December 9, 2025 • 28 mins
Ever feel like you’re working a thousand-piece puzzle and the last piece is missing? We walk through Ecclesiastes 8 and name the frustrations most of us carry in silence: leaders who misuse power, public saints who live private lies, justice that moves like molasses, and rewards that seem to land on the wrong people. Instead of pretending these tensions don’t exist, we bring them into the light and ask what anchors a sane life when outcomes are unfair and answers don’t arrive on schedule.
From Solomon’s journal we trace four puzzles and hold them up to a larger horizon. We talk about the grief of seeing hypocrisy praised and how religious performance can mask a restless heart. We look at the slow grind of human courts and then widen the frame to a final court where the record is complete, the verdict is flawless, and every mouth is silenced. That’s where we meet the best news of all: an Advocate who has already satisfied holy justice, who speaks for the guilty, and who sets sinners free because he bore the sentence himself.
Then we get practical. Gratitude for ordinary gifts—food, drink, work, clothing—reframes our days, and trust for the unseen corners steadies our nights. You don’t need every answer to move forward; you need the One who holds the final piece. If your life picture feels incomplete, come sooner to the hand that keeps it. Listen now, share this with a friend who needs hope, and if the message strengthens you, subscribe and leave a review to help others find it.
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_02 (00:06):
The only hope we have is when measured against
the holy standard of God.
We have one John describes to usas our advocate.
He has already spoken on ourbehalf to the jury of God's
righteous judgment on thatcross.
I have already then experiencedin their place the sentence of
(00:28):
separation.
I have already experienced thepenalty for every one of their
sins.
That's why they get to go free.
SPEAKER_00 (01:13):
If you've ever wondered why life feels like a
puzzle with a missing piece,this message is for you.
Solomon describes injustice,hypocrisy, and unanswered
questions.
Then he points you to the onetruth that ties it all together.
God holds the missing piece inhis hand.
(01:36):
This message is called themissing piece.
SPEAKER_02 (01:42):
Over the years I have pulled the same trick on my
children, and now I'm able topull the same trick on my
grandchildren.
When we're putting together ajigsaw puzzle, kids love putting
those puzzles together.
You know, of course, it startsout where the pieces are wooden
and they're as big as dinnerplates.
But when you get to the 250pieces, I like pulling the same
(02:06):
trick.
I'll slip one of those piecesoff to the side and put it in my
shirt pocket.
Just one of those simplepleasures in life for
grandfathers.
We'll work feverishly away atthat, you know, that challenge,
and they're entirely dedicatedto conquering it.
(02:26):
And we're nearing the goal, justyou know, a few more pieces.
They're gonna insist, of course,that they put the last few
pieces on, and I'm more thanhappy to let them.
And then comes that moment, thatmoment of sheer terror.
There is a piece missing.
I keep a calm expression, youknow.
(02:47):
I suggest they look on thefloor, be in the box.
And uh then at some pointthey'll see me smiling.
I just can't hide it.
And I'll open my hand and I'llsay, Well, would you look at
that?
Then they put me in timeout forthe rest of the afternoon.
Frankly, there is nothing.
(03:08):
If you like doing puzzles,there's nothing like coming down
to the end and missing onepiece.
That just ties it all together.
It just doesn't seem right.
Frankly, it's true in life.
It's not any more challengingand difficult than missing
pieces.
Confusing?
Discouraging?
(03:29):
Certainly.
Solomon has been recording forus in his private journal some
of these puzzling moments thatare frightening and confusing
and disappointing, and there's amissing piece somewhere, and in
that first half of the journal,it would end often with
cynicism.
And now, in the second half ofthe journal, Solomon has been
(03:53):
recording these moments and heand he turns the corner for us
in a way and points to the Lord.
We're back today in chaptereight, if you're new to our
study.
And Solomon is gonna bring upwhat I'll just call four more
puzzles.
He's dealt with some of these inthe past, but he sort of strings
them together here.
He's making observations of lifedown here under the sun.
(04:16):
You could easily be led tobitterness and frustration and
despair, but he's gonna point usultimately to God.
Let me give you the first puzzleand then we'll look at the text.
Here it is.
Why is it that people in poweroften abuse the lives of others?
Look at verse nine.
(04:37):
All this I observed whileapplying my heart to all that is
done under the sun, when man hadpower over man to his hurt.
Now that opening line whereSolomon says, I've observed all
these things down here under thesun, it isn't a reference to all
the things that preceded it.
Verse 9 is sort of a categoricalheading.
(04:58):
It really ought to front thisnext section.
These are observations that nowfollow.
Here's what I've seen down hereunder the sun.
This is how life seems to work.
And the first observation isthose in authority often misuse
(05:19):
their authority.
Now, it ought to immediatelyinform us that if you think that
your boss or your supervisor orthose in authority over you in
your world or in your cultureare doing something new, that
you're experiencing somethingnew, that maybe mankind's just
getting worse than ever.
(05:39):
Well, keep in mind, Solomon isobserving this behavior more
than 3,000 years ago.
This is fallen, corrupt humannature.
There's a reason we have asaying in our own English
language (05:55):
power corrupts and absolute power corrupts
absolutely.
In fact, one historian writing ahundred years ago said this.
He said that it seems that aperson's sense of morality
decreases as their powerincreases.
(06:17):
Solomon essentially says, thisis what I've seen over the
course of my life, which is kindof interesting because Solomon
is doing it too.
In fact, when he finally endshis reign and his son gets on
the throne, they say, Look,would you please, Rahum, give us
some relief, your father'staxation and his forced labor,
it's wearing us out.
(06:38):
They were abused by this king.
So he's really reflecting hisown life.
But he's also observing it inothers that it just seems that
you give them a little power andtheir care and concern for
others diminishesproportionately.
Here's another puzzle in life.
Secondly, why is it thathypocrites often receive the
(07:00):
loudest praise?
Look at verse 10.
Then I saw the wicked buried.
They used to go in and out ofthe holy place and were praised
in the city where they had donesuch things.
Then I saw the wicked buried.
(07:20):
Solomon's evidently been to afuneral.
He specifically watched morethan one, we'll narrow it down
to just one, one individualwho's wicked being buried in a
rather elaborate funeral.
The Hebrew word, by the way, forwicked is used in Job 9.24 of
(07:41):
someone who is guilty of crimes.
In Genesis 18, verse 23, someonewho refuses God's moral
standards.
It's used by Isaiah the prophetin chapter 14, verse 5, for
someone who oppresses theinnocent.
You notice here, though, theimplication is that these people
are well known.
This person is well respected inthe community as a following.
(08:05):
He's evidently well enough tohave a funeral where even the
king is in the audience.
I mean, you gotta be somebody tohave the king at your funeral.
But according to Solomon, thisperson had only just stayed, you
know, kind of one step ahead ofthe law.
(08:26):
They never really found out whathe was really like.
Solomon knew.
He didn't tell us how he knew,but everybody in the city's
praising them.
Oh, this person is amazing.
They got a following, a lot oflikes, you know, or whatever.
And Solomon says, I know thatthey're actually corrupt.
(08:47):
Kind of reminded me of oneillustration I came across
recently, another side of thestory I didn't know.
Wealthy man in Chicago, knownfor his generosity, lived during
the difficult days of theDepression in the early 1900s.
He was rich, financiallydiversified.
Wall Street's crash didn'treally affect him all that much.
He considered himself, quote,blessed by God, end quote.
(09:11):
In 1930, at the height of thedepression, he, with his own
money, bought a huge three-storybuilding downtown, turned it
into a soup kitchen, paid forthe building, and paid for all
the food.
They would feed in that massivebuilding 3,000 people a day,
young big sign out front.
It said, Food for the jobless.
(09:34):
By the time they had given awaymore than a hundred thousand
meals to the unemployed andtheir families, they just quit
counting.
He was anonymous with all thiswidespread philanthropy and
gratitude from others.
Newspaper reporters began tosearch for the one they called
(09:59):
Mr.
Gooddeed.
It's the nickname they gave him.
They finally identified him.
This businessman, this wealthyphilanthropist, was honored
immediately by throngs ofpeople.
They wanted his autograph.
A well-known school ofjournalism even awarded him the
top, among the top ten mostinfluential people in modern
(10:24):
world history, right up therewith Lindbergh and Einstein and
even Gandhi made the list.
He even cited publicly then,using his influence.
He agreed this that the motionpicture industry needed to be
censored.
In one interview, he said, and Iquote, honor and truth and the
(10:45):
law are falling from publicrespect.
Only near the end of his careerdid public opinion change when
the full story came out aboutthe career of Mr.
Al Capone and who he really was.
He was found out before he died.
(11:06):
Solomon saw a few of them buriedwho were never found out.
And it bothered him.
It bothered him that hypocrisywould be so praised.
In fact, notice Solomon addsthis rather interesting fact
about this individual.
Look at verse 10 again.
They used to go in and out ofthe holy place and were praised
(11:29):
in the city.
So now add the element of piety.
Now add the element, and notjust Mr.
Goodyear, but this is a guy thatnever misses a service.
He's religious.
He's righteous.
He's a holy man.
This person would go in and outof the holy place.
It's as if Solomon is saying theguy had a key to the front door.
(11:53):
The priest would have known hisname.
He met all the festivalobligations.
He brought all the sacrifices.
He prayed all the prayers.
Solomon says, I saw that wickedindividual buried.
You should have heard how theypraised him in the city.
They made him out to be a saint.
You should have heard the sermonat his funeral.
(12:14):
He was just going through thereligious motions.
The religious motions are vastlydifferent from a regenerated
heart.
Solomon asks, why is it that theworst hypocrites often receive
the most praise?
A third puzzle.
Solomon points out, why is itthat the wheels of justice turn
(12:39):
slowly and sometimes not at all?
Look at verse 11.
Because the sentence against anevil deed is not executed
speedily, the heart of thechildren of man is fully set to
do evil.
Look at him.
A sinner does evil a hundredtimes and prolongs his life.
He lives a long time.
(13:00):
He doesn't only not get caught,he's the guy that has the best
health in the community.
Yet I know.
Solomon moves from I saw to Iknow.
I know that it will be well withthose who fear God, that is,
those who trust him.
It will not be well with thewicked.
(13:21):
Neither will he prolong hisdays.
They're just like a shadow.
Now, what Solomon is here inthis illustration is he takes us
full circle.
He shows us how the missingpiece eventually fits in.
But notice how he begins.
Justice isn't served.
(13:43):
They think they're getting awaywith it.
And then they'll do it again andup to a hundred times.
Hey, I'm getting away with it.
Lightning didn't strike.
The wheels of justice aren'tturning.
And if there's a God in heaven,well, he's asleep at the wheel.
(14:04):
Looks like it.
Solomon says here one of thepuzzling things about life is
that evil people seem to begetting away with breaking the
law.
They repeat the crime a hundredtimes.
Maybe they're clever.
Maybe they're clever enough toevade the law.
Maybe they had a good lawyer.
Robert Frost once wrote tonguein cheek that a jury is twelve
(14:28):
people chosen to decide on whohas the best lawyer.
Maybe they had connections.
Never mind, notice here howSolomon says their lives are
like a shadow.
Well, think about this for amoment.
Shadows get longer and longerand longer when just before the
(14:49):
sun sets.
The Bible fills in the missingpiece of what Solomon refers to
Revelation 20, the judgment day,when all the unredeemed of all
of human history will be broughtinto that court.
(15:09):
And Paul will describe it in hisinspired letter to the Romans in
chapter 3 and verse 19, to thepoint where every mouth will be
closed.
What that means is there willarrive at that individual moment
in every person's life whentheir mouths will stop.
(15:32):
That is, they'll run out ofexcuses, they'll run out of
reasons.
They will be, and this is theterror of it to me, they will
arrive at that point where theywill become then convinced of
God's holy justice.
And that they are withoutexcuse.
(15:56):
That gavel will strike the benchand the sentence of everlasting
judgment will be delivered, itwill be undeniable, it will be
unarguable, it will beunavoidable, it will be
unchangeable, it will beeternal.
(16:17):
What hope do you have?
What hope do I have?
This day we all filled anothervolume with sin.
The only hope we have is whenmeasured against the holy
standard of God.
We have one John describes to usas our perfect advocate.
(16:46):
He has already spoken on ourbehalf to the jury of God's
righteous judgment.
Yes, he sinned, yes, he sinnedagain, yes, she sinned and she
sinned again.
And again and again and again.
Oh, how they sinned.
(17:06):
But because of their faith inwhat I did on that cross, I have
already then experienced intheir place the sentence of
separation.
I have already experienced intheir place the wrath of
holiness.
I have already experienced thepenalty for every one of their
(17:28):
sins.
That's why they get to go free.
It's the only hope you have.
But for all who refuse toacknowledge Creator God, for all
who refuse the gospel theyheard.
(17:50):
Revelation 20 gives us themissing piece.
They may have avoided the courtsof earth, but they will not
avoid the court of heaven.
There's one more puzzle in themind of Solomon here.
Number four, why is it thatsomeone isn't rewarded fairly
(18:10):
for what they accomplished inlife?
Why is it that someone wickedgets treated as if they're good?
And why is it that somebodywho's good gets treated like
they're wicked?
I thought life was supposed tobe fair.
(18:34):
Had a guy come up after thesecond service and tell me,
yeah, that's only in October.
When it's fair.
I'm sorry.
I thought it was funny.
I thought it was all supposed towork out.
I thought if you worked hard, ifyou did your homework, if you
(18:56):
paid your taxes, if you keptyour nose clean, if you smiled,
it'd be one treat after another.
And yet the cheater becamevaledictorian.
The slacker got their promotion.
(19:17):
Someone innocent was punished.
And someone evil got away withit.
SPEAKER_01 (19:26):
Why?
SPEAKER_02 (19:30):
That's because there are pieces to the puzzle that
are still in the hand of God.
They're just not on the tableyet.
They're now lost.
So what do we do until itreveals them?
(19:52):
Well, let me give you twothings.
First of all, I want you to goto verse 15.
Here's what Solomon does heturns the corner and gives us
two pieces of advice.
And I commend joy for man asnothing better under the sun but
to eat and drink and be joyful,for this will go with him in his
toil through the days of hislife that God has given him.
God has assigned to him, God isprescribed for him, God is
(20:13):
created for him under the sun.
Now, Solomon isn't recommendingwhat sounds hedonistic to your
ears, it certainly did to mine.
You know, this sounds a lot likeeat, drink, and be merry,
because tomorrow you die.
That's not what he's saying.
That's the fatalistic philosophyof the unbeliever.
Solomon is actually recommendingjoy that comes from trusting the
(20:35):
Lord and thanking the Lord forall things he's given to us to
enjoy.
1 Timothy 6, 17.
So, in principle form, Solomonis giving us this advice.
Thank God for blessings thathave arrived from every corner.
And the truth is we oftenoverlook them.
He points up very simple ones.
(20:56):
Did you have something to eattoday?
Did you have something to drink?
Do you have clothing?
Do you have a job?
You know, none of those samethings seem all that great until
you don't have them, right?
That job becomes quite thetreasure.
(21:20):
Money for food and the food toeat becomes a blessing.
And so on.
Thank God for blessings thathave arrived from every corner.
Secondly, trust God for burdensthat are just around the corner.
Notice verse 16 when I appliedmy heart to know wisdom and to
(21:42):
see the business that is done onearth.
In other words, I'm gonna figurethis thing out.
Notice how neither day nor nightdo one's eye see sleep.
It took all my sleep.
I couldn't sleep.
I tried to figure life out, Icouldn't sleep.
Then I saw all the work of God.
This is the work of God.
That man cannot find out thework of God that is done under
(22:04):
the sun.
He can't figure it all out.
However much man may toil inseeking, he will not find it
out.
Wisdom's great, but it doesn'tgive you all the answers.
Even though a wise man claims toknow, some people are in the
church, in the community, I gotit figured out.
Well, never mind them.
The Bible says you can't figureit out.
(22:27):
There's just no way to knowwhat's coming around that
corner.
You can't figure life completelyout.
Why?
Because they're missing pieces.
You can't see the full picture.
And you're gonna lose sleep, hewrites here, if you worry about
what you can't see coming.
The problem is you can't seearound a corner, and life is
(22:51):
filled with corners.
It's filled with corners.
What's gonna happen?
I'm gonna stay up, I'm gonnalose sleep because I gotta
figure out what I'm gonna do ifit happens.
Well, that's misery.
It might not happen at all.
Love the way Mark Twain oncewrote it with a smile, and he
(23:11):
said, There has been muchtragedy in my life, and at least
half of it actually happened.
Thank God for what's happenedthat you can see, and trust God
for whatever is going to happenthat you cannot yet see.
SPEAKER_01 (23:32):
That's great advice.
SPEAKER_02 (23:38):
When I put those puzzles together with my
children, now lately mygrandchildren, and that last
piece is missing, I might say,Oh my, I wonder where it is.
And they'll start searching,shake the box, get on their
(23:58):
hands and knees.
Oh, I mean, we work for an houron this thing, and you got one
little piece missing.
I'll tell them to check theirpockets, and they do.
I love that.
And then I'll show them it's inmy hand.
Now let me tell you theconvicting part of this as I
thought about this.
The convicting part of this isthat I can only do that with
(24:23):
them once or twice.
Some of them are a little slowerthan the others.
And then that next time I do it,and they immediately look at me,
and they come over to me, andthey say, You've got it.
SPEAKER_01 (24:44):
You've got it.
SPEAKER_02 (24:48):
Lord, there's a piece missing.
Where is it?
And we start looking.
We crawl all around, we shakethe box, we fuss and fume.
How often do we learn and thenforget and relearn and forget
and relearn and forget howslowly we go to him and say, You
(25:14):
got it.
SPEAKER_01 (25:16):
It's in your hand.
SPEAKER_02 (25:22):
Life is filled, frankly, with puzzles, and there
are a lot of them.
And every one of them is missinga piece.
And I think that's that's theLord's way of reminding us to
come to him, to thank him and totrust him and to recognize that
(25:44):
he must be that middle piece.
He he's he he is, he is, he isthe final piece that just sort
of pulls it all together andmakes the picture complete.
SPEAKER_00 (26:26):
It seems as if the puzzle of your life is missing a
piece.
Even if God seems slow inrevealing it to you, he is the
one who ultimately makes senseof everything.
I hope this time in God's Wordwill cause you to trust Him more
fully as you continue to followHim more faithfully.
(26:49):
Thanks for joining us today forthis broadcast of Wisdom for the
Heart.
Wisdom for the Heart is theBible teaching ministry of
Stephen Davy.
I encourage you to spend sometime visiting our website, which
is wisdomonline.org.
You can learn more about us.
But more importantly, you'll beable to access the complete
(27:10):
archive of Stephen's Bibleteaching ministry.
Stephen has been the pastor ofthe Shepherd's Church in Carey,
North Carolina for four decades.
All of those messages are postedonline for you to access and
listen to.
Not only can you listen to eachone, but we provide the written
(27:31):
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Download that app today and takethis Bible teaching with you
(27:53):
wherever you go.
Thanks for joining us today.
Be with us tomorrow for our nextmessage here on Wisdom for the
Heart.
The only hope we have is when measured against
the holy standard of God.
We have one John describes to usas our advocate.
He has already spoken on ourbehalf to the jury of God's
righteous judgment on thatcross.
I have already then experiencedin their place the sentence of
(00:28):
separation.
I have already experienced thepenalty for every one of their
sins.
That's why they get to go free.
SPEAKER_00 (01:13):
If you've ever wondered why life feels like a
puzzle with a missing piece,this message is for you.
Solomon describes injustice,hypocrisy, and unanswered
questions.
Then he points you to the onetruth that ties it all together.
God holds the missing piece inhis hand.
(01:36):
This message is called themissing piece.
SPEAKER_02 (01:42):
Over the years I have pulled the same trick on my
children, and now I'm able topull the same trick on my
grandchildren.
When we're putting together ajigsaw puzzle, kids love putting
those puzzles together.
You know, of course, it startsout where the pieces are wooden
and they're as big as dinnerplates.
But when you get to the 250pieces, I like pulling the same
(02:06):
trick.
I'll slip one of those piecesoff to the side and put it in my
shirt pocket.
Just one of those simplepleasures in life for
grandfathers.
We'll work feverishly away atthat, you know, that challenge,
and they're entirely dedicatedto conquering it.
(02:26):
And we're nearing the goal, justyou know, a few more pieces.
They're gonna insist, of course,that they put the last few
pieces on, and I'm more thanhappy to let them.
And then comes that moment, thatmoment of sheer terror.
There is a piece missing.
I keep a calm expression, youknow.
(02:47):
I suggest they look on thefloor, be in the box.
And uh then at some pointthey'll see me smiling.
I just can't hide it.
And I'll open my hand and I'llsay, Well, would you look at
that?
Then they put me in timeout forthe rest of the afternoon.
Frankly, there is nothing.
(03:08):
If you like doing puzzles,there's nothing like coming down
to the end and missing onepiece.
That just ties it all together.
It just doesn't seem right.
Frankly, it's true in life.
It's not any more challengingand difficult than missing
pieces.
Confusing?
Discouraging?
(03:29):
Certainly.
Solomon has been recording forus in his private journal some
of these puzzling moments thatare frightening and confusing
and disappointing, and there's amissing piece somewhere, and in
that first half of the journal,it would end often with
cynicism.
And now, in the second half ofthe journal, Solomon has been
(03:53):
recording these moments and heand he turns the corner for us
in a way and points to the Lord.
We're back today in chaptereight, if you're new to our
study.
And Solomon is gonna bring upwhat I'll just call four more
puzzles.
He's dealt with some of these inthe past, but he sort of strings
them together here.
He's making observations of lifedown here under the sun.
(04:16):
You could easily be led tobitterness and frustration and
despair, but he's gonna point usultimately to God.
Let me give you the first puzzleand then we'll look at the text.
Here it is.
Why is it that people in poweroften abuse the lives of others?
Look at verse nine.
(04:37):
All this I observed whileapplying my heart to all that is
done under the sun, when man hadpower over man to his hurt.
Now that opening line whereSolomon says, I've observed all
these things down here under thesun, it isn't a reference to all
the things that preceded it.
Verse 9 is sort of a categoricalheading.
(04:58):
It really ought to front thisnext section.
These are observations that nowfollow.
Here's what I've seen down hereunder the sun.
This is how life seems to work.
And the first observation isthose in authority often misuse
(05:19):
their authority.
Now, it ought to immediatelyinform us that if you think that
your boss or your supervisor orthose in authority over you in
your world or in your cultureare doing something new, that
you're experiencing somethingnew, that maybe mankind's just
getting worse than ever.
(05:39):
Well, keep in mind, Solomon isobserving this behavior more
than 3,000 years ago.
This is fallen, corrupt humannature.
There's a reason we have asaying in our own English
language (05:55):
power corrupts and absolute power corrupts
absolutely.
In fact, one historian writing ahundred years ago said this.
He said that it seems that aperson's sense of morality
decreases as their powerincreases.
(06:17):
Solomon essentially says, thisis what I've seen over the
course of my life, which is kindof interesting because Solomon
is doing it too.
In fact, when he finally endshis reign and his son gets on
the throne, they say, Look,would you please, Rahum, give us
some relief, your father'staxation and his forced labor,
it's wearing us out.
(06:38):
They were abused by this king.
So he's really reflecting hisown life.
But he's also observing it inothers that it just seems that
you give them a little power andtheir care and concern for
others diminishesproportionately.
Here's another puzzle in life.
Secondly, why is it thathypocrites often receive the
(07:00):
loudest praise?
Look at verse 10.
Then I saw the wicked buried.
They used to go in and out ofthe holy place and were praised
in the city where they had donesuch things.
Then I saw the wicked buried.
(07:20):
Solomon's evidently been to afuneral.
He specifically watched morethan one, we'll narrow it down
to just one, one individualwho's wicked being buried in a
rather elaborate funeral.
The Hebrew word, by the way, forwicked is used in Job 9.24 of
(07:41):
someone who is guilty of crimes.
In Genesis 18, verse 23, someonewho refuses God's moral
standards.
It's used by Isaiah the prophetin chapter 14, verse 5, for
someone who oppresses theinnocent.
You notice here, though, theimplication is that these people
are well known.
This person is well respected inthe community as a following.
(08:05):
He's evidently well enough tohave a funeral where even the
king is in the audience.
I mean, you gotta be somebody tohave the king at your funeral.
But according to Solomon, thisperson had only just stayed, you
know, kind of one step ahead ofthe law.
(08:26):
They never really found out whathe was really like.
Solomon knew.
He didn't tell us how he knew,but everybody in the city's
praising them.
Oh, this person is amazing.
They got a following, a lot oflikes, you know, or whatever.
And Solomon says, I know thatthey're actually corrupt.
(08:47):
Kind of reminded me of oneillustration I came across
recently, another side of thestory I didn't know.
Wealthy man in Chicago, knownfor his generosity, lived during
the difficult days of theDepression in the early 1900s.
He was rich, financiallydiversified.
Wall Street's crash didn'treally affect him all that much.
He considered himself, quote,blessed by God, end quote.
(09:11):
In 1930, at the height of thedepression, he, with his own
money, bought a huge three-storybuilding downtown, turned it
into a soup kitchen, paid forthe building, and paid for all
the food.
They would feed in that massivebuilding 3,000 people a day,
young big sign out front.
It said, Food for the jobless.
(09:34):
By the time they had given awaymore than a hundred thousand
meals to the unemployed andtheir families, they just quit
counting.
He was anonymous with all thiswidespread philanthropy and
gratitude from others.
Newspaper reporters began tosearch for the one they called
(09:59):
Mr.
Gooddeed.
It's the nickname they gave him.
They finally identified him.
This businessman, this wealthyphilanthropist, was honored
immediately by throngs ofpeople.
They wanted his autograph.
A well-known school ofjournalism even awarded him the
top, among the top ten mostinfluential people in modern
(10:24):
world history, right up therewith Lindbergh and Einstein and
even Gandhi made the list.
He even cited publicly then,using his influence.
He agreed this that the motionpicture industry needed to be
censored.
In one interview, he said, and Iquote, honor and truth and the
(10:45):
law are falling from publicrespect.
Only near the end of his careerdid public opinion change when
the full story came out aboutthe career of Mr.
Al Capone and who he really was.
He was found out before he died.
(11:06):
Solomon saw a few of them buriedwho were never found out.
And it bothered him.
It bothered him that hypocrisywould be so praised.
In fact, notice Solomon addsthis rather interesting fact
about this individual.
Look at verse 10 again.
They used to go in and out ofthe holy place and were praised
(11:29):
in the city.
So now add the element of piety.
Now add the element, and notjust Mr.
Goodyear, but this is a guy thatnever misses a service.
He's religious.
He's righteous.
He's a holy man.
This person would go in and outof the holy place.
It's as if Solomon is saying theguy had a key to the front door.
(11:53):
The priest would have known hisname.
He met all the festivalobligations.
He brought all the sacrifices.
He prayed all the prayers.
Solomon says, I saw that wickedindividual buried.
You should have heard how theypraised him in the city.
They made him out to be a saint.
You should have heard the sermonat his funeral.
(12:14):
He was just going through thereligious motions.
The religious motions are vastlydifferent from a regenerated
heart.
Solomon asks, why is it that theworst hypocrites often receive
the most praise?
A third puzzle.
Solomon points out, why is itthat the wheels of justice turn
(12:39):
slowly and sometimes not at all?
Look at verse 11.
Because the sentence against anevil deed is not executed
speedily, the heart of thechildren of man is fully set to
do evil.
Look at him.
A sinner does evil a hundredtimes and prolongs his life.
He lives a long time.
(13:00):
He doesn't only not get caught,he's the guy that has the best
health in the community.
Yet I know.
Solomon moves from I saw to Iknow.
I know that it will be well withthose who fear God, that is,
those who trust him.
It will not be well with thewicked.
(13:21):
Neither will he prolong hisdays.
They're just like a shadow.
Now, what Solomon is here inthis illustration is he takes us
full circle.
He shows us how the missingpiece eventually fits in.
But notice how he begins.
Justice isn't served.
(13:43):
They think they're getting awaywith it.
And then they'll do it again andup to a hundred times.
Hey, I'm getting away with it.
Lightning didn't strike.
The wheels of justice aren'tturning.
And if there's a God in heaven,well, he's asleep at the wheel.
(14:04):
Looks like it.
Solomon says here one of thepuzzling things about life is
that evil people seem to begetting away with breaking the
law.
They repeat the crime a hundredtimes.
Maybe they're clever.
Maybe they're clever enough toevade the law.
Maybe they had a good lawyer.
Robert Frost once wrote tonguein cheek that a jury is twelve
(14:28):
people chosen to decide on whohas the best lawyer.
Maybe they had connections.
Never mind, notice here howSolomon says their lives are
like a shadow.
Well, think about this for amoment.
Shadows get longer and longerand longer when just before the
(14:49):
sun sets.
The Bible fills in the missingpiece of what Solomon refers to
Revelation 20, the judgment day,when all the unredeemed of all
of human history will be broughtinto that court.
(15:09):
And Paul will describe it in hisinspired letter to the Romans in
chapter 3 and verse 19, to thepoint where every mouth will be
closed.
What that means is there willarrive at that individual moment
in every person's life whentheir mouths will stop.
(15:32):
That is, they'll run out ofexcuses, they'll run out of
reasons.
They will be, and this is theterror of it to me, they will
arrive at that point where theywill become then convinced of
God's holy justice.
And that they are withoutexcuse.
(15:56):
That gavel will strike the benchand the sentence of everlasting
judgment will be delivered, itwill be undeniable, it will be
unarguable, it will beunavoidable, it will be
unchangeable, it will beeternal.
(16:17):
What hope do you have?
What hope do I have?
This day we all filled anothervolume with sin.
The only hope we have is whenmeasured against the holy
standard of God.
We have one John describes to usas our perfect advocate.
(16:46):
He has already spoken on ourbehalf to the jury of God's
righteous judgment.
Yes, he sinned, yes, he sinnedagain, yes, she sinned and she
sinned again.
And again and again and again.
Oh, how they sinned.
(17:06):
But because of their faith inwhat I did on that cross, I have
already then experienced intheir place the sentence of
separation.
I have already experienced intheir place the wrath of
holiness.
I have already experienced thepenalty for every one of their
(17:28):
sins.
That's why they get to go free.
It's the only hope you have.
But for all who refuse toacknowledge Creator God, for all
who refuse the gospel theyheard.
(17:50):
Revelation 20 gives us themissing piece.
They may have avoided the courtsof earth, but they will not
avoid the court of heaven.
There's one more puzzle in themind of Solomon here.
Number four, why is it thatsomeone isn't rewarded fairly
(18:10):
for what they accomplished inlife?
Why is it that someone wickedgets treated as if they're good?
And why is it that somebodywho's good gets treated like
they're wicked?
I thought life was supposed tobe fair.
(18:34):
Had a guy come up after thesecond service and tell me,
yeah, that's only in October.
When it's fair.
I'm sorry.
I thought it was funny.
I thought it was all supposed towork out.
I thought if you worked hard, ifyou did your homework, if you
(18:56):
paid your taxes, if you keptyour nose clean, if you smiled,
it'd be one treat after another.
And yet the cheater becamevaledictorian.
The slacker got their promotion.
(19:17):
Someone innocent was punished.
And someone evil got away withit.
SPEAKER_01 (19:26):
Why?
SPEAKER_02 (19:30):
That's because there are pieces to the puzzle that
are still in the hand of God.
They're just not on the tableyet.
They're now lost.
So what do we do until itreveals them?
(19:52):
Well, let me give you twothings.
First of all, I want you to goto verse 15.
Here's what Solomon does heturns the corner and gives us
two pieces of advice.
And I commend joy for man asnothing better under the sun but
to eat and drink and be joyful,for this will go with him in his
toil through the days of hislife that God has given him.
God has assigned to him, God isprescribed for him, God is
(20:13):
created for him under the sun.
Now, Solomon isn't recommendingwhat sounds hedonistic to your
ears, it certainly did to mine.
You know, this sounds a lot likeeat, drink, and be merry,
because tomorrow you die.
That's not what he's saying.
That's the fatalistic philosophyof the unbeliever.
Solomon is actually recommendingjoy that comes from trusting the
(20:35):
Lord and thanking the Lord forall things he's given to us to
enjoy.
1 Timothy 6, 17.
So, in principle form, Solomonis giving us this advice.
Thank God for blessings thathave arrived from every corner.
And the truth is we oftenoverlook them.
He points up very simple ones.
(20:56):
Did you have something to eattoday?
Did you have something to drink?
Do you have clothing?
Do you have a job?
You know, none of those samethings seem all that great until
you don't have them, right?
That job becomes quite thetreasure.
(21:20):
Money for food and the food toeat becomes a blessing.
And so on.
Thank God for blessings thathave arrived from every corner.
Secondly, trust God for burdensthat are just around the corner.
Notice verse 16 when I appliedmy heart to know wisdom and to
(21:42):
see the business that is done onearth.
In other words, I'm gonna figurethis thing out.
Notice how neither day nor nightdo one's eye see sleep.
It took all my sleep.
I couldn't sleep.
I tried to figure life out, Icouldn't sleep.
Then I saw all the work of God.
This is the work of God.
That man cannot find out thework of God that is done under
(22:04):
the sun.
He can't figure it all out.
However much man may toil inseeking, he will not find it
out.
Wisdom's great, but it doesn'tgive you all the answers.
Even though a wise man claims toknow, some people are in the
church, in the community, I gotit figured out.
Well, never mind them.
The Bible says you can't figureit out.
(22:27):
There's just no way to knowwhat's coming around that
corner.
You can't figure life completelyout.
Why?
Because they're missing pieces.
You can't see the full picture.
And you're gonna lose sleep, hewrites here, if you worry about
what you can't see coming.
The problem is you can't seearound a corner, and life is
(22:51):
filled with corners.
It's filled with corners.
What's gonna happen?
I'm gonna stay up, I'm gonnalose sleep because I gotta
figure out what I'm gonna do ifit happens.
Well, that's misery.
It might not happen at all.
Love the way Mark Twain oncewrote it with a smile, and he
(23:11):
said, There has been muchtragedy in my life, and at least
half of it actually happened.
Thank God for what's happenedthat you can see, and trust God
for whatever is going to happenthat you cannot yet see.
SPEAKER_01 (23:32):
That's great advice.
SPEAKER_02 (23:38):
When I put those puzzles together with my
children, now lately mygrandchildren, and that last
piece is missing, I might say,Oh my, I wonder where it is.
And they'll start searching,shake the box, get on their
(23:58):
hands and knees.
Oh, I mean, we work for an houron this thing, and you got one
little piece missing.
I'll tell them to check theirpockets, and they do.
I love that.
And then I'll show them it's inmy hand.
Now let me tell you theconvicting part of this as I
thought about this.
The convicting part of this isthat I can only do that with
(24:23):
them once or twice.
Some of them are a little slowerthan the others.
And then that next time I do it,and they immediately look at me,
and they come over to me, andthey say, You've got it.
SPEAKER_01 (24:44):
You've got it.
SPEAKER_02 (24:48):
Lord, there's a piece missing.
Where is it?
And we start looking.
We crawl all around, we shakethe box, we fuss and fume.
How often do we learn and thenforget and relearn and forget
and relearn and forget howslowly we go to him and say, You
(25:14):
got it.
SPEAKER_01 (25:16):
It's in your hand.
SPEAKER_02 (25:22):
Life is filled, frankly, with puzzles, and there
are a lot of them.
And every one of them is missinga piece.
And I think that's that's theLord's way of reminding us to
come to him, to thank him and totrust him and to recognize that
(25:44):
he must be that middle piece.
He he's he he is, he is, he isthe final piece that just sort
of pulls it all together andmakes the picture complete.
SPEAKER_00 (26:26):
It seems as if the puzzle of your life is missing a
piece.
Even if God seems slow inrevealing it to you, he is the
one who ultimately makes senseof everything.
I hope this time in God's Wordwill cause you to trust Him more
fully as you continue to followHim more faithfully.
(26:49):
Thanks for joining us today forthis broadcast of Wisdom for the
Heart.
Wisdom for the Heart is theBible teaching ministry of
Stephen Davy.
I encourage you to spend sometime visiting our website, which
is wisdomonline.org.
You can learn more about us.
But more importantly, you'll beable to access the complete
(27:10):
archive of Stephen's Bibleteaching ministry.
Stephen has been the pastor ofthe Shepherd's Church in Carey,
North Carolina for four decades.
All of those messages are postedonline for you to access and
listen to.
Not only can you listen to eachone, but we provide the written
(27:31):
manuscript that you can read.
That content is available to youfree of charge at
wisdomonline.org.
That archive is also availableon our app.
The Wisdom International app isavailable for your iPhone or
Android smartphone.
Download that app today and takethis Bible teaching with you
(27:53):
wherever you go.
Thanks for joining us today.
Be with us tomorrow for our nextmessage here on Wisdom for the
Heart.
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