The Wise Heart in a Crooked World Text: Ecclesiastes 8:5-9
Introduction: The Limits of Earthly Wisdom
The book of Ecclesiastes is a divine revelation of what the world looks like when you try to understand it without divine revelation. The Preacher, Solomon, takes us on a grand tour of life "under the sun," which is biblical shorthand for a world viewed apart from God, a world flattened out, a world where you are trying to make sense of the horizontal without any reference to the vertical. And his recurring conclusion is that, from this vantage point, all is hevel, all is vapor, a chasing after the wind.
We moderns are particularly susceptible to the folly Solomon describes because we are experts at living under the sun. We have built our entire secular project on the assumption that man is the measure of all things, that we can figure it all out with our own wits. But the Preacher here throws a bucket of cold, hard reality on that assumption. He shows us that even the wisest man, operating with the best information, runs headlong into immovable boundaries, into sovereign limitations he cannot negotiate.
In our text today, Solomon continues this line of thought, but he pivots from the grand philosophical problems to the gritty, practical realities of navigating a fallen world. He talks about kings and commands, about timing and trouble, about wind and war and death. He is addressing the man who wants to live wisely and peaceably in a world that is often unjust, unpredictable, and ultimately, fatal. How do you do that? How do you keep your footing when the ground is constantly shifting? The answer is not found in mastering the system, but in fearing the God who stands over the system.
This passage is a bucket of cold water for both the anarchist and the utopian. To the anarchist who chafes under all authority, Solomon says to obey the king. To the utopian who thinks he can engineer a perfect society if he just gets the levers of power, Solomon says that man's trouble is heavy upon him, and no one can control the day of his death. This is realism, but it is not despair. It is the necessary foundation for a wisdom that is not "under the sun," but a wisdom that comes down from above.
The Text
He who keeps a royal command experiences no evil thing, for a wise heart knows the proper time and custom. For there is a proper time and custom for every matter, though a man’s trouble is multiplied upon him. If no one knows what will happen, who can tell him when it will happen? There is no man who has power to restrain the wind with the wind, and there is none who has power over the day of death; and there is no discharge in the time of war, and wickedness will not provide escape to its masters. All this I have seen and given my heart to every work that has been done under the sun wherein a man has power over another man to his calamity.
(Ecclesiastes 8:5-9 LSB)
Wisdom in Submission (v. 5)
The Preacher begins with a principle that sounds jarring to our rebellious, democratic ears.
"He who keeps a royal command experiences no evil thing, for a wise heart knows the proper time and custom." (Ecclesiastes 8:5)
The first clause is a general proverb, not an absolute promise. Solomon is not saying that if you obey the king, a piano will never fall on your head. He is saying that, as a general rule, the path of wisdom is the path of submission to God-ordained authority. The man who pays his taxes and drives the speed limit generally has a much calmer life than the man who is constantly at war with the magistrate. This is a foundational biblical principle. All authority is delegated authority, established by God for the restraining of evil and the promotion of public good (Romans 13:1-4). To obey the king's legitimate command is to obey God.
But notice the qualification. It is a "wise heart" that navigates this. A wise heart doesn't just know the law; it "knows the proper time and custom." This is not about blind, unquestioning obedience. Wisdom is the skill of godly living. It is knowing how to apply God's unchanging truth to changing circumstances. A wise heart knows when to speak and when to be silent, when to act and when to wait. Think of Daniel and his friends. They submitted to Nebuchadnezzar in every way they could, right up until the point that the king's command contradicted God's command. They knew the "proper time and custom" for both submission and, when necessary, respectful civil disobedience. Wisdom isn't just knowing the rules; it's knowing how to play the game on God's terms.
The Burden of Time and Ignorance (v. 6-7)
But even this wisdom runs into a wall. Life under the sun is not a simple equation where wisdom always equals success.
"For there is a proper time and custom for every matter, though a man’s trouble is multiplied upon him. If no one knows what will happen, who can tell him when it will happen?" (Ecclesiastes 8:6-7 LSB)
Here is the rub. Verse 6 affirms that God has a plan. There is a "proper time and custom for every matter." This is the great truth of Ecclesiastes 3, that God has appointed a time for everything. From our perspective, above the sun, we know that God is sovereignly orchestrating all events according to the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1:11). Nothing is random. Nothing is out of His control. This is a profound comfort.
But then Solomon immediately brings us back down to earth, "under the sun." Though there is a perfect divine timetable, "a man's trouble is multiplied upon him." Why? Verse 7 gives the reason: because we don't have access to that timetable. "If no one knows what will happen, who can tell him when it will happen?" We are creatures of time, trapped in the present. We cannot see five minutes into the future, let alone five years. This is a designed limitation. God has set eternity in our hearts, but He has kept the blueprints of the future to Himself. Our ignorance of the future is a heavy burden. We plan, we strategize, we worry, but we are fundamentally not in control of the outcome. This is meant to drive us out of ourselves and onto God. It is meant to cultivate dependence, trust, and humility.
The Great Uncontrollables (v. 8)
Solomon then gives four stark examples of our creaturely limits, four things no man can master.
"There is no man who has power to restrain the wind with the wind, and there is none who has power over the day of death; and there is no discharge in the time of war, and wickedness will not provide escape to its masters." (Ecclesiastes 8:8 LSB)
First, no one has power over the wind. The Hebrew word is ruach, which can mean wind, breath, or spirit. Man cannot control the weather, and he cannot control the sovereign Spirit of God who blows where He wishes (John 3:8). We are subject to forces far beyond our pay grade.
Second, and most pointedly, no one "has power over the day of death." This is the ultimate checkmate. You can eat your kale, do your cardio, and hire the best doctors, but you have an appointment you cannot reschedule. God has numbered your days (Psalm 139:16). Death is the great equalizer that makes a mockery of all human pride, wealth, and power. The king in his palace and the pauper in his hovel both end up as dust. This reality is not meant to make us morose, but to make us sober. It forces the ultimate question: what then shall I do with the time I have?
Third, there is "no discharge in the time of war." When the battle is joined, the soldier cannot simply decide to go home. He is bound to his duty. This is a picture of the inescapable moral and spiritual conflict of life. We are all conscripted. There is no neutrality in the war between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness.
And fourth, "wickedness will not provide escape to its masters." This is a crucial point. Men turn to wickedness precisely because they think it is a shortcut to power and control. They lie, cheat, and oppress to get what they want and to escape the consequences. But Solomon says their very tool becomes their trap. Wickedness promises freedom but delivers slavery. It promises to save you, but in the end, it devours you. Sin is a cruel master, and its final wages are death (Romans 6:23).
The Tyranny of Man (v. 9)
Solomon concludes this section with a summary observation of his studies of life under the sun.
"All this I have seen and given my heart to every work that has been done under the sun wherein a man has power over another man to his calamity." (Ecclesiastes 8:9 LSB)
This is a grim assessment. After observing the world, one of the things that stands out most is the abuse of power. When fallen men get authority over other men, the result is often calamity, ruin, and hurt for the one under that authority. This is the story of history, from petty tyrants in the home to blood-soaked despots on the world stage. Man, trying to be God, always ends up being a devil to his neighbor.
This is the problem that secularism can never solve. It has no answer for the sinfulness of the human heart. It can rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic, it can shift power from one group of sinners to another, but it cannot fix the fundamental problem that man has a lust to dominate his fellow man to his own ruin. The Preacher sees this clearly. He sees that the world is full of injustice that cries out for a final judgment.
Conclusion: From Calamity to Christ
So where does this leave us? If we are stuck "under the sun," it leaves us in a very bleak place. We are subject to authorities we don't control, burdened by an ignorance we can't overcome, and facing a death we can't escape. If this life is all there is, then the Preacher's message is one of profound pessimism.
But of course, that is not the whole story. The entire book of Ecclesiastes is designed to show us the bankruptcy of the "under the sun" worldview so that we will lift our eyes and look "above the sun" to the sovereign God who gives life and all things meaning.
This passage, which seems so full of limitations, is actually shot through with gospel hope for those with eyes to see. We are told that no man has power to restrain the ruach or spirit. But there is one man, the Son of Man, who commanded the wind and the waves, and they obeyed Him. We are told that no man has power over the day of his death. But there is one man, Jesus Christ, who had the authority to lay down His life and the authority to take it up again (John 10:18). He did not just face death; He conquered it. He disarmed it.
We are told there is no discharge in war. But our captain, Jesus Christ, has fought the great battle on our behalf and won the decisive victory. He has triumphed over sin, death, and the devil. And we are told that wickedness will not deliver its masters. But righteousness, the perfect righteousness of Christ, does deliver all who belong to Him. He is our escape, our refuge, our salvation.
Finally, we see a world where men use their power over others for calamity. But the gospel shows us the one man, the King of Kings, who had all power and authority, and used it not for His own gain, but to lay it down for the calamity of His people. He took our calamity upon Himself on the cross, so that we might receive His blessing. He is the truly wise king, and to keep His commands is to experience no ultimate evil, but rather to find the path to everlasting life. Therefore, the conclusion of the matter is not to despair at the vanity of the world, but to "Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man" (Ecclesiastes 12:13).