Ecclesiastes 7 28 what does this mean

They say that's not always so true. The good old days when we didn't, when you women didn't have automatic dishwashers and vacuum cleaners, and wall-to-wall carpeting in your house, supermarkets down the block.

You all grew your own gardens. Ground your own flour. Used the scrub board. Oh, the good old days. No, we have it pretty nice. We always look back, though, and we think about the days of our youth when Orange County wasn't crowded, when it was full of orange trees instead of subdivisions.

But there are advantages both ways. Wisdom is good with an inheritance: and by it there is profit to them that see the sun.

For wisdom is a defense, and money is a defense: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom gives life to those that have it Ecclesiastes Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked? Ecclesiastes Who can actually do anything against the work of God?

We're powerless and helpless against the work of God. In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that a man should find nothing after him. All things have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just man that perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongs his life in his wickedness Ecclesiastes I've observed this.

There have been good men who perished, died young in their righteousness. There were wicked men who lived many years. Therefore, his conclusion. Now it's not scriptural, it's not biblical.

I mean, it's not in the sense, it's not godly. Human looking at life. Seeing that righteous man died young and a sinner lived to be a D. Truly just pure human wisdom. Don't be overly righteous Ecclesiastes ;.

Now it's a wrong conclusion. The righteous don't always die young. There are some beautiful old saints of God. But don't be overly righteous. Why should you kick off soon? Don't be overly wicked Ecclesiastes ,. It is good that you should take hold of this; yes, also from this withdraw not thine hand: for he that feareth God shall come forth of them all.

Wisdom strengthens the wise more than ten mighty men which are in the city. For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not Ecclesiastes Now, in this he was correct. The Bible said, "There is none righteous, no, not one" Romans The Bible says, "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" Romans A human observation that is correct. Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken; lest thou hear your servant curse thee Ecclesiastes :.

They say that an eavesdropper rarely hears anything good about himself. You know, you're that kind of person that's always trying to eavesdrop on other's conversations. And so he's sort of warning you against that. Don't take heed; don't try to listen to what they say.

You're going to find out they're cursing you. For [you know how that] oftentimes in your own heart that you have likewise cursed others. All this have I proved by wisdom Ecclesiastes , Ecclesiastes :.

Not by God, I proved it by wisdom. But the wisdom of man, the scriptures said, is "foolishness with God" 1 Corinthians I said, I will be wise; but it was far from me. That which is afar off, and exceeding deep, who can find it out? I applied my heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even the foolishness and madness: And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleases God shall escape from her; but the sinner will be caught by her.

Behold, this have I found, saith the Preacher Ecclesiastes Or the debater, or the word So in all his thousand wives he did not find a decent one. Now, he did find one man out of a thousand. So men have a little better record as far as Solomon is concerned. But you might, of course, also observe he didn't marry any men and you don't really know a person till you marry them. But if he was, you know It really can't be that the other person was wrong all the time.

You say, "Well, it might be. It might be the person is just a, who has been married that many times is just a poor judge of character. We married the same kind of person. And always you think, "Oh, the second time around, you know, I'll be wiser, make better choices and all.

And you'll find one in a thousand every time. You find one who loves the Lord. How glorious it is, how beautiful it is to have a wife who loves God, who calls upon the Lord. What a blessing, what an asset they are to our lives. Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions Ecclesiastes Righteousness and wickedness Even though the righteous sometimes do not receive a reward in this life and the wicked prosper, it is still better to live righteously.

The connections between wisdom and righteousness on the one hand, and folly and wickedness on the other, are especially close in this pericope. As in Proverbs , Solomon personified folly as a woman Ecclesiastes As Solomon sought to understand wisdom Ecclesiastes , he learned that the person who wants to please God will escape folly and wickedness, but the person who prefers to sin will not Ecclesiastes Folly is worse than death Ecclesiastes The "man" in view in Ecclesiastes is the "person" who is pleasing to God Ecclesiastes The Hebrew word for "man" here adam is generic, and refers to people, rather than males in contrast to females.

Solomon meant in Ecclesiastes b that a person who is pleasing to God is extremely rare cf. Job ; Job The reference to "woman" Ecclesiastes c is a way of expressing in parallelism with "man" that no one really pleases God completely. A paraphrase of Ecclesiastes b-c is, "I have found very few people who please God, no one at all really. This is a good example of Hebrew parallelism that, if unobserved, can lead to a bizarre interpretation.

Perhaps this interpretation is the closest to what Solomon intended, for the topic is wisdom from Ecclesiastes to Ecclesiastes Who is responsible for the universal failure to please God? Solomon said people are, not God Ecclesiastes God made us upright in the sense of being able to choose to please or not please God. Nevertheless, we have all gone our own way in pursuit of "many devices.

The point is not that people have turned aside to sin, but that they have sought out many explanations. They have sought many explanations of what? Which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not , He was very earnest and diligent in his inquiry; he took a great deal of pains, and was exceedingly solicitous; he sought with great intenseness of mind, and with an eager desire, to find out a chaste and virtuous woman among them all, but could not;. Or rather, by this one of a thousand, is meant the, Messiah, the Wisdom of God, he sought for, Ecclesiastes ; and now says he found; to whom he looked for peace, pardon, and atonement, under a sense of his sins; who is the messenger, an interpreter, one among a thousand; yea, who is the chiefest among ten thousands, Job ; who is superior to angels and men, in the dignity of his person; in the perfection, purity, and holiness of his nature; in the excellency of his names; in his offices and relations; and in his concern in the affairs of grace and salvation; and who is to be found by every truly wise and gracious soul that seeks him early and earnestly, in the word and ordinances, under the illumination and direction of the blessed Spirit.

If it is to be understood of a mere man, I should think the sense was this; of all the men that have been ensnared and taken by an adulterous woman, but one of a thousand have I observed, and perhaps Solomon has respect to himself, that was ever recovered out of her hands;. It may be interpreted thus, One man, the Messiah, among all the sons of men, have I found, free from original sin; but one woman, among all the daughters of Eve, I have not found clear of it.

The Targum is,. Solomon had hitherto been proving the vanity of the world and its utter insufficiency to make men happy; now here he comes to show the vileness of sin, and its certain tendency to make men miserable; and this, as the former, he proves from his own experience, and it was a dear-bought experience. He is here, more than any where in all this book, putting on the habit of a penitent.

He reviews what he had been discoursing of already, and tells us that what he had said was what he knew and was well assured of, and what he resolved to stand by: All this have I proved by wisdom, Ecclesiastes ; Ecclesiastes Now here,. He owns and laments the deficiencies of his wisdom. He had wisdom enough to see the vanity of the world and to experience that that would not make a portion for a soul.

But, when he came to enquire further, he found himself at a loss; his eye was too dim, his line was too short, and, though he discovered this, there were many other things which he could not prove by wisdom.

His searches were industrious. God had given him a capacity for knowledge above any; he set up with a great stock of wisdom; he had the largest opportunities of improving himself that ever any man had; and, 1. He resolved, if it were possible, to gain his point: I said, I will be wise. He earnestly desired it as highly valuable; he fully designed it as that which he looked upon to be attainable; he determined not to sit down short of it, Proverbs Many are not wise because they never said they would be so, being indifferent to it; but Solomon set it up for the mark he aimed at.

When he made trial of sensual pleasures, he still thought to acquaint his heart with wisdom Ecclesiastes ; Ecclesiastes , and not to be diverted from the pursuits of that; but perhaps he did not find it so easy a thing as he imagined to keep up his correspondence with wisdom, while he addicted himself so much to his pleasures. However, his will was good; he said, I will be wise.

And that was not all: 2. He resolved to spare no pains Ecclesiastes ; Ecclesiastes : " I applied my heart; I and my heart turned every way; I left no stone unturned, no means untried, to compass what I had in view.

I set myself to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, to accomplish myself in all useful learning, philosophy, and divinity. Solomon was a man of great quickness, and yet, instead of using that with many as an excuse for slothfulness, he pressed it upon himself as an inducement to diligence, and the easier he found it to master a good notion the more intent he would be that he might be master of the more good notions.

Those that have the best parts should take the greatest pains, as those that have the largest stock should trade most. He applied himself not only to know what lay on the surface, but to search what lay hidden out of the common view and road; nor did he search a little way, and then give it over because he did not presently find what he searched for, but he sought it out, went to the bottom of it; nor did he aim to know things only, but the reasons of things, that he might give an account of them.

Yet his success was not answerable or satisfying: " I said, I will be wise, but it was far from me; I could not compass it. After all, This only I know that I know nothing, and the more I know the more I see there is to be known, and the more sensible I am of my own ignorance. That which is far off, and exceedingly deep, who can find it out? He could not order his speech by reason of darkness.

Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other, so that man can find out nothing that will come after him : The Preacher here drifts again toward despair. I have seen everything in my days of vanity: There is a just man who perishes in his righteousness, And there is a wicked man who prolongs life in his wickedness.

Do not be overly righteous, Nor be overly wise: Why should you destroy yourself? Do not be overly wicked, Nor be foolish: Why should you die before your time?

It is good that you grasp this, And also not remove your hand from the other; For he who fears God will escape them all. I have seen everything in my days of vanity : Solomon complained that in his meaningless life he has seen the good suffer a just man who perishes in his righteousness and the wicked prosper prolongs his life in his wickedness.

How early did martyrdom come into the world! Do not be overly righteous, nor be overly wise… do not be overly wicked, nor be foolish : In light of the apparent vanity of life, Solomon here recommended a balanced approach to living. Be righteous , but not too much; be wise , but not too much; be wicked , but not too much; be foolish , but not too much. Wickedness sometimes does. Therefore morality is to be a thing of calculation.

This is a common approach to life, thinking that everything is good in moderation. This has some truth to it but does not define a wise or good life. We should remember that both Jesus and Paul as well as many others were not considered balanced individuals in their day. Their understanding of eternity and accountability made them — in the view of many — unbalanced. Wisdom strengthens the wise More than ten rulers of the city. For there is not a just man on earth who does good And does not sin.

Also do not take to heart everything people say, Lest you hear your servant cursing you. For many times, also, your own heart has known That even you have cursed others. Wisdom strengthens the wise : A wise man — even with an under the sun premise — will see and appreciate the value of wisdom , that it gives more strength than ten rulers of the city.

There is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin : A wise man understands the sinfulness of man — and his own sinfulness. Do not take to heart everything people say… even you have cursed others : Wisely, the Preacher knew that we tend to take the words of others about us too seriously. People often say unguarded things that are not deeply felt; we say such things about others and would not want them to take to heart what we said.

We would not want to be judged by our worst moments; we should not judge others by theirs. All this I have proved by wisdom. As for that which is far off and exceedingly deep, Who can find it out? I applied my heart to know, To search and seek out wisdom and the reason of things, To know the wickedness of folly, Even of foolishness and madness.

I applied my heart to know, to search and seek out wisdom and the reason of things : Given his under the sun premise, his meaningless life could not be made meaningful by the attainment of wisdom. And I find more bitter than death The woman whose heart is snares and nets, Whose hands are fetters.

He who pleases God shall escape from her, But the sinner shall be trapped by her. Truly, this only I have found: That God made man upright, But they have sought out many schemes.

I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, whose hands are fetters : In his unsatisfying search for wisdom, Solomon understood that a woman could be a danger and a trap. It was important to not let that happen; he who pleases God shall escape from her. A [dog], Moses calls her Deuteronomy Knowing Solomon wrote this, it makes us wish we knew more about when Solomon wrote this; at what point in his life. We know from 1 Kings For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God.

Surely, Solomon himself was caught in these snares and nets and fetters. All in all it is a fascinating question, and one in the mind of this writer that has no definitive answer: Was Solomon one who pleased God in escaping from this trap, or was he the sinner trapped by her? I cannot find: One man among a thousand I have found. But a woman among all these I have not found : Solomon could find a rare man in a thousand with wisdom; but not even one woman.

The phrase, "one of a thousand," occurs in Job ; Job ; Ecclus. Adam , the generic term, is used here instead of ish , the individual, to emphasize the antithetical ishah , " woman ," in the following clause, or to lead the thought to the original perfection of man's nature.

But a woman among all those have I not found ; i. Says the Son of Sirach, "All wickedness is but little to the wickedness of a woman; let the portion of a sinner fall upon her" Ecclus.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary Solomon, in his search into the nature and reason of things, had been miserably deluded. But he here speaks with godly sorrow. He alone who constantly aims to please God, can expect to escape; the careless sinner probably will fall to rise no more.