Upon accepting an award, the late Jack Benny once remarked, “I really don't deserve this. But I have arthritis, and I don't deserve that either” (Haddon Robinson, www.PreachingToday.com).
People often don’t get what they deserve. So how do you live in such a world? How do you live in a world where leaders are capricious, the wicked are praised, and good people die young? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Ecclesiastes 8, Ecclesiastes 8, where the Bible tells us how to live in a world gone wrong.
Ecclesiastes 8:1 Who is like the wise? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man’s wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his face is changed (ESV).
When God’s face shines, He acts graciously (Numbers 6:25; Psalm 31:16; 67:1; 119:135; 80:3, 7, 19; Daniel 9:17). And a hard face indicates pride (Proverbs 7:13). So here, a wise person acts graciously and humbly, especially before a capricious king.
Ecclesiastes 8:2-4 I say: Keep the king’s command, because of God’s oath to him. Be not hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases. For the word of the king is supreme, and who may say to him, “What are you doing?” (ESV)
The king does whatever he pleases, whether it is right or wrong, and no one can question him. So obey him and stay at your post whether you agree with the king or not.
Ecclesiastes 8:5-6 Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way. For there is a time and a way for everything, although [or when a] man’s trouble lies heavy on him (ESV).
The wise person stays out of further trouble (or evil) with a capricious king. That’s because the wise person knows what to do and when to do it, especially when he or she is already suffering at the hands of the king.
Ecclesiastes 8:7-9 For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be? No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it. All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt (ESV).
When a king’s policies bring harm, understand that you don’t know the future, you cannot postpone the day of your death, the king will not discharge you in the middle of a war, and wickedness will not save you. In other words, desertion and disobedience to the king provides no remedy for his hurtful edicts and policies.
So what are you supposed to do when kings are capricious? What are you supposed to do when rulers are unpredictable or even harmful?
OBEY THEM ANYWAY.
Subject yourself to the governing authorities (Romans 13:1) when their policies align with God’s law (Acts 5:29). But when their policies oppose God’s law, act wisely with grace and humility towards your rulers. Know what to do and when to do it without yourself violating God’s law.
The New Testament is very clear: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment” (Romans 13:1-2).
Now, that was written when Nero was emperor of Rome. He was a ruthless dictator, who set Christians on fire as torches to light his gardens. Yet, by their grace and humility, their influence permeated the empire. In fact, their influence so permeated the empire that within 250 years, Rome had a Christian emperor, Constantine, who sought to implement Christian principles in the realm.
Sad to say, our own government has become heavy-handed in its opposition to Christian principles. Even so, we must learn to respond with grace and humility towards those who oppose.
When the Ottoman Empire threatened Europe, Martin Luther declared, “The Turk is the rod of God's anger against the apostate church, so opposition to it must begin with repentance, prayer, and preaching God's Word.”
You see, God does not call the believer to protest persecution, but to patiently endure it.
Paul Borthwick put it this way: “If a political leader's behavior or stance on issues contradicts what we believe the Bible teaches, we need to step back humbly and ask, ‘Is God showing us something about our spiritual state?’—and then repent of any sin he reveals. (Paul Borthwick, “Praying for the Powers that Be,” Discipleship Journal, November/December 2005; www.PreachingToday.com).
That’s what it means to respond with grace and humility. Stop pointing the finger of blame, and ask God how He wants you to change.
Mark Warnock talks about traveling to Cuba with his father several years ago to teach in a little seminary in Havana and to preach in some house churches. They knew they were walking into a history of hostility and that, simply by being Americans, they could be lightning rods for trouble.
As it turned out… the trip was a joy. The Cuban believers were passionate, gracious, and hospitable. They had very little material wealth, but they were rich in love and courage. Mark reports that a slow revival is taking place in Cuba, beginning in the eastern provinces. Thousands have come to faith, who appreciated Mark’s teaching and encouragement.
However, the U.S. government discourages Americans traveling to Cuba, because they don't want American money propping up Castro's communist regime. So, in order to go legally, Mark and his dad had to get a license from the U.S. State Department, which they grant for just a handful of purposes, like full-time religious, athletic, or educational activities.
Three years earlier, Mark spent several weeks in the suburbs of Paris, ministering among North African Muslim children. This was only months after 9/11. When the children learned that he and his team were Americans, they immediately started poking at their political nerves. Several of them chanted, “Bin Laden! Bin Laden! He is my father.” One young Muslim man gazed provocatively at Mark and said, “Vive Saddam Hussein.” The worst was a small boy with a huge grin on his face who mimed planes crashing into the World Trade Center and the collapse of the towers.
“That hurt,” Mark said.
“In that moment,” Mark said, “I had to decide who I was. Was I in the country as an American, or was I there as a Christian? I'm used to standing up for my country and for my political convictions. But I knew that to do so would mark me as their enemy, and that by clinging to my identity as an American, I would lose the opportunity to represent Jesus to them.”
In France, they left behind 24,000 French-Arabic New Testaments and a few new believers. In Cuba they left behind a red-hot church that felt anew their American brothers' love and encouragement. Mark said, “That's worth more than my American pride” (Mark Warnock, "Leader's Insight: Christians Without Borders," Leadershipjournal.net, 11-12-07; www.PreachingToday.com).
You have to ask yourself the same question: Are you primarily an American, a Republican, or a Democrat? Or are you primarily a Christian, a follower of Christ? As followers of Christ, we are first and foremost Christians. So our primary concern should be to represent Christ well, especially in hard times. Just ask God for the wisdom to respond graciously and humbly especially in our current political environment.
Sure, rulers are unpredictable—obey them anyway. More than that…
SOCIETY IS UNFAIR.
People praise the wicked and criticize the godly. The public is slow to punish evil people, which only encourages more evil.
Ecclesiastes 8:10-11 Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of the holy place and were praised in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity. Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil (ESV).
People speak well of the wicked at their funerals, and society waits to punish the wicked when they are alive, only increasing the crime.
Just think of Manhattan’s District Attorney, Alvin Brag. He goes after his political enemies while ignoring the criminals on New York’s city streets. As a result, the crime rate is way up in New York. The same is true in Los Angeles, Portland, and Chicago, where the criminals are allowed to roam free. As a result, their hearts are “fully set to do evil,” as Solomon puts it here.
Society is unfair. So what do you do in the face of such injustice?
Ecclesiastes 8:12-13 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him. But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God (ESV).
Even though the wicked seem to get away with their crimes today; eventually, God will cut their days short. God’s patience will run out, and He will judge the evildoer, so fear Him.
Yes, society is unfair, but God is just. So fear Him anyway. Trust and obey God no matter what anybody else does.
When I think of fearing God, I think of Moses, who asked God, “Please show me your glory.”
To which God responded, “You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” But God said, “I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen” (Exodus 33:18-23).
It was scary for Moses to see God, but he found safety in the cleft of the rock. That’s what it’s like for believers to fear God today. They tremble in His presence, but find safety there, as well.
John Piper says, “Suppose you were exploring an unknown Greenland glacier in the dead of winter. Just as you reach the sheer cliff with a spectacular view of miles of jagged ice and mountains of snow, a terrible storm breaks in. The wind is so strong that fear rises in your heart that it might blow you over the cliff. But in the midst of the storm, you discover a cleft in the ice where you can hide. Here you feel secure.
“But, even though secure, the awesome might of the storm rages on, and you watch it with a kind of trembling pleasure as it surges out across the distant glaciers. Not everything we call fear vanishes from your heart, only the life-threatening part. There remains the trembling, the awe, the wonder, the feeling that you would never want to tangle with such a storm or be the adversary of such a power.
“And so it is with God. The fear of God is what is left of the storm when you have a safe place to watch right in the middle of it. Hope turns fear into a trembling and peaceful wonder; and fear takes everything trivial out of hope and makes it earnest and profound. The terrors of God make the pleasures of his people intense. The fireside fellowship is all the sweeter when the storm is howling outside the cottage” (John Piper, The Pleasures of God, Multnomah, 1991, pp. 205-206; www.PreachingToday.com).
God has provided a safe place for you in the middle of the storm. And that safe place is Jesus! Jesus died for your sins and rose again, so you could come into God’s presence and live! All you have to do is trust Christ with your life. Put yourself in His hand, and so experience the trembling, the awe, the wonder, and the feeling that you would never want to be God’s adversary. But also gain the assurance that you are safe with Him.
Fanny Crosby put it best when she wrote these words:
A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord,
A wonderful Savior to me.
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock
Where rivers of pleasure I see.
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock
That shadows a dry thirsty land.
He hideth my life in the depths of His love,
And covers me there with His hand,
And covers me there with His hand.
Fear God, but feel safe in His presence, because you have trusted Christ with your life.
In a world gone wrong, that’s what you do. Yes, rulers are unpredictable—obey them anyway. And yes, society is unfair—fear God anyway. Finally…
LIFE IS UNJUST—REJOICE ANYWAY.
The wicked prosper and the righteous meet with disaster sometimes, but praise God anyway. Express joy even when life treats you unjustly.
Ecclesiastes 8:14-15 There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. And [better, but] I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun (ESV).
Even though life is unfair sometimes, Solomon recommends both the inward attitude and the outward expression of joy.
I like the way one commentator put it: “[People] cannot control or predict adversity or prosperity; however, each day’s joys should be received as gifts from God’s hand and be savored as God permits” (D. R. Glenn, Bible Knowledge Commentary).
It reminds me of what James said in his New Testament book: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4).
At age 35, Kate Bowler, associate professor at Duke Divinity School, was diagnosed with incurable stage IV colon cancer. She has been able to manage her cancer, but it gave her a new perspective on life.
She now laments what she calls our culture’s “gospel of hustle”—i.e., do more, push more to achieve success. Just discipline yourself into better routines. “But,” Bowler says, “The whole idea of a formula breaks down when it can't solve the problem of being a person. It doesn't solve the problem of pain. For example,” she says, “the gospel of hustle, the more I worked, the more work I got. Even success looks like failure, and I was just trying to get to the end of the mythical workday” (Clay Skipper interview with Kate Bowler, “Why Simply Hustling Harder Won't Help You With the Big Problems in Life,” GQ Magazine, 9-24-21; www.PreachingToday.com).
However, when you stop to enjoy life every once in a while, it puts your life in perspective. When you look for things for which to praise God, it helps you move forward even when life pushes back.
Brett McCracken put it this way: “Beauty and Sabbath go hand in hand. Both are extravagant. Unproductive. Unnecessary. Both are reflections of God's abundance and reminders that the world is chiefly a gift to receive, not a prize to be earned. Beauty doesn't have to exist. The fact that humans delight in sunsets, symphonies… and pecan pie cannot be explained by the Darwinian account of human existence.
“The only explanation that makes sense of beauty is that we are created in the image of God who relishes it; a non-utilitarian God. Just look at the ten thousand species of birds in the world, or the four hundred thousand species of flowers; each unique in color, shape, and texture. Consider the diversity of spices—from cumin to cayenne to nutmeg and turmeric. God could have created the world so that humans only needed to have a bland, gruel-like substance in order to survive, but he didn't. He created thousands of edible plants and animals, from which millions of culinary combinations could be made. He created humans with taste buds to appreciate things like salted caramel gelato, buttermilk fried chicken, and lamb tagine. Just as he is a God who not only creates but pauses to enjoy what he has created (Gen. 1:31), so he created us with the capacity to enjoy. That's why beauty exists.
“[But] when we refuse to observe the Sabbath and don't allow space for the enjoyment of beauty, we implicitly signal a mentality that doubts the goodness of God. But when we do stop to rest, to feast, to ‘smell the roses,’ we display a contentedness and calm acceptance about the world and the One who holds it together (Brett McCracken, The Wisdom Pyramid, Crossway, 2021, pp. 140-141; www.PreachingToday.com).
That’s what you do in a world gone wrong! Yes, rulers are unpredictable—obey them anyway. Yes, society is unfair—fear God anyway. And yes, life is unjust—rejoice anyway. Take the time, on a regular basis, to appreciate the goodness of God in your life. That’s the advice of a realist, who has taken a long hard look at life.
Warren Wiersbe once said, “A realist is an idealist who has gone through the fire and been purified. A skeptic is an idealist who has gone through the fire and been burned (Richard A. Kauffman, CT Classics, www.christianitytoday.com, 10-26-06; www.Preaching Today.com).
It seems these days that the world is on fire, but you don’t have to get burned. Instead, the fire can purify you if you approach it with the right attitude. Please, look to God these days. Fear Him and Praise Him even in the fire, and so find joy in life even when it is unpredictable, unfair, and unjust.
