When life doesn’t play by the rules, most of us feel disoriented and a little angry. Ecclesiastes 9 names that ache with startling honesty: the fastest runner loses, the strongest army falls, the most skilled employee gets passed over. We take you into Solomon’s world to confront five jarring truths about outcomes, chance, and the limits of control—and then we show why choosing wisdom is still the most reliable way to live.
We unpack the story of a poor, wise man who saves a small city from a great king and is quickly forgotten. It’s a gut punch that exposes how often quiet, faithful wisdom gets ignored while loud leaders win the spotlight. Yet Solomon insists that a few words of wisdom are better than the shouting of fools. We explore what that means in homes, workplaces, churches, and public life, where volume and virality often masquerade as authority.
From there, we trace the source of true wisdom back to God himself. Christ is the wisdom of God, and Scripture forms the instincts we need for right decisions, right reasons, right timing, and right motives. This isn’t a promise of easy outcomes; it’s a call to steady faithfulness when time and chance derail our plans. If you’ve felt overlooked, outpaced, or blindsided, this conversation will ground you in what’s better than applause: a life aligned with God’s Word, lived with clean hands and a quiet conscience.
If this encourages you, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs steady footing today, and leave a review to help more people find the show.
Stephen's latest book, The Disciples Prayer, is available now. https://www.wisdomonline.org/store/view/the-disciples-prayer-hardback
Episode Transcript
In other words, the written word of God imparts to
the believer the ability to makethe right decision at the right
time for the right reason ormotive.
What that means then is youcannot live a wise life and be a
distant companion of this book.
(00:27):
If you do not have arelationship that is living and
committed to the truth of thisbook, since wisdom comes from
outside of us through this book,then you will not have wisdom.
SPEAKER_00 (00:52):
What do you do when life doesn't follow the rules?
When the fastest runner losesthe race or the smartest person
gets passed over for apromotion.
In Ecclesiastes 9, Solomonreminds you that life under the
sun is unpredictable, but notmeaningless.
In this episode of Wisdom forthe Heart, Stephen Davy walks
(01:15):
through Solomon's surprisingobservations and his call to
choose wisdom anyway.
You'll see why wisdom may notalways win awards or
recognition, but it's still theright way to live.
Keep listening to see how whenlife throws you off course, God
(01:35):
never does.
SPEAKER_01 (01:51):
Two years later she died.
Experts would later calculatethe voyage and retrace the
voyage of that bottle.
Having floated into the Straitof Dover and then into the North
Sea, past the Netherlands,voyaging on past Scotland and
(02:14):
Denmark in the North Sea, thatsealed bottle would have been
floated between the ShetlandIslands and the coast of Norway
and into the icy waters of theBarents Sea.
After several years of floatingalong those desolate waters, it
would have turned eastward inthe current to the East Siberian
(02:39):
Sea.
From there it would have beenpulled into the Bering Strait
between Siberia and Alaska.
After several more years, itwould begin its southward
journey, and the current finallyreaching the waves of the
Pacific Ocean, where it wascarried along the west coast of
(03:00):
the United States.
That bottle finally came to reston a stretch of sand on the
coast of San Francisco Bay.
It had traveled nearly 13,000miles over a span of twelve
years.
(03:21):
A man by the name of Jack Vermwas walking along that sandy
stretch, lost in his thoughtsabout his life.
His restaurant business had gonebankrupt.
He was now at the age offifty-five, nearly penniless.
(03:43):
But then Jack spotted thatbottle half buried in the sand.
Still watertight.
He noticed the note inside.
The cork wouldn't come out, sohe broke the bottle open and
pulled out that handwritten notewhich read, To avoid all
(04:05):
confusion, I leave my entireestate to the person who finds
this bottle.
The note was dated June 20th,1937.
Now it's nearly 1950.
Signed by a woman who used tolive in London, Jack had never
heard of.
(04:26):
Though heavily contested, and aseries of court battles ensued,
the note was finally andofficially determined to be, in
fact, the legitimate last willand testament of Daisy
Alexander, the daughter of IsaacSinger, the heiress to the
(04:46):
Singer sewing machine fortune.
Jack Verme was awarded herportion of that fortune, which
in today's economy would havebeen worth$10.6 million.
And it was his.
Almost makes you want to go tothe beach and look for whiskey
(05:08):
bottles.
The moral of that story, as Iread it recently, could be you
never know what's gonna floatinto your life.
Or maybe life is full ofsurprises.
Or perhaps we could put it thisway: expect the unexpected in
(05:29):
life.
Now, Solomon evidently has thatparticular thought on his mind
and heart.
Life is filled with theunexpected.
So what can you cling to as lifeunveils one surprise after
another?
And Solomon then rattles off alist of surprises here in
(05:51):
Ecclesiastes chapter 9.
Turn with me there today forsome more inspired truth that
may be hard to swallow, but it'sthe truth upon which you can
securely plant your feet andyour heart.
We're now in Ecclesiastes 9, andwe're at verse 11.
(06:16):
Again, I saw that under the sun,remember, that means I've
observed life down here underthe sun, and this is the way it
tends to play out in the humanrace.
Here's what I've observed.
The race is not to the swift,nor the battle to the strong,
(06:37):
nor bread to the wise, norriches to the intelligent, nor
favor to those with knowledge,but time and chance happen to
them all.
It's as if Solomon says, Let meshow you five unexpected
surprises that you don't seecoming.
(07:00):
Over the course of my lifetime,I've observed this.
First, if you go back to thebeginning of this text, the race
is not always won by the fastestrunner.
That would be in principle formwhat he's writing.
The race isn't always won by thefastest runner.
(07:20):
Sometimes strange things happen.
A shoe falls off.
Or maybe a runner gets trippedup around the corner, and four
runners behind the lead tripover him, and suddenly the guy
in fifth place is winning therace.
I read recently of severalrunners who were running to
(07:42):
qualify for the Boston Marathona few years ago, and they ended
up being stopped by a train.
All the trains were supposed tohave been suspended for this
particular period of time, butsomehow this one train got
through, and those runners coulddo nothing but stand there and
wait.
They lost 11 minutes in theirqualifying heat.
(08:05):
One of those runners might havebeen faster than everybody else,
but was not qualified to runbecause of this surprising
train.
Sometimes the fastest runnerdoesn't win.
Solomon adds in verse 11 thebattle isn't always won by the
strongest army.
(08:26):
You read your history books, andyou'll find one battle after
another where the victory is wonby a smaller, a less equipped
military force.
Like Little Israel a few decadesago.
So much smaller than all of thatcombined force of those Muslim
(08:52):
countries.
Unexpected victory.
Solomon says, here's anothersurprising event in life I've
seen.
Third, the necessities of lifearen't guaranteed for the wisest
person.
He writes in verse 11, nor breadto the wise.
What that means is the wisestperson isn't guaranteed even
(09:17):
basic food.
Wise people can go hungry.
Wise people can become evenhomeless to give in some
unexpected occurrence or eventin life.
Number four, wealth isn't theautomatic result for the careful
(09:42):
investor.
He writes here, nor riches tothe intelligent, you could
translate that, nor riches tothe discerning.
The idea.
(10:26):
He wrote in an article that hewas having dinner with a man in
Cincinnati who was a renownedinvestment advisor.
And Robinson said, you know, aswe got closer to dessert, I did
what you would probably do.
I decided to get a little freeadvice.
(10:47):
And I asked him, you've been atthis job of investing for over
20 years.
What's one of the most importantthings you've learned?
And this man leaned in andlowered his voice and said, I've
learned that some of the dumbestpeople in this city are the
(11:07):
wealthiest and some of thesmartest are the poorest.
I have observed down here underthe sun that shrewd investors
sometimes lose everything.
And somebody who doesn't knowbeans about investing wins the
(11:30):
mother load.
You can have your career allplanned out.
You can have your investmentsall buttoned down, and then
what?
An accident occurs.
A virus strikes.
An illness hits.
And everything turns upsidedown.
Solomon adds a fifth surprisehe's seen take place under the
(11:53):
sun.
Here it is, the promotion isn'talways awarded to the best
employee.
He writes again in verse 11, norfavor to those with knowledge.
The word he uses for knowledgeis a word that means know-how.
We would call it skill set.
(12:15):
The person who has the skill setfor the job.
The person who deserves thepromotion.
Well, that's, everybody knows,that's the guy with the job
skills.
That's the gal with theknow-how.
That's the person in the officeyou go to because you're stuck,
you're stumped, you need ananswer, you need a solution, and
they're the ones that are ableto provide it.
(12:36):
Well, Solomon Right here,they're not necessarily the ones
given the favor.
They're not given the promotion.
They're passed over.
So why do these five events takeplace so unexpectedly?
Why does the fastest runner notwin?
Why does the biggest army getdefeated?
(12:57):
Why does the wise person gohungry?
Why does the careful investorlose his shirt?
Why does the smartest employeeget passed over?
Why?
He gives us the answer at theend of verse 11.
Because time and chance happento them all.
(13:18):
That is, it comes out ofnowhere.
Notice, for man does not knowhis time, that is, his seasons
of life.
Like fish that are taken in anevil net, and like birds that
are caught in a snare, so thechildren of man are snared at an
evil time when it suddenly fallsupon them.
(13:42):
He's not talking about death.
He's talking about theunexpected seasons of life.
They occur because of time andchance.
Now let's pause for a moment.
There are only two times in theOld Testament where this word
(14:02):
chance appears.
The other time it appears is in1 Kings chapter 5 and verse 4,
where it can be translatedevents.
Both times the word appears,it's a negative context.
Old Testament language scholarsbelieve it could best be
translated accidents.
(14:24):
So you might circle the wordchance and write into the margin
of your Bible the wordaccidents.
In fact, language scholarsbelieve that time and chance are
to be combined so that you canrender it or understand it as
untimely accidents.
Untimely events.
(14:47):
And that's the way it is withtrouble, isn't it?
Trouble never warns you, I'mcoming tomorrow afternoon at
three o'clock.
Never comes at a good time.
When is trouble ever timely?
Well, that came at just theperfect time.
I needed that flat tire.
No.
It's always untimely.
Because it's unexpected.
(15:10):
And we're unprepared.
Like, he's illustrating for us,like a fish.
That fish is out there swimmingaround minding his own business.
Suddenly, it's caught.
That bird is flying around justsinging a song, and then
suddenly the net, the netappears.
(15:33):
Unexpected, unwanted,unprepared.
And now, with that, Solomon, thepreacher, he calls himself,
gives us a rather discouragingillustration.
A case study to prove his point.
Look at verse 13.
I have also seen this example ofwisdom under the sun.
(15:57):
And it seemed impressive orgreat to me.
There was a little city with fewmen in it, and a great king came
against it and besieged it,building great siege works
against it.
So you've got this little citywith only a few men in it.
(16:20):
More than likely, he's referringto there were only a few men who
could bear arms.
Only a few of them could fight.
And against this little citycomes a great king.
Here's the contrast.
You pick up on the impossibilityof this contrast, a little city
against a great king.
(16:41):
And he essentially comes out ofnowhere and builds siegeworks.
That word, siegeworks,represents the same Hebrew word
Solomon uses earlier for theword net.
See, now these people, like thatbird, are gonna be caught
(17:02):
unexpectedly in an untimelyfashion, and they're unprepared
in the net.
Now verse 15.
But there was found in it, thislittle city, a poor, wise man,
and he by his wisdom deliveredthe city.
(17:22):
But no one remembered that poorman.
But I say that wisdom is betterthan might, though the poor
man's wisdom is despised, andhis words are not heard.
Let me break this down.
Solomon says, I've seen thispoor commoner, this peasant,
he's utilizing his wisdom tosave this little city.
And instead of marking that daywith a parade, he's forgotten.
(17:50):
No honor, he's shoved aside.
And if Solomon's context ismaintained here, somebody more
popular and somebody morepowerful probably walked away
with all the credit.
So this guy's forgotten.
And that plays again into thetheme we've seen, haven't we,
brothers and sisters, under thesun that fame is fleeting and
(18:15):
people are fickle.
And this guy won the day.
Where is he?
And that's why we to this daytalk about someone having 15
seconds of fame.
Not 15 days, not fifteen years,fifteen seconds.
(18:38):
This guy doesn't even getfifteen seconds.
He goes unrewarded, and to topit all off, he's quickly
forgotten.
Now, you might look at a textlike this, filled with
unfortunate surprises, curioussurprises, a discouraging case
(18:59):
study, and come to theconclusion, Solomon is gonna
tell us, forget wisdom.
It isn't worth it.
It doesn't pay off or pay up.
It doesn't make your lifeeasier.
You don't feel the tape on yourchest because you come in first.
So why bother?
But instead, what Solomon doesis he anticipates that we would
(19:23):
think that way after theseillustrations and that case
study.
And so what he does now is hekind of slips into giving us
three encouragements orclarifications regarding wisdom.
And let me give the first one toyou in principle form.
Wisdom might not win the mostapplause, but it's still right.
(19:46):
Look at verse 16.
But I say that wisdom is betterthan might, though the poor
man's wisdom is despised, or youcould render that rejected.
Now you might take your pencilor pen and circle that word
better.
It's gonna show up in each oneof these three clarifications in
(20:06):
this text.
It's better.
Wisdom is better.
You could understand that wordmeaning in that context.
It is right.
This is the right way.
This is the right thoughtpattern.
(20:27):
This is the right path.
This is the right choice.
This is the right thing to do.
So he's saying, in spite ofeverything that happens, I just
want to remind you that wisdomis still right.
It's still right.
Even if you get passed over,it's right.
(20:50):
Even if you don't win the race,it's right.
I want to add this thought here.
I didn't know quite where to putit, but there is the gospel in
this case study.
The Lord, the peasant, thecommoner.
(21:12):
He's poor, but he's wise.
He's disregarded by the crowd,rejected, humbled unto death,
even death on a cross.
Why?
To save man's soul.
(21:33):
A little city that doesn't havea chance.
And then what happens?
He goes unrewarded.
And to this day, forgotten.
Except by the few who've beendelivered.
(21:56):
Today, like him, beloved, youmight be rejected because of
your biblical thinking andlifestyle and opinion.
But it's far better to followChrist to be rejected by earth
and accepted one day in heaven.
(22:19):
Wisdom might not win the mostapplause, but it's still right.
Secondly, wisdom might not gainthe largest audience, but it's
still right.
Notice verse 17.
The words of the wise heard inquiet are better than the
shouting of rulers of a ruleramong fools.
(22:43):
In other words, the loudestvoice isn't always the wisest
voice.
In fact, sometimes the proofthat it is not wise is that it
has to be loud.
Solomon is effectivelydescribing a loud-mouthed
(23:04):
leader.
In fact, the loud-mouthed leaderis encouraged here because he's
surrounded by a world of fools.
Notice, he writes, he is a ruleramong fools.
They're not helping him any.
(23:24):
This loudmouth leader can showup in the home, where shouting
replaces quiet wisdom.
This can happen in any churchwhere communication is replaced
with loud arguing.
This can happen in thegovernments of our world where
(23:45):
yelling replaces leading.
Solomon says here that a fewquiet words of wisdom are still
better, even if you get drownedout by the shouting of all the
fools around you.
It's still right.
(24:05):
Remember, a fool is somebody whodefies and denies the authority
of God.
That's who the fool is in theWord of God.
And sometimes those people havethe microphone.
Sometimes those people have thelarge audience and the
(24:27):
following.
So Solomon is essentially sayinghere, wisdom might not have the
largest, certainly not theloudest point of view, but it
wisdom is still right.
Thirdly, wisdom might not winthe biggest argument, but it's
still right.
Notice verse 18, wisdom isbetter than weapons of war, but
(24:50):
one sinner destroys much good.
Yes, he goes on with realism tosay one sinner can destroy so
much good.
One fool can tear down anddestroy.
In fact, Solomon points out thedisheartening reality that one
(25:13):
person can destroy so much thatis good.
Just look at Hitler.
Look at the destruction thatcame because he was believed.
Just look at Darwin and thedestruction because he's been
(25:37):
believed.
They defy God, they aim theirweapons at his truth.
Solomon says, even though onerebellious sinner seems to
destroy things faster than wisepeople can build them, don't
veer from wisdom because it'sstill right.
(25:59):
It might be the minorityopinion, but it's right.
It might get shouted down, butit's right.
It's right.
What exactly is wisdom?
This wisdom which is better.
Well, from passages ofscripture, the Hebrew word for
wisdom is described,personified, illustrated, as a
(26:23):
way of life.
Let me give you a concisedefinition here.
Wisdom is the God-given abilityto make the right decision for
the right reason at the righttime and with the right motive.
Wisdom is action.
(26:44):
It's acting, it's making, livingthe right decision for the right
reason at the right time andwith the right motive.
And so understand this thatapart from the Spirit of God,
you can't do this.
You can't live wisely.
In fact, the Bible tells us thatJesus Christ is the wisdom of
(27:09):
God.
That is, he is thepersonification of divine
wisdom, 1 Corinthians 1 24.
So the person who rejects JesusChrist loses out on wisdom.
Yes, they can make a rightdecision, but it might be for a
selfish reason.
They can make a right decision,but with the wrong motive, or at
(27:30):
the wrong time, or for the wrongreason.
But the ability to make theright decision for the right
reason, at the right time,having the right motive is an
act of wisdom that comes fromGod.
Because if you lack this wisdom,where do you go?
(27:54):
You go and ask God, whodispenses it, James tells us in
chapter 1, verse 5 if anyonelacks wisdom, let him ask God,
and God gives it.
He is the source of wisdom.
Now the unbelieving world,throughout the course of human
history, has tried for centuriesto come up with their own origin
(28:18):
of wisdom apart from creatorGod.
The Celtic religion, the Hindureligion, believe that it's from
one of their many goddesses.
The Greeks have a fascinatingview.
It's hard to even imagine it,but they believe it came from
Zeus.
They believe that Zeus swallowedwhole his expectant wife out of
(28:44):
jealousy and then delivered thechild through an opening in his
head.
Such a wise idea.
Since she was born from hishead, she became the goddess of
wisdom.
She was named Athena.
Athens, Greece, the seat ofintellectual achievement, would
(29:04):
be named after her, the city ofwisdom.
She was physically representedover the ancient centuries by an
owl, which gave rise to thesuperstition that persists to
this day that an owl is a wisebird.
(29:24):
Well, the unbelieving world isright in that they understand
that wisdom, this intangibleability to act in a certain way,
is indeed beyond us.
It's beyond human origin.
And so you can believe it camefrom Zeus, you can believe it
(29:45):
came from a goddess, or you canbelieve what the Bible says that
it comes from Creator God, thathe is the sum and substance of
wisdom.
He is in fact, Jude 25, the allwise God.
He is Wisdom.
God communicates his wisdom tous through his word.
(30:08):
Paul reminded Timothy when hewrote, But you have known the
sacred writings which are ableto give you wisdom.
2 Timothy 3, 15 to 17.
This is why you saturate yourmind and your heart with the
word of God.
King David wrote, The testimonyof the Lord is sure, making wise
(30:29):
the simple.
In other words, the written wordof God imparts to the believer
the ability to make the rightdecision at the right time for
the right reason or motive.
So what that means then is youcannot live a wise life and be a
(30:51):
distant companion of this book.
So if the last time you'velooked at this was last Sunday,
you will not have wisdom.
If you do not have arelationship that is living and
committed to the truth of thisbook, since wisdom comes from
(31:14):
outside of us through this book,then you will not have wisdom.
That's not a threat.
That's a reality.
Wise people are not the smartestpeople on their SAT scores.
Wise people are submissivepeople to the scriptures.
(31:38):
Wisdom might not win the mostapplause.
Solomon warns us, but it's stillright.
Chances are you're not going tofind a bottle half buried in the
sand carrying a note thatchanges your life.
But you have been given aninspired note, signed, as it
(32:03):
were, by God.
So you walk through life withthe author and finisher of your
faith.
And in the analogy I gave youearlier, he is that poor peasant
who is disregarded and unwanted,but who died for you and for me.
(32:24):
And because of his death on thecross, he didn't look like much
then.
But now he is ascended andseated at the right hand of the
Father in glory.
And so the encouragement thenis: even though these realities
exist, even though these fivesurprises continue to happen,
(32:49):
even though trouble comes in anuntimely fashion, and we need to
learn to expect the unexpected,let's do it.
Walking with him, leaning onhim, trusting him, our Lord and
(33:11):
Savior, Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00 (33:23):
You know, before this day is over, you're going
to have an opportunity to putthis message into practice as
you wisely apply God's Word tothe circumstances of your life.
I trust that God will use thisreminder from Ecclesiastes to
encourage you to walk wisely.
Thanks for tuning in today.
(33:44):
This is Wisdom for the Heart.
Stephen Davy is working througha series called Pursuing Wisdom
Under the Sun.
We'll continue through thissection of Ecclesiastes next
time.
Between now and then, be sureand visit our website,
wisdomonline.org, so that youcan access all of these
(34:05):
resources that we have to helpyou grow in your faith.
That address once again iswisdomonline.org.
If you have a question orcomment, you can email us at
info at wisdomonline.org.
Thanks for listening and be withus next time for more wisdom for
the heart.
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