Ecclesiastes 7:19 says, Wisdom strengtheneth the wise more than ten mighty men which are in the city.  I believe Solomon was warning us against relying on worldly strength, or power, to make us secure.  We deal with sinful people in all situations, as Matthew Henry points out.  Even the best of people are but sinners, either redeemed or unredeemed.  We cannot find peace and security in this world, no matter how strong or how many strong people we have guarding us.  It is only in wisdom, the acknowledgement that God is ultimately in charge no matter what happens on this earth that we can find peace.  Evil will continue to work to destroy even the most powerful person or nation, but we as followers of Christ must put our faith in Him.  This means, I believe, that we must seek His guidance in all things and not rely on our own intelligence. No matter how brilliant we may be, if we don't look to God for guidance, we are acting the same as a fool.  Verse twenty says, For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.  We may feel that we are pretty good people and really don't need forgiveness, but Solomon reminds us that there is none without sin.  If we could redeem ourselves, then Jesus would not have needed to die on the cross.  Verse twenty one says, Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken; lest thou hear thy servant curse thee.  We don't need to wonder about everything people say about us.  If it is the truth, it will either cause us to be prideful if it is good, or bring us despair or anger if it is a lie.  We really cannot control what people say about us, so the best action is to simply live under God's leadership and forgiveness.  Even if we were to hear our servants, or those we in a position of power over, curse us, we are not to become angry and self-righteous.  Solomon gives us a good reason for this in verse twenty two, which says, For oftentimes also thine own heart knoweth that thou thyself likewise hast cursed others.  If we are followers of Christ, we always need to remember that we are simply sinners saved by Grace.  We may not have even cursed anyone, or shown anger toward anyone, openly, but we are held to a higher standard of what is in the heart.  We cannot become angry at sinners for sinning, because we ourselves are sinners.  We must hate the sin, but forgive the sinner.

Ecclesiastes 7:16 says, Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself?  When Solomon warns us against being overly righteous, what does he mean.  I believe it is a warning against being self righteous, where we begin to rely on our own goodness to justify our actions.  It is good to condemn sin, but when we condemn the sinner, especially the repentant sinner, we are becoming overly, or self, righteous.  Another example would be studying the Bible.  This is a wonderful thing, but if we spend all our time studying and none practicing what the Bible teaches, the we are over righteous.  The same applies to wisdom.  If we reach the point that we know everything about the world, and especially about God, then we have become overly wise in our own mind.  We therefore will not listen to others, and possibly not even to God.  Verse seventeen says, Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time?  Just as Solomon warned us not to be over much righteous and wise, here he warns us of the opposite.  We are not to be over much wicked and foolish, or we may die before our time.  Now, there are those that believe that no matter what we do, our death day is already established.  This can lead us to do foolish things, or it can keep us foolishly doing nothing.  Where is the need to act with any restraint, on the one hand, or where is the need to act with any urgency on the other.  Verse eighteen says, It is good that thou shouldest take hold of this; yea, also from this withdraw not thine hand: for he that feareth God shall come forth of them all.  We are not to just attempt to remove ourselves from the things that happen in the world, but we are to act under the leadership of God to attempt to correct them.  We must rely on the leadership of God in all things, and not on our own understanding.  We may feel that we are a very smart person, but without God's leadership, we will be acting as a fool.

Ecclesiastes 7:13 says,  Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?  Solomon was reminding us to look to God when we consider the things of this world.  No law of man is ever going to make the things that God says is wrong be right.  We need to acknowledge this as God's followers, and never accept anything less.  Sin will always be sin, which is anything that goes against God's will.  Still, we must be careful that we hate the sin and not the sinner.  When we begin to hate the sinner, then we are not acting in accordance with God's will.  Verse fourteen says, In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.  When we prosper under the leadership of God, realizing that He is the author of prosperity, we should be joyful.  If we find ourselves in adversity, we should remember that God is still in control and rejoice in the Lord.  I believe Solomon is saying that in the perspective of God, they both amount to the same thing, which is nothing.  Again, we are to keep our focus on God, and we should live rejoicing each day that as His followers He has given us everlasting life.  The things of this world will always be but of this world.  Verse fifteen says, All things have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedness.  I believe Solomon was saying what we often say, and that is that life is not fair.  Why should the righteous die young and the wicked live long lives?  We are looking at things from a worldly view when we have this attitude.  This life, no matter how long, is but the blinking of an eye in terms of life everlasting.  If a righteous man dies young, that is not a reflection on the value of his or her life.  We have not been deprived of anything, since if we are followers of Christ we go away to everlasting life.  If a wicked person lives a very long life, that person has not gained anything, as they go away to everlasting separation from God.  Even if a righteous person's life were cut short by a wicked person's actions, the righteous person still wins.  This world is not the destination of the soul.

Ecclesiastes 7:11 says, Wisdom is good with an inheritance: and by it there is profit to them that see the sun.  If we inherit material possessions, and we do so without the wisdom to use them wisely, they will either be wasted away or will cause us to feel that anything we want should be ours.  Even an inheritance is to be used with wisdom.  This is not earthly wisdom, which says get more only for you and your family with no concern for the rest of the world.  I believe Solomon, when he refers to wisdom, is referring to the leadership of God.  When our only concern is for material things, then an inheritance really does us no good.  At some point, it will all be left behind for someone else's inheritance.  An inheritance used wisely with wisdom, or God's guidance, is a good thing.  It is not how much or how little we have that is good or bad, but how we use what God blesses us with.  Verse twelve says, For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it.  Solomon says that both money and wisdom are a defence, but wisdom, the acknowledgement that God is in charge of our lives, gives us life.  We may go through live without many problems because we have a lot of money, or wealth, but what without acknowledging God, it will ultimately fail us. I don't believe Solomon was preaching against riches, but against seeing riches as the purpose of life.  If we do have riches, we must acknowledge that God is the One Who has blessed us with them and the One Who leads us in how to use them.  We must never feel that somehow we are more important to God and therefore He is blessing us more.  God loves all people equally, from the poorest to the richest, but He expects all to follow His leadership.  God will never judge us for what we have, whether ten talents, five or one, but for how we use what we have for Him.

Ecclesiastes 7:9 says, Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.  We need to remember that Solomon was speaking about material things.  We are not to quickly be angered by things that are simply worldly things. There are those who are said to be ready to fight at the drop of a hat, and they will drop the hat.  There are people who seem to be angry about everything.  Solomon warns us that anger rests in the bosom of fools.  This does not mean that there are not things that we should be righteously angry at.  When the things of God, those spiritual things, are being trampled on, we are have a right to be righteously angry, as Jesus was when He cleansed the Temple.  I realize there is sometimes a fine line between when we should react to things that happen to us and when we shouldn't, but as Solomon was saying, if we react to everything in anger, then we are being a fool.  If you remember, one characteristic of a fool is that he has said in his heart that there is no God.  When we begin to be angry about everything that happens to us, we are not following God's plan for our lives.  We might question where to draw the line, but we must remember that Jesus drew the line at the cross.  If ever there was a Man with reason to act in anger, it was Jesus.  We are to follow His example.  If every time someone does or says something to offend us we say that they will pay, this is not what Jesus taught.  Verse ten says, Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this.  We often glorify the past, the good old days.  Matthew Henry points out that men have always been bad and God has always been good, no matter the time period.  When we look to the past as being better than the present, we tend to forget the problems and glorify the good. Even if the past were better, we cannot live there.  Our challenge as followers of Christ is to make the present the best that we can.

Ecclesiastes 7:7  says, Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad; and a gift destroyeth the heart.  Matthew Henry discusses this two ways.  One is with the wise man being oppressed and the other as the wise man seeing the oppression of others.  I hadn't really thought of it from the point of view of the wise man being oppressed, but I can see this as a valid view.  There are many wise people today who live under oppression.  Not all rulers are wise people, especially in the eyes of God, which is where all wisdom comes from, and a person who is wise, especially in the eyes of God, will be made mad by living under such oppression.  Matthew Henry says that this could lead to a wise person acting foolishly.  Though I can see this view, I believe this speaks more to the wise man seeing the oppression of others.  So many people in the world today live under oppression that we as God's followers should be mad about it.  We too often look at the world and see only the threat of the oppressors and not the plight of the oppressed.  As long as we can get the oppressors, we don't care what happens to the oppressed.  If a new set of oppressors who are friendly to us are put in power, we aren't concerned.  This is not the way God calls His people to be.  Now, the second half of the verse says a gift destroys the heart.  I believe this is saying that if we are given enough personal gain, it can destroy our heart of compassion.  We begin to view life from the attitude of what is in it for me instead of from what would God want and what is best for others.  Verse eight says, Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.  Those things gained by oppression will ultimately be gone, and in the end, God's will wins out.  We are called on to be patient in spirit and not proud in spirit.  Those who are proud in spirit see what they have as coming from their own wisdom instead of those things being a blessing from God.  We, as His followers, are to humbly realize that no matter how little or how much we have that is all a gift from God.

Ecclesiastes 7:5 says, It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools.  We like to hear people praise us, even if it is for the wrong reason.  We usually like to hear that we were the life of the party instead of the spoil sport.  Sometimes, the more foolish our behavior, the more those around us, who are acting foolish themselves, are apt to tell us how great we were.  Solomon warns us that it is better to hear someone who is wise, which I think means living under God's leadership, rebuke us than to be praised by those living under the power of sin.  We often hear people say that they don't want to listen to a Bible thumper, as if that is one of the worst things could ever happen.  Now, we don't want to beat people over the head with the Bible, as it were, condemning the sinner and not the sin, but we must stand against, or rebuke, sinful behavior.  If we are truly God's people, we will recognize the truth of the rebuke being better, and if we aren't, we will seek the praises of the world.  Verse six says, For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity.  When we are trying to heat something on a fire, we don't want crackling and popping, but a slow, steady flame.  The crackling and popping contribute little to real heat, and actually may do more damage than good.  Solomon said that the laughter of the fool is the same way.  It contributes nothing of value to life.  We may want to excuse certain things as only talk, but the Bible teaches us that our words should bring glory to God.  Once again, we cannot divide life into the secular and the spiritual.  We cannot justify our words and actions in the world by claiming that they don't matter from a spiritual perspective.  As followers of Christ, everything we do is done from a spiritual perspective.  We cannot be popping off useless words and doing things contrary to God's teaching and leadership and contribute anything of real value to His kingdom.