Ecclesiastes 6 - Positively Depressing
Sometimes you need to hear the bad news to appreciate the good news.
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Ecclesiastes 6 (ESV)
1 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind:
2 a man
to whom God gives
wealth, possessions, and honor,
so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires,
yet God does not give him
power to enjoy them,
but a stranger enjoys them.
This is vanity; it is a grievous evil.
3 If a man
fathers a hundred children
and lives many years,
so that the days of his years are many,
but
his soul is not satisfied with life’s good things,
and he also has no burial,
I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.
4 For it
comes in vanity
and goes in darkness,
and in darkness its name is covered.
5 Moreover,
it has not
seen the sun
or known anything,
yet it finds rest rather than he.
6 Even though he should live a thousand years twice over,
yet enjoy no good—
do not all go to the one place?
7 All the toil of man is for his mouth,
yet his appetite is not satisfied.
8 For what advantage has the wise man over the fool?
And what does the poor man have who knows how to conduct himself before the living?
9 Better is
the sight of the eyes
than the wandering of the appetite:
this also is vanity and a striving after wind.
10 Whatever
has come to be
has already been named,
and it is known what man is,
and that he is not able to dispute with one stronger than he.
11 The more words,
the more vanity,
and what is the advantage to man?
12 For who knows what is good for man
while he lives
the few days of his vain life,
which he passes like a shadow?
For who can tell man
what will be after him
under the sun?
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Definitions of key terms in Ecclesiastes which make it much easier to understand.
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Ecclesiastes 6 Summary
This book seems really depressing, doesn't it.
A stillborn child has it better than a man who lives many years???
Don't fall into this trap of thinking that Ecclesiastes is a morbid waste of time! Understanding what God is telling you here is key to living a satisfying, worthwhile life that has true meaning.
But in v8 the Preacher writes, what advantage has the wise man over the fool?... It's all vanity and a striving after the wind.
Yet this is exactly what you need to know. You will never find happiness, satisfaction or shalom (true peace) by looking for it under the sun. You might find bits of these things here and there, but if you're not familiar with Ecclesiastes you'll never be able to fully enjoy them because you'll be so preoccupied with looking for more.
More importantly, know that it's pointless to set your hopes on anything under the sun. Although Ecclesiastes teaches many valuable, practical life lessons, it's primary purpose is to point you to the one who's been exalted far above the sun.
Dig Deeper
One of the worst things in this grievous world is to not enjoy what you have when you have it (v1).
Remember what your purpose in life is. You were created to glorify God and enjoy Him forever (Westminster Shorter Catechism, QA 1).
Learn to recognize the wealth, possessions, and honor that God has given you (v2), knowing that you need to overcome your wandering appetite so the sight of your eyes becomes visible to you (v9).
The best way you can thank God is to fully enjoy and appreciate these good things! Stop constantly focusing on how to make things better and make the time to take pleasure in what you've been given right now, because it may not last for long.
AAA Prayer:
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father is the God who gives wealth, possessions and honor (v2)
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that God will give you the power to enjoy these good things.
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
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