“This only have I found”
[Ecclesiastes 7:23-29]
How are you going to resolve conflicts in human relationships? Of course, not all relationships are filled with conflict, but the relationship with one person is so conflicted that you will get a lot of stress. Especially, if the person who gives me a strain and makes me suffer is drawing out the worst things in me, what should we do? I personally avoid this person because I do not want conflict. I just do not want to talk to him, so I avoid him. If I ask whether this is God’s will, my answer is ‘I don’t know.’ I do not know if I am in a relationship now as the Lord wants me to. And yet I told my wife that if someone has made you difficult and brings out the bad spots in you, maybe God has made you realize your sin through that person. Is not that funny? I did not realize that in my own personal relationship that God is revealing my sins through the person I wanted to avoid, but rather that God might be giving that awakening to my wife. I personally realize nowadays that realizing my sin is a great blessing from God. Before I did not know that it was a great blessing to realize sin because it was so painful and depressed to feel guilty. However, when I was meditating on the Bible, there is a time when Saint Augustine's words "O Happy Sin!" continue to resonate in my mind. And God is making me realize the meaning of the word little by little in my life. From this point of view, when we consider the text of Ecclesiastes 7:23-29, we believe that enlightenment is a great blessing that God gives us.
As we look at today's Ecclesiastes 7: 23-29, we can see that King Solomon used the words “I discovered” (v. 26), “I have discovered” (v. 27) and “I have found” (v.29). When I think of these words, I ask the question, "What did King Solomon discover or find? I have summed up what King Solomon found in four ways:
First, King Solomon found that he could not become a wise man by himself.
Look at Ecclesiastes 7:23: “I tested all this with wisdom, and I said, "I will be wise," but it was far from me.” As we know, King Solomon was a wise king. The Bible Chronicles 9:22 says that the wisdom of King Solomon is greater than all the kings of the earth. And in Ecclesiastes 1:16, King Solomon himself had a great deal of wisdom and knew that his wisdom was better than those who were in Jerusalem before him. Nevertheless King Solomon tried hard to be a wiser man. Look at Ecclesiastes 1:17: “And I set my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly; I realized that this also is striving after wind.” What I do not understand is that King Solomon realized that what he wanted to know wisdom was to catch the wind in Ecclesiastes 1:17, but in Ecclesiastes 7:23 he tried to be more wise by testing “all this with wisdom”. And his conclusion was that wisdom was far from him. King Solomon made a lot of effort to come to wisdom, but in the end, he concluded that he could not become a wise man by himself.
What do we need to realize here? We can not be wise by ourselves, but only God can make us wise. In other words, we must realize that God has to give us wisdom so that we can become wise. Did King Solomon become self-wise by himself? No. After King Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on the altar to the Lord (1 Chron. 1:6), God appeared to King Solomon at night and asked, "What will I give you?" (v. 7). Then King Solomon asked God for wisdom and knowledge" (v. 10). God must give us wisdom. What we can do is to seek wisdom from God like King Solomon. We must seek by faith in God, who freely gives wisdom to all men and does not rebuke them (Jam. 1: 5).
Second, King Solomon found that wisdom could not be discovered.
Look at Ecclesiastes 7:24 – “What has been is remote and exceedingly mysterious Who can discover it?” Here, the word ‘discover’ in Greeks means ‘examine’ or ‘search’ (Internet). King Solomon struggled to find the wisdom in the depths of human society, but he was sad that he eventually found it difficult to understand (Park Yun-sun). If we apply this statement to us, if God does not give us wisdom, then even if we try to seek wisdom our efforts are of no use so we groan. How can we, being unable to be wise by our own efforts, can discover wisdom?
What do we need to realize here? If the Spirit of God allows us to discover wisdom, then we can find wisdom. So the apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:10: "For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God." Isn’t it strange that the Holy Spirit, who is God, searching even the depths of God? Why then does Paul say that the Holy Spirit is searching for the depths of God? The reason is that Paul wrote this letter from our perspective rather than God's perspective. In other words, because the Holy Spirit is God, the Spirit does not need to search the depths of God, but the Spirit needs to work in us, those who believe in Jesus, to search the depths of God. That's right. Even at this time, the Holy Spirit who dwells in us is enabling us to find the Word of God and also to understand it. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit is making us obedient to the will of God by making us to know His will. “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Rom. 8:26). The Holy Spirit intercedes for us according to the will of God (v. 27). We must understand this truth and we must live under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Third, King Solomon found that only God can solve all the problems of life.
King Solomon, a wise man, struggled to be wiser to solve his life problems. Look at Ecclesiastes 7:25 – “I directed my mind to know, to investigate and to seek wisdom and an explanation, and to know the evil of folly and the foolishness of madness.” What did he realize as he struggled to become wiser in himself? It is the fact that there is no solution in us for all of our life problems. Why don’t we have a solution to every problem in life? This is because our minds are like snares and nets. Look at Ecclesiastes 7:26 – “And I discovered more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, whose hands are chains One who is pleasing to God will escape from her, but the sinner will be captured by her.” What does it mean that our hearts are like snares and nets? It means that our hearts are bitter than death and easy to fall into the trappings of a woman whose hands are chains. So when we look at the book of Proverbs, we see that the wise man exhort us not to lean to the way of the adulteress (Prov. 2: 16-19, 5: 1-14, 6: 24-29, 7: 1-27) (MacArthur). In particular, in Proverbs 7:1-27, the wise man says that if we get closer to wisdom, it will keep us from the adulteress who flatters with her words (v. 5). But a foolish man follows her as an ox goes to the slaughter or as one in fetters to the discipline of a fool (v. 22). It is as if a bird hastens to the snare and does not know that it will cost him his life (v. 23). It was the folly of man that King Solomon eventually realized that he intended to obtain more wisdom by himself. And he realized that the folly of human beings sucks into the temptation of this world, and eventually loses life by snares and nets. However, King Solomon realized that a wise man who obeys the Word of God and pleases God does not fall into the temptations of this world and avoids the snares and nets.
What King Solomon realized that in the midst of this enlightenment was indeed only God can solve all the problems of life (Park, Yun-sun). What do you think? Do you believe that only God has the solution to all the problems of life? Or do you still believe that the solution to the problem is within you? If you still believe that there is a solution to the problem of life in you, you will fall into your own snares and nets and be living as slaves of sin. But if you believe that only God can solve the problem of life, then you will be living free from snares and nets and free from sin.
Fourth, King Solomon found that God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices.
Look at Ecclesiastes 7:29 – “"Behold, I have found only this, that God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices.” King Solomon, who found that only God can solve all the problems of life, is groaned by the fact that it is not easy for one to realize the wisdom of God in solving life problems: “"Behold, I have discovered this," says the Preacher, "adding one thing to another to find an explanation, which I am still seeking but have not found. I have found one man among a thousand, but I have not found a woman among all these” (vv. 27-28). What King Solomon says is there are not many who realize God's wisdom in solving problems in our lives, especially among the women. How can we understand God's wisdom? How can we understand the wisdom of God in solving all the problems of our lives? Like King Solomon, why can’t we find God's wisdom even though we seek it desperately? Why did it become hard for us to understand God's truth? What causes it? The cause is not in God but in us (Park, Yun-sun). In other words, it is difficult for us to realize the truth of God because we are not upright. As Solomon said in verse 29, God has made men upright, but we have sought out many devices. That’s why we cannot understand God's wisdom in solving our life problems. After all, we have fallen into our own schemes and are disobedient to the Word of God, so we can not understand God's wisdom and truth.
Because God loves such sinners like us, he made Jesus and His only begotten Son to be crucified to death, so He created us upright. And he made us to understand God’s wisdom by making us to believe in the Truth, Jesus Christ and to obey His words. Therefore, we are now enjoying the blessing of praying for God's wisdom and obeying the Word of God by faith. What is the wisdom of God that you are aware of in your lives these days?
We must realize that we can not become wise by ourselves. Also, we must realize that we can not discover wisdom. We must realize that we cannot solve the problems of our lives, but only God can. And we must realize that God has made men upright, but that they have sought out many devices. This understanding comes from God. God has made us to realize that Jesus Christ is the true wisdom. Therefore, we must obey Jesus, who is true wisdom in the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit. In obedience, we must enjoy the grace of understanding the wisdom of God in solving all the problems of life. Even though our understanding may not be enough, we must move forward by believing in Jesus Christ even in that little understanding.