Ecclesiastes 2:12-17 / David VanAcker

12 So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done. 13 Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness. 14 The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them. 15 Then I said in my heart, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. 16 For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool! 17 So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind.

In the Preacher's third attempt to find a satisfying life under the sun (2:12-17), he returned to wisdom, along with madness and folly. This time he did so, not so much to understand how the world works, but to understand how to live in the world (regardless of how it works). He watched those acting according to each and made a few observations about the results. And, as we will see, and as you’ve probably come to imagine, the result was very much the same as with his previous attempts.

The big idea of this passage is that God moves in mysterious ways. And the main takeaway is to trust God’s Word and promises rather than our interpretation of our circumstances.

Service Order

Welcome
Exhortation
Assurance of Pardon
    How Great (Psalm 145)
Reading – Psalm 98
    King Of Love
    Christ Is Mine Forevermore
Offering
Sermon
    God Moves In A Mysterious Way
    Come Behold The Wondrous Mystery
Benediction

Memory Verse

Psalm 121:7-8 - The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

Service Times

Prayer
8:30-8:45am
Sunday School
9:00am-10:00am
Worship Service
10:30am-Noon

Berea

This week we will be studying Ecclesiastes in Berea. The kids will be continuing their Sunday School classes; 2-4yrs (nursery), 5-8yrs (Grace for Kids room), 9-12yrs (conference room).