September 3, 2009
Who knows when thou may’st be tested?
Ecclesiastes 9
Dee Elliot
Central Truth
Despite the complexities and dichotomies of Ecclesiastes, the maxim holds: with an understanding of your God-given gifts, use them diligently and conscientiously.
Key Verse | Ecclesiastes 9:10
Whatever you find to do with your hands,
do it with all your might,
because there is neither work nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave,
the place where you will eventually go.
(Ecclesiastes 9:10)
Ecclesiastes 9
Death Comes to All
1 But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. 2 It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil, 1 9:2 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew lacks and the evil to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4 But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun.
Enjoy Life with the One You Love
7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.
8 Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head.
9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain 2 9:9 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a vapor or mere breath (see note on 1:2) life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, 3 9:10 Or finds to do with your might, do it for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.
Wisdom Better Than Folly
11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. 12 For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them.
13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard.
17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.
Dive Deeper | Ecclesiastes 9
“Once upon a time, long, long ago” as a plebe at the Naval Academy, I was assigned to learn the historic poem “Laws of the Navy.” Written in the 1880s by a very wise Royal Navy captain, it stands today as 27 verses of salty particulars (Colossians 4:6) providing solid and timeless wisdom, counsel, and truth describing a young naval officer’s proper subscription to life. Verse 5 dictates:
On the strength of one link in the cable,
Dependeth the might of the chain.
Who knows when thou may’st be tested?
So live that thou bearest the strain!
In naval parlance, “to take a strain” is instruction to tighten up lines; i.e. remove slack in a mooring line. It makes the line effective as a ship is secured to the pier. A line (a landlubber might call it a rope) only works in tension—hence the phrase, “you can’t push a rope.” Finally, a slack line simply represents potential; unrealized potential is just that—unrealized, unproductive, and, unless applied deliberately, a waste.
Wisdom and instruction for life come in many forms and from various sources, yet all are to be tested by the truth of Scripture. Incontrovertible wisdom shared by Solomon in Ecclesiastes 9:10 compares and confirms this tenant of professional behavior with: “Whatever you find to do with your hands, do with all your might . . . .”
Indeed, the presence and instruction of counselors providing truth is essential to a joyful and prosperous life. The key is to act with commitment, diligence, and consistency in a Christ-centered way.
Who knows when “thou may’st be tested?” The encouragement is to live, work, and love each day with all our might, trusting in the Lord as though it may be our last day. In fact, “no one knows his appointed time” (Ecclesiastes 9:12), “so live that thou bearest the strain!”
Discussion Questions
1. When was the last time you were truly tested?
2. Were you able to “bear the strain” in a manner glorifying to the Lord?
3. What were the outcomes, how was it a blessing, and what were the lessons learned?
4. Are you “taking a strain” in your life today, being diligent to “do it with all your might” without complacency and indifference?