Ecclesiastes 8:8 says, There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.  We do not have the ability to avoid death of the physical body when it comes.  We can do everything that the health care professionals tell us to do, but we still will not be able to avoid death.  In our war with death of this body we are always going to be the losers.  It is where the spirit goes that we do have control over, and that is the ultimate victory or defeat.  If we are followers of Christ, we go to everlasting life with Him.  If we are not, we go away to eternal separation.   We can never have a victory over physical death, but we can choose how we live our life.  These last few verses have warned against fatalism and a devil may care attitude as well.  Especially as God's people, we can never take the attitude that nothing we do matters.  I hear Christians today say that they don't want to get involved in the things of this world because everything is so evil. We, as followers of Christ, withdraw more and more from the world and then sit back and complain about how bad things have gotten.  We cannot remove ourselves from the world and expect it to get better.  To restate another truth from earlier, we are sent into the world to change the world.  We are not commissioned to simply wait and pray for the Second Coming, but to use this life, no matter how long or short it may be, to spread the good news of Christ.  We are not a defeated people, but we are everlastingly victorious.  Again, we cannot control the fact that one day, no matter how hard we fight against it, we will die, but but that should never cause us to live fearful or reckless lives.  We are to live victorious under the leadership of Christ.

Ecclesiastes 8:6 states, Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him.  We must always realize that everything we do is done at a certain time in life and is subject to the judgment of God.  When we realize this, that can lead to misery if we are not living by God's will.  That would be my understanding of what Solomon meant in this verse.  Matthew Henry says that good and bad are both preordained by God.  Again I will never believe that God is the author of evil.  Many religions do see their god, or gods, just arbitrarily sending evil into a person's life simply for their own amusement.  If we believe that God is responsible for everything that happens in the world, then we need not attempt to determine what we should do, because whatever we decide will always be God's responsibility.  That being the case, how could God in all fairness ever condemn a sinner, since God would be responsible for their actions.  This is one of the main reasons I believe that the free will of man is responsible for the evil in the world.  Verse seven says, For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be?  Solomon said there was no way to know the future.  People today seek out horoscopes and seers to tell them what the future holds, but God tells us, as His followers, that we are not to be concerned with the future.  Our future, as His followers, is in His hands, and that is all we need to be concerned with.  As I have said before, I believe this means we are not to be concerned with pinning down the time of the Second Coming, but are only to be ready when it does come.  This really isn't a reward for those who have accepted Christ, but a judgment for those who haven't.  As we get older, as followers of Christ, we get ever so much closer to being with God forever, so we do not need to worry about our destination.  We do, however, need to be concerned with the everlasting fate of the lost and be utilizing our time reaching them.  The future here on earth is not something we can know, but we can be sure that God is in control.

Ecclesiastes 8:4 says, Where the word of a king is, there is power: and who may say unto him, What doest thou?  In the world of Solomon, the king's word was all powerful.  A person did not question what the king said.  In our world, here in America at least, we do not have one person who has that authority, so we may freely question why our leaders are doing something.  We may even question a law, but unless it goes against the teachings of God, we are still to obey it.  Many people in the world do not have this freedom, and are never free to question the ruler or rulers.  We as followers of Christ have one ruler we should never question, though, and that is God.  What God says will always be true.  Verse five continues with, Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man’s heart discerneth both time and judgment.  If we are obeying the law, we do not have to fear that law.  Just as an example from today's world, have you ever found yourself looking at the speedometer with one eye and looking for the police with the other, because you know you are speeding?  If we are driving within the speed limit, and not by how much over we think we can get by with, we don't have to look for the police.  We may even want to see how far we can stray from God's laws and not get caught.  When we are looking around to see who is watching, be sure that God is.  When it comes to the law of man, if we feel that a law is wrong, we need to use wisdom and judgment in attempting to change it.  If we feel the need for civil disobedience, we must make sure that we are doing it under the leadership of God and doing it in a civil manner.  God will never lead us to riot and destroy simply to show our anger or to enrich ourselves.  If people are oppressed enough, as in many countries today, they may rise up in rebellion.  If so, they need the knowledge and understanding to replace the corrupt government with something better, or nothing will really change.  When we become followers of Christ, we not only renounce our sinful nature, but we replace it with a new nature that is led by the Holy Spirit.  This is definitely a better plan.

Ecclesiastes 8:1 says, Who is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? a man’s wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his face shall be changed.  I believe  Solomon is saying that we should seek to live with wisdom.  We are more readily able to live with boldness when we live guided by wisdom.  This does not mean arrogance, but with faith that we are living justly, since we need to remember that wisdom comes from God.  I don't believe that Solomon was speaking of earthly knowledge, but of Godly wisdom.  Verse two says, I counsel thee to keep the king’s commandment, and that in regard of the oath of God.  Throughout the Bible, we are called on to follow the laws of the rulers of the land.  There are exceptions when the law of the government goes against the law of God.  Otherwise, we are to obey the law.  We are to do this in obedience to our oath to God.  We cannot decide that we are going to overlook laws simply because we do not like them.  Solomon was king, but I don't believe he was only speaking of obeying him.  I believe he was speaking of kings, or rulers, in general.  Once again, if the law of the land would cause us to do wrong in our relationship to God, we are to be true to God.  Verse three says, Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him.  I believe Solomon was saying to his people, as he is to us, that we need to be slow in acting if we don't agree with those in power.  Those who have done wrong are usually quick to get away from those they have wronged.  When we do this, we often find ourselves standing up for something that is evil.  When we refuse to obey the law, we become a law unto ourselves, doing whatever pleases us. As followers of Christ, we must obey the law of government, unless it goes against God's law.

Ecclesiastes 7:27 says,  Behold, this have I found, saith the preacher, counting one by one, to find out the account.   Solomon said he decided to attempt to count his sins one by one.  We should never undertake such a task.  We might think we could count the sins of others, but seldom do we attempt to count our own sins, and it would be pointless to do so.  One sin is enough to separate us from God, and when Christ died on the cross, He died for all our sins for all time.  We would be better off focusing on the blessings of God than the sins of the past.  If we find ourselves in a position to be tempted by the same sin again, we might remember in order to learn from it, but otherwise, we need to simply forget it because God has washed us clean by the blood of Christ.  God doesn't remember our sins, so neither should we.  Verse twenty eight says, Which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found.  Solomon said he could find one good man among a thousand, but he could not find one good woman. We must not take this as a judgment of man versus woman.  Solomon was speaking of his own experience with those he knew.  We, as followers of Christ, know that we cannot find one good man or good woman no matter how many we look to, based on there own merit.  Hopefully, we will be able to find many among God's people, those who have accepted Christ as their Savior, but even then, it is not due to their own goodness.  Many times today, if it were not for the women, nothing would get done for God's kingdom.   Verse twenty nine says, Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.  God made man upright, but we weren't satisfied to be what He made us to be.  Mankind has through history sought to be more like God than to simply obey and serve Him.

Ecclesiastes 7:25 says, I applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness.  Solomon devoted himself to searching for the truth on his own, not to following the will of God.  He went so far as to live in wickedness to understand life.  Sometimes, people today are tempted by others to try something that they know is wrong, but decide that they really cannot know without experiencing it themselves.  It may sound good or look good, and they may reason that one time cannot rally hurt, but then find themselves enslaved by this one time thing.  We must acknowledge that sin is sin and there are no one time wavers.  God will never lead us to the decision that a small, one time sin will be okay.  Verse twenty six says, And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her.  Solomon, with all his wives and concubines, knew something about sexual temptation.  Though he seems to be putting the responsibility on the woman, we know that it was the condition of his own heart that caused him to sin.  What started as giving in to the temptation of one woman ended up as a thousand.  Though there may be times when the woman is tempting us, more often it is just our own desires that lead us to be tempted.  The woman may have done nothing more than just be someplace where we are.  Solomon also says that if we are following the will of God, we will not fall into the temptation of lust.  We can really never put just the woman on trial.  There are many more cases today where a woman is arrested for prostitution than there are of men who are arrested with her.  There are rape trials where a woman's attire or past are tried to be used as an excuse for the act, but in God's design, the man will always bear a greater responsibility.

Ecclesiastes 7:23 says, All this have I proved by wisdom: I said, I will be wise; but it was far from me.  Solomon had been discussing the failure of pleasure to bring happiness in life.  He had been given great wisdom from God, the Author of all true wisdom, but he had not lived wisely.  To know what God wants from His people is not enough.  We must live under His authority.  Solomon had said that he would be wise, but found the practice of living controlled by that wisdom to be far from him.  We, as followers of Christ, have vowed to live under His leadership, but often the way we live is far from the way He would have us to live.  We may look to our own understanding instead of looking to God for understanding.  No matter how wise we may think we are, without acknowledging God as the Lord of all, it will amount to nothing.  There are some very intelligent people in the world today who lack any wisdom.  We must remember that true wisdom comes from God, and many of these very intelligent people say they are to smart to believe in God, so they really do lack wisdom.  Verse twenty four says, That which is far off, and exceeding deep, who can find it out?  I believe Solomon was speaking about knowing the mind of God.  God is far above us in His knowledge, and His knowledge is so deep we can never comprehend it all.  We certainly can never understand God by attempting to find knowledge in the things of this world.  We can only accept His will by faith and rely on His revealing His will to us.  When we begin to feel wise in our own understanding, and leave God out of our thoughts about life and the world, we are really just as the fool.  Now today, we might say that we should not use the term fool, but we must remember the Biblical definition of the word.  It is someone who believes with all their heart that there is no God.  No matter how brilliant they are in the eyes of the world, or even in their own eyes, in the eyes of God, they are a fool.  Solomon, in all his wisdom, often acted as a fool.  If we begin to look for wisdom anywhere other than through God, we will be acting the same way.