury. The ministry never seems

to grow or expand no matter how much is poured

in. An untimely diagnosis ruins short -term plans,

brings doubt to future plans. A successful young

person with a seemingly bright future dies in

a tragic accident. Solomon is teaching us that

there are no guarantees in life. You cannot be

certain about outcomes. And time will prove that

to everyone. So brace yourself for the unexpected.

Brace yourself for the uncertainties. Brace,

but don't fear. You can't control it. So don't

expect perfect outcomes. But for the one who

knows, that he's in the hand of God, be encouraged.

Because nothing can happen to you outside of

God's sovereign and good control. You may not

like your circumstances. You may even question

his goodness. You shouldn't, and truly you can't.

You can't. But in pain you might. When things

are hard and when they hurt, you might. But if

you're his, you're gonna come back to the same

truth that God is doing as he pleases and he

is working for his glory and for your good. Solomon

transitions from that thought to an interesting

one that may seem to be disconnected, but it's

not. We'll see this in verse 13. He's seen much,

but something, strikes him as very interesting.

Solomon doesn't seem to be a surprisable guy.

He's paying attention to everything. So if he

tells you, hey, here's something interesting,

we should listen. In your Bibles, in verse 13,

probably many of your versions say he sees something

great. But in Hebrew, it means something very

different than we think it means. It's not awesome

or magnificent. Really, he's saying it's significant,

it's noteworthy, it's really surprising. He's

drawing our attention to something surprising,

and he's going to note the circumstances still

contain wisdom. So what is that surprisingly

significant thing? To help us understand, he

tells us a story. He said, look, there's a small

town that's getting sieged by a big, bad king,

and seemingly they're doomed. Now think Lord

of the Rings. If you've seen those movies, the

siege towers that are approaching a small city,

they were not going to stand a chance against

that great army and all the weapons of war. But

then in that little city comes along a poor yet

wise man. And his wisdom allows that city to

be saved. Now we're not told exactly how, but

we're told that it was directly a result. of

the poor wise man. He delivered the city. Now

the surprise, or the thing that Solomon thought

was significant, was not that the city was saved

by this poor wise man, but that the city forgot

him. That's what he was surprised by. That's

what he says is the great thing, is that this

man does this wonderful thing, and yet he's forgotten.

Shouldn't the hero be celebrated? I mean, maybe

he was for a moment, but it seems that after

a very short while, after saving the city, the

people went on with their days, forgetting what

he did. Now, this isn't a side conversation to

his earlier point. You know, in the earlier two

verses, the previous ones, he points to the things

that unexpectedly, you know, they don't go our

way. And in this tale, he shows that when our

outcomes are threatened, it seems like we're

not going to get our way, but then, then, we're

delivered from hardship. We are yet an ungrateful

people. Solomon, he's stumped. Just like those

warriors who stopped in their tracks when Asael

the Swift was slain. They stopped. They were

stumped. Solomon stops to consider this surprising

event. When wisdom rescued the people, yet they

took it for granted. People taking things for

granted or being ungrateful, that's all too common.

Solomon, he thinks this is great. This is noteworthy.

This is something to make us pause and consider.

Not because he thought it was uncommon. He's

not dim. He's very sharp. He's very wise. But

he is calling our attention to this. Because

it should surprise us more than it does. When

it comes to that small city being saved from

the big bad king, the people should be grateful.

They shouldn't forget who saved them. Yet that

poor man who rescued the city, he just slips

into obscurity. The hero, he stands up for the

people, but then the crisis passes and they have

no use for him anymore. So in gratitude abounds,

they just forget him. How befuddling that is.

But pay attention to this. Because Solomon is

seen so much, but he's saying, look, take note

of this. Take note that this example of heroism

is met with ingratitude. Pay attention. The way

that it reads in Hebrew, Solomon makes a point

that this man was poor. He makes it a point that

this man wasn't rich, that he wasn't anything

special. And his status as a poor man is of primary

concern for Solomon. He was a poor man with wisdom.

He wasn't rich. He wasn't noble. He wasn't handsome.

He wasn't anything special. Sure, he had wisdom,

but he was a poor man with wisdom. Think about

today. Who do we like to listen to? You like

to listen to the poor man? I think we like to

listen to those with status. We remember the

lofty ones. We don't often listen to and remember

those who are lowly. We quote the famous, right?

And then we forget the humble. Now, I find it

interesting, and Solomon does as well, because

it's often those who have humble means who are

granted wisdom about what truly matters. Those

who go through hardship are typically more likely

to appreciate the simple things in this life.

People who have to live practically day in and

day out to just survive without any form of greatness,

they're often quite skilled in many ways. But

that's not who the crowds are drawn to, are they?

No, we love the loud, the raucous, the sarcastic,

the biting, the intellectually proud, the emotionally

connected voices of our day, do we not? People

who shout their points to get clicks and views.

Those who appeal to emotions with their emotions.

They garner support no matter how foolish or

wicked their cause is. Supposed Christian celebrities

do the same. Shameless self -promotion disguised

as noble service. Somehow they're an expert to

your exact problem even though they've never

met you. Their generalized words are somehow

more poignant than the seasoned, loving, intentional

words of your fellow Christian member, discipler,

or elder. It's easy to ignore the poor, wise

person in your church. After all, they don't

have a platform. They don't have letters after

their name or accolades or royal. Their book

deals are few. Now, we see it in other realms

too. What about politics? Pundits, they yell,

they mock. Politicians, they scream and they

demean. And people clack away on their keyboards

on social media for catharsis and pseudo -affirmation.

Loudness. We see it when people are drawn to

celebrities. and to writers for advice and for

counsel. And let me be intense for a moment.

Some of you know me as that. I'm gonna cut to

the quick and be really practical here. Don't

ever listen to a pop star like Taylor Swift to

learn how to walk and how to live. Not for this

side of glory, but before you think that I'm

judging any specific person, hear this. Don't

think that C .S. Lewis or any other Christian

guru is a better guide than God's word. You can

appreciate good words. You can appreciate good

warnings, wherever they come from, whenever they

come. But Solomon is pointing something out.

He says, we forget the wise ones from within

our own camp because we don't esteem them. You

ever wonder why children rebel against the wisdom

of their parents? That's what's going on here.

Now, not every bit of advice from parents is

perfect. None of us are perfect. I'm not trying

to throw us under the bus, but we're not perfect.

We know that. But isn't this a general understanding

that children reject the wisdom of their parents

and repeat the same kind of mistakes, even though

they hear about it all the time? Why? Parents

are ordinary. They see you all the time, take

you for granted. But that professor, they were

brilliant. That Christian author, mind -blowing,

right? That internet personality said it exactly

the way I wanted to hear it. Speaking precisely

about that dynamic nearly a thousand years later,

Paul writes about the tendency of the human heart

to turn away from truth and from wisdom. 2 Timothy

chapter four, verses three to four, for the time

will come. Well, they will not endure sound doctrine,

but wanting to have their ears tickled, they

will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance

to their own desires and will turn away their

ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

People are prone to acknowledge those that we

deem worthy of our attention. We remember certain

people, but our scale of importance is off, Solomon

says. And Paul repeats that. We want to hear

what we want to hear. We are an entitled people.

Even when we're rescued, how quickly we forget.

So the response is these last few verses in Ecclesiastes

9. Solomon says, even still, wisdom is better

than strength. David did overcome Goliath. That

poor man overcame that great king. It's still

noteworthy that that poor man's wisdom is despised,

that no one truly listened to him or cared to

listen to him. Even still, Solomon says, don't

give up on wisdom just because others don't want

to listen. He says, don't give up on pursuing

something good just because others may not appreciate

it. You know, being noisy may be popular for

a moment. That's what verse 17 alludes to. But

the best words are spoken not to that clamoring

crowd. The best words are softly spoken in times

of peace. The wise man knows that even when fools

reject wisdom, the solution isn't to just be

louder. The solution is to be more clear, more

intent on speaking truth and crafting an even

better point to help their opponent go a good

way. See, wisdom focuses on winning hearts, not

just winning the argument. The story that...

Solomon shares, it highlights what verse 18 says,

that wisdom is better than weapons of war. Those

are symbols of power and strength. And wisdom

applied can be more beneficial than the practical

means of warfare. And that's something that every

world leader needs to learn. That's not a partisan

issue in America. It's a human heart condition

where we are bent towards folly. Because when

we don't go a good and wise way, that last part

of verse 18, it gives us this final caution.

A lot of good can be undone by just one sinner.

Solomon's going to have a lot more to say about

that in the next chapter. And with that, we've

come to the end of another chapter in Ecclesiastes.

I want to summarize what we've seen this morning.

Again, you can see the outline that we had for

today. Life is unpredictable. What may seem to

be a sure thing may not be, and that's life.

We should expect the unexpected, but we shouldn't

fear the unexpected. And when we look at our

lives, there are so many uncertainties. Will

you pass this class? What will you do for a living?

Will you get married? Will you have kids? Will

your kids have kids? Will your kids know Jesus?

Will you accomplish your bucket list before you

die? How much of it will you get to? Will you

outlive your loved ones? How long will you live?

How will you die? Will you live in California

for a long time? Will your spouse remain faithful?

What will your next hardship be? When will Jesus

come again? Friends, we live amidst so much uncertainty.

But there's one certainty you can count on. Death.

You thought I was going to say Jesus. Not yet.

You've got to wait. No, the certainty that's

been on the forefront since chapter 7 has been

death. That's what's coming. I don't say that

to be sad. I say that to remind you of that last

sermon, the beginning of chapter nine, because

you need to remember that death is coming so

that you live rightly today. There are so many

uncertainties. So what can you cling to with

the one certainty? Do you just, do you cling

to death? No, no, you don't cling to death. You

can know that death is a certainty. But you don't

need to cling to it. So what do you cling to?

Now it's the Sunday school answer. Jesus. And

so to understand that well, as we wrap up here,

we need to consider that poor wise man again.

You remember how he saved the city? How he rescued

it, and yet the people easily forgot him? The

blessing of their rescue didn't result in greater

righteousness or faithfulness. It resulted in

selfishness. So as you think about that poor

wise man who saved the city yet was forgotten,

have you made the gospel connection? Do you think

of Christ's lowly estate? For you know the grace

of our Lord, that though being rich, yet for

your sake he became poor, so that you through

his poverty might become rich. The example in

Philippians 2, have this way of thinking in yourselves,

which was also in Christ, who, although existing

in the form of God, did not regard equality with

God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself

by taking the form of a slave, by being made

in the likeness of men, being found in appearance

as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient

to the point of death, even death on a cross.

The poor man, the humble man. The servant man.

The God man. Are we like that forgetful city?

Are we believers today like that small city who

gets rescued and then forgets their savior? Are

we living indebted to the one who gave his life

for us? Or are we living with entitlement? Is

Jesus less remarkable to us? than the sages of

our day. The rhymers, the authors, the pundits,

the personalities and celebrities who take all

of our attention and yet give us none of theirs.

You know, if you read Isaiah 53, two through

three, you see a picture of the Savior that sounds

a lot like this poor wise man. I know they're

not the same, but there's similarities here.

Many of you know this passage well. He grew up

before him like a tender shoot, like a root out

of parched ground. He has no stately form or

majesty that we should look upon him, no appearance

that we should desire him. He was despised and

forsaken of man, a man of sorrows and acquainted

with grief. And like one from whom men hide their

face, he was despised and we did not esteem him.

Nothing much to look at. no majesty, despised

and forsaken. Yet it's that man, the Messiah,

Jesus Christ, who is worthy above all, above

everyone. At his command, the wind and the waves

are stilled. He's the one who has the birthright

to open that final scroll and bring everything

into submission under his feet. And yet he's

the one who's rejected by men, forsaken by his

followers. And let that sink in for a moment.

Solomon thought that it was astounding that people

would so quickly forget the Savior of their city.

How quickly do we forget the Savior of our eternal

lives? And when the uncertainties of life come

our way, who do we turn to? When the unexpected

things crush our expectations, do we blame God?

Or do we worship at his feet? When you think

of the calamity that can befall the swift, the

strong, the wise, the discerning, don't forsake

excellence. Don't say, well, if that's going

to happen, I might as well not do anything good.

Last time we ended with verse 10 in chapter 9,

and it was a call to work heartily and excellently

for God's glory and for our good. So even if

being swift and strong and wise and discerning

doesn't land the outcome that you want, fix your

eyes on what ultimately matters. Jeremiah gave

us wisdom. This is the last bit. I know we jumped

around a lot of passages, but I'm trying to put

them on the screen to help you out. I wanted

to end practically. Jeremiah gave us this wisdom

several hundred years after Solomon, and he points

to where our trust should be. He says, Let not

a wise man boast in his wisdom, and let not the

mighty man boast in his might. Let not a rich

man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts

boast in this, that he understands and knows

me, that I am Yahweh who shows loving kindness,

justice, and righteousness on earth, for I delight

in these things. declares Yahweh. And the fullness,

friends, the fullness of his loving kindness

has been manifest in Christ. So we need to look

to him. We need to look to Christ. We need to

long for him. Not boasting in our outcomes, not

even boasting in our outputs of being strong

or swift or wise or discerning. We shouldn't

put our hopes either in our desires, but strive

to understand who God is and what he has done.

And we need to ask him for help to know him more.

Ask him for help to boast in knowing him, to

know the man who was crucified and risen, the

God -man, that poor, wise man, Emmanuel, God

with us. So my prayer this morning is that you

consider the wisdom of living amidst uncertainty,

that you will not forget the Savior of souls

or the wisdom he provides to help us truly live

this side of glory. Let's pray. God, we ask you

for help this morning as we think about the uncertainties

in our lives, as we think about the unexpected

things that can befall us, we do ask, help us

to brace, but also help us not to fear. God,

we need help to trust your ways. We need help

to not question your goodness, even when calamity

befalls us. God, we need your help to not find

our hope in the outcomes of our lives, but that

our hope would be in Christ, risen, alive. God,

help us to remember the wise ones among us. Help

us not to forget, though, the wisest one, Jesus.

He is our ultimate Savior. We want to know him,

to follow him. So give us hearts that are rendered

appropriately to not forget. We ask you to help

us not boast in ourselves and strength or speed

or intelligence, wisdom, knowledge. Help us to

boast in you. Help us to boast in the work of

Christ. That's what matters. So help us to praise

Christ's name. Help us to exalt his name because

he has displayed perfectly your loving kindness

to us. So now as we turn our hearts to sing,

may we lift our voices to declare truth to one

another, to respond in wisdom displayed through

your word. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.