GOD AND UNCLE SOLOMON
The Book of Ecclesiastes #9
Pastor Dennis Clanton
Woodland Church
Sunday, March 16, 2025
“The Psalms teach us how to worship; Proverbs, how to behave, Job, how to suffer; Song of Solomon, how to love; and Ecclesiastes, how to live.” – J. I. Packer
(Ecclesiastes 8, NLT) “How wonderful to be wise, to analyze and interpret things. Wisdom lights up a person’s face, softening its harshness. Obey the king since you vowed to God that you would. Don’t try to avoid doing your duty, and don’t stand with those who plot evil, for the king can do whatever he wants. His command is backed by great power. No one can resist or question it. Those who obey him will not be punished. Those who are wise will find a time and a way to do what is right, for there is a time and a way for everything, even when a person is in trouble. Indeed, how can people avoid what they don’t know is going to happen? None of us can hold back our spirit from departing. None of us has the power to prevent the day of our death. There is no escaping that obligation, that dark battle. And in the face of death, wickedness will certainly not rescue the wicked. I have thought deeply about all that goes on here under the sun, where people have the power to hurt each other. I have seen wicked people buried with honor. Yet they were the very ones who frequented the Temple and are now praised in the same city where they committed their crimes! This, too, is meaningless. When a crime is not punished quickly, people feel it is safe to do wrong. But even though a person sins a hundred times and still lives a long time, I know that those who fear God will be better off. The wicked will not prosper, for they do not fear God. Their days will never grow long like the evening shadows. And this is not all that is meaningless in our world. In this life, good people are often treated as though they were wicked, and wicked people are often treated as though they were good. This is so meaningless! So I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. That way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them under the sun. In my search for wisdom and in my observation of people’s burdens here on earth, I discovered that there is ceaseless activity, day and night. I realized that no one can discover everything God is doing under the sun. Not even the wisest people discover everything, no matter what they claim.”
CHRISTIANS ARE DUAL CITIZENS.
(Philippians 1:27, NLT) “Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ.”
Government begins with the sovereignty of God
(Acts 5:29, NLT) “We must obey God rather than any human authority.”
(Daniel 3:18, NLT) “We will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.”
“I believe no one can read the history of our country without realizing that the Good Book and the Spirit of the Savior have from the beginning been our guiding geniuses … Whether we look to the first Charter of Virginia … or to the Charter of New England … or to the Charter of Massachusetts Bay … or to the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut… the same objective is present: a Christian land governed by Christian principles … I believe the entire Bill of Rights came into being because of the knowledge our forefathers had of the Bible and their belief in it. Freedom of belief, or expression, or assembly, or petition; the dignity of the individual, the sanctity of the home, equal justice under law, and the reservation of power to the people … I like to believe we are living today in the spirit of the Christian religion. I like also to believe that as long as we do so, no great harm can come to our country.” – Earl Warren
1. Submitting to government is part of God’s will for my life
(Ecclesiastes 8:2, NLT) “Obey the king since you vowed to God that you would.”
(2 Kings 11:17, NLT) “Then Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the king and the people that they would be the Lord’s people. He also made a covenant between the king and the people.”
“One Nation Under God” – The Pledge of Allegiance
(Romans 13:1, NLT) “Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God.”
Government has legitimate authority even when exercised poorly
(Romans 13:3, NLT) “For the authorities do not strike fear in people who are doing right, but in those who are doing wrong. Would you like to live without fear of the authorities? Do what is right, and they will honor you.”
THE CHURCH IS INTERNATIONAL
A GOOD CHRISTIAN IS A GOOD CITIZEN BY BEING:
a. INVOLVED
“I plead that each of us learn the lesson from our founding fathers that the center of good government is in the heart of the good man. The good man is assured and made bold and strong to face his problems through the conviction that he is always in the hand of God. Every human life is of divine concern. .. this prevents man from looking for ease and security, for which he often has bartered away his individual freedom and liberty. There is no security in this world, only opportunity.” – Joseph Simonson, former ambassador to Ethiopia
b. PRAYERFUL
2. GOOD GOVERNMENT PROVIDES JUSTICE AND INFRASTRUCTURE
(Isaiah 32:15–18, 20 CEV) “When the Spirit is given to us from heaven, deserts will become orchards thick as fertile forests. Honesty and justice will prosper there, and justice will produce lasting peace and security. You, the Lord’s people, will live in peace, calm and secure … You will have God’s blessing, as you plant your crops beside streams, while your donkeys and cattle roam freely about.”
GROWTHWORK
1. ACCEPT THAT THERE IS NO PERFECT SYSTEM
(Ecclesiastes 8:14, NLT) “And this is not all that is meaningless in our world. In this life, good people are often treated as though they were wicked, and wicked people are often treated as though they were good. This is so meaningless!”
2. MAKE THE BEST OF OUR OPPORTUNITY NOW
(Ecclesiastes 8:15, NLT) “So I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. That way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them under the sun.”
3. DAILY REMEMBER GOD IS IN CONTROL
(Ecclesiastes 8:17, NLT) “I realized that no one can discover everything God is doing under the sun. Not even the wisest people discover everything, no matter what they claim.”