SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/17/2013
8:43 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Wisdom can
make Life Better
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Ecclesiastes
7:1-10
Message of the
verses: At the end of chapter six,
in his commentary Dr. Wiersbe gives us a hint of what is coming as he writes
the following: “Solomon will next take
up his third argument, the vanity of man’s wisdom (7:1-8:17), and discuss
whether or not wisdom can make life any better.
Through wisdom can’t explain all the problems or answer all the
questions, it is still a valuable ally on the journey of life.”
Solomon had mentioned wisdom in the first chapter of
Ecclesiastes in verses twelve through eighteen.
In those verses his conclusion was that wisdom did not make life worth
living: “For in much wisdom is much grief
and he that increased knowledge increased sorrow.” Then in chapter six and verse twelve Solomon
asks “For who knows what is good for man in the life?” Dr. Wiersbe writes “The preacher concluded
that, though wisdom can’t explain all of life’s mysteries, it can make at least
three positive contributions to our lives.”
We will begin to look at the first contribution in today’s SD. Before that I want to mention that the word “wisdom”
is found fourteen times in chapters seven and eight.
“1 A good name is better than a good
ointment, And the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth. 2 It is better to go to a house
of mourning Than to go to a house of feasting, Because that is the end of every
man, And the living takes it to heart. 3 Sorrow is better than laughter, For when a face is sad a heart may be happy. 4 The
mind of the wise is in the house of mourning, While the mind of fools is in the
house of pleasure. 5 It is better
to listen to the rebuke of a wise man Than for one to listen to the song of
fools. 6 For as the crackling of thorn bushes under a pot, So is the laughter
of the fool; And this too is futility. 7 For oppression makes a wise man mad,
And a bribe corrupts the heart.
8 The end of a matter is better
than its beginning; Patience of spirit is better than haughtiness of spirit. 9 Do not be
eager in your heart to
be angry, For anger resides in the bosom of fools. 10 Do not say, "Why is
it that the former days were better
than these?" For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.”
Sorrow is better than laughter (7:1-4): ““1 A good name is better than a good ointment, And the day of
one’s death is better
than the day of one’s birth. 2 It is better to go to a house of mourning Than to go to a house of
feasting, Because that is the end of every man, And the living takes it to heart. 3 Sorrow is better than laughter, For
when a face is sad a heart
may be happy. 4 The mind of the wise is in the house of mourning, While the
mind of fools is in the house of pleasure.”
We would think that it is better for us to go to a
birthday party than go to a funeral, however Solomon advised against this. Why? I
suppose that is a fair question to ask.
First we not think that Solomon is a gloomy man for we read in Proverbs
15:13 “A joyful heart makes a cheerful face, But when the heart is sad, the
spirit is broken,” and in Proverbs 15:17 “Better is a dish of vegetables where
love is Than a fattened ox served with hatred.”
Proverbs 17:22 states “A joyful heart is good medicine, But a broken
spirit dries up the bones.” Remember
Eccl. 3:4 “A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to
dance.” I have mentioned in previous SD’s
that the Bible is a book of balance, and it takes both for a balanced
life.
I think it best to
have Dr. Wiersbe explain what Solomon is saying in verse one: “This generation must not be divorced from
his opening statement that a person’s good reputation (name) is like a fragrant
perfume. (There is a play on words
here: ‘name’ is shem in the Hebrew and ‘ointment’ is shemen.) He used the same
image in 10:1 and also in Song of Solomon 1:3.
“Solomon was not contrasting birth and death, nor was
he suggesting that it is better to die than to be born, because you can’t die
unless you have been born. He was contrasting
two significant days in human experience:
the day a person receives his or her name and the day when the name
shows up in the obituary column. The
life lived between those two events will determine whether that name leaves
behind a lovely fragrance or a foul stench. ‘His name really stinks!’ is an uncouth
statement, but it gets the point across.”
This kind of reminds me of a story that I heard a couple
of times about two very different men who would end up in two very different
places after their death. A man name Ingersoll
and a man name D. L. Moody died very close to each other in terms of time. Ingersoll was a devout atheist and of course
D. L. Moody was a great man of God.
After their deaths what would people think of these men, how would these
two men be remembered? D. L. Moody’s
ministry is still going on to this day over a hundred years after his death, so
it must be said that his life was fragrant, while not so for Ingersoll. Dr. Wiersbe explains that “every man has
three names, ‘says an ancient adage, ‘one his father and mother gave him, one
others call him, and one he acquires himself.’”
We may be able to sum up verses 2-4 from what the
Psalmist writes in Psalm 90:12 “So teach us to number our days, That we may
present to You a heart of wisdom.” The
psalmist is saying that all are going to die at some point in time, and so we
must realize this fact and not run away from it. I have heard it said that we should live each
day as if it were are last, and yet also live each day as if we are going to
live forever. Psalm 139:15-16 says “My
frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully
wrought in the depths of the earth; 16
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were
ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.”
Lord willing we will continue this tomorrow.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I can remember
that one of the things that the Lord used to bring me to a saving knowledge of
Jesus Christ was my fear of death. If a
person does not know what the Bible says about death then they surely will be
frightened about it. Paul writes to the
Corinthians “54 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and
this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that
is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. 55 “O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR
VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?’” (1Cor. 15:54-55)
My Steps of Faith for Today: I desire to have a balanced life, not getting
to high over the good things that are brought into my live and not getting to
low over the difficult things that come into my life.
Memory verses for the
week: 2 Cor. 5:17-19
17 Therefore is anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creature: the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 18 Now all these things are from God, who
reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,
19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not
counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of
reconciliation.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
Question: “Jesus Christ is Lord.”
Today’s Bible
Question: “"Son, why have You
treated us this way? Behold, Your father and I have been anxiously looking for
You.’”
Answer in tomorrow’s SD.
5/17/2013 10:11 AM
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