In this enlightening episode of Hope for Today, dive into Ecclesiastes Chapter 7 where Solomon’s teachings reveal the true essence of wisdom. Bible teacher David Hawking takes us on a journey to understand why adversity might teach us more than prosperity ever could and why a good name surpasses external riches. Reflect on the benefits of sorrow and death, and see how these experiences are designed to bring us closer to God’s unshakeable faith.
00:23:50 Conclusion – The Importance of Wisdom Literature
SPEAKER 04 :
Inward character is much better than outward fragrance. And it takes God’s wisdom sometimes to understand that. What do you believe is really important in life? God’s wisdom will help you in looking at your circumstances to evaluate what is really important in your life.
SPEAKER 1 :
Thank you.
SPEAKER 01 :
This is Hope for Today. Solomon says a good name is better than perfume. A funeral can teach you more than a party. And adversity may do more for your soul than prosperity ever could. Then he rips the filter off and tells us what real wisdom actually looks like. Not the soft, positive Hallmark card version, but the kind that’s forged in tears, shaped by rebuke and grounded in the fear of the Lord. Today, Bible teacher David Hawking moves into Ecclesiastes chapter 7, verses 1 through 14, where God shows us why he uses both the dark days and the bright days, why he allows sorrow, why he gives joy, and how both are designed to drive us to a deeper, stronger, unmovable faith. Our study time begins in mere moments. Hang on. Ecclesiastes chapter 7 has some great lessons ahead. First, though, you know, Proverbs 9 verse 10 says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And if you want to grow in that kind of wisdom, a deep, reverent, Bible-rooted fear of God that keeps him and his word at the center of your life. Well, we want to put a free resource in your hands. It’s called Your Quest for God. And Your Quest for God is a powerful book by our good friend Richard A. Bennett. And you can get it right now. You can download it from our homepage at davidhawking.org. Listen, Your Quest for God is a bold call to know God as He really is and to walk in the wisdom that comes from truly fearing Him. Download your free copy of Your Quest for God. You don’t have to sign up for anything. Click, download it, share it with as many folks as you like. Your Quest for God at DavidHawking.org. And here’s David to take us into the Word.
SPEAKER 04 :
Take your Bibles, please, and turn to Ecclesiastes chapter 7. Ecclesiastes chapter 7. Our subject is the value of wisdom. Seeing things from God’s perspective. Boy how we need that. In Ecclesiastes chapter 7 and beginning at verse 1. It says a good name is better than precious ointment. And the day of death than the day of one’s birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting. For that is the end of all men and the living will take it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by a sad countenance the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the song of fools. For like the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This also is vanity. Surely oppression destroys a wise man’s reason, and a bribe debases the heart. The end of a thing is better than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools. Do not say, why were the former days better than these? For you do not inquire wisely concerning this. Wisdom is good with an inheritance and profitable to those who see the sun. For wisdom is a defense, as money is a defense. But the excellence of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to those who have it. Consider the work of God, for who can make straight what he has made crooked? In the day of prosperity, be joyful. But in the day of adversity, consider. Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other, so that man can find nothing that will happen after him. Let’s look to the Lord in a moment of prayer. Father, we ask that you will help us to do some serious thinking about our lives. some evaluation before you, the God who knows all things. You know what we feel, you know what we think, and you know what we have done. We thank you, Lord, that you’re a God of forgiveness, a God of grace, a God of love, as surely as a God of holiness and justice and righteousness. And God, I would pray that you’d help us to see that your wisdom, seeing things from your point of view, is more important than anything in life. For we ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen. If you look back to chapter 6, verse 12, I think you’ll see a little background for what happens in chapter 7. In chapter 6, verse 12, Solomon said, And that’s kind of the key that takes him on to the next section. Who knows what is good for man in life? Now connect that with the usage of the word better in chapter 7. You find it appears eight times. Eight times, by the way, in most translations, though sometimes the number of times differs. An example, in the New American Standard Bible, you’ll find the word better in the first 14 verses eight times. But there’s actually, in verse 1 in the New American Standard, two usages of better where it doesn’t appear in New King James. But in verse 3, King James uses the word better twice, where it’s used only once in New American Standard. There’s a lot of differences like that. But primarily, I think what we have is about seven proverbs. Seven proverbs that kind of answer the question, who knows what’s good for man in life? And then seven proverbs that to us seem to be very strange, but out of which comes the wisdom of God. For instance, a good name, verse 1. Also in verse 1, the day of death. the house of mourning in verse 2, the matter of sorrow being better than laughter, verse 3, the rebuke of the wise, verse 5, the end of a thing, verse 8, and the patient in spirit, verse 8, and so on. So you see, by way of certain proverbs and the usage of the word better, he’s describing who knows what is good for man in life. And the truth is, some things are better than others, but you have to see it from God’s point of view, which most of us do not see. So some of these things will appear to be strange. I want to give you three things today that I believe this text says is the value of wisdom. And let me give them to you right away so you know where we’re going. Number one, wisdom, according to this text, evaluates the circumstances of our life from God’s point of view. That’s the first ten verses. If you understand wisdom, it evaluates the circumstances of our life from God’s point of view. Not yours, not somebody else, but from God’s. That’s wisdom. Secondly, wisdom, according to verses 11 and 12, exceeds all the advantages of worldly possessions or worldly security. Having God’s wisdom exceeds all the advantages of having worldly possessions or worldly security. And we’ll see that in a moment. And then third, the value of wisdom is that it encourages our dependency upon God and His plan for us. Wisdom always encourages you to depend upon God and His plan for us. And that’s verse 13 and 14. Now let’s come back to the first point. What is the value of having God’s wisdom in our life? And number one, the value is that it evaluates the circumstances that you and I are experiencing from God’s point of view. And it helps us to do four things. Number one, it helps us to recognize what is really important. Now let me ask you a question. What do you believe is really important in life? God’s wisdom will help you in looking at your circumstances to evaluate what is really important in your life. And the very first proverb tells us that. Look at verse 1. A good name, he says, is better than precious ointment or expensive perfume. A good name is better than that. Turn over to the Song of Solomon, just to the right, chapter 1, verse 3, just a few pages to the right. A good name is not referring to the title, the letters of the name. It’s referring to the character behind the name. You see, inward character is more important than outward fragrance. Now, I think you ought to smell good. Okay? Let’s get that straight right off the bat. No reason to stink. Okay? Amen? There’s lots of products on the shelf you can use. And if you’re having problems along that way, hey, use some stuff. Okay? Make us all feel better about you. Amen? Okay. Enough said. But let me tell you something. Inward character is much better. than outward fragrance and it takes God’s wisdom sometimes to understand that we can be deceived by attractive perfumes Song of Solomon chapter 1 verse 3 it says because of the fragrance of your good ointments your perfumes your name is ointment poured forth therefore the virgins love you the name the character behind Solomon was the sweetest perfume of all. Inward character is much more important than outward fragrance. And so it helps us to recognize what’s important in life. As we even look at that simple proverb, a good name is better than precious ointment. Too many of us are treating that lightly. By the way, that’s a play on words in Hebrew, and it’s a form of poetry that we even use today. We have words that rhyme. And in Hebrew, the word name is shem, and the word perfume or ointment is shemen. And it’s simply a play on the words. And it’s showing us that some things sound very much alike, but they are radically different. A good name and a good character, though it sounds like expensive perfume in the Hebrew language, yet it is much more important. And thus the writer is using even a form of poetry to emphasize the point. A lot of things in life seem like they’re valuable and they’re both the same. But when you think about it more, when you really analyze it from God’s point of view, one is much better than the other. And who knows what is good for man in life, as 612 said. And the answer is God does. And one thing that is better is inward character, what you are made of. Your character is what God knows you to be. Your reputation is just what people think you are. Your character is what you are in the dark when no one else knows. Your character is what you think you can get away with. A good name, the Bible says, is better than the most expensive ointment. Several years ago, in fact, it was 1970, I was in Egypt for the first time. And being an unsuspecting tourist, we were taken to the fragrance factories of Egypt. Now, those of you who have been overseas will know that this is a con job. But your first time, you’ve got to do it anyway, even though you’re being conned. They take you to these perfume factories, and they tell you that the actual essence that is sent to France to produce all the marvelous perfumes of the world, that they have in its purest form. And you know, you’re just drinking all this stuff up, not literally, but you are listening to all of this. And they sit you down in these perfume factories, and they serve you coffee and tea and little crumpets, and they really set you up for this. And then they bring you these fragrances. Every flower you can imagine. You know, gardenias, jasmines, roses, you name it. And that stuff, oh, you talk about the smell. I mean, it gets so bad you’ve got to get out of there. But some people like it. And they say, this is pure stuff. Mix it with a little water and you have perfume for the rest of your life. And so all the tourists buy it like crazy and you get all that perfume. Pray that it doesn’t leak in your suitcase on the way home. But anyway, you get it home and you discover that it’s not what they claimed it to be. But those fragrances, the Egyptians loved them. And they speak of them, how beneficial they are to our lives. And God simply says, hey, character is much better. Character is much better. Psalm 112.6 says the righteous will be in everlasting remembrance. Proverbs 10.7 says the memory of the righteous is blessed, but the name of the wicked will rot. Inward character, a good name, is better than the choicest perfume in life. It not only helps us to see wisdom. not only helps us to see what’s really important in life, as illustrated by that first proverb, but it also helps us to realize, number two, the value of things like sorrow and death, which most of us are trying to run away from. No one likes to be hurt, but the Bible is teaching us in verses 1 to 4 that there’s more learning, there’s more benefit from hurt than there is from laughter. Notice what he says in verse 1. The day of death is better than the day of one’s birth. Secondly, the house of mourning, verse 2, is better than the house of feasting. And 3, in verse 3, sorrow is better than laughter. And you look at that and say, hey man, that’s not where we’re at. I mean, we’re into joy, man, pleasure. We’re into joy in the sense of laughter. I mean, make me laugh and help my problems to go away. Right? But the Bible teaches that wisdom evaluates circumstances of life from God’s point of view. And that helps us to realize the value of sorrow. To realize the value of death. For instance, let’s take that first one in verse 1. That the day of death is better than the day of one’s birth. How is that so? I like what Charles Bridges wrote in his commentary on this point. He says it’s not the day that will deliver us from sin and sorrow. Far better than the day that brought us into them. Yes, the day of one’s death can be better than the day of one’s birth. I think the songwriter thought of that when he wrote, Jesus may come today, glad day, glad day, and I would see my friend. Dangers and troubles would end. If Jesus should come today, glad day, glad day. Is this the crowning day? I’ll live for today, nor anxious be. Jesus, my Lord, I soon shall see. Glad day, glad day. Is it the crowning day? In another stanza, he said, why should I anxious be? Glad day, glad day. Lights appear on the shore. Storms will… Frighten me no more, for he is at hand today. Jesus may come today. I think there’s a sense in which all of us identify with that. It’s better to die than it is to be born. It’s better to face the joys of heaven than it is the sorrows of earth. Most of us live under a misunderstanding about life, as though somehow we will escape sorrow and hurt and problems and pain. And that simply is not so. It even says, down in verse 4, that the heart of the wise is in the house of mourning. The heart or the mind of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth or pleasure and happiness. You say, that seems strange. One commentator says to the house of mirth we may go but our heart can never rest there if we love the Lord. The world can never be our home. Its resources are too poor for our deepest wants. Solid satisfaction bearing us up when all is sinking around us. A bomb for every sorrow when worldly joys are all packed up and gone. There are the treasures in the house of mourning. What interesting words. We’re trying to get rid of death and mourning in this society. Even our cemeteries and our funeral homes are dedicated to it. I’d like to remind you of a story about Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, which supposedly is the most famous burial ground in the world. It was designed for movie stars and famous people. The late Hubert Eaton became a millionaire, capitalizing on the removal of the sorrowful aspects of death, which he did at Forest Lawn. And since then, it became a pattern that spread all around the world. He wanted to erase literally all signs of mourning and sorrow. He wanted to surround the bodies of movie stars and famous people with rolling lawns and beautiful flowers and sparkling fountains and marble statutes. He made a decree which we now consider to be common in the whole industry. The corpse would no longer be called a corpse. It would be called a loved one. Simple fact. Death would be referred to as taking leave. And with skilled cosmetologists, he said we can make the corpse attractive in luxuriously furnished rooms that we’ll call slumber rooms. And this man literally changed the industry. And his whole goal was to erase every vestige of the sadness and the mourning of death and the problems of death. But my friends, anyone who has ever gone to all of those lavish surroundings knows one thing. Death is still death. And sorrow is still sorrow. And it did nothing to erase it. You can’t run away from it. Why is sorrow so beneficial to us? Well, it’s beneficial in the sense that it always teaches us more than we learn in joy and festivity. In terms of instruction, sorrow is better. In terms of consolation, sorrow is better. I don’t like hurt any more than you do. And I feel pain as you feel pain. And I feel heartache like you feel heartache. But let me tell you something. The sweetest words of comfort and consolation from my Lord and others have come in those times and not in the times of feasting. Sometimes the laughter of a person is a great burden to the heart. When you inside don’t feel like laughing and somebody needs to minister to the sorrow of your heart. Hey, in terms of consolation, I say it is better. And I also say it’s better in terms of anticipation. For the Bible teaches that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be ours. God uses hurt. God uses pain. God uses sorrow in our lives to cause us to look to Him. And in that, I say it is far better, and I agree with Solomon.
SPEAKER 01 :
That’s Bible teacher and author David Hawking, and this is Hope for Today. David will be back in a bit to close out our time in God’s Word. Some additional teaching is just ahead, so stay tuned for that. First though, Matt’s here, and Matt, we have a special resource bundle that’ll help folks get even more out of our study in Ecclesiastes than they might have thought possible.
SPEAKER 02 :
In a world of confusion, God’s Word still has the answers. Most of us will agree with that, and it brings great comfort and reassurance to our hearts. And that’s precisely why we continually emphasize the Bible, the whole Bible.
SPEAKER 01 :
The whole Bible and nothing but the Bible. Nothing but the Bible. The need to stand firmly on the truth of God’s Word, Matt. Has it ever been more urgent than it is now? It really isn’t. Those who love end time prophecy and the validity of the Bible know we are called to be watchmen on the wall, always prepared.
SPEAKER 02 :
Always watching and always waiting for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. Well, during our Ecclesiastes series, we have a power package for our listening family. First, it’s my dad’s book called Is Life Worth Living?
SPEAKER 01 :
It’s a powerful study guide for the book of Ecclesiastes, adding additional lessons, illustrations, and application to our current radio series.
SPEAKER 02 :
And we’re combining the book with a complete collection of all the messages in the Ecclesiastes series.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, so it’s the 170-page book by your dad titled Is Life Worth Living? Again, Ecclesiastes. plus all 18 audio messages in our Ecclesiastes radio series.
SPEAKER 02 :
Each message, of course, is covering two to three days on the radio. The complete package is just $40 plus shipping.
SPEAKER 01 :
Get this, and you’ll have all the lessons, encouragement, and guidance from Ecclesiastes safely stored for years to come.
SPEAKER 02 :
You can even share it with others.
SPEAKER 01 :
Oh, sure, yeah.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, your purchase will help the Ministry of Hope for today. The It’s Life Worth Living Ecclesiastes package, again, just $40.
SPEAKER 01 :
And consider adding a donation with your order or becoming a regular monthly contributor as long as God directs and supplies for you to do so. And please pray for hope for today. And to get your copy of this powerful study resource bundle, call us at 875-BIBLE. That’s in the U.S. or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. You can also order online at DavidHawking.org. Well, when you reach out, remember you can get David’s downloadable study notes for the Ecclesiastes radio series. They’re just $10. And before David comes back to close us out, let me say this straight up. This program does not exist by accident. It stays on the air because men and women who love the Word of God refuse to let biblical truth go silent. If God is using Hope for Today to strengthen you, to anchor you, and keep you grounded in the fear of the Lord and in the authority of Scripture, then we need you to stand with us. Stand with us in prayer, and then as God directs and provides, stand with us financially as well. It’s not about flash. It’s not about comfort. It’s about keeping the uncompromised Word of God going out loud and clear in a world drowning in lies. You can give right now at davidhawking.org. That’s davidhawking.org. Or call us at 875-BIBLE. That’s in the U.S., 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. And if you prefer to send a gift by mail in the U.S., write to Hope For Today, Box 3927. Tustin, California. That’s T-U-S-T-I-N, California, 92781. In Canada, write to Hope for Today, Box 15011, RPO7OAKS, Abbotsford. Abbotsford is A-B-B-O-T-S-F-O-R-D-B-C-V-2-S-H-P-E-1. Your partnership helps us reach one more soul, one more heart, one more life with the wisdom of God. Amen. Well, once again, here’s David.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, thanks for being with us on our broadcast today. We’re in Chapter 7 of Ecclesiastes. One of the great books of the Bible, written, we believe, by Solomon when he was an old man, he had seen everything, so to speak. He accumulated wealth and power and education and so much. He had whatever he wanted. But he found out that life can be empty and meaningless and worthless if your heart is not centered on who God is and what God wants to do in your life. You leave God out of the equation, and you’re going to wind up suffering terrible consequences. Don’t do it. So what we’re talking about here, and we’re dividing chapter 7 at verse 14. We’re going to go down from verse 1 to verse 14 on the value of wisdom. Ecclesiastes is a part of those books we call wisdom literature. Some people just refer to them as the poetry section. But it includes Job. My, the wisdom of God is there. And it includes the Psalms. Talk about wisdom, finding out who God is and what he can do. And the Proverbs. Proverbs tells you right straight off. I mean, it hits you right between the eyes as to what’s really wrong in your life. And the Song of Solomon, you want to build a marriage God-style, then study the Song of Solomon. These are what we call poetic books, but they’re really wisdom literature, wisdom that is given to us from God himself through these writers of Scripture. It’s not the writers that are inspired. It’s the result. The writing is what is inspired of God. And that means that it was controlled in terms of reliability and accuracy, and you can trust the authority of the Bible in your life, in every area, no matter whether it’s marriage or family or church or work or wherever it is. Being a parent, you need the wisdom of God. So this is the value of wisdom, and I trust that you’ll be with us for every one of these broadcasts. God bless you.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, thank you, David. Next time on the program, Solomon shows us why fighting God’s hand is foolish and why real wisdom, real wisdom learns to trust him. Be sure to join us then right here on Hope for Today.
