A laborer whose sleep is sweet
[Ecclesiastes 5:10-12]
Do you sleep well at night? Professor Cho Yong-Won of Keimyung University Dongsan Hospital said that the number of people with nighttime sleep disability was 1141 and that 22.8% of them were insomnia. In the West about 20-30% of the total adult population is reported to suffer from night sleep disorders (Internet). The story I personally heard was that a long time ago, during Japanese colonial rule, Japanese police made the Korean prisoners not to sleep when they were torturing them. How hard is it not to sleep? Recent studies have shown that if we do not get enough sleep, our mental fatigue will become worse and our body's health will deteriorate and we will be more prone to have high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke and cancer (Internet).
When we look at Psalms 127:2, the psalmist says: “for he grants sleep to those he loves.” What good benefits do our bodies have for sleeping well? Studies have shown that sleep is very important for fatigue, body growth, defense, body temperature, cognitive functioning, and memory (Internet). The appropriate sleeping time for each age is 2-3 months after birth, and a baby tends to wake up for 30 minutes even after getting fed. After, the sleeping time is shortened gradually. Usually 16-20 hours for infants, 12-13 hours for after infants, 10-11 hours for lower grades, 9-10 hours for upper grades, 8-9 hours for adolescents, 7-8 hours for youth, 6-7 hours for adults (Internet). It is said that it is 6-7 hours in the old age but if I can sleep for 6 hours straight without waking up, I feel refreshed. But when I wake up at night, I feel very tired in the morning.
In today's text Ecclesiastes 5:12, King Solomon says: “The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep.” As I was reading this word, I recalled the title "A laborer whose sleep is sweet" in my thoughts and held it as the title of this meditation. And I asked myself, “How can a laborer sleep well?” And I looked up the answer in the today’s text in two:
First, the most basic reason laborers can sleep is because they work. In other words, the laborers can sleep well because they work hard.
The laborers are able to sleep well because they work hard. In other words, they are able to sleep because they are not lazy but work diligently. But the Bible says the rich can not sleep. Why? I thought of two reasons for this: (1) The first reason is because of laziness. In Ecclesiastes 4:5, King Solomon said, “The fool folds his hands and ruins himself.” Here, “The fool folds his hands” means the fool does not work. In other words, the fool is a lazy person and a lazy person hates to work (Prov. 21:25). And those who do not want to work can not sleep because they do not sweat for their hard work. (2) The second reason why the rich can not sleep is because of their abundance (Eccle. 5:12). When we eat a lot of food and our stomach is full, then it is not easy for us to lay down and sleep. The reason is because we don’t move around as much as we eat and digest. Also, when we think of this in material perspective, we have sinful tendency not to work when we are rich and are in abundance materially. We cannot sleep because we are lazy, do not work, and have no sweat of labor. But those laborers who work hard can sleep well. It is because they work hard and diligently.
What is labor? As Dr. Park Yun-sun said, ‘Labor is a virtue of obedience to God's command that says work hard and eat’ (Park Yun-sun). As we fear God, we must work in obedience to God’s command. We have to work hard. We have to work hard in sweat. We have to work hard, but we have to keep in mind. It is that we must work hard for something that is fruitful. Too many of us who believe in Jesus do the useless labor in vain. We are working hard with sweat on fruitless things that have no profit in God’s perspective. So King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 2:22-23 as follow: “What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.” We should not do our labor in vain. We should not work for our glory. We will not be able to sleep if we work only to satisfy our greed. Rather, we must do fruitful work. What is the fruitful work in the sight of God? It is a labor for the glory of God. In other words, the fruitful work is to do the work of the Lord. When we work hard the work of the Lord for the glory of God, God will give us sweet sleep.
Second, the reason laborers can sleep is because they are satisfied with their lives.
Rich is not. In other words, the rich are not satisfied with life. They are never satisfied with their growing income, nor can they. So this is what King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 5:10: “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.” In Ecclesiastes 1: 8, King Solomon said, “The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.” It means that our greed cannot be satisfied like there is no satisfaction in seeing with the eyes or hearing with ears and like the ocean that won’t be filled with streams of water (v. 7). So when our greed is full due to the abundance of matter, it is difficult for us to sleep. The reason is because our greed cannot be filled and be satisfied. Somehow we will be worrying about how to make more money and accumulate wealth. So we will not be able to sleep well. In short, the reason the rich can not sleep is because they love money, and the rich can not sleep well because the money can not satisfy them. Especially, as 1 Timothy 6:10 says that "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil”, those who love money cannot sleep well. But those laborers who love God instead of money can sleep well. In other words, those workers who gave up the greed of material and are satisfied with only Jesus can have a sweet sleep. Tthey can sleep well because there is peace in their hearts. Also, whether they are in abundance or in need, because they are doing the work of the Lord for the glory of the Lord, God gives them the sweet sleep. The wise laborers who live in satisfaction with the Lord alone can have sweet sleep. Are you having sweet sleep?
When I look at my house, all three girls seem to sleep well except me and my son. Especially when I see my first daughter, she seems to sleep well. She seems to be asleep in a couple of minutes if she lies on her bed. I think she is like my wife. My wife sleeps well after her work, doing house works and so on. So I used to say to her, ‘You must feel good because you can fall sleep quickly.’ The reason I told that to her was because I could not sleep well. But that does not mean I have insomnia. But when I can not sleep, I sometimes think about those who can not sleep. In the meantime, I often feel like, 'How terrible are they?' It is a blessing to sleep well. It is a great blessing to have sweet sleep. The Bible says that God does not give the blessings of sweet sleep to rich people, but to laborers who are working hard and enjoying their lives. Are we working hard on the Lord's work? Do we have peace in our hearts? Are we satisfied with the Lord alone?