December 4, 2025 • 28 mins
What if the most life-giving classroom is the house of mourning? Solomon’s counsel in Ecclesiastes 7 doesn’t flatter our egos; it sharpens our focus. We walk through four “better” choices that transform how we navigate an unpredictable world: contemplate your casket, choose your companions, cultivate your character, and consider your Creator. Along the way, we uncover why a good name outlasts surface impressions, why rebuke is a gift, and how nostalgia steals the chance to glorify God today.
We share candid stories, practical examples, and Scripture-saturated insights to help you trade the crackle of temporary thrills for the steady warmth of wisdom. You’ll hear how flattery dulls growth, why cutting corners backfires, and how patience outlives pride. We tackle the lure of the “good old days,” the danger of unmanaged anger, and the reality that wealth without wisdom often destroys what it promised to secure. Rather than offering quick fixes, this conversation builds a framework for making slow, strong choices that endure.
Most of all, we lean into humble trust. God authors the crooked stretches as well as the straightaways, the bright days and the hard ones. Joy in prosperity and reflection in adversity are not competing aims; they are a single life of worship under God’s sovereign care. If you’re ready to exchange noise for depth, applause for honest counsel, and control for confidence in your Creator, this is your roadmap to living wisely under the sun.
If this encouraged you, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs courage for a crooked path, and leave a review to help others find these conversations.
Stephen's latest book, The Disciples Prayer, is available now. https://www.wisdomonline.org/store/view/the-disciples-prayer-hardback
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_01 (00:05):
Teach us to number our days, teach us to think
about how fast it's flyingalong, so that we may present to
thee a heart of wisdom.
Psalm 90 verse 12.
There's a connection between thebrevity of life and the beauty
of life.
When you contemplate the brevityof your life, you're gonna
understand the beauty of lifeand ask God that you will be
(00:30):
allowed to make the most of itfor his glory.
Thinking about death invites usto become people of death.
SPEAKER_00 (00:52):
How do you make sense of life when it doesn't go
as planned?
What do you do when good newsturns bad and bad news turns out
for good?
Today on Wisdom for the Heart,Stephen Davy unpacks Solomon's
Wise Counsel from Ecclesiastes7.
You'll discover four surprisingprinciples for living wisely in
(01:16):
an unpredictable world.
This message will challenge youto take a deeper view of life,
one rooted in reverence for Godand honest reflection about your
path.
Whether you're in a series ofblessing or hardship, Stephen
will help you follow the bestadvice life has to offer.
SPEAKER_01 (01:46):
And at this point, Solomon transitions from asking,
for the most part, a lot ofcynical questions to giving
sound godly advice.
And as we begin the second halfnow with chapter seven, you'll
immediately notice if you justglance down the page that it
looks a lot like the book ofProverbs.
(02:07):
He's gonna deliver in a rapidfashion a series of contrasting
statements, uh statements ofcomparison, uh completion.
He's going to show us a betterway to live.
If you want to pursue wisdomdown here under the sun during a
very brief life, here'ssomething better.
(02:29):
In fact, he's gonna use thatword better 11 times in this
chapter.
You might circle them when youencounter them as we study
through here.
Now, in order to navigate ourway through these opening
verses, we're gonna cover 14.
This is gonna be miraculous.
I've I've organized his adviceinto four categories.
(02:52):
I just couldn't find a way tobreak it up.
So I'm gonna deal with all ofit, but I'm gonna give it to you
in four categories with fourcategorical statements.
And I want you to think of itthis way: God through Solomon is
going to give us four pieces ofvery good advice.
(03:13):
Here's the first piece ofadvice.
Contemplate your casketseriously.
Look at verse one.
A good name is better thanprecious ointment, and the day
of death implied is better thanthe day of birth.
Now, you might think this isn'tthe best way to start giving
(03:34):
advice for life, how to live.
But wisdom tells us that we areonly prepared to live when we
are truly prepared to die.
So Solomon begins this proverbnow by contrasting what matters
most.
And again, he uses the wordbetter.
What's better?
He contrasts a good name, thatis your reputation, with your
(03:57):
physical impression orappearance.
You might have, he says, thebest ointment.
You could translate that intoour culture, the best perfume or
the best cologne, but it's notworth much without a good name.
What good is perfume or cologneif your reputation stinks?
(04:23):
Basically, that's what he'ssaying.
Solomon referred to himself backin chapter one as the preacher.
Ecclesiastes literally meansassembly, gathering.
We get our word ecclesia in theGreek language from
Ecclesiastes.
This is the gathering, andSolomon says, I'm the preacher.
Now he sort of turns into aprophet.
(04:45):
And he urges us to look down thepath a little further to
something that most people don'twant to think about, most people
don't want to talk about, mostpeople don't want to want to
contemplate.
They might even refuse to thinkabout it.
Death becomes this evangelist.
(05:08):
It looks us in the eye and kindof grabs us by the lapels and
asks us, are you ready to meetGod?
That baby crib will never preacha sermon quite like that casket.
If you think Solomon doesn'twant us to miss the point, he,
(05:30):
in the next three verses,essentially takes us on a field
trip to a funeral home.
Look at verse 2.
It is better, there it is again,to go to the house of mourning
than to go to the house offeasting.
In this context, that feastingis a birthday party, celebrating
the day you were born.
For this is the end of allmankind, and the living will lay
(05:53):
it to heart.
Sorrow is better than laughter,for by sadness of face the heart
is made glad.
That is, you've contemplated thepath of your feet, and now you
have something to be glad about.
The heart of the wise is in thehouse of mourning, but the heart
of fools is in the house ofmirth.
(06:14):
Fools waste their lives onmirth.
You could think of this as funand games.
They never think beyond fun andgames.
And in Solomon's mind, nothingis more instructive, nothing is
more enlightening than going tothe house of mourning, which to
us in our culture is going to afuneral home.
(06:38):
Maybe you've noticed, if you'vebeen to one, funerals are a
wake-up call to the living,aren't they?
And everyone is a captiveaudience.
In fact, I tell my students atShepherd Seminary and a course I
teach on pastoral theology thatthere is one event in their
(07:02):
ministry life where when theystand to preach, everyone will
listen to every single word theysay.
And that's at a funeral.
It's as if the room is filledwith placards and signs that
(07:22):
people are forced to read.
Death is inevitable.
Life is brief.
Walk wisely.
Relationships matter most.
Live for Christ.
Life is short.
And on and on.
It's as if Solomon is sayinghere, let me give you a great
(07:45):
piece of advice.
Go to a funeral home.
Maybe go out to a cemetery.
Walk around.
Sit out there for a while andcontemplate your own life.
Contemplate the direction ofyour life.
Think about the fact that oneday it'll be your casket.
(08:07):
And people will gather to speakof you.
Now, Solomon isn't telling usthis because he wants us to have
a morbid moment or becomemelancholy.
No, he isn't against laughter.
It's good medicine, right?
He isn't against fun.
He isn't against birthdayparties.
But in this context, he'stelling us something that is
(08:29):
better because it will take usdeeper.
The psalmist prayed it this way: teach us to number our days, (08:33):
undefined
teach us to think about how fastit's flying along, so that we
may present to thee a heart ofwisdom.
Psalm 90, verse 12.
There's a connection between thebrevity of life and the beauty
of life.
When you contemplate the brevityof your life, you're gonna
(08:56):
understand the beauty of lifeand ask God that you will be
allowed to make the most of itfor his glory.
Thinking about death invites usto become people of depth.
The shallow person, the foolishperson never gets beyond the
(09:17):
party life.
And because of that, the secondpiece of good advice is gonna
come into play for those whowant to pursue wisdom down here
under the sun.
Here's the second piece of goodadvice: choose your companions
carefully.
Notice verse five.
It is better, there it is, for aman to hear the rebuke of the
(09:40):
wise than to hear the song offools.
For as the crackling of thornsunder a pot, so is the laughter
of the fools.
This also is vanity.
This is fleeting.
The song of fools is fleeting,it's passing.
(10:01):
The top 40 on the billboardmight be interesting or fun, but
they're earthbound and shallowand fleeting.
Now in Solomon's day, and he'sreferring to this, if you threw
some branches of a thorn bush ona fire, it would flame up
quickly.
It would provide a short burstof heat.
(10:25):
You might heat up some tea.
You'd never cook a meal.
It's quick, it's fast, it'sshort.
He's making a play on wordshere, in that the words for
thorn and pot are similar in theHebrew language.
He's effectively saying that thecrackling of a thorn bush fire
(10:46):
is like the cackling of fools.
Enjoying the company of shallowGod deniers might be
entertaining for the moment, butthe show doesn't last very long.
A world of foolish, shallowpeople happens to be our mission
field, by the way, so we don'trun from it.
But we don't want to embrace iteither.
(11:09):
Worse, we don't want to startacting like it, thinking like
it.
Solomon writes, it's vanity, itisn't gonna last long.
But you're surrounded by foolishpeople, Solomon hints here.
Do you notice in verse four areference to the heart of fools?
You might circle that phrase asI have, and then draw a line
down to verse five where youhave a reference to the song of
(11:31):
fools, and then down to versesix, where you have the laughter
of fools.
The heart of fools, the song offools, and the laughter of
fools.
In other words, you'resurrounded.
Solomon often refers in his bookof Proverbs to the importance of
friends, doesn't he?
Who challenge and strengthen oneanother.
(11:53):
He had the principle of ironsharpening iron.
It's the idea of companions whoare correcting and improving one
another's character.
Proverbs 27, verse 17.
The truth is we we become likethose we allow to influence our
lives.
We can have friends who areunbelievers, but that close
companion needs to be wise.
(12:15):
Why?
Because whoever walks with thewise becomes wise.
But the companion of foolssuffers harm.
Proverbs 13, 20.
And again, you gotta keep inmind that in Solomon's mind, a
fool isn't related tointelligence.
(12:35):
It has nothing to do with howwell you did in fifth grade.
In the Bible, a fool is someonewho denies and defies the
authority and the reality ofGod.
That kind of fool shows up inall kinds of contexts.
In fact, a fool is described bySolomon in the book of Proverbs,
71 different ways.
(12:59):
David sort of describes a foolcategorically in Psalm 14.1 as
someone who says in his heart,there is no who, there's no God.
So if you want to pursue wisdomduring this brief life under the
sun, choose your companions,choose those whom you allow to
(13:20):
influence your thinking and yourheart and your life carefully.
Now look at verse five again, hepoints out something better.
It is better for a man to hearthe rebuke of the wise than to
hear the song of fools.
Here's what he's saying.
Having someone challenge yourlife is more helpful than having
(13:43):
them sing your praises.
Don't be deceived by flattery.
Rebuke, wise rebuke, is farbetter than empty, silly,
short-lived accolades.
(14:04):
A member of Congress wastraveling through our area a
couple of weeks ago and calledmy office to see if we could
meet.
I'd never met him.
We arranged to meet, fascinatingconversation for about an hour,
30 minutes or so plus.
And that afternoon he wasleaving, in fact, to meet with a
president, and he shared with mehis testimony, a committed
(14:28):
believer.
After hearing his testimony, Iplied him with questions about
Washington, the state ofaffairs, and I promised him I
wouldn't mention his name.
He told me that over the yearshe has been given the
opportunity to deliver thegospel to many different
(14:49):
individuals in the highestreaches of power.
He said to me, There areoccasions when I am giving the
gospel to someone, and I it'spretty clear to me that they
don't even hear me.
There's so many voices drowningout the truth.
(15:14):
Can you imagine hearing fromthousands of adoring people how
great you were.
Only to one day realize therewas that one person or two or
three who were messengers oftruth.
(15:34):
That's what Solomon is warningus.
He's saying, don't be like that.
Listen to rebuke.
Be the kind of believer that'sopen to the companions of wisdom
who are willing to tell us thetruth, the wisdom of God for our
lives.
Don't turn them off.
They will do you more good thana room full of people singing
(15:59):
your praises.
Contemplate your caskethonestly.
Choose your companionscarefully.
Here's a third piece of goodadvice.
Cultivate your character wisely.
Notice verse seven now.
Surely oppression drives thewise man into madness, and the
bribe corrupts the heart.
(16:20):
Now let me put this proverb intothe form of a question.
Here it is.
How do I handle the temptationto cut the corners?
Do I have a price tag?
Can I be bought?
Come on, you know.
When the pressure's on, doingthe right thing is driving you
(16:43):
crazy, Solomon writes, intomadness.
Just relax and go with the flow.
Why do you always have to takethe high road?
What are you trying to prove?
Give in.
Everybody's doing it.
Why not take a little somethingfor yourself?
That's the message of the fool.
(17:05):
Solomon is warning all of us,especially his son, to whom he
hopes we'll read this journal.
And it seems from what we knowfrom history is that his son
ignored it.
Don't chase the quick fix.
Don't cut corners.
Don't compromise in order to getit just a little more
comfortable in life.
(17:27):
And with that, he reminds us inverse 8 notice there, better is
the end of things than itsbeginning, and the patient in
spirit is better than the proudin spirit.
In other words, keep on doingthe right thing.
Because in the end, that quickfix wasn't any better.
In fact, it was worse.
So develop then thecharacteristics of perseverance
(17:47):
and patience.
Even when life is maddening,even when that project is taking
longer than you thought, evenwhen living with integrity and
purity is much more taxing andmuch more exhausting than you
ever imagine.
Stay at it.
Develop that kind of characterthat refuses the shortcut in
(18:08):
life.
Now, verse 9, be not quick inyour spirit to become angry.
For anger lodges in the heart offools.
Anger, you could translate it,is constantly lurking in the
heart.
That isn't just for people whodeny God.
He's telling us not to be likethem because we can be like
(18:30):
them.
Don't be quick to become angry.
Let's turn this proverb into aprinciple, convicting as it
might be.
Here's what Solomon is saying: an angry spirit is a reality (18:38):
undefined
check.
I might not be as distinctivefrom the world as I thought I
was.
Or think I am.
Where does anger show up?
Where is where is that fuse?
It's real short.
Well, he isn't telling us, well,now that you follow God, that
(19:00):
that's all been taken care of.
You never have to worry aboutthat again.
No, you have that issue to dealwith.
Let's move on to verse 10.
Say not, why were the formerdays better than these?
For it is not from wisdom thatyou ask this.
Why were the former days betterthan these?
(19:22):
Is that a verse for today orwhat?
Let's talk about the good olddays it used to be back then.
Were they ever good days backthen?
Why can't we get the good olddays back again?
When are we ever gonna get thosegood days back again?
Think about it for a moment,though.
Think about this.
Solomon is writing this abouthis generation in 970 BC.
(19:49):
When are we gonna get the goodold days back?
Every generation has thisproblem.
Every generation has the naturalinclination toward a
discontented heart about todayand yesterday was so much
better.
Really?
Oh, for the leeks and onions ofEgypt.
Can you believe they actuallysaid that?
(20:12):
Everything was better back then.
Love the way one author wrote inhis commentary.
He said, here's what the goodold days really are.
The good old days are acombination of a good
imagination and a bad memory.
But here's the larger issue.
Why is it not wise?
Why does he say you talk likethat, you're not wise?
(20:35):
Let me put it into a principle.
Pining for the past doesn'tsolve any problems in the
present.
It just makes you complain aboutthe present.
And furthermore, it overlooksthe fact, which isn't glorifying
to God, that God was God wasjust as involved back there in
(20:58):
970 BC as he was in 1950 A.D.
or 2020 for that matter.
The bigger issue is that we tendto pine for the past and we we
we airbrush the past.
(21:18):
We glorify the past, which isunbelief.
We miss then the opportunity tobring glory to God in the
present.
What do you want to do today,Lord?
This is the day the Lord hasmade.
We will complain about what itused to be.
We will rejoice and be glad init.
(21:41):
That's a little convicting.
Let's go to verse 11.
Okay, wisdom is good with aninheritance, an advantage to
those who see the sun.
For the protection of wisdom islike the protection of money,
and the advantage of knowledgeis that wisdom preserves the
life of him who has it.
Solomon is delivering a warninghere that receiving an
(22:02):
inheritance is a good thing, butwithout wisdom, that inheritance
is more than likely going todestroy your life.
And you just think about howmany lives you've read of who
received some immenseinheritance, a child or a
grandchild, and they just thetruck backed up and unloaded.
(22:26):
And you've read about theirlives essentially
disintegrating.
Why?
Because suddenly they hadwealth, but they did not have
wisdom.
You cannot manage it, it isn'twrong to have it, but with it
comes the great need for wisdom.
Solomon, in fact, says, doesn'tsay here that an inheritance is
a bad thing.
(22:47):
But your life isn't going to beprotected or preserved and a
life worth living withoutwisdom.
A wealthy multimillionaire oncetold me that in confidence a few
years before he died, that hewas going to leave his millions
to ministry causes because he hesaid, if I left it all to my
children, he said, I know itwill ruin their lives.
(23:15):
Let's cultivate thecharacteristics of integrity and
patience and trust in God.
Now Solomon has delivered somelife-changing counsel here.
First, contemplate your casketseriously.
Second, choose your companionscarefully.
Third, cultivate your characterwisely.
(23:39):
Now here's the final category ofgood advice.
Number four, consider yourcreator humbly.
Look at verse 13.
Consider the work of God.
Who can make straight what hehas made crooked?
In the day of prosperity, bejoyful.
(24:00):
And in the day of adversity,consider God has made.
God has created the one as wellas the other, so that man may
not find any, find out anythingthat will be after him.
I mean, let me put this textinto the form of two statements.
First, God constructed thetwists and turns of life to
(24:24):
strengthen our spiritualconfidence in him.
Go back to verse 13 again.
Consider the work of God who canmake straight what he has made
crooked.
Get the implications.
God has created your windingcrooked path.
(24:45):
The reason you can't see veryfar ahead down that path is
because you can't see around thecorner, and God has created all
kinds of corners in your life.
He designed your race with oneturn after another.
Your walk with God is not astraight line from earth to
(25:07):
heaven.
We all want it to be, but itisn't.
God did that.
God created that winding pathfor reasons he may never explain
the side of heaven.
And so with humility we bow athis throne and we develop
confidence, not that it's gonnasmooth out or straighten out,
(25:30):
but confidence in our creatorwho made it that way.
Second, here's the secondprinciple.
God created the ups and downs oflife to stabilize our dependence
on him.
Look at verse 14 again.
(25:55):
He has created the ups and downsof life.
It isn't always uphill, and itisn't always downhill.
And the truth is, as Solomonadds here, we don't know what's
gonna happen the day aftertomorrow.
We don't know what's gonnahappen an hour from now.
God is in control of that.
(26:16):
From the day of your birth tothe day of your death, that
winding, crooked road and allthe ups and downs of life.
The creator designed that pathjust for you and for me.
So what are we gonna do aboutit?
Solomon says, Let me give you apiece of really good advice.
(26:38):
Consider your creator, trustyour creator with all humility.
SPEAKER_00 (26:55):
Today, we've received advice from the wisest
man who ever lived, KingSolomon.
And his advice to you no matterwhat happens, trust and follow
your creator God.
Thanks for joining us today hereon Wisdom for the Heart.
With this message, Stephen Davyopens a series from Ecclesiastes
(27:18):
called Pursuing Wisdom Under theSun.
We're going to be looking atwhat it means to live wisely in
the days ahead.
Today's message is calledFollowing the Best Advice.
I invite you to learn more aboutour ministry and access all of
our resources by visiting usonline at wisdomonline.org.
(27:42):
That site contains the completearchive of Stephen's four
decades of teaching God's Word.
You can listen to all of hissermons and messages, and you
can read all of his manuscripts.
Once again, that website iswisdomonline.org.
Join us next time on Wisdom forthe Heart.
Teach us to number our days, teach us to think
about how fast it's flyingalong, so that we may present to
thee a heart of wisdom.
Psalm 90 verse 12.
There's a connection between thebrevity of life and the beauty
of life.
When you contemplate the brevityof your life, you're gonna
understand the beauty of lifeand ask God that you will be
(00:30):
allowed to make the most of itfor his glory.
Thinking about death invites usto become people of death.
SPEAKER_00 (00:52):
How do you make sense of life when it doesn't go
as planned?
What do you do when good newsturns bad and bad news turns out
for good?
Today on Wisdom for the Heart,Stephen Davy unpacks Solomon's
Wise Counsel from Ecclesiastes7.
You'll discover four surprisingprinciples for living wisely in
(01:16):
an unpredictable world.
This message will challenge youto take a deeper view of life,
one rooted in reverence for Godand honest reflection about your
path.
Whether you're in a series ofblessing or hardship, Stephen
will help you follow the bestadvice life has to offer.
SPEAKER_01 (01:46):
And at this point, Solomon transitions from asking,
for the most part, a lot ofcynical questions to giving
sound godly advice.
And as we begin the second halfnow with chapter seven, you'll
immediately notice if you justglance down the page that it
looks a lot like the book ofProverbs.
(02:07):
He's gonna deliver in a rapidfashion a series of contrasting
statements, uh statements ofcomparison, uh completion.
He's going to show us a betterway to live.
If you want to pursue wisdomdown here under the sun during a
very brief life, here'ssomething better.
(02:29):
In fact, he's gonna use thatword better 11 times in this
chapter.
You might circle them when youencounter them as we study
through here.
Now, in order to navigate ourway through these opening
verses, we're gonna cover 14.
This is gonna be miraculous.
I've I've organized his adviceinto four categories.
(02:52):
I just couldn't find a way tobreak it up.
So I'm gonna deal with all ofit, but I'm gonna give it to you
in four categories with fourcategorical statements.
And I want you to think of itthis way: God through Solomon is
going to give us four pieces ofvery good advice.
(03:13):
Here's the first piece ofadvice.
Contemplate your casketseriously.
Look at verse one.
A good name is better thanprecious ointment, and the day
of death implied is better thanthe day of birth.
Now, you might think this isn'tthe best way to start giving
(03:34):
advice for life, how to live.
But wisdom tells us that we areonly prepared to live when we
are truly prepared to die.
So Solomon begins this proverbnow by contrasting what matters
most.
And again, he uses the wordbetter.
What's better?
He contrasts a good name, thatis your reputation, with your
(03:57):
physical impression orappearance.
You might have, he says, thebest ointment.
You could translate that intoour culture, the best perfume or
the best cologne, but it's notworth much without a good name.
What good is perfume or cologneif your reputation stinks?
(04:23):
Basically, that's what he'ssaying.
Solomon referred to himself backin chapter one as the preacher.
Ecclesiastes literally meansassembly, gathering.
We get our word ecclesia in theGreek language from
Ecclesiastes.
This is the gathering, andSolomon says, I'm the preacher.
Now he sort of turns into aprophet.
(04:45):
And he urges us to look down thepath a little further to
something that most people don'twant to think about, most people
don't want to talk about, mostpeople don't want to want to
contemplate.
They might even refuse to thinkabout it.
Death becomes this evangelist.
(05:08):
It looks us in the eye and kindof grabs us by the lapels and
asks us, are you ready to meetGod?
That baby crib will never preacha sermon quite like that casket.
If you think Solomon doesn'twant us to miss the point, he,
(05:30):
in the next three verses,essentially takes us on a field
trip to a funeral home.
Look at verse 2.
It is better, there it is again,to go to the house of mourning
than to go to the house offeasting.
In this context, that feastingis a birthday party, celebrating
the day you were born.
For this is the end of allmankind, and the living will lay
(05:53):
it to heart.
Sorrow is better than laughter,for by sadness of face the heart
is made glad.
That is, you've contemplated thepath of your feet, and now you
have something to be glad about.
The heart of the wise is in thehouse of mourning, but the heart
of fools is in the house ofmirth.
(06:14):
Fools waste their lives onmirth.
You could think of this as funand games.
They never think beyond fun andgames.
And in Solomon's mind, nothingis more instructive, nothing is
more enlightening than going tothe house of mourning, which to
us in our culture is going to afuneral home.
(06:38):
Maybe you've noticed, if you'vebeen to one, funerals are a
wake-up call to the living,aren't they?
And everyone is a captiveaudience.
In fact, I tell my students atShepherd Seminary and a course I
teach on pastoral theology thatthere is one event in their
(07:02):
ministry life where when theystand to preach, everyone will
listen to every single word theysay.
And that's at a funeral.
It's as if the room is filledwith placards and signs that
(07:22):
people are forced to read.
Death is inevitable.
Life is brief.
Walk wisely.
Relationships matter most.
Live for Christ.
Life is short.
And on and on.
It's as if Solomon is sayinghere, let me give you a great
(07:45):
piece of advice.
Go to a funeral home.
Maybe go out to a cemetery.
Walk around.
Sit out there for a while andcontemplate your own life.
Contemplate the direction ofyour life.
Think about the fact that oneday it'll be your casket.
(08:07):
And people will gather to speakof you.
Now, Solomon isn't telling usthis because he wants us to have
a morbid moment or becomemelancholy.
No, he isn't against laughter.
It's good medicine, right?
He isn't against fun.
He isn't against birthdayparties.
But in this context, he'stelling us something that is
(08:29):
better because it will take usdeeper.
The psalmist prayed it this way: teach us to number our days, (08:33):
undefined
teach us to think about how fastit's flying along, so that we
may present to thee a heart ofwisdom.
Psalm 90, verse 12.
There's a connection between thebrevity of life and the beauty
of life.
When you contemplate the brevityof your life, you're gonna
(08:56):
understand the beauty of lifeand ask God that you will be
allowed to make the most of itfor his glory.
Thinking about death invites usto become people of depth.
The shallow person, the foolishperson never gets beyond the
(09:17):
party life.
And because of that, the secondpiece of good advice is gonna
come into play for those whowant to pursue wisdom down here
under the sun.
Here's the second piece of goodadvice: choose your companions
carefully.
Notice verse five.
It is better, there it is, for aman to hear the rebuke of the
(09:40):
wise than to hear the song offools.
For as the crackling of thornsunder a pot, so is the laughter
of the fools.
This also is vanity.
This is fleeting.
The song of fools is fleeting,it's passing.
(10:01):
The top 40 on the billboardmight be interesting or fun, but
they're earthbound and shallowand fleeting.
Now in Solomon's day, and he'sreferring to this, if you threw
some branches of a thorn bush ona fire, it would flame up
quickly.
It would provide a short burstof heat.
(10:25):
You might heat up some tea.
You'd never cook a meal.
It's quick, it's fast, it'sshort.
He's making a play on wordshere, in that the words for
thorn and pot are similar in theHebrew language.
He's effectively saying that thecrackling of a thorn bush fire
(10:46):
is like the cackling of fools.
Enjoying the company of shallowGod deniers might be
entertaining for the moment, butthe show doesn't last very long.
A world of foolish, shallowpeople happens to be our mission
field, by the way, so we don'trun from it.
But we don't want to embrace iteither.
(11:09):
Worse, we don't want to startacting like it, thinking like
it.
Solomon writes, it's vanity, itisn't gonna last long.
But you're surrounded by foolishpeople, Solomon hints here.
Do you notice in verse four areference to the heart of fools?
You might circle that phrase asI have, and then draw a line
down to verse five where youhave a reference to the song of
(11:31):
fools, and then down to versesix, where you have the laughter
of fools.
The heart of fools, the song offools, and the laughter of
fools.
In other words, you'resurrounded.
Solomon often refers in his bookof Proverbs to the importance of
friends, doesn't he?
Who challenge and strengthen oneanother.
(11:53):
He had the principle of ironsharpening iron.
It's the idea of companions whoare correcting and improving one
another's character.
Proverbs 27, verse 17.
The truth is we we become likethose we allow to influence our
lives.
We can have friends who areunbelievers, but that close
companion needs to be wise.
(12:15):
Why?
Because whoever walks with thewise becomes wise.
But the companion of foolssuffers harm.
Proverbs 13, 20.
And again, you gotta keep inmind that in Solomon's mind, a
fool isn't related tointelligence.
(12:35):
It has nothing to do with howwell you did in fifth grade.
In the Bible, a fool is someonewho denies and defies the
authority and the reality ofGod.
That kind of fool shows up inall kinds of contexts.
In fact, a fool is described bySolomon in the book of Proverbs,
71 different ways.
(12:59):
David sort of describes a foolcategorically in Psalm 14.1 as
someone who says in his heart,there is no who, there's no God.
So if you want to pursue wisdomduring this brief life under the
sun, choose your companions,choose those whom you allow to
(13:20):
influence your thinking and yourheart and your life carefully.
Now look at verse five again, hepoints out something better.
It is better for a man to hearthe rebuke of the wise than to
hear the song of fools.
Here's what he's saying.
Having someone challenge yourlife is more helpful than having
(13:43):
them sing your praises.
Don't be deceived by flattery.
Rebuke, wise rebuke, is farbetter than empty, silly,
short-lived accolades.
(14:04):
A member of Congress wastraveling through our area a
couple of weeks ago and calledmy office to see if we could
meet.
I'd never met him.
We arranged to meet, fascinatingconversation for about an hour,
30 minutes or so plus.
And that afternoon he wasleaving, in fact, to meet with a
president, and he shared with mehis testimony, a committed
(14:28):
believer.
After hearing his testimony, Iplied him with questions about
Washington, the state ofaffairs, and I promised him I
wouldn't mention his name.
He told me that over the yearshe has been given the
opportunity to deliver thegospel to many different
(14:49):
individuals in the highestreaches of power.
He said to me, There areoccasions when I am giving the
gospel to someone, and I it'spretty clear to me that they
don't even hear me.
There's so many voices drowningout the truth.
(15:14):
Can you imagine hearing fromthousands of adoring people how
great you were.
Only to one day realize therewas that one person or two or
three who were messengers oftruth.
(15:34):
That's what Solomon is warningus.
He's saying, don't be like that.
Listen to rebuke.
Be the kind of believer that'sopen to the companions of wisdom
who are willing to tell us thetruth, the wisdom of God for our
lives.
Don't turn them off.
They will do you more good thana room full of people singing
(15:59):
your praises.
Contemplate your caskethonestly.
Choose your companionscarefully.
Here's a third piece of goodadvice.
Cultivate your character wisely.
Notice verse seven now.
Surely oppression drives thewise man into madness, and the
bribe corrupts the heart.
(16:20):
Now let me put this proverb intothe form of a question.
Here it is.
How do I handle the temptationto cut the corners?
Do I have a price tag?
Can I be bought?
Come on, you know.
When the pressure's on, doingthe right thing is driving you
(16:43):
crazy, Solomon writes, intomadness.
Just relax and go with the flow.
Why do you always have to takethe high road?
What are you trying to prove?
Give in.
Everybody's doing it.
Why not take a little somethingfor yourself?
That's the message of the fool.
(17:05):
Solomon is warning all of us,especially his son, to whom he
hopes we'll read this journal.
And it seems from what we knowfrom history is that his son
ignored it.
Don't chase the quick fix.
Don't cut corners.
Don't compromise in order to getit just a little more
comfortable in life.
(17:27):
And with that, he reminds us inverse 8 notice there, better is
the end of things than itsbeginning, and the patient in
spirit is better than the proudin spirit.
In other words, keep on doingthe right thing.
Because in the end, that quickfix wasn't any better.
In fact, it was worse.
So develop then thecharacteristics of perseverance
(17:47):
and patience.
Even when life is maddening,even when that project is taking
longer than you thought, evenwhen living with integrity and
purity is much more taxing andmuch more exhausting than you
ever imagine.
Stay at it.
Develop that kind of characterthat refuses the shortcut in
(18:08):
life.
Now, verse 9, be not quick inyour spirit to become angry.
For anger lodges in the heart offools.
Anger, you could translate it,is constantly lurking in the
heart.
That isn't just for people whodeny God.
He's telling us not to be likethem because we can be like
(18:30):
them.
Don't be quick to become angry.
Let's turn this proverb into aprinciple, convicting as it
might be.
Here's what Solomon is saying: an angry spirit is a reality (18:38):
undefined
check.
I might not be as distinctivefrom the world as I thought I
was.
Or think I am.
Where does anger show up?
Where is where is that fuse?
It's real short.
Well, he isn't telling us, well,now that you follow God, that
(19:00):
that's all been taken care of.
You never have to worry aboutthat again.
No, you have that issue to dealwith.
Let's move on to verse 10.
Say not, why were the formerdays better than these?
For it is not from wisdom thatyou ask this.
Why were the former days betterthan these?
(19:22):
Is that a verse for today orwhat?
Let's talk about the good olddays it used to be back then.
Were they ever good days backthen?
Why can't we get the good olddays back again?
When are we ever gonna get thosegood days back again?
Think about it for a moment,though.
Think about this.
Solomon is writing this abouthis generation in 970 BC.
(19:49):
When are we gonna get the goodold days back?
Every generation has thisproblem.
Every generation has the naturalinclination toward a
discontented heart about todayand yesterday was so much
better.
Really?
Oh, for the leeks and onions ofEgypt.
Can you believe they actuallysaid that?
(20:12):
Everything was better back then.
Love the way one author wrote inhis commentary.
He said, here's what the goodold days really are.
The good old days are acombination of a good
imagination and a bad memory.
But here's the larger issue.
Why is it not wise?
Why does he say you talk likethat, you're not wise?
(20:35):
Let me put it into a principle.
Pining for the past doesn'tsolve any problems in the
present.
It just makes you complain aboutthe present.
And furthermore, it overlooksthe fact, which isn't glorifying
to God, that God was God wasjust as involved back there in
(20:58):
970 BC as he was in 1950 A.D.
or 2020 for that matter.
The bigger issue is that we tendto pine for the past and we we
we airbrush the past.
(21:18):
We glorify the past, which isunbelief.
We miss then the opportunity tobring glory to God in the
present.
What do you want to do today,Lord?
This is the day the Lord hasmade.
We will complain about what itused to be.
We will rejoice and be glad init.
(21:41):
That's a little convicting.
Let's go to verse 11.
Okay, wisdom is good with aninheritance, an advantage to
those who see the sun.
For the protection of wisdom islike the protection of money,
and the advantage of knowledgeis that wisdom preserves the
life of him who has it.
Solomon is delivering a warninghere that receiving an
(22:02):
inheritance is a good thing, butwithout wisdom, that inheritance
is more than likely going todestroy your life.
And you just think about howmany lives you've read of who
received some immenseinheritance, a child or a
grandchild, and they just thetruck backed up and unloaded.
(22:26):
And you've read about theirlives essentially
disintegrating.
Why?
Because suddenly they hadwealth, but they did not have
wisdom.
You cannot manage it, it isn'twrong to have it, but with it
comes the great need for wisdom.
Solomon, in fact, says, doesn'tsay here that an inheritance is
a bad thing.
(22:47):
But your life isn't going to beprotected or preserved and a
life worth living withoutwisdom.
A wealthy multimillionaire oncetold me that in confidence a few
years before he died, that hewas going to leave his millions
to ministry causes because he hesaid, if I left it all to my
children, he said, I know itwill ruin their lives.
(23:15):
Let's cultivate thecharacteristics of integrity and
patience and trust in God.
Now Solomon has delivered somelife-changing counsel here.
First, contemplate your casketseriously.
Second, choose your companionscarefully.
Third, cultivate your characterwisely.
(23:39):
Now here's the final category ofgood advice.
Number four, consider yourcreator humbly.
Look at verse 13.
Consider the work of God.
Who can make straight what hehas made crooked?
In the day of prosperity, bejoyful.
(24:00):
And in the day of adversity,consider God has made.
God has created the one as wellas the other, so that man may
not find any, find out anythingthat will be after him.
I mean, let me put this textinto the form of two statements.
First, God constructed thetwists and turns of life to
(24:24):
strengthen our spiritualconfidence in him.
Go back to verse 13 again.
Consider the work of God who canmake straight what he has made
crooked.
Get the implications.
God has created your windingcrooked path.
(24:45):
The reason you can't see veryfar ahead down that path is
because you can't see around thecorner, and God has created all
kinds of corners in your life.
He designed your race with oneturn after another.
Your walk with God is not astraight line from earth to
(25:07):
heaven.
We all want it to be, but itisn't.
God did that.
God created that winding pathfor reasons he may never explain
the side of heaven.
And so with humility we bow athis throne and we develop
confidence, not that it's gonnasmooth out or straighten out,
(25:30):
but confidence in our creatorwho made it that way.
Second, here's the secondprinciple.
God created the ups and downs oflife to stabilize our dependence
on him.
Look at verse 14 again.
(25:55):
He has created the ups and downsof life.
It isn't always uphill, and itisn't always downhill.
And the truth is, as Solomonadds here, we don't know what's
gonna happen the day aftertomorrow.
We don't know what's gonnahappen an hour from now.
God is in control of that.
(26:16):
From the day of your birth tothe day of your death, that
winding, crooked road and allthe ups and downs of life.
The creator designed that pathjust for you and for me.
So what are we gonna do aboutit?
Solomon says, Let me give you apiece of really good advice.
(26:38):
Consider your creator, trustyour creator with all humility.
SPEAKER_00 (26:55):
Today, we've received advice from the wisest
man who ever lived, KingSolomon.
And his advice to you no matterwhat happens, trust and follow
your creator God.
Thanks for joining us today hereon Wisdom for the Heart.
With this message, Stephen Davyopens a series from Ecclesiastes
(27:18):
called Pursuing Wisdom Under theSun.
We're going to be looking atwhat it means to live wisely in
the days ahead.
Today's message is calledFollowing the Best Advice.
I invite you to learn more aboutour ministry and access all of
our resources by visiting usonline at wisdomonline.org.
(27:42):
That site contains the completearchive of Stephen's four
decades of teaching God's Word.
You can listen to all of hissermons and messages, and you
can read all of his manuscripts.
Once again, that website iswisdomonline.org.
Join us next time on Wisdom forthe Heart.
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