Ecclesiastes 9-10

Ecclesiastes 9-10

Chapter 9: Time and Choice Happens to All Men

                Solomon believed in enjoying life as a gift from God. The world is finite, and sin has twisted life, making it something other than what God intended. Society honors many things above wisdom such as attractiveness, wealth, popularity, and success. Solomon believed that wisdom is the greatest asset even though it often goes unrecognized.

                “Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity [prideful, meaningless life]…” (Ecclesiastes 9:9) – (See Proverbs 5:18-20)

                Life is about getting married and having children… it is about spending your short life with someone that can enlighten you and make you a better person.

                “…Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.” (Ecclesiastes 9:16)

                You don’t need money or fame to make you powerful and wise… even the simplest man can be filled with knowledge. This means that we need to listen to everyone and value their input.

Chapter 10: Fools Are Full of Words

                By describing circumstances that are unfair or don't make sense, Solomon is saying that wisdom alone can’t bring justice. Everything we have is nothing without God. But when he uses what little we have, it becomes all we could ever want or need. If you lack skills, you should sharpen them through training and practice. This will make you more effective for God's work.

                One particular verse really caught my eye… “A wise man’s heart is at his right hand; but a fool’s heart at his left.” (Ecclesiastes 10:2) I am not going to say it, but there is something political about this verse.

Psalms 31-32

Psalms 31-32

Chapter 31: All Ye Saints, Love the Lord

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

                David starts off by telling the reader that he trusts the Lord, and he rejoices in his mercy. Her refers to the Lord as his “…strong rock…” (Psalms 31:2) and asks the Lord to lead and guid him (Psalms 31:3), because the Lord is his “…strength.” (Psalms 31:4)

                David in prayer tells God and the reader that the Lord “…hast known my soul in adversities.” (Psalms 31:7). This is something that we all might not consider, but it is something to remember… God knows all of our problems, He understands, and He knows what we are going through. We can take comfort knowing that He is there and He knows everything that we are going through (good and bad), He knows better than ANYONE!

                David says that when he was a sinner that his “…strength faileth…” because of his “…iniquity…” (Psalms 31:10) Sometimes the world will tell us that true strength are in things like having big muscles, possibly even having power and wealth. Is this really the case? No. True strength comes from the Lord! I have seen big macho men fall to their knees and cry over the loss of a loved one. I am not saying that this isn’t sad, but when we have the strength of the Lord and understand His will, then we can shed tears of joy instead of tears of sadness when we lose someone.

                David even mentions people who are slandering his name and devising to take his life away (Psalms 31:13). We can have comfort knowing that the Lord will be there for us. Finally David ends this Psalm by reminding the saints to “…love the Lord… Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart…” (Psalms 31:23-24)

Chapter 32: The Lord will Guide Thee

A Psalm of David, Maschil.

“Maschil – It derives from the Hebrew root word (maśkīl lit.) meaning to have insight, to ponder and wisely understand. A maskil was a skillfully written poem aimed at imparting wisdom in song.”

                “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven…” (Psalms 32:1). David was most likely speaking of himself here, relieved to have felt forgiveness in his own life. David tells us that anyone who is without sin, or who tries to avoid sin will be much happier. He says that he tried to hold his sin in, keeping it from being confessed but that it was too heavy for him.

So he prays to the Lord and says; “I acknowledged my sin unto thee… I will confess my transgressions…” (Psalms 32:5). David confessed his sins to the Lord and because of it, he was feeling more impowered. He goes onto finish this Psalm by saying that the wicked will be filled with sorrows, but the righteous shall be filled with mercy. We can learn from this, and know that it is better to confess our sins to the Lord and keep from them. If we keep ourselves righteous we will be filled with the mercy of the Lord.