9 This, too, I carefully explored: Even though the actions of godly and wise people are in God’s hands, no one knows whether God will show them favor. 2 The same destiny ultimately awaits everyone, whether righteous or wicked, good or bad, ceremonially clean or unclean, religious or irreligious. Good people receive the same treatment as sinners, and people who make promises to God are treated like people who don’t.
3 It seems so wrong that everyone under the sun suffers the same fate. Already twisted by evil, people choose their own mad course, for they have no hope. There is nothing ahead but death anyway. 4 There is hope only for the living. As they say, “It’s better to be a live dog than a dead lion!”
5 The living at least know they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, nor are they remembered. 6 Whatever they did in their lifetime—loving, hating, envying—is all long gone. They no longer play a part in anything here on earth. 7 So go ahead. Eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, for God approves of this! 8 Wear fine clothes, with a splash of cologne!
9 Live happily with the woman you love through all the meaningless days of life that God has given you under the sun. The wife God gives you is your reward for all your earthly toil. 10 Whatever you do, do well. For when you go to the grave, there will be no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
11 I have observed something else under the sun. The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time.
12 People can never predict when hard times might come. Like fish in a net or birds in a trap, people are caught by sudden tragedy.
13 Here is another bit of wisdom that has impressed me as I have watched the way our world works. 14 There was a small town with only a few people, and a great king came with his army and besieged it. 15 A poor, wise man knew how to save the town, and so it was rescued. But afterward no one thought to thank him. 16 So even though wisdom is better than strength, those who are wise will be despised if they are poor. What they say will not be appreciated for long.
17 Better to hear the quiet words of a wise person
than the shouts of a foolish king.
18 Better to have wisdom than weapons of war,
but one sinner can destroy much that is good.
Dear God, once again, by doing a whole chapter that has artificial separations not done by Solomon, but by translators, I have some disparate thoughts on the content here.
The first thing I was thinking about as I read Solomon bemoan the idea that we just as well live for ourselves because we all end up in the same place anyway is that he is missing the point of living for you and you using our lives. Naomi’s move to Moab, her son marrying Ruth, her son dying, and her return to Bethlehem with Ruth was putting something in motion that would ultimately lead to Jesus’s lineage: the marriage of Ruth to Boaz. Our lives will have effect on other lives. I can’t remember the example right now, but I was talking to my wife this morning about a small thing that happened long ago that led to something wonderful now. I told her, “Those were the butterfly’s wings that made this happen (I really wish I could remember what we were talking about.” For good or ill, our lives do impact others. And even a bad life can bring good fruit because of your redemption. And good intentions can accidentally bring bad fruit. Frankly, we never know, but you know. But I would rather live my life worshipping you and loving others than feeling sorry for myself that I don’t get some sort of reward over someone else. That’s pitiful. So I reject the premise of Solomon’s argument and his self-pity. There are sorrows in my life, and I have let them bring me down and make me feel sorry for myself. But my life isn’t about me. It’s about loving you and loving everyone I can.
Now, for the part about the poor wise person not being respected due to their stature, well, this is very true. As a tall, middle class man, I have advantages in a group of people that others don’t have. I was thinking about this once when watching the movie 12 Angry Men. I thought about Henry Fonda’s character, Juror #8, and how it helped in the script that he was tall. Juror #2 (John Fiedler) was the small man with the mousy voice (the voice of Piglet in Winnie the Pooh). It would have been interesting to see how the movie would go if they had switched the casting and made him Juror #8. What would it have been like to see the small man with a high voice being the lone holdout at the beginning of the movie? How would it have looked to see him standing up to people while they towered over him? I don’t think it would have worked, and the movie would not have been as good. It’s human nature. So the lesson to me is to look for the wisdom where my prejudices would tell me to avoid or ignore. And don’t ascribe wisdom and influence to the things the world tells me to admire and respect because of their appearance, stature, gender, or wealth.
Father, I would love to have seen Solomon and Jesus have a conversation over these things. I would love to have an account of Solomon going to Jesus in the night like Nicodemus did and laying out these feelings before him. I would love to hear Jesus tell him to let go, relax, worship, and love. Our lives are so small. I’m currently just one man sitting in a hotel room in a city with millions of people. My life is so small and yet it can seem so important in my own mind. And I’m know I’m important to you, but so is everyone else in the hotel, city, county, state, country, and world. We are your children. You love us all–even the ones who have wandered far from you. Help me to be about loving everyone you love, which is to say, help me to be about loving everyone!
I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,
Amen
Emails to God 