Ecclesiastes 7

V 1–12: PRUDENT PREFERENCES Solomon sees that there are several choices that are ‘better’ (a word which occurs several times) than more foolish choices. He can see practical advantages in applied wisdom. V 13–14: SUPREME SOVEREIGNTY More sunshine! Solomon now arrives at a point where he sees that God is supremely sovereign. This is the bedrock of the Christian’s confidence. V 15: LIVING LONG God’s sovereignty is set off against the observation that wicked men can live long, and relatively good men can live short lives. V 16–26: ACTIVE APPLICATIONS He then goes on to apply wisdom to the life we have, be it short or long. Legalistic over-righteousness and worldly wisdom should be avoided, as should wickedness and foolishness. Fearing God is the key and it leads to wisdom in evaluating the comments of others, in escaping immorality and in pleasing God. V 27–29: COMPELLING CONCLUSION Solomon’s tentative conclusion at this point is that God made people upright but they invariably go astray.