”There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. And I commend joy, for man has nothing 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 his life that God has given him under the sun. When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on earth, how neither day nor night do one’s eyes see sleep, then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out.“
Ecclesiastes 8:14-17 ESV
Solomon’s mode of expression is, at first glance, pessimistic. But we should beware of thinking of it as such. We should be on guard against the emotionalism of our day…that is, the subjective nature of modern life. We say, “I feel” rather than “I think.” When people say “I feel” to me, I often poke them in the arm. “Did you feel that?” The joke is that I’m not interested in what they’re feeling, but what they think. Maybe your feet are itchy. Maybe you have a headache. That’s very well true but one’s feelings are not, repeat not, tools of cognition. One may feel quite well while falling from a great height and that sensation is in no wise able to impact the reality of life. The sudden stop at the bottom of that great fall is the truth, not our feelings.
One of the great truths of Christianity is that the heart is deceptively wicked and tempestuous (Jeremiah 17:9).
So, anyway, here Solomon lays down the beautiful hammer of what we might call Christian stoicism. We aren’t to abide by this philosophy – the true and grand Christian philosophy – just because, but because of who God is! Christian philosophy is the great truth of life in Jesus Christ, not mindless, impersonal fate. This is why we can experience great joy and beauty even amidst life’s rain storms. Solomon pulls no punches. He wants us to know the truth and this truth sets us free. We should enjoy our lives – truly and completely, without guilt or reservation – because they’re gifts from the most High God.
We are to “commend joy” along with the Preacher simply and purely because of the gospel. God’s love has been poured into our hearts and this makes taking even a sip of coffee, listening to a song, driving along a pretty country road, or hearing your children laugh, an intense experience of thanksgiving. Joy is impossible to us if we’re unthankful. True peace resides in the broken hearts of those who know that Christ loves them so much as to die for them. It’s this that puts all things in perspective. Unlike the ancient Stoics who preached that virtue is the highest good, not one’s circumstances, we know that Christ is the highest good and that He’s Lord of our circumstances too!
Of course, this precludes living a life of presumptuous sin. We aren’t to expect joy and peace while doing what’s contrary to the word of the Lord. Sin produces misery and conflict. That is the nature of it. So, if we’re caught up in some type of backslide, we can altogether stop that descent by crying out in repentance to God. God’s love is so great that He will never abandon the broken hearted one who cries out to Him for rescue. It’s often true that God’s love becomes most sweet and precious to us in those dreadful valleys of death where our next step is uncertain and our soul seems irreparably parched. Just as well, though, He is so righteous that there is no life of unrepentant sin and pride that will make its way to His Kingdom.
That said, our lives are not mere accidents. Our deepest feeling and hurts aren’t mere gas…our lives and loves and struggles aren’t in vain so long as they’re in Christ who has saved us to Himself for everlasting fellowship.
Will we be able to make sense of everything? Will every phase of our lives be the proverbial day at the beach? No. We who are saved by faith, and made righteous by faith will and must live in faith. The purpose and meaning of our lives are in Christ, which means that we live the resurrection life through faith. There is no peace or truth outside of the obedience of faith
Is the “truth” logical positivism, dialectical materialism, existentialism? No. The story of the so-called great philosophers, from Socrates to Hegel to whomever, is the story of futility. Man cannot figure it out! None of man’s so-called wisdom delivers men peace and truth and life.
”so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
1 Corinthians 1:29-31 ESV
So be prepared for mystery, for sorrows, for temporary defeats, and all that yearning that rumbles through the hearts of men and women navigating this fallen world. Solomon commends joy through it all not through ignorant optimism, but through faith in our Father and Redeemer. If God is for us, who or what can be against us? Our sorrows and this world’s evils will never have the last word because the great King is in charge and this is enough. The empty tomb always has the last word and this faith is what commends joy to us.
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