Passage Read: Ecclesiastes 7-10
Meditation Verses: 8:16-17
Thought
Here is Solomon's most interesting confession: He used all his wisdom to try to understand all God is doing with men on the earth, and he found it impossible. Whatever God's principles are that He uses to guide His interactions and purposes with men, even the wisest of men cannot figure it out. That's not to say that God is capricious, but that His ways truly are so far above ours. No matter how wise a man may be, he still needs God to explain things to him. That knocks a wise man down a few notches in his wisdom and arrogance. Even the wisest man needs God's help to understand what He is doing.
Application
God has definite goals and purposes that guide His interactions with men, but He is so personal and specific in His purposes toward each individual that there is no way to predict anything that will happen in a person's life. The good man may suffer what the wicked man deserves, and the wicked man may enjoy what the righteous man deserves. It helps to see that there is life after death, either eternal torment for the wicked or eternal comfort for the righteous, but that doesn't help me discern whether this man or that man will be chosen for salvation, nor how a man's days on earth will go, whether he honors the Lord or hates him. So no matter how wise I think I am, I always need the Lord's instruction, and my wisdom should always lead me to revere the Lord for His much higher wisdom and sovereignty!