Ecc. 7: The Gravity of Life

Ecclesiastes 7:13 "Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked?"

This is a pretty serious chapter. The Choir have a pretty incredible song that kind of made me wonder, but as I read Ecclesiastes 7 for the first time in my life, it became clear because of it's context.



When you read something like the day of death being better than the day of birth, and that a sad face is good for the heart, that sorrow is better than laughter, what comes to mind? What is your first instinct? In my case it was a bit of incredulity. I had the consider it. I wondered if Solomon (presumably) was referring to an afterlife, and the departure of a meaningless world under the sun, with the hope of entering God's presence. I think more than that, it is a grim reminder not to forget that life is temporary. Remember the sad times, for balance, for a greater sense of joy in the good times, and hope. I think a good answer or elaboration can be found in verse 14. God creates the good and bad times.

To be quickly provoked is meaningless foolishness. Why get so angry? Why let emotion get the better of you?

God's methods and intentions are inscrutable. When God zigs when we zag, or he's crooked when we expect a straight line, its not...normal. It's unexpected. It's incredible. We don't know why he does these things, and can only count on his promise that he has our best interests in mind. Its confusing, and upsetting. Our minds are crammed in this compartment of a limited understanding of an omnipotent, eternally-wise God. Why bother attempting to figure it out? Maybe our feeble brains derive some sort of legitimacy in the attempt to connect impossibly far-flung dots or impossible combinations of possible outcomes to our perceived suffering.

There is no one on earth not culpable for sin. (V. 20) God started making man upright, but, like Adam, man searched for other schemes.

Good practical advice...don't worry about catching everything someone says about you. Someone's bound to badmouth you whether you deserve it or not. Do you always keep things to yourself?

Is the voice of a jilted lover writing verse 28? Not one upright woman in a thousand? Srsly? Maybe he is looking in the wrong thousand? Solomon had his problems with women, to be sure, and it cost him a lot.