God's Wisdom | Ecclesiastes 7:11-14

As you heard from Jeff in our call to worship,

as you've heard from Grant in his prayer, our

week has not gone as we planned. You heard that

even in the passage that Jeff read. On Wednesday

night, we thought that Jeff was going to be preaching

Titus. On Wednesday, we didn't expect to hear

of a tragic car accident. In our prayers, though

we know that God is in control of all things,

we didn't expect to be grieving the loss of a

dearly loved brother by Thursday night. I know

not everyone in here had the privilege of knowing

Jared. You've heard a bit from Jeff. His wit

was unmatched, truly. His stories were captivating.

And you could always count on Jared to say something

entirely outlandish and yet incredibly insightful

at the same time. I don't know how he did it.

But most importantly, it's been said, Jared was

and he is. a believer who loves Jesus. His love

for Jesus didn't change this week, neither did

ours. But our earthly plans did. Within barely

more than 24 hours, we had this whirlwind of

prayer, of communication, renewing our minds,

asking God for a miracle, and comforting our

hearts with truth. By Thursday night, God had

clearly answered our prayers. But his answer

was to deny our request for Jared's recovery

and instead to bring Jared home to glory for

his good pleasure and for our good. As we prayed

in solemn recognition of God's ways at the close

of our elder meeting on Thursday night, we were

all together when we heard the news. Grant asked

if it would be beneficial to bring our hearts

back to Ecclesiastes. To allow Jeff some bandwidth

and Tanya some bandwidth to grieve well? To minister

to others in their grief? I knew where we left

off in Ecclesiastes. This is one of my favorite

passages in the entire letter. Some of you have

sat with me and walked through this. But I thought

we'd be getting back to this in different circumstances.

For example, last time we were in chapter...

beginning of chapter 7 and verse 2, and it just

stings. The house of mourning has been brought

to us. We didn't go to it. We didn't have a choice.

The house of mourning came to us. It was eight

weeks ago that we walked through those first

10 verses that taught us that trials are the

great teachers in this life. We saw that time

as well, that there are thieves. that rob us

of life and its meanings, the pleasures and the

preoccupations that we pursue, the painkillers,

to dull the realities of life because life under

the sun hurts. And last time, I purposefully

cut out these verses from today. They were supposed

to be part of that sermon. I was going to walk

through verses 1 through 14. And as I was preparing

on Saturday night, I couldn't fit it in. It was

too much for that morning. But God knew. And

I would dare say he foreordained that the greater

purpose of excluding that passage from that Sunday

was to bring these truths this morning in light

of present circumstances. And there is no better

salve for the wounds of life. than for God's

eternal word. Of that we are convinced. As you

heard in the call to worship, through today's

verses, Solomon is going to instruct us about

how to approach trials with wisdom. And yet,

we're also going to see that wisdom itself is

not salvation, even if it is a great benefit

to the believer in this life. If you have your

Bibles and you're already opened, you see verse

14. We'll be there in a moment. But it confronts

us with this reality. God ordains both days of

good and days of evil. Both. And we might struggle

to comprehend God's ultimate goodness and righteousness.

We may even at times be tempted to question God's

goodness on the basis of our perspective of goodness.

I think it's common for believers to struggle

to understand God's ways, especially when you're

in the circumstance of losing a loved one. Here's

encouragement. All of us, whether you are grieving

the loss of Jared today or walking through another

trial, or even if your days are good right now,

we must grow in our understanding of the character

of God, the wisdom of God. And to understand

evil, we must understand good. And to better

understand God, we must submit to his word and

seek to apply his wisdom from above. His everlasting

word can help to deepen our understanding of

life, this side of glory, and can give us hope

for the other side to come. There's a lot to

go through this morning, so if you haven't already,

please. Turn in your Bibles to Ecclesiastes chapter

Ecclesiastes 7 · chapter mention

7. Now, as I mentioned last time, we walked through

the first 10 verses. And I pointed out that this

chapter marks the turning point for the entire

work. At the beginning of the third section of

the book, we gave it a title, The Prescription

for Living with Vanity. Now, in these remaining

verses and chapters, Solomon is moving away from

his proof that all is vanity apart from God.

to now explaining to the reader, to the listener,

how to live in light of that recognition. There's

a lot here with wisdom literature, but I would

say that at this point, beginning in chapter

7, it is more straightforward generally than

those first six chapters were. For those of you

who have been following along, there's an outline.

We find ourselves here in the third section of

the book, the prescription. for living with vanity,

and today's theme, God's wisdom. Now, if you

remember all the way back to the introductory

sermon, it was many, many months ago, and the

guys had given me a hard time, because I've been

in this series almost as long as Jeff Steele

was in Joseph. I don't know how many years that

was, but we're getting close. I said that this

passage, verses 1 through 14, they're the key

to understanding the whole book. If you can understand

this passage, then you have the key to understanding

Ecclesiastes. So we need to dig in here. Now

as you look at verse 11, there's a callback actually

to earlier sections of Ecclesiastes multiple

times. In his case that all is vanity, Solomon

asked the reader to consider what advantage there

is to materialistic thinking. He asks multiple

times. Take note that he's still answering that

question from 6 .12 about who can tell a man

what is good. We're considering, well, what is

good then? Is there an advantage? What could

possibly be good? And you see up on the screen,

there are many things that are good. This word

for good, the Hebrew root word is tov. He uses

it so many times. Who can tell a man what is

good? Well, Solomon is going to tell you what

is good. Solomon, the wisest man to have ever

lived, is going to tell us what is good. In verse

1, better is a good name. Gooder is a good name.

It's literally the way that it reads in Hebrew.

In verse 2, better is a house of mourning than

a house of celebration. That's what we're feeling

for those of us who have known Jared. In verse

3, he said better is vexation. Gooder is vexation

than laughter. In verse 5, better to listen to

the rebuke than the song of fools. In verse 8,

better is the end of a matter. Better is patience.

In verse 10, he cautioned us. Don't ask why the

former days are better. Don't go to that painkiller

of nostalgia. And now in verse 11, in Hebrew,

not in our English Bibles, but in Hebrew, the

word better is the first word of verse 11. Now,

I'm not trying to call into question Hebrew Bibles

or English Bibles, but I'm pointing out sometimes

studying the original language can help convey

the meaning of the text in a more precise manner,

even though we can trust our English translation.

So here's what's said. Better is wisdom with

an inheritance, an advantage to those who see

the sun. Now that term advantage, it needs some

explaining because Solomon has used this lingo

before. It's not the main point of the passage

here in terms of advantage, but it impacts the

flow of the entire work, and I think it's profitable

for us to understand, especially because Solomon

uses two different words for advantage in Ecclesiastes.

In verse 11, he uses this Hebrew word yoter,

which he also used in verse 8. It asks about

the advantage of the wise man over the fool,

the man of sorrows over the living. He uses the

same word in chapter 6, verse 11, yoter, to understand

man has no advantage even with his words. So

even if you take all the actions away, can man

find an advantage with those words? He cannot.

Many English translations also have the word

advantage in verse 12. If you look down at your

scripture, the second half of verse 12 says the

advantage of knowledge. But in that verse, verse

12, it is not the same word as in verse 11. The

advantage to those who see the sun. So let's

take a look here. We need to do a little bit

of linguistic study. You see both sides of the

screen explaining Yoter and Yitron. You don't

have to pronounce those, but those are the Hebrew

words. Now on, this is reversed. I'm just going

to turn around. I can't do this. On the left,

you have Yoter. That's the one that we see in

verse 11. And on the right, you have Yitron.

These are two different Hebrew words. And yet

in English, we use the same word to describe

it. But there's a slight different meaning between

the two. So these different words, the first,

yoter, emphasizes superiority. It's something

that is comparatively better. The second word

on the right, yatron, emphasizes profit or excellency.

So here in verse 11, Solomon is emphasizing that

when put together, when you take wisdom and you

add an inheritance, that that is comparatively

better than either one on their own. It may seem

curious to you that Solomon is pointing out to

a benefit with money because he spent so much

time in Ecclesiastes pointing out that wealth

and possessions can't be taken with you in the

life to come. But to be clear, I don't want you

to be confused. He is not advocating for a person

to chase material inheritance. He's linking these

two things, saying there is an advantage when

both wisdom and an inheritance are had by a person.

He doesn't emphasize money and possessions over

wisdom. He points out that wisdom gives value

to an inheritance. So if you were to read this

in Hebrew properly, it would say this. It's good

to have wisdom with an inheritance. That's the

way that it should be read. And the emphasis

is on the combination. Wisdom preceding inheritance

also is a matter of priority and primacy. Some

of you have seen in the news, think of the tales

of the foolish people who receive a great inheritance

and they just squander it. They waste it away.

The person who wins the lottery, they gambled

for wealth in the first place and they end up

poorer than they began because of foolish So

what kind of protection or advantage can wisdom

and inheritance provide? Hebrew says this, the

shadow of wisdom is as the shadow of money or

silver. And the prophet of knowledge preserves

the life of the one who has wisdom. See, in the

Hebrew text, the word protection is not there.

Most of our English Bibles have it. So we need

to understand what is a shadow. All of this has

to fit together to be able to understand these

verses. Why? Why do our English Bibles prefer

this rendering of protection rather than shadow?

Let's think of what a shadow is. A shadow is

the evidence of being shaded from the heat of

the sun. Is it not? And what does verse 11 say?

Verse 11 finishes, an advantage to those who

see the sun. And Solomon's using, again, wisdom,

poetry, a play on words to help us understand

deep truths in a beautiful way. There's a protection

under life and under this sun. How many of you

remember Jonah? You remember he was swallowed

up by the fish, finally preached repentance to

the Ninevites, and then he was what? He was protected

by a plant, was he not? From what? From the harsh

heat. You can see the text on the screen if some

of you haven't read through Jonah. You know what's

interesting? So it's the same word. The shade

that's provided for him is the shadow. Same exact

Hebrew word. But I want you to consider something.

It says that that shade that was given to Jonah

was to deliver him from his miserable evil. What

was Jonah's miserable evil? I think it was his

own heart. Jonah was so extremely glad. That's

what the text says about the plant providing

him shade. Was he extremely glad about the 120

,000 persons that God had pity on that he was

to warn? He was not. He didn't think that they

were deserving of God's grace and kindness. Shadows

can help protect. They can provide shade. Another

passage you may know about a shadow, Psalm 36.

I'm not going to show it on the screen, but it

speaks of God's loving kindness. How the believer

is to take refuge in the shadow or the shade

of his wings. And that passage goes on to describe

the satisfaction that one can find in God. It's

a common theme throughout the Old Testament.

So to better understand shadow as protection,

we also need to understand advantage a little

bit more. So these are the two words again, but

we're going to dig in slightly differently here.

These two words, one in verse 11 and another

one in verse 12. Verse 11, advantage means comparative

superiority, something better. In verse 12, it

focuses on yielding a profit, being more excellent.

And this is a play on words. Solomon doesn't

use the word for inheritance in verse 12. Instead,

he uses katsep. It means money. It actually means

silver. That's what it means in verse 12. And

it's going along with that word advantage, which

in this sense is a profit. Silver yields a profit.

Here's, let's take a big picture now. Here's

what's being said. Wisdom and money can offer

a protection this side of glory. But Solomon

is pointing out that the investment of wisdom,

not of money, is what truly profits a person.

That's what verse 12 is pointing us to. Because

we as people, we often think if you invest money,

that's the protection, right? Get your 401k in

order, save for your kids, pay off your house,

all these things. And none of those are evil,

but we think of those as protection in this life.

Solomon's pointing something out. You think of

what money can protect you from. It can protect

you from hunger, right? It can protect you from

poverty. It can protect you from living on the

streets. And these are all good things in terms

of protection. Now, what can wisdom protect you

from? Foolishness. Sin. That has eternal ramifications

compared to the temporal realities that the protection

of money provides. Yet even with the reality

of eternal ramifications, Solomon, he is saying

wisdom is only good for you this side of glory,

under this sun. Verse 11 pointed that out, the

last part of that verse, an advantage to those

who see the sun. There is a blessed combination

of wisdom with an inheritance for those who see

the sun. And the protection or the shadow of

wisdom does help to preserve life because the

shadow is protection or the shade is protection

from the sun. There's such a master class here

in the poetry because Solomon, he's teaching

us language can be used to help the reader consider

great, great things in a very simple, beautiful

way. Great things. There is a blessing of having

wisdom and money. We could say amen to that.

But he's pointing the reader to not just rely

on wealth. Not just rely on money. Now these

next two verses are going to help us to recognize

that wisdom must be understood in light of the

work of God. But before we do and wrap up verse

12, I want you to note something about this word

knowledge. Because he says knowledge is what

brings this advantage. And some commentators

will say knowledge is synonymous with wisdom.

It can be, but it is a different word. The Hebrew

word, da 'at, it can be... rendered a skill or

discernment, depending on where we find it in

the text. And I think there's another interesting

callback here and a connection with what we're

going to see as well within this passage. I think

the callback here is to Genesis. The word for

knowledge is a commonly understood word. In Genesis

2 .9 and Genesis 2 .17, you have the tree of

what? Knowledge of good and of evil. It's the

same word. The tree of knowledge. And those terms,

knowledge and wisdom and discernment, are often

interchanged by Old Testament scholars because

what they note is that the biblical authors,

they didn't make a great effort to differentiate

these from a point of emphasis at certain times.

But I think here Solomon is. Solomon is speaking

so much about wisdom, a common theme of the day,

because he was the wisest man to have ever lived.

And yet he's using the word for knowledge here

in accordance with wisdom that hearkens our thinking

back to the creation account. This is to help

solidify our thinking. Knowledge can lead to

a great blessing, but it could also lead to ruin

if not received at the right time. Wow. Such

knowledge could be too wonderful for us, could

it not? We'll come back to that. We'll come back

to Genesis as well in a moment. But I want you

to know that while money and wisdom are good

together, there is a huge difference between

the two. Money can be taken from you, can be

lost in a bad venture, but wisdom will give life

to its owner. Solomon isn't saying that money

is better. Ecclesiastes 4 .13 says a poor...

materially poor yet wise young man is better

than an old and foolish king, a wealthy man who

no longer knows how to receive a warning, who

is foolish. So Solomon is not saying that wealth

supersedes wisdom. Wisdom still supersedes wealth.

In Ecclesiastes 5 .10, we're reminded that wealth

doesn't bring satisfaction. Money and silver

do not bring satisfaction. So money is inferior

to wisdom. Let's not lose that. The inheritance

is not the aim, but both could be an advantage

to a person when they're put together. Now I'm

thinking about Genesis again. So many times in

Ecclesiastes, Solomon calls us back to Genesis

to consider the creation account because he knows

God's word extremely well. He knows who God is,

even if he has lived foolishly for part of his

life. But in this verse here, he also uses the

word life. So he's used knowledge, he's used

the word life. And I think this word life also

draws us back to Genesis chapter 3. There's another

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

tree. So there's a tree of knowledge, right?

Then there's a tree of life. Genesis 3, 22 through

23. Then God said, Behold, the man has become

like one of us, no good and evil. Where did they

learn that from? And the word for live right

there is the same that we find here in Ecclesiastes.

Now while that passage there in Genesis 3 is

the first usage, In the historical canon, the

same word is often used to denote a lifespan

or really sometimes a full life, a period of

one's life. Often, even in the Old Testament,

in various poetry, it'll denote healing or preservation.

So here, I want to make clear, even though it's

a callback, here, Solomon is not telling the

reader that wisdom will save your life or give

you eternal life like the tree does. wisdom is

not akin to the tree of life. Nonetheless, wisdom

can help you live. Wisdom can help you live a

full life. It can revive you when you're low.

It can sustain you through trials. It can refresh

you from the harsh heat of the sun. Wisdom can

grow you. Wisdom can preserve you. And unlike

money, wisdom can't be taken from you. That's

the excellency of wisdom compared to silver.

It has an advantage over wealth, and we should

take that to heart. And yet wisdom has its limitations.

I think, wouldn't Solomon of all people know

that? Gifted wisdom above everyone else, wouldn't

he know that wisdom has its limitations? You

think he also had the inheritance. Son of King

David, heir to the throne in Israel. He had it

all. He had wisdom. He had material inheritance.

God was so, so overwhelmingly kind to this man.

And yet, even with the greatest of wisdom, even

with wealth that was not surpassed in his day,

Solomon was not immune to the sovereignty of

God. Solomon was not immune to God's ultimate

divine wisdom in bringing Solomon low in his

life as well. Now, as you look at verse 13, Solomon

is calling our attention to consider the work

of God, and he asks us a question. Who can straighten

what God has bent? Now, in case you start to

think that wisdom is your answer for everything,

You have to note that Solomon says all the wisdom

in the world cannot change what God has done.

Cannot. Who can put in order what God has put

out of order? And he said this from the beginning.

In Ecclesiastes 1 .15, he said, what is bent

cannot be straightened. What is lacking cannot

be counted. Are you able to adjust what God does?

A Hebrew word for able. Yakol, it's sometimes

rendered as to prevail, to overcome, to overpower.

When it's used negatively, it often means cannot.

If God chooses to do something, can you overpower

him? No, you cannot. And it's this verse that

begins to open up one of the most difficult aspects

of theology. What does it mean when God makes

something bent or crooked? We have to answer

that. Because when we get to verse 14, we have

to deal with the reality of evil, calamity, adversity,

and God's sovereignty. So let's begin here. What

does it mean that God has made things bent or

crooked? From a humanistic perspective, we might

think this to mean God has made things wrong.

or even wicked or corrupt. But is that the true

sense of the word? How is it rendered in other

passages? That same word for bent is used by

one of Job's friends. He asked Job this in not

a very kind way, but he says, does God pervert

or bend justice? Does the Almighty pervert or

bend what is right? That word pervert is the

same word for bent or crooked. So you have to

answer the question from Job's insensitive friend.

Does God do evil? I think this is one of the

most painful pills for us to swallow. You know,

I see it on display every time I travel to some

of the most difficult places on the planet with

some of the most immense amounts of suffering.

See, if our understanding of evil is only based

on what we see, if it's based on how things affect

us, if it's based on how we temporally judge

situations from our moral compass, then we might

be prone to accuse God. Why does a righteous

man like Job suffer? Why does the wicked prosper?

We're going to get to verse 15 next time, and

it speaks about that. So you have to ask, is

God doing wrong? Is God doing evil? The emphatic

answer to that has to always be no, never. God

is not doing evil. In him is light. There is

no darkness at all. He's perfectly righteous.

He is just in all he does. God does not sin,

nor does he compel us to sin. God is the rescuer

of mankind. God's common grace covers even the

wicked man under this sun. But our view of things

is limited. Job's story is a helpful one. There

were heavenly realities at play in his suffering.

Satan pursued Job's suffering, but God did allow

it. And we want to know why. Why does God allow

or even purpose things to be bent? To be crooked

from our estimation. And this is hard for us.

We want an answer. But what does the Almighty

owe us? Pause. Think about that. What does the

Almighty owe us? Apart from Christ, does he owe

us anything? Who purposed Christ for the believer?

God did. He owes us nothing other than the recompense

for our sins. He owes us death, eternal torment,

separation from his glory and blessings, but

that's not solely what he gives, is it? That

God would even save one person would be an immeasurable

kindness. One person. That he would extend salvation

to a people. exponentially multiplies that innumerable

blessedness of his grace, that God would lay

down his own life, that God would suffer and

die for sinful humans while we were yet sinners.

Christ died for us. So friends, in these hard

moments, in any hard moment, how could we ever

accuse God of crookedness? How could we ever

accuse him of perversion, of evil? Think of some

of these passages. I'll share them with you on

the screen. I'm not going to read through all

of them, but Psalm 18 and 77 and 145, Deuteronomy

32, Revelation 15, all speak of God in a very

specific way. He is blameless. He is holy. He

is righteous. He is perfect. He is faithful.

He is without injustice. He is upright. He is

true. We cannot and we should not accuse God

of being crooked. And I appreciate that the LSB

renders that word bent. I prefer that. Who can

straighten what he has bent? I think that's an

easier switch for us in English than crooked.

Crooked connotes something that's wrong. God's

not wrong. But it causes us to pause and consider

this. And that's what Solomon's calling us to

do. That word to consider is to see, to look

at. Consider God's work. Consider what he does.

Does he have a mind like man? Some of you may

even thought of this passage in Isaiah 55. My

thoughts are not your thoughts. My ways are not

your ways, declares Yahweh, for as the heavens

are higher than the earth, so my ways higher

than your ways and my thoughts higher than your

thoughts. We cannot demand God to stoop to our

lowness. He is exalted above the heavens, above

and beyond time and space. To demand that God

meet our version of good is the utmost evidence

of pride. We must recognize our station as creation.

We humbly submit. To the creator. To further

understand what God has bent, consider Romans

11, another New Testament passage. The depths

of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God.

How unsearchable are his judgments. How unfathomable

his ways. For who has known the mind of the Lord?

Or who became his counselor? Or who has first

given to him that it might be repaid to him?

From him and through him and to him. are all

things, to him be the glory forever and ever.

Unsearchable judgments, unfathomable ways. We

struggle, we see things as bent from our perspective,

as crooked from our perspective, but we need

to remember, even if it appears bent or crooked

to us, it is purposeful in God's plans. Wisdom,

good as it is, better than silver even, can never

help us achieve the kind of control over our

life that we so desperately seek. God controls

all things. God rules over all things. One of

the guys that I've quoted in this study in Ecclesiastes,

David Gibson, he said this, although you can

live well and die well and know some things truly,

you cannot know all things completely. But God

does. So trust him and do not make an idol. Out

of wisdom. So we find ourselves in verse 14.

A practical exhortation. It continues from the

notion in verse 13. We can't straighten what

he's bent. In the Hebrew, Solomon again is calling

us to consider what is good. Remember early on?

Better, better, better, gooder, gooder, gooder.

Here in verse 14, that same theme reaches its

zenith. When the days are good, We're literally

better than the bad ones. Be joyful. Be of good

cheer. And some people today need to hear that.

Just consider for a moment. There are going to

be hard times, yes. But we're not called to a

stoic approach to the blessings of life. Why

should you deprive yourself of joy in the little

things? Why not get excited when Trader Joe's

brings back your favorite snack? Why? It's so

small, it's so little, and yet you can be of

good cheer. Why not rejoice at the tax return

that was more than you expected? If it's less,

I'm sorry. Why not marvel at the sunrise, even

if you've seen the same one a hundred times before?

Appreciate the little blessings. You know, the

world says stop and smell the roses, right? Solomon

is saying don't do it from vanity. Do it because

your creator is giving you a little glimpse of

goodness. Stop and hug your loved ones when you

can. Give an encouraging word. Receive an encouraging

word. Move slower through the little victories

and graces of this life. One of the other guys

I've quoted in this study, Zach Eswine, said

this. If something goes well in your day, no

matter how small, celebrate over it. No more

wondering if you can be happy about good things.

No more needing to wait and pray and discover

whether it's okay with God, whether you smile

or not. Each day becomes full of small but genuine

smiles when we take up joy in response to good

things. A great deal of happiness is passing

some of us by. Because we think that when a good

thing happens, we're supposed to consider it

rather than get on with rejoicing over it. Friends,

when times are good, enjoy life as a provision

from God. And when times are not good, when they

seem bent and crooked from our perspective, don't

run away from it. Don't pursue those painkillers

in verses 1 through 10 to avoid the hurt. And

don't over -spiritualize it to pretend the pain

isn't there. Some of your translations have the

word evil, actually, I think, in verse 14. If

you're reading in the LSB, it says evil. Some

may have adversity or trouble. Could be rendered

also as calamity. Coming back to this, is God

the author of evil? What is evil? To be clear,

going back to verse 13, we studied this. God

is perfect. He's righteous, he's good in all

his ways. We look to those verses. So here in

verse 14, we need to understand the kind of evil

Solomon is mentioning. He is not speaking of

moral evil as in God is the author of evil. God

is not. Nor is God somehow lacking control over

the evil in the world. If he did, he would not

be sovereignly in control. The reality of evil

is a result of the fall. Sin entered the world

through man's disobedience. Romans 5, 12. God

didn't create sin. Sin was brought forth through

man's disobedience and with sin came death, decay,

brokenness, malice, anger, hatred, and evil.

True evil is a result of the fall. It's not the

expression of God's goodness. However, The fact

that God meets out the reality of the fall, the

fact that he works all things and exercises common

grace to even limit and restrain evil and graciously

provided a savior for mankind, even after that

initial fall, these things should encourage our

hearts about the problem of evil. They may look

crooked from our perspective. They may look bent

to a degree, and we might call them evil. We

can call it evil when there is hatred and strife

among nations resulting in the death of innocent

people. We can call it evil when unborn children

are murdered in what is supposed to be the safest

place in the world for them, mother's womb. We

can call it evil when a young man dies in a terrible

accident and is buried by his parents. And yet,

in the midst of the evil of this world, under

the sun, God is not. And this is beyond us. He

so wonderfully ordains all of creation to bend

to his will. If you learn nothing this morning

other than this, recognize that verse 13 is not

speaking about things bend. Oh, that's what it

is. God bends things. to his will, for his purposes,

so that he is glorified and that his people are

blessed. We just might not understand it. We

don't always see it, but we can trust him. He

works outside of time, outside of space, beyond

our wisdom, and he coordinates all things for

his good pleasure and for the good of those whom

he loves. It may seem evil to us. And that's

why some of you might prefer reading in the ESV

or the NAS 95, adversity is fit there instead

of evil. The adversity, the calamity, the despair,

they come to test our hearts. They show us what's

in us. They're a reality of living in a broken

world, and yet God bends all things for his will,

for his glory, and for the good of his people.

And this keeps us in humility. And then even

still, even still, with all the calamity, God

brings little graces into our lives to delight

us. And I think you know, I could mention some

of them for you. I'll share one for me that just

baffles me. Being in some destitute places, seeing

such hardship of life, people literally starving.

You might think, how could there be joy there?

There's no gospel there. There's nothing good.

And then a ball comes out. And the kids just

light up as if they're not even starving anymore.

A piece of candy shared with a mom and then the

child lights up because they get to share it

too. A handshake or a hug shared with a downcast

man and his countenance, his distrust lifts.

You see it with your little ones. We have so

many little ones here. How many times have they

fallen down? How many times have they fallen

down today? You don't need to tell me how many.

But they fall down and there's those tears, right?

The big watery tears. And then you say something

funny because you're trying to distract them

from that because you know it wasn't that bad,

right? It's like a stubbed toe. It hurts a little

bit, but they'll be okay. And then with tears

in their eyes, they just start giggling. And

it was so quick, right? So quick from I'm dying

to just laughter. And then you're laughing together

with them. The whole room gets to be smiling.

Friends, pain is part of life under the sun.

Evil in this world exists because of sin. And

bad things happen to God -fearing and God -hating

people alike. And yet there is good as well.

And God's ways are so far beyond us that we can't

even fathom how he's able to bend even the brokenness

of this world in such a way that his name is

glorified and his people blessed. The unknowable

outcomes of the days, this is what keeps us dependent

on him. That's the end of verse 14. Knowing the

future, or better yet, if we were to determine

it, that would have astronomically bad consequences.

Think about it. Imagine if everyone on the planet

was able to be in charge of their own destiny.

Imagine if everyone was able to pursue their

own desires. Imagine how much we would compete

with one another for what we want. Imagine if

we were able to manifest, I hate that word, manifest

whatever aims they have for their life. Imagine,

imagine that kind of world. God would not be

in control. People would be absolute tyrants.

So if you think this world looks like chaos now,

that world where people are in charge of their

destiny would be the scariest world ever. And

this isn't the first time that Solomon's told

us about not knowing the future. He's brought

it up five other times. I'm not going to read

through all these, but you can see it. Chapter

three, three times. Chapter six, twice. He keeps

reminding us that we cannot know what's coming

after us, but it is with purpose. It's with intention.

And so here's the lesson. Accept life as it comes

to you. No one can predict what's going to happen.

You can't predict what's going to happen when

you leave here. We don't know if we might be

celebrating the life of somebody again next Sunday

because there's another car accident. Who can

determine that? Not one of us. So, there's no

secret formula for life. There's no hidden pathway.

There's no getting in with God where you can

make everything happen the way that you hope.

We're not in control. And that is part of God's

plan. Why? Well, God's answer is very simple.

Why? So you don't know. That's the answer. You

don't get another answer than that. So you don't

know. Well, that doesn't feel good. Yeah, because

you're not supposed to focus on that question.

You're supposed to focus on when the times are

good, rejoice. And when times are hard, consider.

Keep coming back to God. The good times, they

give us a reason to rejoice and be glad, and

the hard times, they draw us to consider God

in His sovereign ways. That's the reality. So

put together like this, the varied times, the

ups and the downs of life, they keep us in humble

dependence upon God. We recognize that we can't

seize the day any more than He allows, and His

will for all things can never be thwarted. rather

than push us to fear that actually should bring

us great comfort. If God is truly good, if he

is truly and fully righteous, if he always does

what is right and what is best, then we need

not fear the future nor try to manipulate outcomes.

We are recipients of what God wills, but we do

not tell God what to do, how to do it, or question

why he does what he does. You remember these

from earlier, putting them up again. To remember

God's ways, his goodness in all things. If you

don't know those passages, write them down to

encourage your heart. In the opening of this

sermon, I said that especially in verse 13, really

also in 14, this is a painful pill to swallow

in God's theology. He is sovereign over all things.

And that is easy to affirm when things go well.

Is it not? It's all hallelujah and amen at weddings

and births and accomplishments at graduations

and work promotions. And we've had so many of

those recently that we should rejoice in. And

it's easy to say God is good, but when things

are bent, when the job passes us by, when physical

injuries plague our bodies, when relationships

are broken, when we're confronted with the death

of a loved one, even if we know that truth, it's

painful because we want to know why. Why, God?

We want to question him as if he owes us an answer,

but he doesn't owe us anything. And we shouldn't

even approach his throne with that question.

Here would be my encouragement as we wrap up.

As we walk through the good days, the days of

adversity, the days of evil, we remember who

is sovereign over all things. And even as we

pursue wisdom, which is good, We remember not

to idolize wisdom because it cannot produce a

desired outcome in our lives. You're not guaranteed

tomorrow. We receive each day whatever the Lord

has for us, whether that's blessing or calamity.

Because we trust that even in the calamity, he's

going to bend the brokenness of this world in

such a way that he is going to be glorified and

ultimately his people will benefit. We learned

last time that trials teach us about life and

trials force us towards God. We don't need to

pray for trials to come. They will. But we can

pray that God would be merciful to us in the

midst of our trials, that he would indeed draw

us towards himself in this life under the sun.

Wisdom with an inheritance is indeed good, but

God's wisdom is better. Not man's. God's wisdom

is better. To trust him, whether from our perspective

the road is bent or straight, to trust him is

better than silver. There is a God -given value

to the trials and hardships of our lives. We

should pray that he grants us the same kind of

wisdom that he eventually gave to Solomon, that

we would apply these principles. I know we've

been all over from Genesis and Psalms and Job

and Jonah even today, but there's one more scripture

that I want to leave you with. It's outside Ecclesiastes,

and I think it's the best approach to God's Word

to let Scripture interpret and preach Scripture.

And I want to leave you with hope. I said earlier

that wisdom itself is not salvation, so let's

not forget that. But the wisdom of God is salvation.

Notice the difference there? Wisdom is not salvation,

but the wisdom of God is salvation. So let me

read to you this portion of Scripture from 1

Corinthians 1. After this, questions will be

on the screen and we'll conclude our service

with some worship and praise. We preach Christ

crucified to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles

foolishness. But to those who are called, both

Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and

the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of

God is wiser than men and the weakness of God

is stronger than men. For consider your calling,

brothers. that there were not many wise according

to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble,

but God has chosen the foolish things of the

world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the

weak things of the world to shame the things

which are strong, and the base things of the

world and the despised God has chosen, the things

that are not, so that he may abolish the things

that are, so that no flesh may boast before God.

By his doing, by his doing, you are in Christ

Jesus. who became to us wisdom from God and righteousness

and sanctification and redemption, so that just

as it is written, let him who boasts, boast in

the Lord. Amen. Friend, my encouragement is that

we boast in the Lord's ways all the time, that

we trust in him for righteousness, sanctification,

and redemption. Let's pray together. God, I imagine

many of our hearts are considering your wisdom

from above. We are trying to wrestle and grasp

your unsearchable, unfathomable, unknowable ways,

and we may struggle. We may struggle with a profound

truth that things may look bent to us, but actually

you are coordinating and superintending all things

for your glory and for the good of those whom

you love. And that's hard for us. We love control.

We love to tell you the way things should be.

We love to determine our outcomes. We love to

make plans and have them come to fruition. And

part of that is because we've been made in your

image. We plan and we purpose and we strategize

and we endeavor. But we have a fallen sin nature

and so we struggle because we want to be you.

We want to tell you how things should be. Whether

we're grieving the loss of Jared this morning

or whether we're grieving the hardship of broken

relationships, the loss of other loved ones,

difficult seasons of life, or whether we find

ourselves in that good season right now, we're

confronted by your word. Whether we receive good

or whether we receive calamity, it's still from

your hand. And we're not in control. So we ask

you for help. Help us to trust you. Not in our

wisdom, but in yours. God, help us to rejoice

in the little moments of the day, in silly, simple

things, to not be so serious and downcast. Help

us not to be frivolous either, moving past the

hardships of life and pretending like they don't

exist. Help us be balanced, receiving both good

and bad, knowing that you're going to work all

your ways wonderfully outside of time and space,

beyond our understanding, for your good. Help

us to look to Christ. We're so thankful for your

word that gives us clarity that Christ is our

ultimate redemption, that he is your ultimate

wisdom displayed. Thank you. Thank you for Jesus.

We would have no hope outside of life under this

sun without him. Your son has given us hope under

this sun, and so we thank you. Help us to appreciate

the days this side of glory, but help us to long

for eternal days when there's no more night,

when Christ is not just a lamp to our feet, but

the light of all creation. So Father, we pray

this hard prayer. Bend as much as you need to

bend so that we would be conformed to Christ

and have an eternal hope. Use the brokenness

of this world. Use sin and despair to draw people

to yourself. That we would praise your name because

salvation is found in you. You are just. You

are righteous. You are perfect. And you're beyond

us in every way. So may we exult in your sovereignty

and not lament because you are good. As good

as a name may be, you are better. As good as

wisdom may be, you are better. So lift our hearts

to praise you in song this morning. Lift us up

to think of eternal things and confront any of

our hearts that may not be trusting in you to

draw us in humble dependence before you. For

you are God and we are not. We pray all of this

in the name of Christ Jesus. Amen.