Daily Devotions
Ecclesiastes
"In the hand of God"
Text: Ecclesiastes 9:1
CAREFUL CONSIDERATION
Solomon was a careful scholar. He was committed to researching things thoroughly before writing about it. Many were the deep thoughts that came from deep reflection.
“For I considered all this in my heart,
so that I could declare it all:
that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God.
People know neither love nor hatred by anything they see before them.”
Ecclesiastes 9:1
1. “For I considered all this in my heart”
a) The word “consideration” has many nuances:
i) Researching
ii) Comparing
iii) Experiencing
iv) Reasoning
b) What was involved?
i) The mind was certainly involved.
ii) The heart was thoroughly engaged too.
2. “So that I could declare it all”
a) There would come a time when Solomon would “declare it”.
b) This “declaration” would be the form of:
i) Teaching
ii) Exhorting
iii) Sharing
3. “That the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God”
a) A special word was written to “the righteous and the wise”.
b) They too would appreciate a word of wisdom from Solomon.
4. “Their works are in the hand of God”
a) God must be brought into the picture.
b) The wise and the righteous would certainly understand and agree that God
needs to be included in their thoughts and their lives.
c) Their work could be a reference:
i) To what they do to make a living.
ii) To the good and charitable work they may be engaged in.
d) “In the hand of God”
i) His hand may be invisible.
ii) But His hand, that is, His involvement must be discerned.
e) In the peculiarities of life:
i) Where the unexpected may happen.
ii) Where the hoped-for result may not come to pass.
iii) In all circumstances, there must be understanding and trust that
all works are “in the hand of God”.
5. “People know neither love nor hatred by anything they see before them”
a) What we see before us:
i) We see only the external.
ii) We may not be able to understand fully everything that happens in life.
b) “Love nor hatred”
i) Many respond with either love or hatred to many things.
ii) But how can we love or hate when we do not know everything
that needs to be known.
c) The wiser thing to do.
Understand that we do not know enough to respond with hate or love. Wisdom
teaches us how to withhold making too quick a judgment or either love or hate.