Passage: Ecclesiastes 7
The Big Idea
Life is full of distractions that pull us away from intimacy and joy with God. In Ecclesiastes 7, Solomon shows that humility is the key to avoiding them, and that pride is the most sinister distraction of all. Jesus is the perfect picture of the humility that receives grace.
A Good Name (Ecclesiastes 7:1)
A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death better than the day of birth.
Character is what really matters. And character is revealed at the end of a life, not the beginning. When a baby is born, we hope they will be good. At a funeral, we know.
That’s why it’s better to actually be a good person than to just feel good about yourself. Pride is all about feeling better about yourself. Solomon says wait. Who you really are will come out for everyone to see.
Choose the Humble Route (Ecclesiastes 7:2-6)
- The house of mourning is better than the house of feasting (Ecclesiastes 7:2). Funerals remind us of the end of every person. Let humility sink into your heart.
- Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face can make the heart better (Ecclesiastes 7:3). We need a realistic view of ourselves. We have fallen. We have joined the rebellion against God and lost the good He intended. We need to look long and hard into that dirty mirror.
- The rebuke of the wise is better than the song of fools (Ecclesiastes 7:5). The laughter of fools is like thorns crackling under a pot (Ecclesiastes 7:6): lots of noise, no lasting heat.
If we ignore our brokenness, we’ll run to other things for healing, like a comedy show, instead of God. Humility grasps its own need. Pride tries to laugh it off.
Pride Destroys (Ecclesiastes 7:7-9)
Oppression and bribes corrupt even a wise person (Ecclesiastes 7:7). Pride doesn’t give life. It destroys good judgment and shrinks the heart.
The end of a thing is better than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud (Ecclesiastes 7:8).
If we choose humility, we end up better than we started. Humility is patient, because it waits for God’s help. Pride hurries to work things out in its own strength. That’s how the flesh operates.
God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). God has set up one way of dealing with people: grace, giving us what we need as a gift. He gives it to the humble, and the proud refuse it.
What is humility?
Humility is being convinced you cannot provide the life you need yourself.
How convinced are you that you need God? How deeply do you feel your need for His supernatural hand of grace? The wise know they need God. The fool gets distracted trying to fill that need with everything else.
More Distractions
Anger (Ecclesiastes 7:9)
Don’t be quick to anger, for anger rests in the heart of fools.
Paul says be angry and don’t sin; don’t let the sun go down on your wrath or give the devil a foothold (Ephesians 4:26-27). Anger is too powerful for us to manage, even when we have the “right” to be angry. We have to hand it over to God daily.
Anger that hardens becomes bitterness, which defiles many and keeps us from experiencing God’s grace (Hebrews 12:15). It leads us away from His gracious presence.
The good old days (Ecclesiastes 7:10)
Don’t ask why the former days were better than these. That isn’t wise.
We can get stuck missing what God did in the past and trying to recreate the formula. God wants us to live in the present. Paul forgot what was behind and pressed forward to the upward call of God in Christ (Philippians 3:13-14).
Wisdom gives life (Ecclesiastes 7:11-12)
Wisdom, like money, is a protection. But wisdom gives life to those who have it. Distractions make you miss the life God intended: enjoying and serving Him in the life He’s given you.
How to Live with the Wisdom of Humility
Consider the work of God (Ecclesiastes 7:13)
Shift your attention from distractions to the real thing. From our works to His work. From what we do to what He has done.
What’s God’s greatest work? The cross. Pride looks at itself and what it has accomplished. Humility lifts its eyes to what God has accomplished. That’s the gospel.
Who can straighten what God has made crooked? (Ecclesiastes 7:13). Humility is convinced God is in control. Faith trusts that control. Humility gives up trying to control things in its own strength. I can’t change that situation or that person. But I know God is in control, so I don’t have to be consumed by it.
Good days and bad days (Ecclesiastes 7:14)
This is a simple plan:
- In the day of prosperity, rejoice.
- In the day of adversity, consider. Think. God is in control. God allowed this. God loves me. God will be with me through it.
That goes against our feelings in hard times. That’s why we walk by faith and not by sight.
Don’t try too hard (Ecclesiastes 7:15-18)
Solomon has seen righteous people die young and wicked people live long. Don’t be overly righteous or overly wise; don’t be overly wicked or foolish. You can’t control life, so stop wearing yourself out trying. The one who fears God will come through it all.
Wisdom is stronger than ten rulers (Ecclesiastes 7:19-20)
Wisdom gives more strength than ten rulers of a city. Ten politicians looking out for you might sound safe. (Might.) Walking in the wisdom of humility is better.
Why? Because there’s not a righteous person on earth who does good and never sins (Ecclesiastes 7:20). Humility is being convinced of my own sin and need. I don’t earn God’s favor or supply anything for my life. He is my everything. I’m spiritually bankrupt, and that’s exactly where grace begins (Matthew 5:3).
Don’t take everything to heart (Ecclesiastes 7:21-22)
Don’t pay attention to every word people say, or you might hear your servant cursing you. Your own heart knows you’ve said the same about others.
Be gracious with people. You’ve probably said worse in your own head. When you walk in humility, what people say about you won’t surprise or crush you.
Trying to figure it all out (Ecclesiastes 7:23-25)
Solomon set out to be wise and understand the reason for everything. It was far beyond him. Psychology, politics and philosophy can all become distractions. You don’t have to understand everything to walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8).
Relational pain (Ecclesiastes 7:26-29)
The final distraction Solomon names is relational pain. He describes being trapped by a manipulative, deceptive person, and how rare he found trustworthy people.
Nothing hurts like a broken or abusive relationship. When relationships become about taking instead of giving, everything gets messed up. Men and women become takers, using deception, pressure or manipulation to get what they want. These schemes substitute for real love.
God made people upright, but we’ve sought out many schemes (Ecclesiastes 7:29).
Real love gives (1 Corinthians 13). That’s the design: a husband giving tender affection and security, a wife giving loving affirmation, both giving, never taking by force or manipulation. Humility is the path to better relationships.
Jesus, the Perfect Picture of Humility
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5-11). Though He was God, He didn’t cling to His rights. He made Himself nothing, became a servant, became human, and humbled Himself to death on a cross. And God highly exalted Him.
Jesus shows us what humility looks like:
- No reputation: no thought of self-image.
- A servant: no thought of self-will.
- Became like us: no thought of self-importance.
- Obedient to death: no thought of self-preservation.
We don’t produce this humility by trying harder. Let His mind be in you. Be filled with His humility.
Grace Takeaway
Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself; it’s being convinced you need God. And that’s the very place grace flows. Stop trying to manage everything, and lift your eyes to the work God has already finished in Jesus.
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