The Birds Are Listening: Sovereignty in the Smallest Things Text: Ecclesiastes 10:20
Introduction: The Walls Have Ears
We live in an age of constant chatter. The internet has given every man a megaphone, and our political discourse has devolved into a perpetual shouting match. We are encouraged to "speak truth to power," which in our day usually means screaming insults at anyone in authority we happen to dislike. We have cultivated a spirit of casual contempt, a reflexive disdain for rulers, and a cynical suspicion of anyone who has accumulated wealth. We feel entitled to our private grumblings, our whispered criticisms, our "confidential" complaints. We believe our thoughts are our own, and our words, spoken in the supposed privacy of our homes, are harmless.
But the Preacher in Ecclesiastes, this profound philosopher of joy under the sun, tells us something quite different. He pulls back the curtain on our comfortable illusions of privacy and shows us a world that is wired for sound in a way we scarcely imagine. He tells us that our most private resentments, our most carefully concealed curses against those in authority, have a way of getting out. He tells us that the universe is not a dead, empty space where our words can be safely buried. No, the world is alive, and the birds are listening.
This verse is not, first and foremost, a piece of practical advice for how to avoid getting caught by the secret police. It is not a paranoid warning about government surveillance, though it certainly has implications for our modern panopticon. At its heart, this is a profound theological statement about the nature of God's world. It teaches us about the interconnectedness of creation, the inescapable nature of our words, and the ultimate sovereignty of God who sees and hears all things. It is a call to a certain kind of fear, the right kind of fear, which is the beginning of all wisdom. It is a call to govern our own hearts and tongues, not simply because we might get caught by men, but because we live and move and have our being within the hearing of God.
The Preacher is not telling us to be sycophants or to flatter tyrants. The Bible is full of prophets who confronted wicked kings to their faces. But there is a universe of difference between a Nathan rebuking a David and a malcontent muttering curses in his bedroom. One is an act of courageous, public faithfulness. The other is an act of impotent, private rebellion that sours the soul. This verse is a warning against the latter. It is a warning against the sin of a bitter heart that masquerades as righteous indignation.
The Text
Furthermore, in your bedchamber do not curse a king, and in your sleeping rooms do not curse a rich man, for a bird of the sky will bring the sound and the winged creature will tell the matter.
(Ecclesiastes 10:20 LSB)
The Private Curse and Public Authority
The Preacher begins with a very specific prohibition:
"Furthermore, in your bedchamber do not curse a king..." (Ecclesiastes 10:20a)
The setting is crucial. The bedchamber. This is the place of greatest privacy, of presumed security. This is where you let your guard down. This is where you say what you "really think." The prohibition is against cursing a king. This refers to reviling, slandering, or wishing evil upon the civil magistrate. The Bible is clear that we are to honor the king (1 Peter 2:17). This does not mean we must agree with all his policies or pretend that a wicked ruler is righteous. But it does mean we must recognize that his authority, insofar as he has it, is delegated from God (Romans 13:1). To curse the king is to show contempt for the office that God Himself has established.
Our rebellious hearts want to make this conditional. We will honor the king if he is our kind of king. We will respect the office if we respect the man in it. But this is not what Scripture teaches. Our respect is for the structure of authority that God has ordained for the good of human society. To curse the king in your heart or in your bedroom is to plant seeds of rebellion and anarchy, first in your own soul, and then outwardly.
Notice the progression. The Preacher then broadens the scope:
"...and in your sleeping rooms do not curse a rich man..." (Ecclesiastes 10:20b)
Why the rich man? Because in any society, wealth brings a certain kind of influence and authority. And just as we are tempted to resent political authority, we are deeply prone to the sin of envy toward those who have more than we do. This is the root of all class warfare and socialist agitation. It is the covetousness that says, "What he has, he does not deserve, and I would do better with it." Cursing the rich man is the anthem of a bitter and envious heart. Scripture warns against favoring the rich in judgment, but it also warns against favoring the poor (Exodus 23:3). Justice is to be impartial. And our hearts are to be free from the poison of envy.
The Preacher lumps these two together, the king and the rich man, because they represent the two great objects of human resentment: power and prosperity. The temptation is to believe that our secret, resentful thoughts are a safe little rebellion. We think we can maintain a pious exterior while cultivating a garden of bitterness in private. But the Preacher tells us this is a fool's game. Your private world is not as private as you think.
The Winged Informant
The reason given for this prohibition is where the text moves from practical wisdom to profound theology.
"...for a bird of the sky will bring the sound and the winged creature will tell the matter." (Ecclesiastes 10:20c)
Is this meant to be taken literally? Did Solomon believe that sparrows were engaged in espionage for the crown? Not exactly. This is a proverb, a striking metaphor to teach a deeper truth. The expression "a little bird told me" comes from this very passage. The point is that secrets have a way of getting out. Words have wings. What is whispered in the closet will be shouted from the housetops (Luke 12:3).
But there is more going on here. This is not just a statement about the mechanics of gossip. It is a statement about the nature of God's creation. God has woven the world together in such a way that sin, even the sin of the tongue spoken in private, has consequences. Your words do not just dissipate into the air. They are vibrations in God's world. They are entered into the cosmic record. The world is not neutral; it is God's world, and it is structured to reveal the truth. As the Puritans would say, God has wired the world for righteousness.
Think about it. A bird is a small, seemingly insignificant creature. Yet God uses this creature as His illustration. Why? To show that He can use the smallest, most unlikely means to bring things to light. You may think your security is airtight, that your walls are thick enough. But God's providence is not bound by your locks and bolts. He can use a servant's careless comment, an overheard conversation, a sudden turn of events, a "bird of the air," to expose what was done in secret. The universe is God's sounding board, and nothing is truly hidden from the one who made it.
This is ultimately a call to fear God. The reason not to curse the king is not primarily the fear of the king's spies. The ultimate reason is that you live before the face of an omniscient God. He hears what is said in the bedchamber. He knows the thoughts and intentions of the heart. The whole duty of man, as the Preacher concludes his book, is to "fear God and keep his commandments" (Ecclesiastes 12:13). This fear is the beginning of wisdom. If you fear God, you will not have to fear the king. But if you do not fear God, you will live in constant, low-grade fear of what men might do to you, and you will be tempted to resort to the impotent rebellion of private curses.
Speaking Truth in a World of Lies
So, does this mean a Christian must be silent in the face of injustice? Does it mean we must never criticize our leaders? Not at all. The Bible gives us a clear pattern for how to handle such things. When the prophet Nathan confronted David, he did not mutter about it in his bedchamber. He went to the king directly, publicly, and courageously. When the apostles were commanded by the Sanhedrin to stop preaching, they did not go home and curse the high priest. They declared openly, "We must obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29).
There is a world of difference between godly confrontation and ungodly contempt. Godly confrontation is public, it is courageous, it is for the purpose of repentance and restoration, and it is undertaken by those with the proper authority to do so. Ungodly contempt is private, it is cowardly, it is for the purpose of venting personal bitterness, and it sours the soul of the one who engages in it.
Our political discourse today is almost entirely driven by the latter. It is a festival of contempt. People who would never have the courage to say something to a ruler's face will spew all manner of venom from behind a keyboard. This is the modern equivalent of cursing the king in your bedchamber. And we think it is without consequence. But God is not mocked. A man reaps what he sows. If we sow seeds of bitterness and contempt, even in private, we will reap a harvest of discord and strife, both in our own hearts and in our nation.
Conclusion: Living Coram Deo
The message of this verse is simple, but it is radical. Live your entire life, down to your most private moments and your most secret thoughts, Coram Deo, before the face of God. Do not have one persona for church on Sunday and another for your private grumbling on Monday. Be a person of integrity through and through.
This is not a call to a life of paranoia, constantly looking over your shoulder. It is a call to a life of liberty. The man who has nothing to hide is the man who is truly free. The man who fears God does not need to fear what a little bird might report. His conscience is clear. His speech is seasoned with grace. He honors those in authority, not because they are always honorable, but because God has commanded it. He is free from the corrosive acid of envy toward the rich, because he knows that his treasure is in heaven.
The world is God's house. There are no truly private rooms where you can go to plot rebellion against the Owner. He is the one who set the king on his throne. He is the one who gives the power to get wealth. And He is the one who commands the birds of the air. Therefore, guard your heart, for out of it flow the issues of life. And guard your tongue, for your words have wings, and they will always fly home to the one who hears everything.