Read chapter in full: www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Ecclesiastes+007
Ecclesiastes 7 (ESV)
20 Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.
21 Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. 22 Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others…
27 Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things— 28 which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found. 29 See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.
REFLECTION:
Even Solomon, the wisest man in the world, admits that it is extremely difficult to be truly wise in action and thoughts. He emphasized that no matter how much we know, there are always many mysteries that cannot be understood. Moreover, he has already come to the same conclusion as Paul: None is righteous, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3: 10, 23). Does Solomon think in verse 27 that a woman cannot be an upright (wise and good) person? No, because he compared wisdom to a responsible woman in Proverbs. His point is to say that almost no man or woman is upright before God, not that women are more dishonest than men. During his search and investigation, he found that goodness and wisdom are difficult to find among men and women. Even in his cultural background, men have the opportunity to receive education and women do not, but the result is the same. So Solomon meant to say: I hope to find one person who is upright in the eyes of God among a thousand people. However, I can actually find even less than this! God created humans for them to live upright lives and act justly. Instead, they turned away from God and turned to their own way, and finally went to destruction.
PRAYER:
Pray for God to enlighten you and increase your strength, so that you can do your best to be upright and righteous in all aspects of life, and not deviate from the path God has commanded. At the same time, pray for God to give you a humble heart so that you can see your own filth and weaknesses, understand that no one in the world can be justified before God by deeds. Ask God to forgive your transgressions so that the power of Christ may rest upon you.
HYMN:
Purify My Heart – https://youtu.be/7qCdr5FEXic
