Memory Verse: “For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion” Ecclesiastes 9:4.
Scripture Reading: Ecclesiastes 9:1-18
Introduction:
Solomon uses a proverb that says a living lowly creature is preferable to a dead exalted creature; the point is not that death is the absolute end of all things, but that instead the point is that while there is life, there is hope of doing something to the glory of God. This point of view is limited to what can be known strictly from a human point of view “under the sun.” God meant for all His gifts to be enjoyed in relation to this world. The possibilities of working and learning have ceased when we die, so if we plan to do something, anything, to the glory of God in this world, we had better do it while we still have time. And while some have planned and counted on their assets, God in the end determines their lot.
“If our blessed Lord chose this life of dependence out of all possible lives that He might have lived, does it not seem wisest, most blessed, most Christlike, for you and me to give up living the independent life in the flesh and to begin from this moment to depend upon Christ as Christ depended upon God?
If Jesus Christ held His life moment by moment in the balance at God’s dictation, should not we receive the help and expend our life as Jesus wills? If Jesus Christ allowed His plan always to give way to God’s plan, do you not see that instead of scheming, planning, and striving to get our own way so much, we ought always to be looking out for God’s plan and to yield submissively before it? If Jesus Christ gave up His words for the words which the Father put into His lips, do we not greatly mistake in trying to elaborate our sentences and beautify them, instead of day by day waiting to receive the words our Savior gives us? If you would depend day by day on the Master for the power of His life, opening all your being, and preferring the power imparted to any power of your own, I need not say how your life would at once become divine.
Let us receive from our glorified Lord that life-power with which He is invested, that He may glorify and ennoble our daily existence. Let us so dress, so adorn our houses, so spend our time, so earn money, that men may think better of our Lord. We should not expend one hour for any other purpose than that our life might be glorifying Jesus Christ for being, or doing, or suffering, or giving, the four departments of Christ’s life.” Written by F. B. Meyer
(Taken from Thomas Nelson, Inc., Heritage of Great Evangelical Teaching: Featuring the best of Martin Luther, John Wesley, Dwight L. Moody, C. H. Spurgeon and others (computer file), electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, c1996.)
Also, in relation to Study Question One: Note: [The preacher] lays this down for a rule, that the love and hatred of God are not to be measured and judged of by men’s outward condition. If prosperity were a certain sign of God’s love, and affliction of His hatred, then it might justly be an offence to us to see the wicked and godly fare alike. But the matter is not so: No man knows either love or hatred by all that is before him in this world, by those things that are the objects of sense. These we may know by that which is within us; if we love God with all our heart, thereby we may know that He loves us, as we may know likewise that we are under His wrath if we be governed by that carnal mind which is enmity to Him. (Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Bible, [Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers] 1997)
Study Questions:
- Through life “under the sun” may seem to be the same for the righteous and the wicked, why is life really better for the righteous? Ecclesiastes 9:1; Deuteronomy 33:1-4; John 10:27-29; Psalm 31:9-19.
- How different are life’s events for the righteous and the wicked? Ecclesiastes 9:2-3a; Job 9:22.
- Although the preacher had written that the dead are better than the living (Ecclesiastes 4:2), what perspective now causes him to reverse that opinion? Ecclesiastes 9:3b-6; Job 10:14-22.
- Which is the better way to live, in gloominess and sorrow, or in joy and happiness? Ecclesiastes 9:7-8; Acts 2:46-47; Psalm 4:7-8; Psalm 16:5-11; Psalm 30:10-12; Psalm 100:1-5; Psalm 127:1-2; Proverbs 15:13; Proverbs 17:22; Isaiah 55:1-2.
- Which actually gives more joy, adulterous living or a secure marriage? Ecclesiastes 9:9; Proverbs 5:15-23; Ephesians 5:21-28; Hebrews 13:4; I Corinthians 6:9-11.
- Why should we be diligent in all our work? Ecclesiastes 9:10; Proverbs 10:4; Proverbs 13:4, 11; Proverbs 14:23; Ephesians 4:28; I Thessalonians 4:11-12.
- Does the preacher see any security or “guarantees” in life? Ecclesiastes 9:11-12; Psalm 146:3-4; Proverbs 27:1; Proverbs 31:30; James 4:13-14; Psalm 90:10; I Peter 1:24-25; Psalm 102:23-27; I Corinthians 13:8-10.
- How does the preacher demonstrate the superiority of wisdom over physical strength? Ecclesiastes 9:13-16; II Samuel 20:15-22; Proverbs 21:22; Proverbs 28:2.
- Why are the words and influence of the wise better than the counsel of the ungodly? Ecclesiastes 9:17-18; Proverbs 11:14; Proverbs 13:10; Proverbs 15:21, 22, 23, 24; Proverbs 20:18-19; Psalm 1:1-2; Proverbs 12:5-6.