Enjoy Today as God Has Given It

Transcript

GR 2129
06/16/19
Enjoy Today as God Has Given It
Ecclesiastes 6:1-12
Gil Rugh

We’re looking at the Book of Ecclesiastes in your bibles, and we’re at the sixth chapter so we’re right about the middle point. There are 12 chapters in the Book of Ecclesiastes, and we’re going to be looking at chapter 6 together. Ecclesiastes is a very practical book. We call Ecclesiastes one of the Wisdom Books and God has appointed the wisest man, who had lived, and also one of the wealthiest, King Solomon to pen this book. It is really telling us, how to navigate through life on this earth. How do we live our physical life? You know it’d be a life filled with a variety of experiences, situations, troubles, blessings, and how are we to deal wisely with life; making our way, as God would have us and experiencing joy in our life. Now we talk as believers, there is a life beyond this earthly life and the glories of heaven. Solomon does not elaborate that. He’s aware of it.

He’ll remind us as we conclude the book that we will all stand before God as our Judge, as He evaluates our lives. But He’s concerned to instruct us so we would be prepared, to navigate the various situations that will come in life, and to experience the joy, in each day of this physical life. We’ve noted there’s been an emphasis in this book, a strong emphasis pervading the book, and the fact that our lives here are brief. They are a breath. They are transitory, temporary, ephemeral, whatever words we might use; we come, and we go, and we do not have control over what is going on, the situations in which we find ourselves. We don’t control what preceded us, we won’t control what happens after us, and we have minimal control over our day-to-day lives. We have to face the reality that the world is under the judgment of God because of sin, and because sin entered the world, pain and suffering and difficulty came with it, and ultimately death.

Just come back to the Book of Genesis if you would. Chapter 3. We’ve been here a number of times, but this is foundational to understanding what the Book of Ecclesiastes is about. It’s a difficult world, it can be a difficult life, and that’s the way God intends it because that’s the consequences, the judgment He has meted out for sin. In Genesis chapter 3, you have the account of the sin of Adam and Eve in rebellion against God, and God metes out the consequences that will be not only for Adam and Eve, but for all their descendants, which includes everyone alive today. And he said to the woman that pain would now come into her life in connection with bearing children. In Genesis 3 verse 16, “’…In pain you will bring forth children; yet your desire will be for your husband….’” For the man, He said, verse 17, “’…cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.’” And it’s going to be hard work because now you’ll have thorns and thistles, just a reflection of all life is now going to become, painful and difficult. And that will go on in. Verse 19, “’…until you return to the ground…’” Dust to dust, the penalty for sin includes death. So, you see life now will be filled with pain and difficulty in trial, and it will be brief.

No matter how many years you have they will end in death. And so, when you come over to chapter 5 for an example, you have recorded the descendants of Adam for some time. These are the generations of Adam, verse 1. “In the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female, and He blessed them…” So, in the image of God they’re blessed by God, but because of sin, there is judgment that comes. So, verse 3 tells us Adam had a son, he lived an extended period of time, one hundred and thirty years, then “…he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image,” which was the image of God. The likeness of God passed on to Adam in direct creation and then passed on through Adam down to the descendants. And you’ll note what it says, after Adam had lived a number of years, you come down to verse 5. “So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years….” That’s a long time, but you know what, “…and he died.” You see the repeated refrain down through this chapter of each of the descendants as we move along, of Adam and his children.

Verse 8, at the end of the verse of Seth, “and he died.” Enosh, verse 11 at the end of the verse, “…and he died.” Kenan, at the end of verse 14, “…and he died.” Mahalalel, at the end of verse 17, “…and he died.” Enoch one exception. Then you come down to, Methuselah, verse 27, “…and he died.” Lamech, verse 31, “…and he died.” Then we come to the days of Noah and everyone on the face of the earth is going to die, except for Noah and his immediate family. We have what is founded, as a result of sin, and this is the world in which we live. Nobody can argue that, it’s a world that is filled with death.

We as a local church have experienced that we’ve had loved ones who have died. We can’t get around it. We have funerals because of death, and the world can be a difficult place in which to live; hardship, pain, suffering, trial, working, toiling, unfairness, inequality. We say why would God make that happen? God doesn’t make it happen, but His sentence is man will now be under the authority of the devil, under the control of his own sinful desires. So, as we see and we experience, the world can be an unpleasant place, and difficulties come, and we all face it. Jump over to Romans chapter 8. We’re also studying the book of Romans together, and a reminder that this pattern goes on. It was going on in Paul’s day. Verse 18 of Romans 8 says, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time…” You note how Paul denotes this present time, or this time of life under the sun as Ecclesiastes talks about it. The same life that Paul lived carried on to us, in this present time. It’s the sufferings of this present time, and you come down to verse 22, “For we know that the whole creation groans…” This is the picture of creation under the weight, burden, and difficulty brought about by sin. It’s groaning! It can be an unpleasant place. Sin has permeated and infected all aspects of creation.

You’ll note verse 23, “And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit…” We are believers, we have the Spirit dwelling in us. “…even we ourselves groan within ourselves…” Life can be difficult. It is difficult for believers, as well as unbelievers, and it will be until the final redemption, the redemption of creation when Christ returns and the redemption of our body when we are glorified. Until then. There’s a song that goes, “Until then with joy I’ll carry on.” We are laboring on but we anticipate what God has for us.

Come back to Ecclesiastes. Now what Solomon is doing, Solomon wants God’s people to be prepared to live wisely and effectively. The world’s not going to be improved. He doesn’t give instructions in Ecclesiastes how we can change things, make things better, make things easier. It’s not God’s intention that they be better and they be easier. The world is under judgment. The people of the world are under the judgment and consequences of sin. It’s not intended now to be easy, always pleasant, and remember, even we who have the Spirit, God’s children, groan.

It isn’t I’ll make it easy if you become My child. What He does is give us the wisdom to navigate through life, dealing with the ups, and downs, the unfairness, the trials, the difficulty, the abuses that come as a result of sin. He’s moved us through. In chapter 5, verses 1 to 7 he talked about the focus on God and he gave some clear instructions, commands there that we are to come before God and worship Him. This puts life in perspective. Jump back to chapter 2, verse 25, “For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him?” We’re talking about our physical life and it’s a relationship with God, as he’ll say in chapter 5 verse 7, “…fear God.” You give Him honor, you bow before Him, you recognize His sovereignty, you live willingly and happily recognizing His control in all things, so we are a people limited. Limited in time very limited in our ability to control, so he talks about our life is a breath. It’s the desire of the wind it’s not something we can control, but God is in control so we come to worship Him and learn from Him.

He told us in these opening verses of chapter 5 that we come before God to listen to Him. Verse 2, “Do not hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your words be few.” Come and listen to what God has to tell you. You know we’re quick to jump in, we’re going to come up with a solution, we’re going to resolve it. We want to talk, tell people what we think. God says you come and listen to Me and we’re privileged to have His Word. Ecclesiastes is part of it. We come to hear what God tells us about life, about living life, and He’s very honest. Sometimes life can be very oppressive, desperately unfair, painful. Our best plans go astray and so on. We come to hear Him. God is in heaven, you are on earth. That perspective of God’s sovereignty. Come down to the end of verse 7, “…fear God.” Now that’s always in the perspective.

Now come back and let’s talk about our physical day-to-day life and he talks about money, wealth. He wants us to enjoy life, but we don’t live for pleasure. We don’t live for enjoyment, but we find enjoyment in living. There is a difference; he who loves money won’t be satisfied with money. That’s all a breath, that’s all part of our transitory temporalness as those who live under the judgment and consequences of sin, and we’re all experiencing that even as believers. We still experience physical death. Now the redemption for us in all aspects has been paid, the redemption price, but it hasn’t been applied yet. If the Lord doesn’t come soon, depending on your age, we’ll die. We all know it. Our families, our parents, our grandparents, our great grandparents all have gone the same way. Money is not the answer. Wealth is not the answer, but poverty is not the answer either. But understanding that God in His sovereignty brings whatever He chooses to come into our lives.

Back in chapter 3 verse 1, “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven.” Verse 11, “He has made everything (beautiful) appropriate in its time.” As we talk about life, the things that we acquire in life, if you think you’ll find what you’re looking for in riches, you won’t. He talks about the disadvantages of wealth, versus the advantage of having less, yet working hard. You work hard, you’re tired, you get a good night’s sleep. You have a lot of extra, you work less, you eat rich foods, you sleep less. Just pointing out the variations that go on in life, but for everybody, remember verse 15 of chapter 5, “As he had come naked from his mother’s womb, so he will return as he came. He will take nothing from the fruit of his labor that he can carry in his hand.”

This life is what you have is the point, and the days of this life. When they put you in the grave this life is over. Now I’m not saying eternal life is over, and eternity is there for everyone, but we’re talking about your physical life under the sun. The things that you have are temporary just like you and the best is somebody will pick them up when you’re done with them, and gone. He calls it an evil and it is, because the last enemy that will be destroyed is death, so that is a bad thing. That is part of this fallen world. We’re temporary, the things we acquire are temporary, as a result of sin, so here’s what good.

Now these verses 18 to 20 will lead right into chapter 6. “Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all one’s labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life…” And there’s this repeated emphasis that we are not in control; only God is in control, and we are temporary. So, you note how he puts it. You eat and drink, enjoy yourself in your labor and toil. It’s labor and toil, but God hasn’t removed all the joy. We’re created in His image, His likeness, and He still brings joy and peace and satisfaction to our lives. Yet, He doesn’t take the toil and labor away. That’s a consequence of living under the sun. You note, “… during the few” and that word “years…” Most of us live more than a few days. Translators should have left days in there because that’s the point; our life only amounts to days. The Psalmist says we spend our life as a tale that is told.

You know those of you who are older, and I’m getting there, when you look back and you say life was rather short. You know it went by quickly. Here at the end you look back and say wow, where did the time go? Now it wasn’t that way when I was going through school. Ah, what time is it? Oh, it’s only 12:30; we don’t get out until 2:15. Oh, I’m gonna die! But it’s a few days of life really, which God has given him. You see the sovereignty there. God is sovereign. God gives the days of the life, and this is the reward, we have, a life here to enjoy some of the things that we have labored for here. Note verse 19. “As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, He has also empowered him to eat from them and to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God.” You God’s sovereignty, what you have and the life you have, to enjoy it. It is from God. The ability to enjoy it, this is part of what God has planned.

Now we come to chapter 6 and it opens up, “There is an evil which I have seen under the sun…” Now we saw that back in chapter 5, verse 13, “There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun…” Then he said, in verse 16 of chapter 5, “This also is a grievous evil…” So, he’s picking up. You see the balance; there are things to enjoy now, your life each day and the things God’s provided for you in that life. It may be riches and wealth, you can enjoy that, but there is, an evil associated with this, which is not good, because we live in a fallen world that’s characterized by sin. And the consequences of sin, God’s judgment that we would say you take the bad with the good, kind of thing. God hasn’t taken all “the good” out of life, because of sin. Otherwise, life would be unlivable but we have what we call common grace. The grace of God over and permeating all creation which sustains it and enables part of His original purpose to be realized. Chapter 6, verse 1, “There is an evil which I have seen under the sun…” Now this evil will balance what he just said in verses 18 to 20.

God gives some wealth and riches, and He also empowers them to enjoy those things He has given. We already saw earlier in chapter 5 there are some He doesn’t give wealth and riches, but He also gives them some enjoyment. Even their rest and peace at night enabled one to get a good night’s sleep. That reflects something, of enjoyment and you know it’s not what you have that brings the enjoyment. When we were very poor, we still had joy. When we had more, we had joy. It’s not what you have that produces the joy, it’s having a relationship with God, having God in your life, so to speak, that enables you to have enjoyment whenever.

That’s what we read back in chapter 2, verse 25, “For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him?” So, the labor has a certain joy. The wealthy person who doesn’t work so hard has joy, and then he’s reminded that it’s God who gave that rich man his wealth and riches and empowered him to enjoy it. But chapter 6, verse 1, life is not always fair. It’s not always balanced that way. I worked hard, I have prospered, I have earned the right to enjoy. “There is an evil…” There’s a certain truth in that you earned it, you worked for it, but you may not get to enjoy it. “There is an evil which I have seen under the sun and it is prevalent among men…”

The point Ecclesiastes makes is, life is not fair, life is not balanced. We read about some who are oppressed, very unfairly as he talked about earlier in Ecclesiastes. That’s just life. It’s an evil under the sun; it’s prevalent among men. Now let me stop here and remind you, Solomon never says we ought to fix these problems. He’s the king, he’s the wisest man on earth, perhaps the richest man on earth. He never says I’m going to fix this. It’s not fixable, and to think you can fix it is to reject what God has clearly said. It’s not fixable because this is God’s judgment, the consequences of sin. We need to be careful. Perhaps my favorite commentary that I’m using on Ecclesiastes, when it comes to applying these truths, I think he misses the point. He goes, “Therefore, since these things are evil, since there’s oppression, the church needs to be fixing these things, to help correct them.” He never says God’s people ought to fix this, it’s not fixable.

That’s why when we get to Paul writing Romans 8 what do we read, the whole creation groans, we ourselves groan. Do you know why? The consequences of sin and the curse of God’s judgment will not be lifted until Christ comes, and fixes it. Now that doesn’t mean--we as believers, individuals, we should be ready to show mercy, be gracious be helpful, but we’re not here to fix the world. We’re here to call the world to salvation, to experience redemption, but it won’t change the world. It won’t change. You may still get cancer. You still may lose your job and all that you’ve saved. That’s not in your control, but it is in God’s. Here’s the evil and it’s prevalent, and basically, if we’re going to summarize it, this is an unfair world and it can be an unpleasant world.

To “…a man to whom” and now note here, “God has given riches and wealth…” Well, we had that up in verse 19, “…for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth…” Here he’s picking up that same thing. There in verse 19, God “…has also empowered him to eat from them and receive his reward and rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God.” Now down in chapter 6 verse 2, “…a man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor so that his soul lacks nothing of all that he desires; yet God has not empowered him to eat from them, for a foreigner…” somebody else not connected to him, “…enjoys them.” So you see the unevenness.

If you just read one or two verses in Ecclesiastes like any place in the bible and miss the context, you cannot prove anything and everything you want. Here you’re told God is sovereign. He can give riches and wealth here. He can give riches and wealth there. Oh, well! Then both benefit and it’s the same for both. No, because to this person He’s empowered to enjoy and experience all that wealth and riches can do, to this man He has not empowered him. Note it doesn’t say this man was wise and made good investments; this man was not wise, he was a fool and made bad investments. You know who’s determining the outcome, God. God has empowered. God has not empowered. You know part of what Ecclesiastes is reminding God’s people, that we are not in charge.

We don’t control and it’s easy to slide into that mentality of I earned; it’s mine. God decides. A person can acquire great wealth, you can be a billionaire, but if God hasn’t appointed you a long life, you won’t get to enjoy it. I read through the biography of a man who died a billionaire, but he was young. Much younger than me and he tried and he looked and he had the money to see if he couldn’t come up with a cure, and he died. God did not empower him to enjoy his wealth and riches, and he couldn’t buy his way. He couldn’t buy the power. That’s what we’re talking about, and that’s true down through no matter how much or how little we have. It’s not under our control. There’s a time to be born, there’s a time to die, and those are the times God has appointed, the events God has appointed as we saw in the first part of chapter 3 of Ecclesiastes.

“This is vanity and a severe affliction.” Now that word vanity there, again it’s hebel, a breath. It’s part of this transitory life. You can’t get away from it. Whatever God did to keep him from having the power, the ability to enjoy what he had acquired. It’s a reflection, the penalty for sin is death, makes physical life temporary and brief, and everything we do and have in this life is temporary and brief. And the best we think, is that we can hold onto it until we die, but then we can’t be assured we can do anything with it. Now we’re all familiar, the very wealthy become examples. The story of one of the very wealthy family members who went down on the Titanic. Well, there you go and all your wealth, the splendor of that, and here we are enjoying our wealth, and it was over very quickly and then for us. You know we work hard, we don’t have riches, but we earned up enough to look forward to retirement, and we don’t make it. That’s all he’s talking about here. This life is all temporary. It’s a severe affliction. We live in a fallen world and the consequences impact us. We as believers groan.

We grieve the death of a loved one, as Thessalonians says, “…but not as those who have no hope.” We didn’t say we take the grief out of it. There’s still grief, still pain; it still hurts. It still makes us think, I don’t know if I can go on. I don’t know if I can take this anymore. That’s what we’re talking about. He gives some examples in verse 3, “If a man fathers a hundred children…” Whew! Now keep in mind Solomon had a 1,000 wives and concubines and there are accounts in the Old Testament of men who had many, many children, one close to a hundred as I remember correctly. Children were a blessing and they are and had “…a hundred children and lives many years, however many they be…” I mean he lives a long time, has a good life full life, lots of family, friends. “…but his soul is not satisfied with good things and he does not even have a proper burial, then I say, ‘Better the miscarriage than he…’” What he’s saying here, if he spends his whole life like back in chapter 5, verse 10, “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income.” Then he went on to talk about it. If you’re not enjoying life, you don’t get any enjoyment out of every day, the days of your life, it doesn’t matter what you have. You’ll be a miserable, wealthy person, you know the Ebenezer Scrooge. What is it, what do you have?

You’re not happy. You’re not satisfied with good things, and the miserableness of this life is indicated by it. And you know again and particularly, but it’s true today. You go to the cemetery. You see tombstones and some rather elaborate. Seeing that and somehow honoring a life, and talk about it was a good life, and it was, and you know people talk about that when they give a eulogy. But if that person never enjoyed life, everyday was an unpleasant task, and why was he even born? What’s the purpose? This is the life you have physically under the sun. Every day of misery you have here is a day of your physical life gone, and so to speak wasted, because that’s what he said, better never to have been born, been a miscarriage, a stillbirth. He elaborates in verse 4, “for it comes in futility and goes into obscurity…” I mean by its very nature, it’s short lived at best. It may not even live long enough to get out of the womb, and nothing is known about it and it never had a chance to know anything. “…and its name is covered in obscurity. It never sees the sun and it never knows anything; it”—that miscarriage, “is better off than he.” Think about it.

You talk about a life and you say you are going to have, I don’t know, how many ever years of life. Every day is going to be miserable, painful, and you’re going to hate every day. Then you think well, why would I be born? It would be better not to be born; that’s what he’s saying. This is the life you have. These are the days of your life. If you don’t find joy in these days, when they put you in the grave these days will be over, and now I realize there’s eternity. Solomon knew that, he’s well aware of God. God appeared to him specifically twice in visions. He built the temple that would be the center of Israel’s worship for centuries, and yet he’s told God in his prayer, heaven can’t contain You. How could I build a house for You? He realized the greatness of God but we talk about this physical life.

This is the life we’re called to live. God appointed us to be born into this physical world, to live a physical life. He’s telling us now how it is to be lived. Now if you don’t have God in your life, chapter 2 verse 25, “For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him?” But we are God’s people, we are to enjoy life. It doesn’t mean I enjoy having an incurable disease or I enjoy losing my job, and scraping together to get by every day or these things, but even no matter what’s going on I want to find today. Lord, this is the day You’ve made for me, this is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it. That’s what I mean. We don’t live for pleasure, but we find pleasure in living. There’s a difference and this is what Solomon’s talking about, and no matter how you’re blessed with your family and possessions, if your days are unhappy and miserable what good is it? He goes on in verse 6, “Even if the other man lives a thousand years twice and does not enjoy good things”—so you live two thousand years, that’s a long time. “…do not all go to one place?”

That’s the point; the wages of sin is ultimately death. It doesn’t matter what you have, what you don’t have; we’re all going to the same place, the grave. You know talking about eternal destiny, heaven or hell, we’re all going to the grave. You know we joke and make the statement like, none of us will get out of this alive, and the joke of it is, it’s true. You know we’re on a fatal course like the plane going down. Life is short, it gets counted in minutes and then seconds. This is where we are. I read again this week, I guess I have to check these things to see if they’re raising the average age. I think it’s 77, not much better than the last time I looked, especially since I’m 76. The future is bleak, but don’t laugh. You too, all of us, we all go to the grave. I understand, I’m looking for the rapture too, but the general course of human life under the sun is physical death.

That’s what he says. If you never enjoyed life, what does it matter? Whether you were rich or poor, whether you have a large family, no family, whether you have friends, no friends. If you’re miserable every day, you might as well not have been born. And Job had that. We went back and read that I think in Job chapter 3, where Job says I wish I’d have been miscarried in the womb. Life has just gotten to that point every day, I just can’t face it, so here’s where he’s going.

Look at verse 7, “All a man’s labor is for his mouth and yet the appetite is not satisfied.” The principle there of food, but it’s the same. I mean no matter how many good meals you’ve had, you’ll still be working to have more, to buy more food, put food on the table. You buy other clothes, you need to pay the rent, it’s just a grind. We’ve had songs, secular songs and they talk about the labor and the grinding it out for the man and so on. “All a man’s labor is for his mouth and yet the appetite is not satisfied.” We can never be done.

“For what advantage does the wise man have over the fool? What advantage does the poor man have, of knowing how to walk before the living?” I mean in these things, the reality of no matter how smart you are or not smart, how much wisdom you have or you don’t have, how many possessions you have or don’t have, you can’t change the outcome, and you’re not even in control of what goes on. Neither am I. Now this is not discouraging, it’s not depressing, because God is in control. You know what makes these things difficult, even for us as believers, we tend to fight and resist God’s control. I know I can preach sermons on God’s sovereignty and His control, but then when it comes in, I’m frustrated, and I’m irritated, and it shouldn’t be this way, and this is not right. I have to stop. Now if I’ve done something wrong, then I need to deal with that before the Lord. If I’m not doing what is right, if my relationship with the Lord is not what it ought to be, if I’m unhappy with what God is doing, I need to straighten up.

God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose, Romans tells us. That’s the same thing as Solomon is saying, and fear God and no one can have enjoyment without Him. But it doesn’t mean everything in my life will be pleasant. Some days are a lot more pleasant than others if I’m going to have surgery this week, if I’m going to get hit by a car, if I’m going to have a heart attack, if one of my children have a disaster. You know there are many things and that doesn’t mean everyday is going to be even. Why? There’s just going to be some days it seems that the joy is sucked out of them. Job experiences that, but what I’m learning here is to cope with life.

When these come, I’m more prepared, I’m ready. Maturity ought to bring me to that. Sometimes our children, our kids are grown up, and something will happen, and something takes place and they’ll say, “Well, that wasn’t fair!” You don’t argue with them about the fairness. You just maybe tell them they’re going to find many things in their life that aren’t fair. Life isn’t always fair and you’re giving them that instruction, because that may have been out of their hands. Maybe somebody did something and they got blamed for it and it can’t be fixed and that wasn’t fair. It’s part of what they have to learn, and the older they get, the more they have learned to handle the realities of life, then the better they will be able to cope. That’s the way with us as believers.

I’ve been a pastor a long time and it always takes me back when somebody gets in a conflict how often and how easy it is for people to slip and it’s like we didn’t learn anything. You know we’re to be learning, taking this in. I’m not looking and hoping for trouble this week, in my life but I do want to be prepared and I have desires. He knows the desires of my heart. I have things I pray about for family, for yourself, for the church, but I don’t control it. We think sometimes we’re praying and that means that’s assured. God will give us what’s best for us, but I can’t escape life, and neither can you, but we can learn how to navigate life as God intends.

“For what advantage does the wise man have over the fool?” The poor man never knowing—the point is you can be wise. You could have acquired things by your smarts, we would say, and even good wisdom, but it won’t necessarily protect you from what comes. Solomon the wisest man on earth couldn’t produce a good heir; his son was a fool, squandered the kingdom and divided it. How stupid could you be? Did you pick up anything from your father? Solomon had no control over it and it was God’s intention to use the sin of man to accomplish His purpose in bringing about further consequences for sin. Note verse 9, a good verse. “What the eyes see is better than what the soul desires. This too is a breath and the whim of the wind.” That’s, I think, the last time these two expressions are together. They’re used but the joining them together, a breath and the whim of the wind, the desire of the wind. “What the eyes see is better than what the soul desires.” The point is, and understand this in the context of Ecclesiastes, enjoy the day you have. That’s the point.

You know, our make-believe worlds, our fantasy world, our dream world, it’s always good because we don’t include in my dream world, my fantasy world, or what I’d really like in that, that I won’t get cancer, and nobody in my family will suffer or die. You picture all of us here enjoying it. We’ll get this house and we’ll all be together, and we’ll have family time, and it’s all right to think about, but be careful in thinking that’s the life you will live. That’s what he means when he says, “What the eyes see is better than what the soul desires.” Live for today. Live today doesn’t mean you can’t make any plans for tomorrow and we should. Proverbs wisdom book gives instructions on planning and preparing. It’d be foolish not to, but I don’t have all my life invested in tomorrow. I want today to count. I want today to be the day it should be because this is the day the Lord has made for me. I want to rejoice and be glad in it, experience everything the Lord has for me today. And even in the unpleasantness I will find His sufficiency and understand more, so what the eye sees is better than what the soul desires.

Some people are always living for tomorrow. And when I retire, I’ll do this and when I retire, I’ll do that, and they die before they retire. It wasn’t wrong to have some plans but it’d be wrong not to be taking the time and realizing this is the day, how can it be most used, wisely handled? Well I know I’ll be better after I get through this. Maybe, maybe, maybe because we don’t control tomorrow, it’s out of our control and we are temporary, and I don’t know when my time will be. You don’t know. We’ve had funerals from our local congregation at all ages. It’s just life, unexpected, shocking. Things come up. Someone stopped me in the hall. They’ve shared, I walk in there and I feel as good as I ever have. I said you look great. The doctor says I have months at best and the doctor was right, he did.
You know we don’t know.

He’s not saying don’t plan, but what I see that’s what you have. That’s what I can enjoy. I enjoy this watch but it’s cheap and I can’t wait until I get a good watch, an expensive one that looks good. And that’s fine, maybe someday I will. Don’t buy me a watch. That’s just the example (laughter). It’s fine, but I enjoy what I have. That’s fine, the house you live in, the clothes you have, what you can do. Maybe you only have enough money for vacation to sit in the back yard and have a lemonade. Enjoy it! People who have little, and when we were poor our family living in government housing, we had joy. We could enjoy life then. We can enjoy life now. That’s it, what you see is better than what the soul desires because you have it. Jesus talked about this in the Sermon on the Mount. Don’t worry about tomorrow, each day has enough trouble of its own. Take care of today, and the best preparation for tomorrow is to live, as God would have you live today. Live today wisely. That’s the best preparation for tomorrow. Be what God would have you be today. Handle the situations of today as God would have you handle them, then you’ll be best prepared for whatever comes tomorrow. That’s the best preparation. A godly life is the best preparation for the future.

Verses 10 to 12 wrap this up, and in many ways, it wraps up the first six chapters of Ecclesiastes. “Whatever exists has already been named, and it is known what man is; for he cannot dispute with him who is stronger than he is.” I take it the point of all of this is, God created it all. God created man. We can’t dispute with Him. That takes us back to chapter 5 just for the context here. God’s in charge, He’s sovereign. If you want an exercise, read Isaiah chapters 40 to 46. You can read the whole book but often when I’m going through things, that’s one of the chapters I go to, chapter 40 to 46.

There it tells us that we are transient. Man is like the flower of the field and is soon gone, but the word of the Lord stands forever. It talks about the nations of the earth. They’re not even a speck on the scale as far as God is concerned. We’re wondering what’s China going to do what’s Russia going to do. How is the United States going to do, what’s going to happen here? God says they’re not even a speck of dust on a scale. They don’t move the scale, that’s how sovereign He is, how powerful He is. They’re not well, I’ve got to take into consideration here. They’re nothing. You read those chapters and He’ll tell you. He treats them as nothing. He sovereignly makes His decisions. He doesn’t make them in light of what’s Russia doing? Okay, what’s happening there? Gabriel, you’ve checked on China. He says they’re nothing. I make My plans and they’re carried out. They’re never frustrated. So, this is where we are. He’s God we are not.

Fill yourself with His word, not just knowledge about it, but implementing it. That’s why we’re doing Ecclesiastes. I want to live this book, I want to live what God says. “For there are many words which increase futility.” Here we are again, brevity. All of man’s talking just reveals how temporal and transitory he is. That’s why we’re told, back in chapter 5, shut up, listen, be quiet, talk less, hear more. We joke about it. God gave you one tongue, two ears, things like that. That’s what God spiritually, you know, you go to churches; they want to tell you how to live. Well the word is how to live. Live godly today. That’s the best way to handle tomorrow. Be a godly mother, a godly father, that’s the answer. How to live, many words, which increase futility, just magnify our temporalness, our brevity. “ What then is the advantage to a man?” Now note this, “For who knows what is good for a man during his lifetime…” See here the emphasis on that transitory lifetime.

What do we talk about when we talk about your lifetime, the period of time you are alive, which reminds you of what? You are (the sound of a breath) temporal. “… during the few days of his futile life?” Let’s emphasize this, it’s a few days of a temporal life. This is what we have. God wants to impress it upon us. “He will spend them like a shadow.” I mean he’s piling this up. You realize how short your life is, the brevity of life. It’s like a shadow. How long does a shadow last? It doesn’t last long, it’s brief, it’s gone. It’s here, it’s gone, that’s the point. “For who can tell a man what will be after him…” Not under our control “…under the sun?” Our physical life here is brief, it’s passing. You have a few days. You understand, you have a few days. Every day that goes by is a day gone that I will not recover. I have so many days of a physical life and they will be over.

I have one life, soon will be past, only what’s done for Christ will last, carries that same idea. Life is going by. We treat it like, oh well, I can’t regain my yesterdays and I don’t control the tomorrows. But I will give an account for today, because God is going to bring everything into judgment when we get to the end of Ecclesiastes. Everything must be done with that recognition. He is God. I’m not. I better be listening to what He says and doing it, not enough to listen. Many people can quote Scripture, but they don’t do it. That doesn’t count. We need to be careful. If you read Isaiah chapters 40 to 46, you know what God will say to Israel? “You have become weary of Me!” Now think about it. The eternal, all sovereign God speaks, and God looks at their heart and mind and He says, that you’re tired of Me, you’re weary. You know that as we sit here God knows what’s going on in our minds He knows where we are. He knows our every thought. What a terrible thing God has spoken. You know what happened to Israel? They got tired of hearing what God had to say. Know what happens to the church over time? It gets tired of hearing. I’m looking for something else. I know, I’ve studied the bible. I know the bible, I’ve been through that. You know, I’m looking for something—something other than God.

I want to hear, then I want to implement. How do I live this life? I don’t know what the days of the week will hold for you. I don’t even know what my days hold. Oh, I can tell you what’s on the calendar, but I don’t have any control. If the Lord wills, I’m going to do this tomorrow, if the Lord wills I’ll do this Tuesday. You have general plans, but your life could be turned totally, upside down before this day is over. That’s true for any of us. I could get news that would shock me, that would set me back, that I wouldn’t even know what to say. How do I handle this? What’ll I do? And suddenly I have to settle my mind. He is sovereign. He’s in control. I’m but a breath. He’s eternal.

I can’t control the events that come upon me, that overtake my life, but He does. So, what do I have to fear? I love Isaiah 40 to 46. You know what it’ll say? He takes us by the hand and watches over us. I don’t have to know. You look at that little kid and he’s in all that crowd of people in a store or some place. He couldn’t find his way home if he had to, but he’s not lost, his father knows. It’s that idea. He takes care of us. He doesn’t take all the trouble. The first thought in my mind when tragedy comes, Lord I can’t see any good that comes out of this, but I don’t have to because He’s got it under control. He’s ordained the time and the event. What a privilege to serve such a God.

Let’s pray together: Thank you Lord for the riches of Your word. Lord, it can be a difficult life for some gathered here. These days may be very difficult. For others, they may be enjoying some of the things you’ve provided for them, but Lord no matter what our situation, no matter what is taking place, no matter what the condition of our lives, we can have the confident assurance that Your will is done. We walk with You. You direct our steps. You plan our days. Lord we want to be faithful to You. You’re the God we serve. Your word is a lamp for our feet, a guide to our path. We take it in, we trust You with the days of our lives. May they be good days because they are days that honor You? Bless this day, we pray in Christ’s name. Amen.