Under the Shadow of Death | Ecclesiastes 9:1-10:20

I invite you to open your Bibles to Ecclesiastes chapter 9. As they tend to do, this sermon series is coming and going. If you recall, a few weeks ago now, chapter 6 and verse 12, the preacher raised two substantial questions. The first of those questions was, “Who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow?” And the preacher wrestled with that question in chapters 7 and 8. The second question that the preacher raised in chapter 6 and verse 12 was this one: “Who can tell man what will be after him under the sun?” Who can tell man what’s coming? That question frames our whole passage today. Who can tell us what the future holds?

We’re gonna be looking this morning at chapters 9 and 10 of Ecclesiastes, and I’m now gonna read them for us. Listen as I do. This is the Word of God.

Scripture Reading: Ecclesiastes 9:1–10:20

But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil, to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun.

Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all of the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, which is where you are going.

Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them.

I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. There was a little city with a few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siege works against it. But there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man’s wisdom is despised and his words are not heard. The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

Dead flies make the perfumer’s ointment give off a stench; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor. A wise man’s heart inclines him to the right, but a fool’s heart to the left. Even when the fool walks on the road, he lacks sense, and he says to everyone that he is a fool. If the anger of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your place, for calmness will lay great offenses to rest. There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as it were an error proceeding from the ruler: folly is set in many high places, and the rich sit in a low place. I have seen slaves on horses, and princes walking on the ground like slaves.

He who digs a pit will fall into it, and a serpent will bite him who breaks through a wall. He who quarries stones is hurt by them, and he who splits logs is endangered by them. If the iron is blunt and one does not sharpen the edge, he must use more strength, but wisdom helps one to succeed. If the serpent bites before it is charmed, there is no advantage to the charmer.

The words of a wise man’s mouth win him favor, but the lips of a fool consume him. The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness, and the end of his talk is evil madness. A fool multiplies words, though no man knows what is to be, and who can tell him what will be after him? The toil of a fool wearies him, for he does not know the way to the city.

Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, and your princes feast in the morning. Happy are you, O land, when your king is the son of the nobility, and your princes feast at the proper time, for strength, and not for drunkenness. Through sloth the roof sinks in, and through indolence the house leaks. Bread is made for laughter, and wine gladdens life, and money answers everything. Even in your thoughts, do not curse the king, nor in your bedroom curse the rich, for a bird of the air will carry your voice, or some winged creature tell the matter.

We thank God for his word today and every day.

Point One: Living Under the Shadow of Death (9:1–12)

The passage is relatively simple in terms of the ways that I aim to preach it to us. We’re going to consider our passage in two major sections. The first section will be chapter 9, verses 1 to 12. The second major section is chapter 9 and verse 13 all the way through the end of chapter 10. There will be some sub-points in there that I’ll try to make plain to you. There will be some brief reflections and application pieces in there. And then we’re going to end our time with two more substantial pieces of reflection, meditation, and application, the last of which will be our conclusion. So if you’re a note taker and you like to know the plan, you’re welcome. If you don’t concern yourself with such things, that’s fine. We’re going to get going.

First major section — point one, if that’s helpful to you — chapter 9, verses 1 to 12. My heading reads, “Living under the shadow of death.” I think it’s fair to say that death kind of dominates the entire book of Ecclesiastes on the one hand, but it certainly dominates these verses. Death comes to everybody. It comes unpredictably. And it doesn’t seem to have much of anything to do with how a person has lived. The righteous and the wicked, the wise and the foolish, the religious and the irreligious — they all have the same end.

Death Comes for Everyone (9:1–6)

These first six verses of chapter 9 hammer home this reality that death is coming for everyone. Put your eyes on verse 1. The preacher says that he has laid all this to heart, examining how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. So this again is pointing us to providence, the way that God governs all things. Everything really is in his hand. But as we’ve considered repeatedly, his providence is deeply mysterious from where we sit. God rules and reigns, but we do not know what is coming next.

These words are pretty provocative at the end of verse 1 that the preacher pens. You can put your eyes on the last sentence of that verse: “Whether it is love or hate, man does not know. Both are before him.” So even the righteous and the wise — speaking in terms of this life, how things are going to go — they don’t know whether life ahead is going to look like love or wrath. Will tomorrow hold favor and prosperity? Or will it hold adversity and loss and suffering? Think Psalm 89. It very well depicts this. How do we know what tomorrow is going to look like? Is it going to look like love from God in a way that’s obvious? Or is it going to look like wrath? Lord, what are you doing? You’re just pouring the cup of your wrath out on your people, it seems.

Verse 2, the preacher continues: “It is the same for all.” He goes on to provocatively depict what we know is true — that the same event, i.e. death, happens to the righteous and the wicked, happens to the good and the evil, to the clean and the unclean, to the one who sacrifices, to the one who doesn’t. As the good one is, so is the sinner. That’s punchy. A lot of this language, as you observe it, has to do with God and worship. It has to do with moral, ethical, religious categories. Death is no respecter of persons, nor is death a respecter of piety. Santa Claus might care if you’ve been naughty or nice. Death doesn’t care. Coming for you. So here’s where we are: under the sun, good things may lie before you. Bad things may lie before you. Nobody can say. And either way, you’re gonna die.

Verse 3, the preacher continues: “This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all.” He’s written this way so many times already. This is not how things should be. The righteous shouldn’t perish like the wicked. The good one shouldn’t perish like the sinner. But yet that’s what happens. And because there so often seems to be no immediate connection between how people live and then what they reap, you can read what he says — as he said in chapter 8, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live. People do whatever they want, because apparently it doesn’t matter. And then after that, they go to the dead.

In verses 4 to 6, the preacher says that it is better to be alive than dead. A living dog is better than a dead lion. You get the image. A living dog was bottom of the totem pole. It wasn’t like our culture — you know, we got spas for dogs and all that stuff. It wasn’t like that. Dogs were scavengers. Lions, though, have always been regarded as king of animals. So it’s better to be a living dog than a dead lion. The living at least know something, and the dead know nothing, right? So tracking. Let me ask — look at the text. What is it that the living know in verse 5? They know that they’re going to die. So the advantage is not as great as it first sounds. It is true that the living know something while the dead don’t. But what it is primarily that the living know is that they’re going to die.

That’s because ultimately, viewed under the sun, everything is hopeless. There is a senselessness to life in this world. All is hopeless because the dead know nothing. And as he says at the end of verse 5 into verse 6, the dead have no more reward here because they’re forgotten. Their memory fades. People will not remember you when you die. It should humble and sober us all and give us a wise perspective. We worry so much about how we’ll be remembered. And the reality is, in this life, the world keeps turning. We are forgotten. Even their love and their hate and their envy have perished, says Solomon. Verse 6: forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun. Once you die, it’s over, man. Feel that. He does. And death is where we’re all headed. It’s good to sit with the preacher, as we’ve been doing for weeks.

Enjoy the Good Things God Gives While You Can (9:7–10)

We’re now getting into verses 7 to 10. And in light of what we’ve just considered, it makes the call of these verses to enjoy what you can feel especially urgent, doesn’t it? In verses 7 to 10, Solomon’s going to say, enjoy the good things God gives while you can. He’s written this way before, but this may be the strongest call in all of Ecclesiastes to enjoy God’s gifts while you have the life to enjoy them. The shadow of death is over everything. So don’t waste the life God has given you by not enjoying the good things that he’s put in front of you.

That’s a very appropriate takeaway. I know for me, I’m a high-strung, kind of OCD perfectionist type guy. If you know me, you know that. The Lord over the last couple of years has been rending a number of things from my hands through just circumstantial trials and other things. And some of it is simply this perspective: how many of the things that I stress out over are going to matter in a year, let alone in 10, let alone when I’ve been in the ground for 100 years if the Lord tarries? Who’s going to care? Calm down. Similarly, though, here — life is fleeting. Don’t overly agonize about how you’re going to be remembered. Trust the Lord and enjoy the good things that he’s put in front of you while you have life to enjoy them. It’s a very reasonable takeaway. May speak more on that in just a moment.

Verse 7, you can put your eyes on it: “Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.” That’s a good word for us. And of course we know the preacher is not commending sin or debauchery. He’s warned against those things throughout the book. But he says, enjoy what you eat. Enjoy your food. Drink wine with a merry heart. God approves of that. Enjoy the good things God gives you. Don’t overthink it. Don’t paralyze and burden yourself through over-analysis, because death is coming, man. If he gives you an afternoon with good friends and good food and good drink, you would do well to enjoy it.

Verse 8: “Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head.” This is celebratory imagery. People wore white to celebrations. Oil — you get the image of that. Celebrate as you’re able. Enjoy good times.

Verse 9: “Enjoy life with the wife whom you love.” Enjoy your spouse. Enjoy love and companionship and romance and sexual intimacy and the life that you share together. These are good things from God. While you’ve got the life to enjoy it, enjoy it. And yet you notice, even there in verse 9, the second half of it, the shadow creeps right back in. Enjoy life with the wife whom you love — all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun. This is your portion in the middle of toil and vanity, so receive it and enjoy it while you have it.

Verse 10: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might.” If there are things you love to do, do them — as long as they’re not sin. As long as it’s not inherently immoral, if there’s things that you enjoy, do them. If there are things you’re good at, apply yourself. You’ll find fulfillment in it. You’ll bless others. If God has given you meaningful labor, give yourself to it. Why? Because life is short, yo. Where you’re headed — Sheol, the realm of the dead — there’s no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom there. So do it now. That’s his word.

Freed to Enjoy Temporary Things as Temporary Things

Now briefly think with me. If what Solomon’s writing is true for everybody under the sun — which it is, believer and unbeliever alike — how much more so this call to enjoy what we can while we can, how much more is that true for those of us who are in Christ Jesus? We can enjoy things now in a way that others actually cannot. Think about this. We know where we’re going. Today you’ll be with me in paradise. The day that you close your eyes in death, you will be with the Lord. And we know the end of the story. He’s coming back to raise us from the grave. No more sorrow, no more pain anymore. We’ll see him. We’ll be with each other. All will be well forever.

So what that means is, in Christ, we are freed to enjoy temporary things as temporary things. You tracking? We don’t have to try to fulfill our souls or secure our future through temporary things. We can enjoy them now because ultimately we don’t have to worry about the future. We’re not hanging our lives on all these temporal, fleeting things, because we have Christ and Christ has us. It liberates to enjoy things.

Man Does Not Know His Time (9:11–12)

Then in verses 11 and 12 — the last subsection of part one here — strong words, gripping words about how we don’t know our time. We don’t know when our number will be called. Put your eyes on verse 11: “The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor the bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all.” Here again is that breakdown of what we’ve called — or I called — the deed-consequence relationship: if you do this, you get that. It breaks down all the time in a fallen world. These don’t always go the way that they should, or the way that we would expect. The swift don’t always win the race. The strong don’t always win the battle. The wise aren’t always the ones with bread. The intelligent aren’t always wealthy. The knowledgeable don’t always receive favor. Such is the way of this world. There is no formula. You will not crack the code. It is generally true that we reap what we sow, but that’s not a mechanical rule that plays out neatly for every person in every circumstance. You know it. I know it. Time and chance happen to them all.

Solomon, you shouldn’t talk like that. You know better. Again, these words — they don’t rule out providence. Don’t hear what he’s not saying. Everything is in the hand of God. But providence, as we’ve already said, is mysterious, often unknowable, and sometimes deeply frowning. And so from our perspective, there is a randomness and a senselessness and an unpredictability to this life. God’s people have cried and wailed about it for centuries and centuries and centuries.

Verse 12: “For man does not know his time.” This is death. Death is in view. Like fish caught in a net and birds caught in a snare, people are snared at an evil time when it suddenly falls upon them. The fish did not see the net coming. I know we got a few fishermen in here — y’all can say amen. They don’t. They don’t know what you’re doing. The bird didn’t see the snare coming. Death comes just like that. Snap of a finger, blink of an eye, in an instant. People are cut down in their prime. The sharp knife of a short life, right? Happens all the time. And even when somebody is old — if you’ve experienced the death of a loved one, you know what I’m about to say — even somebody who is old, and even if it seems that, hey, death is near, it’s clear where we’re headed, there is still a suddenness to death when it comes, and a finality to it. Take your breath away. We all live under the weight and the shadow of that reality. Do you feel that? You need to feel that. Or you’re going to miss much of what Solomon is getting at. And you’re going to miss some of the most wonderful, glorious aspects of the gospel if you don’t feel that.

How These Verses Cry Out for Jesus Christ

Think briefly with me: how much do these verses cry out for Jesus Christ? If there is no resurrection, if there is no life beyond the grave, if there is no life with God forever, then the plight of man under the sun is uniquely brutal. Have you ever thought about this? If there’s none of that — no resurrection, no life beyond the grave, no life with God forever — your dog has a better existence than you. Brother, what in the world are you talking about? Think about it. Your dog’s got plenty to eat, a place to sleep. He’s not lying awake worrying about the future, carrying guilt and regret. He’s not working and toiling and bearing all these moral and emotional and relational burdens, all while knowing that he’s going to die. Apart from Christ and resurrection, life in him, the human condition is one of misery. Ecclesiastes makes us feel it, and that’s valuable. That’s part one.

Point Two: Wisdom Is Better, but It Doesn’t Take Much to Wreck It All (9:13–10:20)

We’re pivoting to part two. We’re going to make a lot more speed in terms of how we cover the verses here. Part of that’s because this second portion of our text is largely a collection of proverbs, and so we want to take them on those terms. So section two, chapter 9 and verse 13 through chapter 10 and verse 20 — my heading reads, “Wisdom is better, but it doesn’t take much to wreck it all.” The sayings here accumulate, these proverbs, and they come at the same reality from different angles. We’re going to consider them.

Chapter 9 and verse 18 — I want you to put your eyes on it right now. From my perspective and the perspective of others (this is not unique to me), I think chapter 9 and verse 18 is really the interpretive key of this whole section: “Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.” So wisdom has real relative value, but it also has real limitations in a fallen world. It does not take much to upset the apple cart, as they say. It does not take much to derail the train. One sinner, one error, one lapse in judgment, one hasty decision, one emotional act can have massive, potentially life-altering consequences. So in light of chapter 6 and verse 12 — who can tell man what’s coming, who can tell man what the future holds — if life is as fragile as I just said, one thing can ruin a life. If it’s that fragile, how can anybody tell you what comes next? How could anybody with any certainty pronounce how your life’s going to go? Because at the drop of a hat, everything could be irrevocably changed. Feel it.

All right, here we go. Collections of proverbs. They’re in groups. We’re going to take them accordingly. This is drive-by time, all right? So look out the window, enjoy the view. Here we go.

The Poor, Wise Man (9:13–18)

Verses 13 to 18 of chapter 9 — my heading reads, “The poor, wise man.” We read in these verses of a little city with a few men being besieged by a great king and great siege works. But then there’s one poor, wise man who delivers the city. Something seemingly insignificant has an outsized effect — in this case, it’s a positive one. Yet in verse 15, you see, no one remembers the poor man who saved everybody. Wisdom is better than might. Quiet words of wisdom are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war. But one sinner destroys much good.

A Little Folly Goes a Long Way (10:1–4)

Chapter 10, verses 1 to 4 — this is “a little bit of folly goes a long way.” Dead flies make a perfumer’s ointment stink. Something precious can be ruined by something very small. A little folly — the second part of verse 1, excuse me — a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor. It does not take much foolishness to ruin the benefits of wisdom and honor. And if all of this world is full of fools, which it is, and if fools are full of folly, which they are, and a little folly can ruin much good, which it can, this is a very unstable arrangement. And to keep piling on, in verse 4, the wise course of action may not be the obvious or instinctive one. For example, like when a ruler is angry with you, the intuitive thing would be to run away. But Solomon says, don’t do that, because calmness may actually lay great offenses to rest. But you have to act wisely. You have to see the right course of action and do it at the right time. And often that ain’t natural.

An Error Proceeding from a Ruler (10:5–7)

In chapter 10, verses 5 to 7, we get a reflection, an observation from the preacher on an error being made by a ruler and how significant it can be. The preacher has seen an evil under the sun, an error proceeding from a ruler. Fools are elevated. Competent people are relegated. Slaves ride horses while princes walk like slaves. Here’s what we should see: one mistake from one person in power can turn the order of society upside down. We could cite countless examples of this. Happens all the time, doesn’t it? Ain’t nothing changed, right? These are pretty old words. Lest we think that the things we go through in the United States of America in the 21st century are utterly unique in the scope of world history — they are not.

Occupational Hazards and Right Timing (10:8–11)

Verses 8 through 11 — we’re looking at occupational hazards and right timing. You can see this. Ordinary work carries danger with it. You walk out your house in the morning, your risk goes up. You don’t have to be reckless to find yourself in harm’s way. Digging pits, breaking down stone walls, quarrying stones, splitting logs — harm can come in the normal course of life. So again, what should we feel? Man — uncertainty, fragility. Verses 10 and 11: wisdom helps, but it has to be applied at the right time. You better sharpen the ax before you swing it, because if you don’t, it’s of no help to you. You better charm the snake before it bites you. Implication: you might have wisdom, you might have skill, but you might be off in the timing of your application of that wisdom and that skill, and all good is lost. Again — fragile, uncertain. How can you bank on this?

Fools Run Their Mouths (10:12–15)

Verses 12 to 15: fools run their mouths. Yes, they do. The words of a wise man are gracious, and there is value in wise speech, but the lips of a fool consume him. His speech begins in foolishness and ends in evil madness. It starts bad and only gets worse from there when a fool opens his mouth. And the fool, says Solomon, multiplies words, though no man knows what is to be, and who can tell him what will come after him? Nobody. But that doesn’t stop the fool from talking. He just keeps running his mouth about things that he knows nothing about. And he wears himself out, verse 15, because he’s utterly incompetent. He doesn’t even know the way to the city.

Leadership, Laziness, and a Whisper (10:16–20)

Then in verses 16 to 20, we get some leadership, some laziness, and a whisper — that was my heading. In verses 16 and 17, we get this contrast: woe to a land with an immature, incompetent king and princes who feast at the wrong time. Like, we got dudes throwing down, having parties in the morning before the work and the fighting are done. That ain’t going to go well. Verse 17, though: happy is the land with a ruler fit to rule and princes who feast at the proper time and in an appropriate way, when the fighting is over and the work is done. Competent leadership matters, but it’s not all that common.

Verses 18 and 19: through laziness the roof sinks in; through inactivity the house leaks. We get that. But bread is made for laughter, and wine gladdens life, and money answers everything — in the practical sense that it gives access to earthly goods. Here’s the kicker, though: if you want the good things of verse 19, you can’t live life like the sluggard of verse 18. A little bit of laziness, a little bit of neglect can ruin good things.

Verse 20 — the section closes with a pretty striking warning here. And don’t get tripped up over how what you think or what you say in private would be found out. That ain’t the point. Solomon says, don’t curse the king even in your thoughts, and don’t curse the rich even in the privacy of your own bedroom, because somehow the matter may get out. Here’s the point. It’s not that a bird is going to carry it away — it’s metaphorical language. It’s that a thought or a whispered word can betray you and ruin your life.

All right, so let’s pull all this together. Here’s my synopsis of chapter 9, verse 13 through chapter 10, verse 20. Wisdom matters. Wisdom is better. But wisdom cannot secure the future. Why? Life under the sun is too fragile. Folly is too potent. Danger is too ordinary. And fools are everywhere. That’s why. Who can tell a man what the future holds? Nobody.

Do Not Put Your Hope in This Life

So now we’re turning to reflect together and seek to apply this. The heading of our first piece here: do not put your hope in this life. If life really is this fragile — and it is — then this life is a terrible place to put your hope. We shouldn’t hope in circumstances. We shouldn’t hope in our plans. We shouldn’t live with that arrival fallacy that we’ve been talking about previously: if I can just get this thing, or if we can just get ourselves to this place, or if we could just change this one circumstantial challenge, then we’ll be good. Even from a purely human, this-world perspective, that’s shortsighted and naive. How much more so for us who are in Christ?

What I’m saying right now, and what Solomon has written, it exposes all of us. The word of God — sharper than any two-edged sword, right? — lays us bare. The law of God: greatest heart diagnostic tool on the face of the earth. The wisdom of God: greatest diagnostic tool on the face of the earth. Speaking personally — maybe you guys aren’t like me; you can pray for me — I am very prone to be earthbound in my thinking. I can be very mired in the concerns of this life, eaten up with them. I can put so much thought and effort and time into building or protecting the kind of life that I want to have now, for me or for my family. I wonder if you do the same thing. I think you do. I think you’re like me. And think about this: if one sinner can destroy much good, if one decision, one accident, one foolish act, one emotional choice — if one moment can alter the whole trajectory of a life, then what an unstable place to put our hope. Here we have no lasting city. It’s good to continually remind ourselves of that.

Now, I don’t want us falling off the other side of the horse. The answer is not asceticism — what that means is just, pleasure’s bad; just live a life of complete denial. We’re not called to a kind of monastic life where anything pleasurable is bad and earthly things don’t matter. That’s not the corrective. This is still God’s world. He has made it very good. And while sin has marred it and we have made a mess of things, there is goodness that remains because God is still good. You can say amen. He still gives gifts. And these gifts reflect the goodness of the one from whom they come. You can read Matthew 5:45. You could read Acts 14:16–17. He causes the sun to shine and the rain to fall on the just and the unjust. And he’s provided for people through the centuries who don’t even know him. He’s provided them abundantly with food and wine and all these things to enjoy.

So, holding these things in appropriate tension: eat the food. Drink the wine. Love your spouse. Enjoy your children, your parents, your friends, your work. Share good things with each other. Receive all of these as gifts, not as things to be hoped in. In light of the second commandment today in the Lord’s providence, receive them as gifts, not gods, right? Enjoy them without putting the weight of your hope on them. They can’t bear it anyway. Love these things, love these people, while knowing that they’re not ultimate. Hold them gratefully while knowing that they can be gone in an instant.

And consider this. Everything that I’m saying is sobering, but rightly received, this perspective is very liberating. It really is. You don’t have to squeeze eternity out of temporal things. You don’t have to find the meaning of your existence in something that may very well be gone tomorrow. You do not have to make this life become the life that finally satisfies every longing of your soul. You can enjoy good gifts for what they are. You know from whom they come, and you can stop trying to turn this life into the next one, because you can’t. Lord, help us. Ask him for that help. Simple prayers. He hears them. Lord, I’m so prone to live by sight and not by faith — help me. I’m so prone to put my hope in things of this world — help me.

Conclusion: I Will Fear No Evil, for You Are with Me

The second piece of meditation, reflection, and application is our conclusion. I’m not going to give you a heading. We’ll just get there organically.

The shadow of death hangs heavily over our passage today. It hangs heavily over all of Ecclesiastes. This is appropriate, because it hangs heavily over mankind and always has. Which makes the following well-known words hit some kind of way. Psalm 23 and verse 4 — many of you know these words: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” We do walk through that valley. We live under that shadow. Ecclesiastes has been breathtakingly honest about what the valley’s like. Death is coming. We don’t know when. Bad things happen suddenly. Life is fragile. The future under the sun is anything but certain. And so a thoughtful person would ask, how in the world can David, the psalmist, then say, “I will fear no evil”? How can he say that? Well, not because the valley isn’t dangerous. Not because we know what’s going to happen next. Not because God has promised that bad things won’t happen to his people. No, none of that. How can he say it then? You know it. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil — why? — for you are with me.

The Lord is our shepherd. He leads us. He guides us. He nourishes us. He protects us. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. He keeps us. Jesus, in his final great prayer recorded in Scripture, did not ask the Father to take us out of the world, but that he would keep us from the evil one. And we know from the words of Christ that the Father protects us, and that Jesus protects us too. Jesus tells us that we are in his hands and no one will pluck us out. And then he turns right around and says that we are in the Father’s hands and no one is able to pluck us out of there. And he tells us that he and the Father are one — one in nature and essence, sure, but the point there in John chapter 10 is that they are one in purpose. Perfectly united, the heavenly Father and the Son, perfectly united in and for your salvation. Jesus tells us that he will be with us always. We are not alone in the valley.

And here is an important thing. The one who is with us is not merely a comforting presence. Because you get this — it’s one thing for Jesus to say that I’m with you. That’s really meaningful. It’s very, very sweet. But if he is not able, if he is not strong enough, if he is not capable of doing something about our condition in the valley, then what real good is his presence? This one who is with us in the valley is none other than the wisdom of God who has already won the victory.

Chapter 9, verses 13 to 18 — you remember that poor, wise man? He looked insignificant. He had no status, no obvious power. His wisdom was despised, and he was forgotten. Yet through his wisdom, he had delivered the whole city from a mighty king and all of his siege works. Now who does that sound like? You can say his name. We’ll try that again. Say his name. Jesus. Thank you. Sounds just like him, doesn’t it? Though he was rich, he made himself poor. The world looked at him as such. Though he was the wisdom and power of God, the world didn’t see it. In his earthly life, Jesus was not regarded by many. He was despised and rejected. He appeared weak. But this poor, wise man — he won the day. He is the wisdom of God. In him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and he has become for us wisdom from God — righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.

Here’s where we’re going to connect it further to our text today. Ecclesiastes, and in particular this section, has shown us how a little thing can have outsized consequence. A little thing can do enormous damage in Ecclesiastes 9 and 10 — a little folly, a little careless word, a little careless whisper in the bedroom, right? But then, you know, we sing a line in a hymn around here — saints have been singing it for a long time — in which we sing that one little word will fell the devil. Ain’t that something? One little bit of foolishness on our part might wreck a life. One word from Jesus Christ will undo the evil one. One word from Christ defeats the devil and all the powers of darkness. The foolishness and the evil of this world are real, but they are not ultimate. And they don’t get the last word. Jesus does.

Death doesn’t get the last word either, because we’re united to the one who conquered it — and conquered the one who has the power of death — so that we no longer live enslaved to the fear of the grave. Because Jesus went into the tomb and then came out of it, everything has changed. History hinges on that empty tomb. If you think about the way that Ecclesiastes has depicted death throughout, if you feel something of it, you should hate it. You should hate death. You should hate the devil too, who has the power of it. This is why it’s so wonderful — and I know sometimes y’all laugh at the way I talk, and that’s okay. Strong language should be used about what Christ has accomplished. So it’s good to say things like, when Jesus walked out of that tomb, he kicked death in the teeth. He did. Or that he curb-stomps the devil, crushes his head. He is our great champion. If you think about how mighty of an enemy death is and how mighty of an enemy the devil is, thank God for Jesus Christ — that he is stronger and that he has won the victory. Riding on that white horse, King of Kings and Lord of Lords tattooed on his leg, coming to wreck shop at the end of it all and deal with evil. Praise God for that.

But he’s not just our great champion who’s defeated death and the devil. He’s also our substitute and our representative. He dealt with our sin. So he’s not just a strong, mighty warrior. He took on human nature and stood condemned in the place of sinners. We sang about it earlier. He made satisfaction for our corruption and all of the sins that we’ve ever committed or ever will commit. He took on our nature and lived under God’s law — he lived under the law that he gave — to perfectly fulfill it, so that he might give you righteousness that you don’t have.

Brother, how do I get this forgiveness of sins, and how do I get this righteousness? Surely I got to do something. What do I need to do to please Jesus so that he will be my champion and defeat the devil and death for me? Such is the marvel of the gospel and the scandal of the good news: the call is not to do anything. It’s to come to Christ in faith. It’s to trust him, to believe in his name, to call upon his name, to cast yourself into his arms. United to him, we are raised to walk in newness of life in him now. And there is a day coming when our bodies will be resurrected to be like his.

Think about that as you consider Ecclesiastes 9 and 10. Consider words like this: “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” And beloved, this ain’t no pipe dream. I love the language of our confession of faith. Our certainty is not merely an inconclusive or likely persuasion based on a fallible hope. What a sentence. Then this one: it is an infallible assurance of faith founded on the blood and righteousness of Christ revealed in the gospel. So not only are we granted forgiveness of sins and righteousness and eternal life by faith, in Christ, apart from works — we then have an infallible assurance that is founded on nothing other than the blood and righteousness of Christ as revealed in the Scriptures. That is a quite firm foundation.

Under the sun, the future is uncertain. In ourselves and in our circumstances, life is radically fragile. But in Christ — another proposition. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow. We don’t know what’s going to happen in 10 minutes. We don’t know what losses may come. We don’t know how or when death will come. But we don’t need to worry about that, because we know where history is going. We might not know the future, but we know the one who holds it. And we know who holds us. The shepherd who walks with us through the valley knows what it is to suffer. He knows what it is to battle the devil. And he has already gone through death and come out victorious. The saints, they cry out, “Oh, Jesus, you have won it all.” He has. He has. Bless his name. And he loves us. Jesus is it. He’s all we’ve got. He’s all we need. He’s all-sufficient. So even under the shadow of death, his people can say, “I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” And we close in prayer.