(“Some Things Are Better Than Others”) (II)

Ecclesiastes 7:1-14 (NASU)

(Ecclesiastes 7:2-3)

(A) BETTER TO BE WISE THAN FOOLISH

(1) Tonight’s Scripture lesson (c.f. Ecclesiastes 7:1-14) marks the beginning of the second half of the Book of Ecclesiastes – not only in terms of the total number of chapters, but also, to a great extent, in terms of the amount of written material.

(2) Chapter seven begins with something for which Solomon is famous (c.f. Ecclesiastes 12:9-10) – although we’ve seen few examples of it in Ecclesiastes up to this point (c.f. Ecclesiastes 4:5-6; 5:10, 12) – namely, a series of proverbs similar to those found in the Book of Proverbs, which was also written by King Solomon.¹

(3) One of the unique features of tonight’s Scripture lesson is the number of times the phrase “better than” occurs – eight times in the first ten verses – like in last week’s text, where Solomon said: “A good name is better than a good ointment, and the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth” (c.f. Ecclesiastes 7:1) – and again in tonight’s text, where he says: “it is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting … (and) Sorrow is better than laughter, for when a face is sad a heart may be happy” (c.f. Ecclesiastes 7:2-3).

We suggested last time that Solomon may be using these “better-than-proverbs” to answer the question he posed at the end of chapter six⁴ – namely, “who knows what is good for a man during his lifetime, during the few years of his futile life” (c.f. Ecclesiastes 6:12).

This idea is strengthened by the fact that the Hebrew word for “good” in Ecclesiastes 6:12, and the word for “better” used throughout chapter seven are the same.² Moreover, among its various shades of meaning is the idea of that which is “beneficial”,² or that which is to be “preferred”³ over something else.

Hence, in verse two of tonight’s text, for example, Solomon is telling us that in a fallen world, we will “benefit” more from going to a funeral than a party – that in the long run, “mourning” is “preferable” to “feasting” because we can learn more from the one than the other (c.f. Ecclesiastes 7:2).

(4) Another unique feature of tonight’s Scripture lesson is the comparisons Solomon makes between “a wise man” and “the fool” in verses four through seven (c.f. Ecclesiastes 7:4-7) – along with a brief discourse on the advantages of “wisdom” in verses ten through twelve (c.f. Ecclesiastes 7:10-12).

The first comparison is directly related to tonight’s text, where Solomon says: “The mind of the WISE is in the house of mourning, while the mind of FOOLS is in the house of pleasure” (c.f. Ecclesiastes 7:4) – the latter being the same as “the house of feasting” spoken of in verse two (c.f. Ecclesiastes 7:2b).

The point is, that a “wise man” realizes he can learn more by contemplating death, than by throwing himself into one mindless party after another. Indeed, the person who avoids thinking about death is a “fool”, since death is “the end of every man” (c.f. Ecclesiastes 7:2c).

(5) The natural man (c.f. I Corinthians 2:14) who happens to read these proverbs will think Solomon surely has things backwards (in fact, we Christians may have a hard time with them as well!). The natural man will say there’s no way “the day of one’s death” can be “better than the day of one’s birth” (c.f. Ecclesiastes 7:1) – that it’s foolish to think going “to a house of mourning” is better than going “to a house of feasting” (c.f. Ecclesiastes 7:2) – that only someone who’s too old to party, or who has a morbid personality would ever think “sorrow” is “better than laughter” (c.f. Ecclesiastes 7:3).

And yet, Scripture reminds us God’s thoughts are not like our ours – that His ways are higher than ours (c.f. Isaiah 55:8-9) – and that, “the foolishness of God is wiser than men” (c.f. I Corinthians 1:25).

Moreover, Scripture says: “God (has) made foolish the wisdom of the world” (c.f. I Corinthians 1:20d) – and again, that: “the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God” (c.f. I Corinthians 3:19) – and once more (speaking of unsaved men who have rejected the evidence for God’s existence found throughout the created order): “Professing to be wise, they became fools” (c.f. Romans 1:22).

Men may look at the proverbs in tonight’s Scripture lesson and say, “Solomon got it backwards!” But Scripture says its men who have it backwards – that it’s the natural man (c.f. I Corinthians 2:14) or the “old self” (c.f. Ephesians 4:22a) who “turns things around” (c.f. Isaiah 29:6a) (as it were), not the all-wise omniscient Creator who made us – not our loving heavenly Father, who knows what’s best for us – who knows what things are “better for us than” others – and then mercifully tells us what those things are!

(B) MORE “BETTER-THAN” PROVERBS

(1) We start, then, with verse two where Solomon says: “It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, because that is the end of every man, and the living takes it to heart” (c.f. Ecclesiastes 7:2)

(a) The first half of this verse essentially says attending a funeral is better for us than going to a party⁵ – that watching someone being buried will do us more good than watching someone guzzle beer, sing silly songs, or dance the night away to loud music.

Solomon isn’t suggesting all parties are sinful – or that all festive events are a waste of time. After all, Scripture says Jesus (who was without sin, and whom I doubt ever wasted a second) (that Jesus) happily attended a wedding in Cana of Galilee (c.f. John 2:1-2).⁶ Moreover, He often used festive wedding feasts to illustrate His teaching (c.f. Matthew 22:2-14). He also accepted invitations to eat meals in people’s homes (c.f. Luke 7:36), which (in that culture) were often lively affairs.

So Solomon’s point is not that funerals are good and parties aren’t – that one’s right and the other wrong – that one is a pure wholesome activity, while the other is sinful. As one writer said: “neither of them is wrong (per se).”⁶ It’s just that, given the fact we live in a fallen world, one will do us more good than the other – given the brevity of this life (c.f. Ecclesiastes 6:12) and the length of the next, if we have a choice between going to a memorial service and a party, we’ll “benefit” more from the memorial service in the long run.⁷

(b) Nor does Solomon leave us wondering how or why this is so – for he explains that death is “the end of every man” – and that every time the wise “go to a house of mourning” (c.f. Ecclesiastes 7:2a) they “(take that fact) to heart” (c.f. Ecclesiastes 7:2b).

Barring the Lord’s return, all of us are going to die at some point – as the Scripture says: “it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment” (c.f. Hebrews 9:27). Attending funerals serves to remind us of these biblical truths. Furthermore, they will hopefully cause us to reexamine our own life (c.f. II Corinthians 13:5) to make sure we really are striving to “fear God and keep His commands” (c.f. Ecclesiastes 12:13) – to make our “calling and election sure” (c.f. II Peter 1:10) – to ensure that we can say with Paul: “I know whom I have believed (meaning Jesus) and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day” (c.f. II Timothy 1:12).

(c) In commenting on this verse, one writer said: “This is the principal value of funerals, and you will notice that it is … the antithesis of a … morbid introspection … the opposite of that satanic preoccupation with death so pervasive in the horror and science-fiction genres of movies and literature. Bereavement calls the thoughtless to think – to think about the reality of existence in ways parties and fun never will. Death knocks away the props and planks with which people shore up their empty lives. Death reminds us of (the) realities we succeed in (blocking) from our minds at other times.”⁸

“Every funeral anticipates our own. From this perspective the … unwelcome intruder … carries an overture of grace from the outstretched hand of God. It is His grace that takes the devastating evil that death is in itself and lays it on our hearts in such a way as to make us think … perhaps bring us to pray out of a (new-found) sense of our need … (perhaps) even bring us into fellowship with Jesus Christ, who died to kill death for all who would believe in Him as their Savior.”⁸

(d) I know there are people who don’t like to make hospital visits, especially if involves someone who is terminally ill – who don’t like to visit nursing homes – who don’t like to attend funerals – who don’t even like to go to cemeteries. Lots of reasons for their reluctance are given – but one that’s seldom voiced is that these places have the “smell of death” about them (as it were) – in other words, they remind people, not just of human mortality in general, but of their own mortality in particular.

Places like this remind us of something we don’t like to think about, even though we know deep down we can’t avoid it – namely, the relentless approach of our own death.

And yet, Scripture exhorts us to take death seriously – to think about it soberly. Hence, in the only psalm attributed to Moses, we read: ^{10“the days of our life … contain seventy years, or if due to strength, eighty years, yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; for soon it is gone and we fly away … 12So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom”} (c.f. Psalm 90:10-12) … and David, writing on the same theme, said: “Lord, make me to know my end and … the extent of my days; let me know how transient I am” (c.f. Psalm 39:4) (the NIV says: “let me know how fleeting … my life [is]”) – i.e. “Help me reflect on how short my life really is – help me realize that the day of my death is approaching with far greater swiftness than I realize.”

(e) The man or woman who stays away from “ houses of mourning” – who spends all their time in “houses of feasting” – who never stops to think about the fact their name will one day be in the obituary section of the local newspaper – (such a person) is like the rich “fool” Jesus spoke of in Luke chapter twelve (c.f. Luke 12:20), whose philosophy of life was, “eat, drink and be merry” (c.f. Luke 12:19) – which is nothing more than a variation on Solomon’s “house of feasting/house of pleasure” theme (c.f. Ecclesiastes 7:2, 4).

Suddenly, however, he was confronted with the reality of his own death. Too late he discovered that he should have been preparing for death by becoming “rich toward God” (c.f. Luke 12:21) – by storing up “treasures in heaven,” as Jesus once put it (c.f. Matthew 6:19-21) – or, to paraphrase Solomon, by spending more time in “the house of mourning”, and less in “the house of feasting”.

(2) Moving on to verse three, Solomon says: “Sorrow is better than laughter, for when a face is sad a heart may be happy” (c.f. Ecclesiastes 7:3).

(a) Some might read this and think Solomon would have made a good Puritan – since, Puritans are often criticized (unfairly, I believe) for being somber and without humor. It’s true that Puritans were, generally speaking, a very serious-minded people – however, they were not as solemn and humorless as some have tried to portray them.

(b) More to the point, however, is the fact that Solomon was not saying God’s people should go around looking sad and sour. Rather, in keeping with his thought in the previous verse,⁹ he was saying that a sober attitude toward the realities of life in a fallen world will do us more good than lots of gratuitous laughter and senseless revelry¹⁰ – hence, the NKJV translates verse three like this: “Sorrow is better than laughter, FOR by a sad countenance the heart is made better” – while the NIV says: “Sorrow is better than laughter, BECAUSE a sad face is good for the heart” (c.f. Ecclesiastes 7:3) – in other words, sorrow (for the right reasons) can actually do us a lot of good – a sad face (in the right context) can actually be beneficial for us.

(c) Being the knowledgeable people of Scripture you are, someone is bound to be wondering how all this fits with some other proverbs Solomon wrote – like, “A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken” (c.f. Proverbs 15:13, NKJV) – and, “A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones” (c.f. Proverbs 17:22, NKJV).

How does what Solomon said in those verses fit with what he said in verse three? The answer is, it doesn’t fit – and the reason it doesn’t fit, is because Solomon was addressing two entirely different issues.

For example, the issue being addressed in the verses I just quoted from Proverbs chapter fifteen and seventeen, has to do with the link between mental, emotional or spiritual tranquility and one’s physical health¹¹ – hence, Solomon’s father, David, once wrote: ^{3“When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer”} (c.f. Psalm 32:3-4).

People weighed down by guilt are not generally healthy, vibrant people. On the other hand, people with a clean or clear conscience are more likely to enjoy life. Likewise, depressed people are not generally happy people. On the other hand, a perky person is more apt to have a “cheerful countenance” (c.f. Proverbs 15:13, NKJV).

(d) Here in Ecclesiastes 7:3, Solomon isn’t talking about the relationship between a person’s mind and their physical health – he’s talking about the advantage of taking time to reflect seriously on life and death – he’s talking about the kind of “sorrow” that comes from honestly facing what life in a fallen world is like, as opposed to suppressing any acknowledgement of these realities with frivolous laughter¹² – he’s talking about contemplating (NOT dwelling on, or brooding over, but meditating on) the vanities and futilities of life in a fallen world, including the fact we’re all going to die some day.

One writer put it like this: “Whereas ‘reckless mirth’ is liable to drown out sober thoughts of the eternal, ‘sorrow’ weans a man’s soul from the temporal and invites him to consider spiritual realities. A ‘sad face,’ brought on by honestly confronting the vanities of life in a fallen world, makes a man’s ‘heart happy’ by drawing it away from all that emptiness, and setting his affections (instead) on “the things above where Christ is … not on the things that are on earth” (c.f. Colossians 3:1-3).”¹²

(e) Back in chapter two Solomon said laughter is “madness” – while also asking of “pleasure, ‘What does it accomplish?’” (c.f. Ecclesiastes 2:2; see also Ecclesiastes 7:4b). Solomon isn’t suggesting all forms of laughter are to be avoided – but he does say in verse six that, “the laughter of the fool … is futility” (c.f. Ecclesiastes 7:6b).

Here in chapter seven, the “fool” is someone who stays away from the “house of mourning” – if not physically, then certainly mentally and spiritually. The “fool” is someone who refuses to do any serious reflecting on the brevity and ultimate end of life, which is death – after which, the Book of Hebrews says, “comes judgment” (c.f. Hebrews 9:27) for all those who die without Christ (c.f. Romans 8:1).

One writer said: “Present-day society, which puts so much emphasis on self-centered hedonism, desperately needs to pay attention to this reminder.”⁹ In doing so, perhaps some will be driven to Jesus Christ (c.f. Galatians 3:24), who “brings good news of (true) happiness” (c.f. Isaiah 52:7), even “good news of great joy” (c.f. Luke 2:10) to all who repent of their sins and believe in Him (c.f. Acts 16:31).

(f) One lesson for us Christians is that “there is” (to quote an earlier passage from the Book of Ecclesiastes) “an appointed time for everything … a time for every event under heaven … (including) a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance” (c.f. Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4).

As Christians, we have MUCH to be happy about – our sins have been forgiven (c.f. I John 2:12), which means the threat of God’s wrath (c.f. John 3:36) has been entirely and eternally removed (c.f. Romans 8:1) – our God and Savior is working all things for our good (c.f. Romans 8:28), including those things that cause us pain or grief (c.f. Genesis 50:20) – He has promised to complete the good work He began in us (c.f. Philippians 1:6) – He has promised to supply us with everything we need for this life, including our daily bread (c.f. Matthew 6:11, 33) – He’s in sovereign control of everything that happens in our life, as well as the world at large (c.f. Daniel 4:35) – and that’s only some of the reasons we have to rejoice and be glad.

Hence, Scripture says: ^{3“let the righteous be glad; let them exult before God; yes, let them rejoice with gladness. 4Sing to God, sing praises to His name”} (c.f. Psalm 68:3-4a) – and again: “Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones … shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart” (c.f. Psalm 32:11).

In a fallen world, however it’s not ALL about joy. The time is coming when there will be “no more tears, no more death, no more mourning, or crying, or pain” (c.f. Revelation 21:4) – but that time has not yet arrived (c.f. Ecclesiastes 7:14). We still live in a fallen world – and since we do, we need to set aside time for serious reflection – time to “consider” (c.f. Ecclesiastes 7:14) the realities of life – to contemplate life’s vanities and futilities – to ponder the fact that our “last (great) enemy” (i.e. death) has not yet been “abolished” (c.f. I Corinthians 15:26).

In short, there needs to be balance – a balance between true God-given joy, and the kind of “sorrow” that comes from spending time in “a house of mourning” (c.f. Ecclesiastes 7:2-3). May our Savior graciously enable us to stay balanced – and to see the benefits of both.

#2896.

⁶Bridges: Geneva Series; Ecclesiastes; p. 135.

⁷Longman: The New International Commentary on the Old

Testament; The Book of Ecclesiastes; p. 182.

⁸Keddie: Ibid; p. 165.

⁹Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament; p. 992.

p. 951.