10 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. 11 Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. 12 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. 13 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.
14 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. 
15 And 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.
16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on earth, how neither day nor night do one’s eyes see sleep, 17 then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out.
— Ecclesiastes 8:10-17, ESV

Today is my father’s birthday.  If he were still with us, he’d be 84 years old.  He was the smartest guy I ever knew, but we have had to live without his wit and wisdom since he passed away in the bleak midwinter of 1999.  I often asked God, “Why?”  Why did my dad have to die at 57?  I haven’t gotten an answer yet.

In a week we celebrate the birthday of another man, a historically great one, who also passed away too soon.  If Jonathan Edwards could be here next Sunday, he would be 322 years old.  Edwards was only 54 when he died of an infection from a smallpox vaccination, shortly after taking office as the President of Princeton University.  The outcry throughout the American colonies was great, with many asking God, “Why?”  No answer is recorded.  

The sadness over Edwards was due to the fact that he was largely recognized as the greatest pastor and theologians in our nation’s history, even though he lived and died before we were historically classified as a nation.  He is famous for his preaching (“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”), his theology (numerous books on the sovereignty of God, the perfection of Christ, and the power of the Spirit), and his deep resolve to walk closely with the Lord.  

His first great writing project was entitled “The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards, 1722-1723.”  He completed them, 70 of them, before his 20th birthday.  The subtitle of the work, and books and pamphlets had long subtitles back then, reads, “Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God’s help, I do humbly entreat Him by His grace to enable me to keep these resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to His will, for Christ’s sake.”  

Edwards wrote with the wisdom of Solomon, yet another great man who died relatively young.  It is Solomon’s wisdom, and resolutions, which are on display in the book of Ecclesiastes.  Though Solomon’s biography is by no means spotless, his words are inspired and inspiring.  They spring from a relatively short life deeply respectful of the God of Israel, deeply flawed by past lapses into pursuits of pleasure, and deeply troubled over theodicy.  In chapter 8 of Ecclesiastes, Solomon makes three resolutions to affirm the first, temper the second, and come as close as possible to explaining the third.  

Here are Solomon’s resolutions.  I’m sure we could come up with 70 or more if we combed the whole chapter, or brought in all the wealth of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.  But, in this summary of summaries, we find these three to guarantee a good and godly life.

Trust and Obey God’s Word

The resolutions begin after the observation of a funeral, actually many funerals.  In spite of the grandeur of Solomon’s Temple and the king’s palace, Jerusalem was actually a small town in his day, with a population hovering around 5,000.  So, Solomon knew something about every burial that took place.

He reflects on burials for “the wicked.”  We tend to think every burial is of a good person.  Most are not, says Solomon.  This is a surprise for some, for they were religious, popular, and lived long and prosperous lives before their death.  Such lives, and deaths, were “vanity,” wasted, useless, not to be remembered.

The hard truth is all people are wicked, unless they are made righteous by God, for unbelief and rebellion exists “in the hearts of the children of man.”  Evil and wicked are the words he used, evil and wicked are the ways they lived, evil and wicked are the ways they died, because they were never changed by grace through faith from their evil and wicked ways.  “It will not be well” for them in death, for in life “they did not fear God.”  The fear of God is the thing that is missing.

On the other hand, says The Preacher, “I know that it will be well with those who fear God.”  He did not say it will be well in life for the God-fearer, for he has already pointed out that some good and godly people suffer greatly in this life.  But it will be well for the God-fearer in death, for he or she will be forgiven and free and forever live.  That’s not “vanity.”  This is the reward in the life to come for “those who fear God in this life.”  The fear of God is the thing that makes the difference.

This is a recurring resolution in Ecclesiastes, “Fear God!”  We find it stated in some form or fashion in 3:14, 5:7, 7:18, 8:12, and 12:13.  I defined this “fear” in the last sermon as respect and reverence and repentance and faith and love and obedience and devotion and worship for God.  Perhaps that’s a bit too long.  

Let me shorten the definition and offer a resolution of what it means to truly fear God: trust and obey God’s word.  Trust, that God is, God is great, God is good, God is holy, God is mighty, God is merciful, God is just, God is love, God is forgiving, God saves, God gives eternal life, so trust Him and give Him your life.  Maybe I’m getting too long on words again.  

What, in short, does proper fear or trust look like?  In one word, obedience.  If God is perfect, then so is His word.  Best for us to do what He says.  We cannot pull it off perfectly, but we can do so consistently, and that’s what it means to be a God-fearing and Jesus-following person.  We walk with the Lord, we trust and obey.

“Obedience is the only possible proof that a person really knows Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior” (John MacArthur, The Gospel According to Jesus).  “Trust and obey,” the hymn sings, “for there’s no other way.”  Amen.

Relax and Enjoy God’s Gifts

The Old Testament scholar Derek Kidner wrote on these resolutions in Ecclesiastes and said, “Wickedness digs its own grave, righteousness digs its own garden.”  The wicked, which simply means the ungodly or unbelieving, pursue pleasures apart from God, and one day will find all of their pleasures replaced with punishments.  Those who fear God, however, who trust and obey God’s word, can then relax and enjoy God’s gifts from the garden, while being assured of even greater things in the life to come.

Relaxation and enjoyment of good things on earth is another continuing resolution in Ecclesiastes.  Take the time to read 2:24, 3:12-13, 5:18-19, 8:15, and 9:7.  They all say essentially the same thing.  Only those who live “under heaven,” under the saving grace of God, can truly enjoy life “under the sun,” while they are still on earth.

So, says verse 15, “Eat and drink and be joyful.”  When you trust and obey God’s word, you can relax and enjoy just about anything you want in this life.  Food is good!  Gluttony is not, a steady diet of unhealthy food is not, liver is not.  The New Testament pronounces “all food clean” (ref. Mark 7:19), so clean your plates, people, enjoy it, share it, and give glory to God.

The same goes for drink.  The Bible offers water and wine, and on at least one occasion, God turned one into the other.  If the Bible had been written in the South, it would have included references to sweet tea and coke.  Spurgeon added well aged brandy, and another Baptist preacher, Elijah Craig, invented charred oak barrel bourbon.  Drink is good!  Drunkenness is not, consuming any alcohol underage is not, too much of a good thing is not (I’m talking again about the sugar in sweet tea and coke), and apple cider vinegar is not (I was told to drink it and live longer, but I’d rather die young).  So raise a glass, God’s people, responsibly of course, and enjoy it, and give glory to God.

Trying to enjoy the pleasures of life without the fear of God is “vanity.”  But those who truly trust and obey God’s word have every right to relax and enjoy God’s gifts when they can in this life.  However, God’s people can get caught in famine, poverty, tragedy, suffering, even a martyr’s death.  This calls for one more resolution.  

Accept and Affirm God’s Sovereignty

Solomon now stumbles onto our third recurring resolution in the text of Ecclesiastes.  He states it in verse 14, then reflects upon it in verses 16-17.  Blessings are sometimes wasted on the “wicked” and suffering is sometimes inflicted upon the “righteous.”  This seems like a waste, or “vanity,” as The Preacher puts it.  

This enigma emerges “under the sun,” which for the godless is the place where you live without God.  But, for the godly, “under the sun” is the place where you cannot see God, or at least understand what God is doing.  

If you ever stop to ask God “how,” you almost always get an answer.  How can I be saved?  How can I properly worship God?  How can I organize a church?  How can I serve others?  The Bible is full of answers to the question of, “How?”  

But ask God, “Why?”  You may be in for a moment of silence.  Why do some of the most godless people on the planet get elected to high office, appointed to influential pulpits, reap huge monetary benefits in this life?  Why do some of the most godly people we know go unnoticed, get diseases, go through bankruptcies, lose a job, lose a child?  

Solomon saw all of life as “all the work of God.”  In context, this means the good and the bad all happen under the active, controlling, unseen hand of God doing “all the work of God.”  We know that the origin of evil comes from free men making sinful choices.  But why did God’s hand not stop the planes from crashing into the buildings, stop the bullet when it left the gun, stop the cancer from spreading, stop the heart from breaking?  Solomon says there is no answer.  “[We] cannot find it out.”  At least not in this life, “under the sun.”

We are left like the protagonist in the best Jimmy Buffett song: “He went to Paris,
looking for answers, to questions that bothered him so.”  Most of these questions do not get answered in this life.  But if we resolve to trust God, one day we can say, “Some of it’s magic, some of it’s tragic, but I had a good life all the way!”

Living a good life means resolving to affirm and accept God’s sovereignty in all of life.  We can say with King Solomon that life is “all the work of God.”  And we can say with the Apostle Paul, “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good” (ref. Romans 8:28).  God is at work, in all things, working all things together for our good.  

So continue to ask God “why,” if you must.  He loves you and you can ask Him anything.  He may not give you an answer, but He will give you comfort, and most times comforts are better than answers.  Take a cue from Spurgeon, “When you cannot see God’s hand, trust His heart.”

Let me close by making this practical.  Make an oath to God, “I do not know what you are doing, but I know it is you who are doing it, so I will find a way to do good and give you glory in it.”  Now, let’s break that down.

“I do not know what you are doing.”  Solomon didn’t, and he was the wisest man who ever lived.  How can you know?  You cannot.

“I know it is you who are doing it.”  The sovereignty of God is heavy doctrine.  But practically it means God can do whatever He wills, whenever He wills, to whomever He wills.  Accepting and affirming this can make you one of the most peaceful and pleasant saints on earth.

“I will find a way to do good and give you glory.”  Is this not the purpose of the Christian life?  It was for Jonathan Edwards.  It came and went and came back to King Solomon.  It can be your purpose today.  

So make Solomon’s resolutions your own.  Trust and obey God’s word.  Relax and enjoy God’s gifts.  Affirm and accept God’s sovereignty.  You’ll have a good life, a godly life, all the way!