Ecclesiastes 9:1-6 / Pastor David VanAcker

1 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. 2 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. 3 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. 4 But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 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. 6 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.

The four main ideas of this passage are familiar. They are that: (1) God is sovereign over all, (2) In light of that, it is a frustrating fact that there is no discernable difference between the experiences of the good and bad in this life, (3) All are sinful, and (4) Death comes to all.

In other words, the slinky of Ecclesiastes returns again to a familiar set of topics. And within that, we find the big idea of this passage: Life under the sun inevitably includes the head-scratching reality that good people and bad people experience the same things in life under the sovereign hand of God. The main takeaway is to interpret our circumstances with above the sun wisdom (God’s Word) more than below the sun wisdom (our senses and reason alone).

Service Order

Memory Verse

Psalm 34:17-18 – When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. ¹⁸The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

Service Times

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

Berea

In Berea, the adults will continue to work through the whole Bible, this week studying Malachi.

For the summer, the older kids (10+) will learn about Christian biographies with David Oman, the younger kids (3+) will continue their curriculum on God's Promises, and the kids under 3 years old will be in the nursery for Bible stories. Additional volunteers are needed to help with the youngest two age groups throughout the summer. Talk to Eric or Roxie Lewis if you're able to help!