Join us in this insightful episode as we explore the profound wisdom of Ecclesiastes and the secret to finding enduring joy. Bible teacher David Hawking leads an engaging discussion on why our accountability to God is essential for true happiness. He delves into the challenges we face when life seems unfair and how recognizing our accountability can transform our experience of joy even amidst adversity.
What do we do in times of distress and need and suffering and heartache and sorrow that inevitably comes to all of us? Only those who understand their accountability to God and that God is the one who gives that deep and abiding joy and that satisfaction that nothing in life can give. Only when we understand it comes from him can we possibly have and enjoy that joy of God at that time.
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Thank you.
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This is the Thursday edition of Hope for Today. It’s great to have you with us. You know, when life gets hard, difficult, our instinct is to look for relief, for a way out or a way around the pain. But Ecclesiastes chapter 8 points us somewhere else. It tells us that real joy is not created by possessions or wealth or relationships, but or a new job, and it can’t be taken away by them either. Today, Bible teacher David Hawking begins a message called How to Enjoy What You Do from Ecclesiastes 8, 10 through 17. As God’s Word shows us, how joy comes from a life lived before God, even when circumstances are difficult. That’s coming right up. There’s a quick word about a free resource available to you right now. This is a powerful 10-page download called Does God Truly Love Me? It’s a clear biblical tool for sharing your faith and for assuring anyone of God’s great love through Jesus Christ. You can download it free. That’s Does God Truly Love Me? on the homepage at DavidHawking.org.
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And here’s David. Take your Bibles, please, and turn to Ecclesiastes chapter 8. Ecclesiastes chapter 8. The subject is how to enjoy what you do. It’s interesting how many articles we read and books we read that tell us that people simply don’t enjoy what they do. Something’s wrong in the human heart. There seems to be a great deal of unhappiness. Some people are thrilled when they get a new job, only to discover that it’s the same old thing they had in the past job. Same problems, same hassles, same people. And a lot of the problems that we have every day cause us to wonder what in the world… must a person do to enjoy every day? Sometimes we’re worried so much about what’s going to happen tomorrow, it’s impossible for us to enjoy today. Our minds are on tomorrow. How in the world can we concentrate on what is today? Many people have so many problems from the past they can’t enjoy today. Whatever has happened in the past now dominates and controls their life. Visions of problems in the past and people that you’ve been involved with. And those things can dominate and control your life. How do you enjoy what you do? How do you live today in the light of the joy of God? The joy of the Lord is our strength. But how do we do that? Interesting passage in Ecclesiastes chapter 8, beginning at verse 10. Solomon writes, Then I saw the wicked buried who had come and gone from the place of holiness, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done. This also is vanity. Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God, who fear before him. But it will not be well with the wicked, nor will he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he does not fear before God.” There’s a vanity which occurs on earth that there are just men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked. Again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. So I commended enjoyment, because a man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry. For this will remain with him in his labor for the days of his life which God gives him under the sun. When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to see the business that is done on earth, even though one sees no sleep day or night, then I saw all the work of God that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. For though a man labors to discover it, yet he will not find it. Moreover, though a wise man attempts to know it, he will not be able to find it. Let’s look to the Lord in a moment of prayer. Father, we thank you and we praise you for your word because we believe it contains the answers to the needs of our heart. And God, we pray that you’ll deal with us today about how to know the joy of God, how to really enjoy what we do in the light of who you are and what you say in your word. God, help us to see that loving you and serving you and committing ourselves to you is the way to go in terms of joy and happiness, not only now, but in the future. And we ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen. Now, how do you enjoy what you do? Big question. Some people say, smell the flowers, you know, get up in the morning and recognize that there are things around you that are important. That’s true. But it’s interesting that Solomon, all the way through the book of Ecclesiastes, has one general message on that. I call it the fundamental law of life as taught by Solomon. He who is the wisest of the past, he has one fundamental law. And that fundamental law is given to us at least in verses 10 to 13, as it has frequently already in Ecclesiastes, and as he concludes the book of Ecclesiastes with it also. And that’s to fear God. You see, the first way that I enjoy what I do in this life, the first way I can live with the joy of God in my heart is to remember my accountability to God. It almost seems a paradox. Some folks would say that is, if you think that, you’re always wondering whether God’s going to hit you with a big bat or not. You live under guilt and fear of what he might do to what you are doing. But real joy is not found in releasing myself from the pressure of who God is and what he thinks of what I’m doing. Real joy and real peace, which, by the way, comes from God, according to Solomon, is not put into my heart until I recognize that I’m accountable to God. It’s almost a paradox until I admit that God is in charge, until I admit that I need to bow the knee to him, until I admit that everything in my life must answer to him. Until that happens, God’s joy that sustains us even in tough times and even when things aren’t going right, it never comes into the heart. Because God’s the one who gives it, according to Solomon. He said that over and over again. It comes from the hand of the Lord. I will not have the deep abiding joy and happiness in my life until I begin by recognizing my accountability to God. And that’s the first major issue. But I think there’s four issues that are involved in that. Look at verses 10 to 13 again. There are really four issues. One deals with the problem of how the wicked are treated in life. Now that is really contemporary. This past week, I talked to some teenagers about this exact problem, something they were involved with. If they had remembered their accountability of God, it certainly would have been a check on it. But the answer that they gave is kind of interesting. We all struggle with it, and the problem of how the wicked are treated in life. You see some people that are really messing around, doing whatever they want to do, blowing everything they’ve ever tried. They’re just having a ball. So you think. And so you argue, well, look at the wicked. I mean, look how they’re treated. It’s a serious injustice. Because you say we should live for the Lord. And then I look at some people who are really living for the Lord, and they’ve got some tough times. And nothing’s new under the sun, so did Job in the Old Testament, one of the patriarchs, really. Long ago, people had problems with that question. The prophets asked, how long do the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper? How do we explain the treatment of the wicked? And Solomon looks at life and looks at that problem and says, hey, it’s vanity. It is vanity. Now, there’s one little correction I believe should be made in verse 10. Let’s look at it again. Depending on what translation you have, we’ve got a little problem here. It says, I saw the wicked buried who had come and gone from the place of holiness. Now, the place of holiness in a strict sense in Solomon’s time and his view would be Jerusalem. That’s where he was, the place of holiness, where God had said his name. And he saw wicked men in that city also, the place that was dedicated to the worship and praise of God. But he saw people in that city that were wicked. He said, I watched them. I watched them buried. They’d come and gone from that place. And he says they were forgotten in the city where they had so done. Now, if you have a new international translation, it says they have received praise. Praise. Now, which is it, forgotten or praise? Whatever it is, it’s a serious injustice because he uses his familiar phrase, this is vanity or meaningless. Now, if the phrase is they were forgotten, then it’s a judgment on the wicked. And that’s no injustice. That’s fair. That’s right. So he would not have said this is vanity if he said, I saw the wicked come and go. I saw them buried, but they were soon forgotten. Hey, praise the Lord, they’re soon forgotten. No, you see, there’s a difference here in Hebrew. If you look at that, I don’t want to bore you with details, but to help you explain why there’d be such a tremendous difference in translation. Is it forgotten or is it praised? If it says praise, boy, I can understand why that’s a serious injustice. Solomon says, I look at the wicked, I’ve seen them buried, and I see how they’re praised. And he says, that’s a vanity. And that, you know, that’s true in life. I’ve watched that. Wicked men who have not lived for God, who have really lived it up and lived a life of debauchery and sin, and who die, and maybe if they were popular or some rock star or something else, all of a sudden they’re praised. And Solomon says, this is a great vanity. I’ve noticed in life the people that are paraded in front of our attention as the real cool people of life are often the people that we ought to be judging and condemning for what they have done. But instead they are praised. Now how do we explain this tremendous difference? Well it’s interesting that if you look in the Hebrew language there’s a difference of only one letter in those two words. Very simple mistake can be made. It’s a difference between what we call a bath or a cough in Hebrew. And it’s easy to mistake them. And depending on what you saw, a scribe could easily see it, and in the margin there’d have to be a later correction by somebody who was really watching it. And many manuscripts point this out. It really probably should be praised, because that is the vanity, that is the injustice that Solomon is seeing. The issue is not the judgment of the wicked. represented by the word forgotten, for that’s not vanity, but rather it’s the praise of the wicked, which is a serious injustice. Now, I’m telling you the way to have joy in your life is to remember your accountability to God. But we said there were four issues involved, and one of the serious issues is how the wicked are treated. Man, do I know that. People bring that up all the time when you’re discussing the matter. Why should I dedicate my all to God? Why should I really try to live for the Lord when look what wicked men get? It seems to me they’re better off than those of us who are really trying to live for the Lord in our lives. Solomon calls that vanity. There’s a real serious injustice here. So is it true that by remembering my accountability to God, I have real joy in my life? illustration. A lot of people that we see paraded before us, the wicked, who have lived lives of sin and done whatever they want to, a lot of people who have that paraded in front of them, misunderstand the so-called veneer and front as though they are really happy. Some of the most unhappy people I know in the world are the people who are paraded before us as the really cool people in life. Give you an illustration. Elvis Presley, who somehow was paraded in front of people in his time as somebody who really had it all together, really living life at its fullest. Yet in the little town where my wife grew up, he had a constant contact with a doctor in that town. And just before he took his life, just before that sad event, he had talked with him rather at length on the phone, a man who was a Christian and shared the gospel with him. He had had Christian roots and he was so unhappy that He lacked joy. He lacked happiness. It was fleeting from him, though he had everything his heart’s desire could possibly want. I could go on and on. You know the stories and I know them. But those things are paraded in front of us. Those are the cool people. Those are the happy people. What do we do in times of distress and need and suffering and heartache and sorrow that inevitably comes to all of us? Only those who understand their accountability to God and that God is the one who gives that deep and abiding joy and that satisfaction that nothing in life can give. Only when we understand it comes from him can we possibly have and enjoy that joy of God at that time. I think it’s critical to understand there is a serious injustice. And if you have your eyes on how the world treats those kind of people who live in wickedness yet are praised by them, you would say with Solomon, this is a serious injustice, but it’s vanity. It’s meaningless. You better open your eyes. There’s something wrong. There’s a second issue that I believe is involved when we talk about remembering our accountability to God. And that’s the presumption that people have that you can get away with sin without being judged. I find people are saying this continually. Sometimes they don’t even realize that’s what they say. They’re intimating that’s the course that they live. They presume upon the grace of God that somehow we can sin and get away with it. Look at what verse 11 says. Solomon evaluates us, he says, because, looking at that serious injustice of how the wicked are praised, because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily. Boy, Solomon should live today and go through our court process, right? Man, he thinks it was slow then. He ought to see it now. Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. I read an article on whether our court system should be speeded up. I almost felt, I didn’t do it, I should have done it, I almost felt like sending him Ecclesiastes 8.11. Is it true that the delays in bringing judgment convince us to do more evil? And God’s word would answer yes. That’s true in a home. The longer a parent delays doing what they said was the consequence of a certain action of their child, the longer you delay it, you don’t come to a decision, you don’t make it clear, the more trouble you will have. Because the heart of all of us is set towards evil, not good. We want to go our own way. We’re selfish. We’re self-centered. And if a work is not executed, an evil work not judged speedily, then our hearts want to do more. And the presumption of the wicked is the presumption also of people who say they’re believers in Christ because we have an old sin nature. And I think this presumption involves several things. If judgment doesn’t come quickly, which we look in life, we see a lot of people getting away with things. And if it doesn’t come quickly, we presume several things. One, sometimes we say that God is indifferent. We don’t mean to say that, but it comes out that way. Well, if God was really so concerned, he wouldn’t let this go on. God somehow is indifferent to what’s going on. God, why don’t you deal with that? Why do you let it go on? Another thing I find people saying is that God is helpless to do anything about it. They don’t mean to say that, but it comes out that way. God evidently is limited. I mean, if he had power, he could stop it, but he doesn’t. I find also people thinking that God shows favoritism. He shows favoritism. He’s obviously judging some and not others. So how do you explain these injustices in life? Maybe you, if you’re a good thinker and can sit out under a tree sometime and have some time by yourself, you can reason with Solomon. He’s looked at all of life. He’s seen a lot of things. And he’s concluding it’s vanity, man. It’s emptiness. It’s meaningless. How can I put this together? It looks like God’s not around. And when I say, remember our accountability to God, people would answer, why? So we have not only the fact of the problem how the wicked are treated in life, but we have also the presumption that you can somehow get away with sin without ever being judged yourself. But there’s a third issue that’s involved that we must never forget. And that’s the position of the believer. Look at verse 12. Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and his days are prolonged. Let’s suppose he really gets away with it. There’s somebody just doing it all the time, man. They’re doing whatever they want to. And seemingly they’re getting away with it. Seemingly there’s no judgment coming. Now, though that’s happened, hypothetical situation. Yet it says, yet I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God, who fear before him. Okay, even though the wicked get away with it all. Hey, let’s don’t forget the position of the believer. And that is that God has promised good to us. The Bible says that all things are working together for good to those who love God and to those who are called according to his purpose. You say, yeah, but look at where I am and look at where they are. Let me tell you something. I think one of the great misunderstandings of our materialistic culture is somehow if I left where I am and could get where those people are, that somehow I would have happiness. People, happiness is not found in getting where you are to where someone else is. We are even motivated in the business world to think that way. If I could only advance, if I could only do that thing that I’ve had my heart set on for years, then I would be really happy. Now when you say it, you realize it’s emptiness. But we don’t say it often. We don’t talk to ourselves about it. But it’s in the back of our mind. I want to get from point A to point B. And in this, I’m concluding that if I just could get to point B, hey, everything would be all right. How foolish we are. If you cannot find your happiness and joy in point A, you will never have it at point B.
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That’s Bible teacher and author David Hawking. And this is Hope for today. David will be back momentarily to close out our study time. Some additional teaching. So do stay with us. Just before that, Matt’s here. And together, Matt, let’s talk about our featured resource package. This is great. It goes right along with our current radio series in Ecclesiastes. In a world of confusion, God’s word still has the answers. And that’s precisely why we continually emphasize the Bible, 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. No, we are called to be watchmen on the wall, always prepared.
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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?
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It’s a powerful study guide for the book of Ecclesiastes, adding additional lessons, illustrations, and application to our current radio series.
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And we’re combining the book with a complete collection of all the messages in the Ecclesiastes series.
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Yeah, so it’s the 170-page book by your dad titled Is Life Worth Living, again, plus all 18 audio messages in our Ecclesiastes radio series.
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You can even share it with others. Oh, sure. Yeah. Your purchase will help the ministry of hope for today. The Is Life Worth Living Ecclesiastes package. Again, just $40.
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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. To order the Is Life Worth Living Ecclesiastes bundle, call us at 800-75-BIBLE, that’s in the United States, or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. Buyable by the numbers 24253. You can also order online at davidhawking.org. And remember, the study notes for this Ecclesiastes series, they’re also available as a download. These are David’s original sermon notes that he used to preach these messages. And the pack for all of the messages in the series in Ecclesiastes, just $10. And if you’d like to support the ministry of Hope for Today, your gift helps keep this program on the air and God’s Word going out day by day. You can give by mail if you prefer at Hope for Today, Box 3927. Tustin, California, 92781. In Canada, write to Hope for Today, Box 15011. RPO, Seven Oaks, Abbotsford, B.C., V2S 8P1. You can also give online at DavidHawking.org or by phone at 875-BIBLE in the U.S. or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. And again, Bible by the numbers 24253. And here’s David with his closing comments.
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Now, I’m sure many of you listening to this series on Ecclesiastes, it can be depressing and you think, wait a minute, you’re taking all the fun out of life. But if you read this carefully, there are refrains throughout the book—we’ve mentioned that before—in which it tells you the correct attitude we should have. Chapter 8 is no exception. We’re talking about how to enjoy what you do. And it’s very important to understand God’s hand in that. We read in verse 15, Solomon says, I commended mirth because a man hath no better thing under the sun than to eat and drink be merry, for that shall abide with him of his labor the days of his life. Now listen to this, which God giveth him under the sun. In verse 17, he said, then I beheld all the work of God. that a man cannot find out the work that’s done under the sun, because though a man labor to seek it out, yet he shall not find it. Yea, farther, though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it. Look, what God is trying to tell you is you may live your whole life and never find what God in his wisdom has done in creating the universe and creating you and creating life and all the circumstances of it. The Bible says that all things come from him and shall be unto him, and they’re being worked through him. That’s Romans 11, 36, very clear verse about the sovereignty of God. And so when you ask, well, how do you enjoy what you do if in reality when you die it’s all over? You know, we need to live a day at a time. You can’t live tomorrow and you can’t redo yesterday. The only time you have is right now. And what I just said is now gone. That is the strangest thing when you put it all together in your mind and your heart. Our focus needs to be on who God is and what He can do.
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God bless you. Well, thank you, David. And friends, before we go, we’d really appreciate hearing from you about where you listen from, what station, what time, or if you listen online. That information helps us be good stewards of the funds God provides so we can place this program wisely, use airtime effectively, and make sure God’s Word is reaching people. We’re going to have the greatest impact. You can let us know by calling 875-BIBLE in the U.S. or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. Or visit our website, DavidHocking.org, and using the contact form. And thank you for helping us use God’s resources carefully and faithfully. By the way, if you missed any part of today’s program or a recent broadcast, you can listen again at davidhawking.org. We keep the last several broadcasts posted there for folks to be able to catch up and maybe share the program with somebody else. But they’re there for a limited time, so check it out today. While you’re there, check out all David’s teaching resources. That’s davidhawking.org. Tomorrow we continue as Solomon goes even deeper into how to find joy in what you do when life feels unfair and the results don’t always make sense. Don’t miss day two of David’s study of Ecclesiastes 8, 10 through 17. That’s next time on Hope for Today.
