The Value of Practical Wisdom

Ecclesiastes 7

1. A good name is better than precious ointment, And the day of death than the day of one’s birth;
2 Better to go to the house of mourning Than to go to the house of feasting, For that is the end of all men;
And the living will take it to heart.
3Sorrow is better than laughter, For by a sad countenance the heart is made better.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, But the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
5 It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise Than for a man to hear the song of fools.
6 For like the crackling of thorns under a pot, So is the laughter of the fool. This also is vanity.
7 Surely oppression destroys a wise man’s reason, And a bribe debases the heart.
8 The end of a thing is better than its beginning; The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
9 Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry, For anger rests in the bosom of fools.
10 Do not say, “Why were the former days better than these?” For you do not inquire wisely concerning this.
11 Wisdom is good with an inheritance, And profitable to those who see the sun.
12 For wisdom is a defense as money is a defense, But the excellence of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to those who have it.
13 Consider the work of God; For who can make straight what He has made crooked?
14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, But in the day of adversity consider: Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other, So that man can find out nothing that will come after him.
15 I have seen everything in my days of vanity: There is a just man who perishes in his righteousness,
And there is a wicked man who prolongs life in his wickedness.
16 Do not be overly righteous, Nor be overly wise: Why should you destroy yourself?
17 Do not be overly wicked, Nor be foolish: Why should you die before your time?
18 It is good that you grasp this, And also not remove your hand from the other; For he who fears God will escape them all.
19 Wisdom strengthens the wise More than ten rulers of the city.
20 For there is not a just man on earth who does good And does not sin.
21 Also do not take to heart everything people say, Lest you hear your servant cursing you.
22 For many times, also, your own heart has known That even you have cursed others.
23 All this I have proved by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise”; But it was far from me.
24 As for that which is far off and exceedingly deep, Who can find it out?
25 I applied my heart to know, To search and seek out wisdom and the reason of things, To know the wickedness of folly, Even of foolishness and madness.
26 And I find more bitter than death The woman whose heart is snares and nets, Whose hands are fetters.
He who pleases God shall escape from her, But the sinner shall be trapped by her.
27 “Here is what I have found,” says the Preacher, “Adding one thing to the other to find out the reason,
28 Which my soul still seeks but I cannot find: One man among a thousand I have found, But a woman among all these I have not found.
29 Truly, this only I have found: That God made man upright, But they have sought out many schemes.”

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Here we see typical Solomonic wisdom. Short, pithy sayings, stating a general truth or piece of advice.

1. A good name is better than precious ointment, And the day of death than the day of one’s birth;

Solomon is comparing one thing to another.
The word for name here is (Shem), the idea of definite and conspicuous position; it is translated as reputation also.
Shem: It gives the idea of a godly mind and life; not mere reputation with man, but what a man is in the eyes of God, with whom the name and reality are one thing.
To have a name in this context means:
A man with a godly mind and life is better than precious ointment.

To be a man with this standing in God’s sight is certainly worth more than precious ointment (perfume) or even gold or silver.

This is not difficult to understand, but what of the second part?
And the day of death than the day of one’s birth;

This is understandable only if one is looking at it from Solomon’s “under the sun” stance, where he sees death as preferable over a lifetime of suffering and futility.

We can also understand it from a believer’s standpoint. As the Apostle Paul said. Phil 1:23 For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.

Even as Christians it is hard to see how death is preferable to birth. We would rather be Raptured than have to experience death to enter glory.

Maybe if we continue, we will find an answer.

2 Better to go to the house of mourning Than to go to the house of feasting, For that is the end of all men;
And the living will take it to heart.

What does the Preacher mean? Is he trying to get us to think about the fact that death is inevitable for us all?
The house of mourning is, I presume, a funeral and the house of feasting a party.
The sentiment here is that we learn more from a funeral than a party. We learn more from sorrow than laughter.
Funerals makes you think of your mortality. What do we learn from a party???

3 Sorrow is better than laughter, For by a sad countenance the heart is made better.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, But the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

The scripture reminds us that “It is appointed unto man once to die and then the judgement”.

No one thinks of judgement at a party. However, funerals make us realise the fragility of life and we come face to face with the reality of death. This is a good thing if it makes us think about our eternal destination.

The fool does not want to talk or think about their mortality but the wise open their ear to the truth.
 

5 It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, Than for a man to hear the song of fools.
6 For like the crackling of thorns under a pot, So is the laughter of the fool. This also is vanity.

The NLT says, A fool’s laughter is quickly gone, like thorns crackling in a fire. This also is meaningless.
The sentiment is better to weep and learn than to laugh and forget.

7 Surely oppression destroys a wise man’s reason, And a bribe debases the heart.

Whether this means that a wise man can become a fool if he oppresses someone else, or, more to the truth, there is a danger that he himself, when oppressed, can become a fool.

It seems because of the second part, that “a bribe debases the heart” means that the wise man can be diverted by oppression or a bribe and himself become a fool.
 

8 The end of a thing is better than its beginning; The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
 

I am quite impatient. So being impatient, I tend to rush things. Consequently I make mistakes.
Usually, I have to start again because of the mistakes and in so doing waste time.
I never have seemed to learn how to take my time.
I can’t wait to get to the end. Why, maybe it because I am proud, too proud to read the instructions.
I can’t remember the times I have ended up with screws and bolts left over at the end of an Ikea build.
If only I had listened to my wife, who said, read the instructions first.

The end would be better than the beginning if we would only show patience.

9 Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry, For anger rests in the bosom of fools.

How many of us speak before we think. How many of us jump to conclusions and end up looking like a fool because we judged without knowing the full facts.

10 Do not say, “Why were the former days better than these?” For you do not inquire wisely concerning this.

Why do we always say that the olden days were better than today?
Maybe because we were young and did not have the same responsibility as we have today. With age comes wisdom, with age comes experience. We realise the pitfalls and the dangers as we mature.

These are not necessarily a bad thing, for through trials comes patience and with patience comes wisdom.
This is the teaching we learn from James.

James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds, 
3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 
4 Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.…

Hard and difficult things are good for you and me. They’re ultimately much better than easy and pleasant things. They sober you up and get you searching for God in the midst of the difficulty. Or at least, they should.

11 Wisdom is good with an inheritance, And profitable to those who see the sun.
12 For wisdom is a defense as money is a defense, But the excellence of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to those who have it.

Wisdom and money are very similar in a way. Both can help in a bad situation.
You have a practical problem, easy, just throw money at it. Your washer breaks, buy a new one.
Money is a defence against practical problems.
However, which is harder to come by? Money or wisdom?
Money can come by many means. Work, gifts, or inheritance.
Whereas wisdom comes through time and experience and is sometimes difficult to acquire, as we saw earlier.

But the excellence of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to those who have it.

The wise Preacher tells us. Rejoice at both prosperity and wisdom.

13 Consider the work of God; For who can make straight what He has made crooked?
14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, But in the day of adversity consider: Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other, So that man can find out nothing that will come after him.
 

Both are the workings of God. God has made both the day of adversity and the day of prosperity. Rejoice when things are pleasant and abundant. But also when you’re experiencing difficulty – just remember that God has made both.

The teaching from the Preacher is simple. Learn from both the difficult and the pleasant experiences in life.
For God sends them both.

In life, we see anomalies and contradictions that we often can’t understand. They seem unjust and can cause irritation and aggravation in our heart.
Solomon sees all this.
 

15 I have seen everything in my days of vanity: There is a just man who perishes in his righteousness,
And there is a wicked man who prolongs life in his wickedness.

In a perfect world, the righteous would prosper and would be the one to be granted a long healthy life.
The evil man would be punished and granted a short life.
However life “under the sun” tells us different. Sometimes, it does work out this way but not always.
We know that, like the Preacher, we see the opposite happening. We have heard the saying, “The good die young”.

The Preacher has some advice for us as we live “under the sun”, that could help as we go through life.

16 Do not be overly righteous, Nor be overly wise: Why should you destroy yourself?

We must realise that the righteousness, the Preacher is referring to here is not the righteousness we receive by believing God’s promises. We know that imputed righteousness in the Messiah, (Jesus Christ), gives eternal life.
However, we also know that some Christians die young.

What Solomon is referring to is right and wise living, this side of eternity.

I often wondered, as a young Christian why churches seem to be filled with more older people than younger ones.
When I read Ecclesiastes, it made sense.
Wise people, especially those with Christian values, tend to lead moderate lives, not abusing their bodies with smoking, drinking, drugs or any other excesses. The emphasis is prolonging one’s life by not abusing ones body.

The object is to live wisely. It is not trying too hard to make yourself righteous in order to guarantee long life.
What the Preacher is saying is, it is useless wasting too much time trying to extend your life by doing good works, because it may not work.

On the other hand don’t practice evil, don’t be a fool, for these practices may be the cause of a short life.

17 Do not be overly wicked, Nor be foolish: Why should you die before your time?

The Preacher is only sharing his wisdom, the things that he has seen.
It would be better to heed these warnings and not waste your life trying to be self righteous to prolong your life or to live like a fool and end it early.

18 It is good that you grasp this, And also not remove your hand from the other; For he who fears God will escape them all.

The wisest thing to do, is understand these truths and fear God, for if you find your righteousness in Him, (through Christ), you will escape them all.

True wisdom comes only through a relationship with God and it is worth more than any human wisdom.

19 Wisdom strengthens the wise More than ten rulers of the city.

Then we see Solomon’s wisdom explaining the truth that no one is sinless, which also, we read in his father David’s writings.
From Solomon.

Ecc 7: 20 For there is not a just man on earth who does good And does not sin.

And from David.
Psalm 53:3 All have turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.

This wisdom is also reflected in Paul’s teaching in his letter to the Romans.

From Paul.
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 3:12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
 

The fact that all men are sinners, it is useless to listen to what people say, how they curse you and others.
What do you expect from sinners? All you can expect is sin.
 

21 Also do not take to heart everything people say, Lest you hear your servant cursing you.

The Preacher says, you don’t need to listen or judge others, for, do you not do the same?

22 For many times, also, your own heart has known That even you have cursed others.

So, realise this, as long as you are “under the sun”, sin lies crouching at the door.

23 All this I have proved by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise”; But it was far from me.
24 As for that which is far off and exceedingly deep, Who can find it out?
25 I applied my heart to know, To search and seek out wisdom and the reason of things, To know the wickedness of folly, Even of foolishness and madness.

Solomon the wise has searched all these things out and has struggled with it. It seems that all he has learned, he tries to communicate to his reader. It would do us well to listen to his conclusions.

Again he reminds us, that meaning in life is not found in searching for earthly wisdom.

There is nothing that has more effect on someone than to share with them your personal experience.
When one is speaking from experience it seems to carry more weight.

26 And I find more bitter than death The woman whose heart is snares and nets, Whose hands are fetters.
He who pleases God shall escape from her, But the sinner shall be trapped by her.

Solomon certainly had his experiences where these verses are concerned and so did his father David.
We can read about the traps that he got himself into, through going in the wrong direction.
 

1Ki 11:3  And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. 

4  For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. 

5  For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 

6  And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father. 

7  Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. 

8  And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods. 
 

Even though it is not certain when Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes, whether it was at the end of his life, or not.
However, it is safe to say that Solomon had his moments where women are concerned.
 

27 “Here is what I have found,” says the Preacher, “Adding one thing to the other to find out the reason,
28 Which my soul still seeks but I cannot find: One man among a thousand I have found, But a woman among all these I have not found.

Verses 27, 28 seem to speak more about the type of female company that Solomon mixed with, rather than wisdom found in either male or female.
Is it likely that he would find a wise woman in a harem?

Stafford J Wright  in his “The Expositor’s Bible Commentary”, says.
 “He found that a harem did not provide the appropriate companion for man. How much better he would have been with one good wife, such as he speaks of in Ecclesiastes 9:9 and Proverbs 31!”
 

Solomon’s conclusion on this matter, is because man is what he is. Even though God created man perfect. (In Adam).  Adam sinned and passed that sinful nature on to all men.
As quoted earlier, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God”. Rom 3:23.

29 Truly, this only I have found: That God made man upright, But they have sought out many schemes.”

The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked.

Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?

The best things to do this side of eternity, “under the sun” is this.

Enjoy what God has granted and submit to His sovereignty. Try to look at the experiences in life, whether they are difficult experiences or pleasant experiences and extract the lessons.

We must realise that all men are sinners and it is not good to judge others.
Those sinners, that have been granted the light of salvation have the responsibility to deal wisely with both the just and the unjust.

Experience peace and confidence by cultivating the fear of the Lord, the place Where Wisdom Begins! The Bible says fear of the Lord is the “beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 111:10) and the “beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7). Proverbs 14:27 even calls it a “fountain of life”!

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