Ecc. 8: I Deserve?

Ecclesiastes 8:8 "No man has power over the wind to contain it; so no one has power over the day of his death. As no one is discharged in time of war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it."

The king is in authority, and his word is supreme. Who are you to tell him what to do, or question his motives? The king has the power to make decrees and commands, and will spare those who obey him and keep his laws.

I suppose what I get here is that true power is not in any man's hands. What we do have, however, is the illusion of power. Of course we can't contain the wind, and a man can't add any days to his life, or predict when his life will actually end. Can you imagine what life would be like, or how it would be different if you could pinpoint the exact moment you would die? Would you take chances? Would you be a different person?

Another important part of verse 8 is the realization that wickedness is a force at war, who does not discharge anyone who practices it. Wickedness needs all the people it can get, as it is in a mortal war with righteousness. Wickedness does not just cease in a person, a person has to leave it, or be rescued from it.

Wicked people with long lives will be uneasy all their life. Not so for the righteous, when wicked people live long, there is less discomfort with it, because they trust God's judgment, as odd or confusing as it may be at the time. Vanity. Meaningless.

Additionally, the wicked will get what the righteous deserve, and the righteous will get what the wicked deserve. This is just the way it happens. This seems to show God as a person who cares not for what people deserve. As it happens, every person is fallen, a sinner, has rejected God and deserves death. But he heaps favor and riches on whoever he wants, regardless of whether or not that person deserves it.