1. "In this book, the author, calling himself the Preacher, looks at the hard realities of life and refuses to blink. He enters a staring contest with life itself and he wins."

2. "God is sovereign, but you don't know whether the next day's providence is going to look like a smile or a frown. God is sovereign, but that doesn't mean that only good, only unmixed blessings are ever only going to come your way."

3. "Death is the stubbornest fact of all. But just as stubborn is our sense that death itself is wrong. It cuts down young and old, righteous and wicked, wise and foolish. We instinctively resist death. We wish it would go away and stay away."

4. "Death levels us, but Christ leveled death. Death is the just punishment for all our sins. But Christ came to bear that punishment for all who had ever turned from sin and trust in him."

5. "We all like to think that we are the captain of a grand vessel plowing a razor-straight course through all the swirling storms of life. But you're more like the fish that gets caught in the ship's net."

6. "You do know that you will die. You don't know when you will die. So the only wise way to live is to be always ready to die."

7. "If you live by people's approval, you will die by their rejection. So do good and don't care who gets the credit."

8. "Enjoying the maker's gifts glorifies the maker. God didn't have to make us, and He didn't have to make us need food. He made us because He's good, and He made us to need food so that we would daily taste His goodness."

9. "Each of these are gifts, not gods. If you treat them as gods, they'll become demons."

10. "Everything you enjoy in this life is a small good thing. So enjoy those small good things while you have them. But remember, if you're in Christ, you have much bigger, good things coming."

Observation Questions

1. According to Ecclesiastes 9:2-3, what "same event" happens to all people—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the evil, the clean and the unclean—and how does the preacher describe this reality?

2. In Ecclesiastes 9:4-6, what contrast does the preacher draw between the living and the dead, and what does he say happens to the love, hate, and envy of those who have died?

3. What specific gifts does the preacher command his readers to enjoy in Ecclesiastes 9:7-9, and what reason does he give in verse 7 for why they should enjoy them?

4. In Ecclesiastes 9:11, what five examples does the preacher give to illustrate that skill and ability do not guarantee success, and what does he say happens to all people instead?

5. According to the story in Ecclesiastes 9:14-15, what did the poor wise man accomplish for the city, and what was the outcome for him personally?

6. In Ecclesiastes 9:17-18, how does the preacher compare wisdom to might and weapons of war, and what warning does he give at the end of verse 18?

Interpretation Questions

1. Why does the preacher call it "an evil" (9:3) that the same event happens to all, rather than simply accepting death as a natural part of life? What does this response reveal about human nature and our intuitions about death?

2. How does the phrase "time and chance happen to them all" (9:11) challenge the common belief that we can engineer all our desired outcomes through hard work, wisdom, or skill? What is the preacher trying to teach us about human control?

3. The sermon explained that verses 7-10 represent a shift from observing life "under the sun" to recognizing gifts that come "from beyond the sun." How does understanding God as the giver of these gifts change the way we should receive and enjoy food, marriage, and work?

4. What does the story of the forgotten poor wise man (9:13-16) teach us about the relationship between doing good and receiving recognition? How does this connect to the preacher's broader observations about life's disappointments?

5. The sermon argued that Christ "leveled death" through his death and resurrection. How does the gospel message transform the bleak observations of Ecclesiastes 9:1-6 about death's leveling power over all people?

Application Questions

1. The sermon challenged listeners not to hold tacit beliefs like "If I do this, surely God will reward me with that." What unexamined expectations do you carry about what your obedience or hard work should produce in this life, and how might recognizing death's leveling work free you from those expectations?

2. Ecclesiastes 9:10 commands, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might." What specific task in your life right now—whether tedious, thankless, or unglamorous—do you need to approach with renewed diligence as a stewardship from God?

3. The sermon noted that we often turn everything into "work" (working on marriage, working on relationships) rather than enjoying God's gifts. What would it look like this week for you to simply enjoy—rather than optimize—a meal, a conversation, or time with family?

4. Given that "crowds forget" and human approval is fickle, where in your life are you most tempted to seek human praise over God's approval? What specific step could you take to reorient your heart toward living for God's commendation instead?

5. The preacher urged listeners to "turn causes of anxiety into prompts for prayer" since we are not in control of outcomes. What current worry about the future—whether related to health, finances, relationships, or career—can you bring to God in prayer this week, trusting his sovereign wisdom?

Additional Bible Reading

1. Hebrews 2:14-18 — This passage explains how Christ, through his death, destroyed the power of death and delivers those who were enslaved by the fear of death, directly addressing the sermon's point that Christ "leveled death."

2. Romans 8:18-25 — Paul describes creation's groaning and the believer's hope of future glory, reinforcing the sermon's teaching that present sufferings and disappointments point us toward an eternal reward.

3. Colossians 3:22-25 — This passage instructs believers to work heartily as for the Lord, knowing they will receive an inheritance as their reward, connecting to the sermon's emphasis on work as stewardship and seeking heavenly rather than earthly rewards.

4. James 4:13-17 — James warns against presuming on tomorrow and reminds readers that life is a mist, echoing Ecclesiastes' teaching about human inability to control the future and the need to submit to God's will.

5. 1 Corinthians 15:50-58 — Paul proclaims Christ's victory over death and concludes that labor in the Lord is not in vain, providing the gospel hope that transforms the preacher's observations about death's finality.

Sermon Main Topics

I. The Reality of Disappointment in Life Under the Sun

II. Death Levels All People Regardless of Righteousness

III. Fortune Mocks Human Efforts and Expectations

IV. Crowds Forget Even Those Who Save Them

V. Gifts Abound from God's Good Hand

VI. Living for God's Praise Rather Than Human Approval

---

Detailed Sermon Outline

Unless you're as much of a bookworm as I am, you've probably never heard of books and culture. It was my favorite magazine, hands down. The content was mainly book reviews, but the books were about everything under the sun. And so each issue was one of the few magazines I paid for a hard copy subscription of. Each issue would come, and there would be books I'd never heard of, reviews by people I'd never encountered, but I'd just start reading and get hooked.

Every single review was like a trip down a rabbit hole of discovery and insight. It was just compelling.

But five years ago, after a 20-year run, Books & Culture was canceled. Couldn't make ends meet. Didn't make enough revenue. The publisher and the editor mounted a fundraising campaign. But they couldn't find philanthropists who were willing to keep it going.

Books and Culture's end was a sore disappointment for me and many other readers. Of course, it would have been a much bigger disappointment to the people whose jobs depended on it.

When have you been disappointed?

How did you respond?

What does disappointment reveal about you?

This morning we continue our series in the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes. In this book, the author, calling himself the Preacher, looks at the hard realities of life and refuses to blink. He enters a staring contest with life itself and he wins.

Throughout the book, he pins our attention to topics we'd rather not think about, and he pushes us to conclusions that we'd rather not draw.

In our passage for this morning, Ecclesiastes chapter 9, the common thread through the whole chapter is disappointment. The author catalogs many different kinds of disappointment, and he considers many causes of disappointment. So here's a question for you to consider as I read the whole chapter and then as we study it together: what should you do when nothing goes your way?

Please follow along as I read Ecclesiastes 9. It starts on page 557 of the Pew Bibles.

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 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 to which 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. Happened 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've also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against 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.

Throughout Ecclesiastes, we've seen that the author has two main speeds. One is observing the world and reflecting on all that his eyes can see of this life under the sun, drawing conclusions from what he sees. The other speed is telling us what he knows to be true since God is the Creator and Judge of all.

And he shifts. Between these speeds without any warning. Instead of presenting one seamless vision, he simply sets the two pictures side by side. And he does the same in this chapter. So to see the structure of the chapter, you can see how he introduces each section.

So in verse 1 he says, All this I laid to heart, examining it all. And then down in verse 11, again I saw. And in verse 13, I also have seen. So we're going to look at each of those sections first. Verses 1 to 6, 11 to 12, and 13 to 18.

And then we'll come back to verses 7 to 10, where he switches gears without warning.

First, we'll follow his examination of life under the sun and then what comes from beyond the sun. So here's the question: what should you do when nothing goes your way? Remember that. Point one, death levels. Death levels.

We see this leveling, flattening, bulldozing work of death. And verses 1 to 6. Looking at verses 1 to 3.

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.

In verse 1, the preacher asserts the biblical truth that God is sovereign over all things, but that doesn't give him much comfort. When he says whether it is love or hate man does not know, He's not saying that no one can ever be assured of God's love. Instead, he's reflecting on what life looks like and feels like down here. God is sovereign, but you don't know whether the next day's providence is going to look like a smile or a frown. God is sovereign, but that doesn't mean that only good, only unmixed blessings are ever only going to come your way.

Way. We like to think that we can engineer all our desired outcomes. Work hard and you'll get a good job. Save and invest and you'll be financially secure. Eat well and exercise and you'll have a long healthy life.

But to all this the preacher says, you don't know that.

Now, I don't think the preacher would be against hard work or saving or exercise. But his point is there are no guarantees in this life except one: death. And the certainty of death guarantees that there is no perfect distribution of rewards in this life. Righteous and wicked, good and evil, everybody suffers the same fate in the end. Since death happens to all, as far as this life is concerned, Righteousness doesn't guarantee blessing, work doesn't guarantee wealth, diet doesn't guarantee health, and skill doesn't guarantee success.

The preacher is not saying we should like this. And he's not telling us to simply resign ourselves to our fate. Instead, he's mad about it. Look at verse 3. This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all.

He's saying something's not right. Death is the stubbornest fact of all. But just as stubborn is our sense that death itself is wrong. It cuts down young and old, righteous and wicked, wise and foolish. We instinctively resist death.

We wish it would go away and stay away.

If you're not a Christian, How do you explain those two facts? That death is the stubbornest fact and we're just as stubbornly opposed to it. If we're simply dust warmed to life for a little while by a cooling star, then why do we feel like so much more?

If death is simply a natural part of life, why does it feel so so wrong.

In this passage, the preacher doesn't give us the answers that those questions send us looking for, but he does say that there is something seriously wrong out there. And then, continuing in verse 3, he also says, There's something seriously wrong in here. Looking at verse 3, 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. What the preacher is saying about madness being in the heart is not just true of some people, but all people. He's saying that all people have messed up hearts by nature.

He's saying we long for and revere the wrong things.

The factory settings of our fallen nature are all messed up. That's true of every single one of us. We're sinners, not just by choice, but by nature. As Blaise Pascal said, Certainly nothing jolts us more rudely than this doctrine. And yet, but for this mystery, the most incomprehensible of all, we remain incomprehensible to ourselves.

If you don't know that you're a sinner by nature, then you don't know yourself.

The preacher continues to report on death's bulldozing work in verses 4 to 6.

Look at those verses. 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. Verse 4 almost sounds encouraging.

Until you realize that in verse 5 the reason he gives for why the living are better off is that they know that they will die. Some advantage.

We have to remember that in these portions of Ecclesiastes the author is strictly limiting himself. To what his eyes can see and what sense he can make of that. In these portions of Ecclesiastes, the author is asking the question, if this life is all there is, how can you be sure it's such a good thing? So in these verses, Ecclesiastes is showing us the limits of what merely human observation can tell us about the meaning of life. He comes right up to that cliff and then instead of turning aside, he floors the gas and goes straight off.

He shows us the absurdity of looking at life as if this is all there is.

Death levels. Verse 6 says that in just a few years, all the things you love and hate and envy will be just as gone as you are.

All the fires that are burning so hot in your life and your heart right now will be blown out and scattered to the wind.

But what use is that to you here and now? When nothing goes your way, how is it any comfort to remember that death levels? How does that not just add insult to injury? Because it reminds you not to seek your reward here. Don't look here for perfect payment.

Don't seek full satisfaction from anything that your eyes can see. Many of us walk through life with unexamined, tacit beliefs. We believe it, but we don't really know it. We believe it, but we don't really admit it. To ourselves until something comes along and reveals it.

Beliefs like this. If I do this, surely God will reward me with that. If I pray and read the Bible every day, surely he'll give me the spouse and kids I want. If I show up hard and work hard at my job every day, surely I'll get that promotion. Death says, not so fast.

Not so fast. Surely. If death itself comes for the good and evil alike, then don't count on getting everything you want in this life. Don't count on getting everything you think you deserve.

Death is a hard word. Whatever we try to speak on our own behalf and our own defense, death speaks louder. Whatever mark we try to leave, Death just comes along and sweeps it away.

But praise God, as hard a word as death is, it is not the last word.

Death levels us, but Christ leveled death.

Death is the just punishment for all our sins. But Christ came to bear that punishment for all who had ever turned from sin and trust in him. That's what he accomplished in his death on the cross. And death rules over us as a tyrant, but Christ came to liberate us from that tyrant. Death keeps us locked up as slaves to fear, but Christ came to release us from death's dominion forever.

That's what the author of Hebrews says in chapter 2, since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook in the same, partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. By his death, Jesus delivers us from death. And not only that, but on the third day he rose from the grave, obliterating death's power forever. As Ben preached last week, one day God will swallow up death forever. And the hole that death will sink into and disappear forever in is Christ's resurrection.

If you've never turned from sin and trusted in Christ, believe in him today. Only he can get rid of your sin forever. Only he can rescue you from death's grip forever. He's the only one who can give you more than death robs from you. He's the only one who can give you a reward that death can't even touch.

So don't seek your reward here but in heaven. As Paul says in Colossians 3:23, Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. There is no certain reward here but a certain reward in heaven. Is coming.

And what is that reward? Ultimately, it's to know God and see God and be satisfied by God forever. When nothing goes your way, remember that death levels and Christ leveled death.

Point two. Fortune mocks. When nothing goes your way, remember that fortune mocks. We see this mockery in verses 11 and 12.

Look first at verse 11.

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 happened to them all.

The preacher is not saying that the race is never to the swift. Instead, he's saying it's not always to the swift. The swift might get hurt or might get tricked. His point is that skill doesn't guarantee success. Despite our illusion that we're masters of our fate, our lives are subject to forces far beyond our ability to control.

Time and chance. Board games vary in how much they depend on skill versus chance. There are many perennial children's favorites that depend exclusively on chance. Chutes and Ladders, Candy Land, all you do is draw that card, all you do is roll that dice, Again and again and again. The kids love it.

The parents maybe a little less. And then of course there are some board games like Catan or for kids a personal favorite of our family Sushi Go Party where there is chance but then there's strategy and skill in different proportions.

So what about life itself? What's the ratio of skill to luck?

The author of Ecclesiastes doesn't give us an equation, but he does say this: It's not what many of you want to think. It's not 100% skill and zero luck. That's not the world you're living in.

Verse 11 isn't saying, Therefore, don't even try, or Therefore, don't care, or Therefore, none of it matters. Instead, all that verse 11 is saying is, Therefore, you're not in control. And just as you're not in control of your life, neither are you in control of your death. Look at verse 12, 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. We all like to think that we are the captain of a grand vessel plowing a razor-straight course through all the swirling storms of life. But you're more like the fish that gets caught in the ship's net.

You do know that you will die. You don't know when you will die. So the only wise way to live is to be always ready to die.

Are you ready to face death? If not, why not?

What about You, would you not want to be the last impression you leave on everyone around you?

If you're not a believer in Jesus, I want to challenge you. Don't take for granted that you can put work and money and leisure and relationships first. And sort out your relationship with God later. For one thing, you don't know whether you'll get a later. Don't put career and relationships and finances first before your relationship to God.

They aren't first in importance, and you don't know when first becomes last without any warning.

Brothers and sisters, members of CHBC, Every gathering of our church is a dress rehearsal for the last day, which means every time we come together, we're not only re-centering our lives on God, we're also helping each other prepare to die well. This is one reason we regularly pray prayers of confession, like the one Jamie led us in earlier.

Prayers of confession help us keep short accounts with God. It's one reason we sing hymns about heaven. Like, Lord, keep me day by day. Hymns about heaven fix our eyes on our destination beyond death. And hymns about heaven train our hearts in how to rightly view our own death.

Death is an enemy, but it's a defeated enemy, and it isn't the end.

Brothers and sisters, what should you do if you're not finally in control of how your life is going to turn out? Trust in the one who is.

From a human point of view, chance is an appropriate word for when something's cause is hidden from us. We can't give a reason of why things happened the way they did, but we know that ultimately, God is sovereign over even the smallest, seemingly most random events in our lives. Proverbs 16:33, the lot is cast into the lap. Lap, but it's every decision is from the Lord, even in Candyland.

So turn causes of anxiety into prompts for prayer. Whatever weighs your heart down, get it off your chest and into God's everlasting arms. As Thomas Watson said, it is our work to cast care and God's work to take care. When nothing goes your way, remember that fortune mocks, but God is sovereign and wise and good.

Point three, crowds forget. When nothing goes your way, remember that crowds forget. We see this forgetfulness on display in verses 13 to 18. Look first at verses 13 to 16.

I've also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. There was a little city with 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.

While this incident has parallels to some biblical events, it doesn't seem to be a perfect fit with any. There's just something that the preacher saw happen. And what happened? Ingratitude. That's what happened.

This obscure wise man averted disaster. He saved lives by his wisdom. And did he get a nice reward? Did he get a free house, a fat pension? No, he got forgotten.

Crowds are fickle and crowds forget.

When Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving God's law, it only took the people of Israel 40 days to forget about Moses and turn their backs on the God who had saved them.

The next two verses both commend wisdom, but with a slightly skeptical, cynical undertone. Look at verse 17: the words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools.

The words of the wise in quiet are better, but whose words are likely to get more votes? That depends on who's speaking and who's listening. And then in verse 18: Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. The first half of this saying sounds like Proverbs 16:32: Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. But the second half reminds us how fragile good is.

It reminds us how easily good is lost or spoiled or overcome. In this life, Sometimes it seems like evil can get out onto the track and finish three laps before good can get its shoes tied.

Wisdom is better than power, and it's certainly better than evil. But don't count on wisdom earning you universal praise. If you live by people's approval, you will die by their rejection. So do good and don't care who gets the credit. Care more about doing good to someone than about whether they think well of you.

And don't let the lure of approval draw your heart like a magnet toward approving what God disapproves. Don't let the pull of human praise keep you from living for God's praise. John 12:43 tells us why many people didn't confess faith in Christ during his earthly ministry. They loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

God. Consider how often human approval and God's approval are flatly opposed. How often you must sacrifice one in order to get the other. James 4:4, Whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Galatians 1:10, For am I now seeking the approval of man or of God?

Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Why seek praise from people when you can seek praise from God instead? As the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4:5, Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time; before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God. When nothing goes your way, remember that crowds forget, but God doesn't.

Point four, gifts abound. When nothing goes your way, remember that gifts abound. We see these gifts back in verses 7 to 10.

Remember that here the preacher is code-switching from observing life under the sun to reminding us that life's good things come to us from beyond the sun, from the good hand of our wise and generous and sovereign God. He's not talking about life as he sees it, but life as God gives it. So what gifts is he talking about? These verses focus on four.

First, in verse 7, Food and drink. Go eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. Notice that this is a command to enjoy. How can God command you to enjoy these gifts? Because he made them, he provides them, and he says they're good.

Genesis 1:31, God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. If you make a meal for a table full of adult guests, they are likely to enjoy it and thank you warmly and compliment you for your hospitality. If you make a meal for a table full of, say, your own children, their reactions are likely to be more varied and less complimentary.

Which group of eaters honors the maker's meal more? Enjoying the maker's gifts glorifies the maker. God didn't have to make us, and He didn't have to make us need food. He made us because He's good, and He made us to need food so that we would daily taste His goodness. As Robert Farrar Capon has said, Food is the daily sacrament of unnecessary goodness, ordained for a continual remembrance that the world will always be more delicious than it is useful.

The second gift is clothing and health. Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. In ancient Israel, in the hot Mediterranean climate, people put oil on their skin both for health and for appearance. Ecclesiastes is saying that caring for both, for health and appearance, and for the enjoyment of both, caring for and enjoying both those things has their place in God's good creation.

The third gift is marriage. This is in verse 9. Enjoy life with the wife whom you love.

All 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.

By God's grace, I married Kristen when I was 21.

Wife of my youth in the literal sense.

And she's one of God's greatest gifts to me.

Remember when Ecclesiastes says vain? We should hear that word as fleeting, ungraspable, soon gone, like every other good gift under the sun. Even the longest marriage is brief.

So what should you do with something so good that will be gone so soon? Enjoy it.

In a recent article on burnout, the historian Jill Lepore points out that today we have turned absolutely everything into work. She writes, you, can suffer from marriage burnout, and parent burnout, and pandemic burnout, partly because, although burnout is supposed to be mainly about working too much, people now talk about all sorts of things that aren't work as if they were. You have to work on your marriage, work in your garden, Work out, work harder on raising your kids, work on your relationship with God. Even getting a massage is body work.

Whether you live with your husband or wife, or roommates, or other family members, do you enjoy the life God has given you and the people he's given you to enjoy it with?

What would it look like for you to enjoy your life more for God's glory?

The fourth gift is work.

Verse 9 says, that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun.

A portion is apportioned by someone, like a host who serves you a big bowl of pasta. God is the host of your whole life, and he decides which dishes to give you and how much of each. And one of the gifts he apportions to you is work. This is your portion in life and in your toil. And then again in verse 10, Whatever your hand finds to do, Do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol to which you are going.

One of the challenges of verse 10 is that the dreariness of death creeps in to his commendation of life's good gifts. Normally, throughout Ecclesiastes, the preacher keeps his secular, gloomy observations in one stream and his confessions of God's goodness as Creator in a totally separate stream. It's like there's a freshwater stream and a saltwater stream. But here the streams mix. The water is brackish.

His motivation for you to work now is that there ain't no work in the grave. And in one sense, that's true. No life, no labor. But ultimately, From the perspective of the whole Bible, we need to remember that nothing we do here is in vain. As we read earlier in 1 Corinthians 15, and as we're going to consider in our devotional tonight, Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

Why not? Because it will result in an eternal reward.

So what does this verse, verse 10, tell you to do? Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might.

Whatever God has given you to do, do it. It's that simple. You can't do the job you wish you had. You can only do the jobs God's actually given you. So do them with the strength that he has given to.

You're not finally responsible for what comes out of your work. Time and chance happen to all. But you are responsible for what you put in. All work is a stewardship. God has given you your work and he expects you to give yourself to your work as a way of giving yourself to him.

And the test of your work ethic is that little word Whatever. Whatever your hand finds to do. It's easy to be motivated by the fun parts of any job. But what about the most tedious, the most thankless? What about the third time in a row that your boss says, that's not quite it.

Give me another version. I thought that one was pretty good. Don't really know what you're looking for, but okay. Or what about the tenth load of laundry this week?

Verse 10 reminds us that for all its frustrations, work is a gift. All legitimate work is an expression of love for God and love for others. All honest work reflects God's character and tends his creation.

All work is covered in glory, no matter how faint that glory may sometimes seem.

Food and drink, clothing and health, marriage, work, these are all good gifts from God. When nothing goes your way, remember that gifts abound. One of the keys to enjoying all these good gifts is not making them a bigger deal than they are. Each of these are gifts, not gods. If you treat them as gods, they'll become demons.

John Wilson is the editor who founded and for 20 years ran books and culture. Magazine I mentioned earlier.

In a recent interview, Wilson told this story.

Early in the magazine's history, there was a guy who was doing fundraising for us. He was retired. He said to me that he was going around telling people how books and culture was going to change the culture. I said, don't say that. Whatever the culture is, we're not going to change it.

I had this phrase, a small good thing. You know, what we were doing was really good. We didn't have to make these sweeping claims for our work. It's just something worth doing, and we should be glad that we can do it. I felt this way from the start to the end.

I was very sad when we had to stop, but you know, that's life. I love that phrase, a small good thing. I haven't been able to get it out of my head as I've been studying Ecclesiastes for these few months. Because here's the point, even on the positive side of the ledger in Ecclesiastes, they're all small good things. Food and drink, clothing and health, marriage, work, Enjoy whatever shape and size of these gifts God gives you.

Don't be crushed by the lack of any of them. They're all good, but they're all small.

Set your heart on the greatest good thing, the good in all good things, God himself. Everything you enjoy in this life is a small good thing. So enjoy those small good things while you have them. But remember, if you're in Christ, you have much bigger, good things coming.

Be still, my soul. The hour is hastening on when we shall be forever with the Lord, when disappointment Grief and fear are gone. Sorrow forgot. Love's purest joys restored. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we praise you because you are the giver of every good and perfect gift. We praise you because you are the ultimate gift. And you have given yourself to us through your Son. Father, we pray that we would live in the hope of enjoying you as our greatest good forever. In Jesus' name, Amen.