While there is life there is opportunity of preparing for death, and since death is certain,
it is our wisdom to make the best possible use of life while it lasts,
cheerfully taking our share of life’s enjoyments, applying ourselves diligently to life’s business,
and being governed by divine wisdom in all its affairs.
Ecclesiastes 9
1 For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.
2 All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.
3 This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
4 ¶ For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.
7 ¶ Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.
8 Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment.
9 Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.
10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.
11 ¶ I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
12 For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.
13 ¶ This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:
14 There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:
15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.
16 Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.
17 The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.
18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.
Ecclesiastes 9 Intro – J. Vernon McGee
Ecclesiastes 9:1-4 – J. Vernon McGee
Ecclesiastes 9:5-9 – J. Vernon McGee
Ecclesiastes 9:10-13 – J. Vernon McGee
Ecclesiastes 9:14-17 – J. Vernon McGee
Ecclesiastes 9:18 – J. Vernon McGee
Find the missing words then click and drag the letters in the grid below. Click “Start“
5 For the ____________ know that they shall die: but the ________ know not any thing, neither have they any more a ____________; for the ____________ of them is forgotten.
10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy __________; for there is no ________, nor ____________, nor __________________, nor ____________, in the __________, whither thou goest.
12 For man also knoweth not his ________: as the fishes that are taken in an evil ______, and as the birds that are caught in the __________; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth ________________ upon them.
Ecclesiastes 9:11—The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.
This is true in another sense than the Preacher meant. His conclusion was that time and chance happen to all alike in the race and battle of life. To know it means that God comes to those who are not swift, but, like Mephibosheth, lame on both feet, and gives them the prize which they could not win; that He bends over those who are not strong, and gives them the victory which they could not procure. The Gospel is full of promise to younger sons, bruised reeds, lame and helpless souls, to babes and sucklings, to those that have no might; it hides its secrets from the wise and prudent, and withholds its rewards from the swift and strong.
You are not swift. Long ago the spring was taken from your life, and the elasticity from your feet. For many years you have lain by the Beautiful Gate, seeing the happy souls pass to the inner shrine, and coming out entranced. You have been content to live on their alms. But better things are in store. He who knows your case will even now give you perfect soundness Though you cannot win the prize of your high calling by running, it shall be yours by receiving and taking. It is a gift; and though you have not legs you have surely hands.
You are not strong. But it is well. Many of us are too strong for God. He has to weaken us by touching the sinew of our thigh. When Jacob went from fighting to clinging, he became a prince with God. Isaiah left it on record that God gives power to the faint, and increases might to those who have no power. And the great Apostle of the Gentiles gloried in his infirmities, because he had discovered that when he was weak then he was strong, since the power of Christ was only perfected in weakness. —Our Daily Homily