[Ecc 7:15-22] The Man Who Fears God Will Avoid All Extremes.(Lim)

John C Lim

Ecclesiastes 7:15-22

¹⁵ In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these:
       a righteous man perishing in his righteousness,
       and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.

 ¹⁶ Do not be overrighteous,
       neither be overwise—
       why destroy yourself?

 ¹⁷ Do not be overwicked,
       and do not be a fool—
       why die before your time?

 ¹⁸ It is good to grasp the one
       and not let go of the other.
       The man who fears God will avoid all extremes.

 ¹⁹ Wisdom makes one wise man more powerful
       than ten rulers in a city.

 ²⁰ There is not a righteous man on earth
       who does what is right and never sins.

 ²¹ Do not pay attention to every word people say,
       or you may hear your servant cursing you-

 ²² for you know in your heart
       that many times you yourself have cursed others.

              Contrary to what many would like to believe or think life is not an exact science, it seems.  Many times we think of life as being either unfair or cruel because we see injustice as well as what we deem unexpected tragedies.  We think life should be somewhat like mathematics where 1 plus 1 equals 2.  But in reality, life is not so precise in action and reaction.  Solomon in his wisdom states an interesting observation in verse 15.

In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these: a righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.

            Solomon shares his observation in spirit of humility as one with a friend not as one who sits on lofty mountain and demands others dutifully pay attention.  We would expect a righteous man to live long and prosperous life whereas as a wicked man would live short and miserably according to our order of things.  However, Solomon tells us that this is not always the case.  And we know such is not the case in our world today as well.  We see many wicked people living not only long time but living rather prosperously while we see many good people dying young or struggling in life as they earnestly live what seems righteous life.

            When we encounter such situations in life, we sometimes become distraught and wonder why our God does not intervene immediately and bring about His perfect justice or His boundless mercy swiftly and timely.  We hear of terrible stories of people suffering from incurable diseases and leaving behind young children much to dismay of the loved ones.  And we sometimes see a wicked man who committed despicable crime walk away free and boast about it.   And we openly wonder how something like this could happen when our Sovereign God is in control.

            Even from the Old Testament, we see a person like Naboth who was a righteous man yet being falsely accused come to sudden death by scheming Jezebel and King Ahab in I Kings 21.  And at that point in time when Naboth so unexpectedly is killed by wicked Jezebel and Ahab, people would have raised same question as to how the wicked continue to thrive while the righteous come to sudden end.  And it may have seemed like the wicked triumphed over righteous. 

            But we also know the end of the story of Jezebel and Ahab.  The end for both is not very pleasant and God does have His final say in the matter.  Though we may at times think there is no justice, nevertheless God is in full control and He will bring about His judgment in due time. 

Obviously, Solomon is not necessarily referring to this historical event as he claims in his own meaningless life he has seen the righteous perishing in righteousness while the wicked living long in wickedness.  God’s justice and mercy are always at work though not according to our schedule or our plan.  Also, we must remember our lives are not determined or evaluated by mere length of time or by worldly standard of success.  Solomon continues elaborate on this subject in verses 16-17. 

Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise— why destroy yourself?   Do not be overwicked,
 and do not be a fool— why die before your time?

            Solomon warns about being overly righteous or overly wise.  Can this happen?  We have come across people in this life who at times can be very stubborn in their own righteousness.  They are so sure of their position they refuse to consider the possibility of being wrong.  They approach everything with such certitude that they emanate infallibility.  Also, there are some people who are so wise their wisdom, they take a very hard stance and look down on everyone else.  Such people are so sure of themselves they act as if they can’t be wrong.  This is rather dangerous and quite arrogant. 

            No matter how righteous or wise we think we are, we must accept the distinct possibility that we might be wrong.  Only God is absolutely righteous and wise without a single imperfection.  No one in the universe can claim perfect righteousness or perfect wisdom other than God Himself. 

            In our world, we are all sinners before God and therefore we are invariably flawed.  As flawed human beings, our righteousness and our wisdom would have their limitation.  As hard as we try, we would always fall short of the glory of God.  And because we are imperfect human beings, we are bound to make all kinds of errors in every aspect of our lives.  We are neither truly righteous nor truly wise.  We must accept our limitation and acknowledge that we are fallible creatures and not become lofty in our thoughts as if we have achieved that status. 

At the same time, we are warned to avoid falling into deep wickedness on the other hand.  People who are engaged in deep wickedness are merely digging their own graves not knowing that they will fall into the graves they dig for themselves.  While we are not perfect, knowingly devising and scheming to bring harm to others can only lead to certain self-destruction.  If we are constantly engaged in wickedness, we are hastening our own demise unwittingly.  So Solomon would warn us to walk balanced life.   

As long as we breathe on this earth, we will never be perfect.  We fall into various temptations and realize that just as we struggle in life, we are not so eager to judge others or to condemn others while being overly generous with our own flaws and frailties.  Knowing that we are not perfect, we walk humbly before God while always seeking His mercy and His grace on our lives.  Solomon then concludes in verse 18.

It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. The man who fears God will avoid all extremes.

            Finding good balance between two contradicting ends is the key.  While we continue to strive to be righteous with the help of God, we also must accept the reality that we are not that far from falling into wickedness.  Knowing this and living with this awareness, we would rely more on God’s strength than ours.  And as Solomon aptly points out the man who fears God will avoid all extremes. 

            We can cover ourselves with certain external qualities that people might think we are either righteous or wise but we can never deceive our Heavenly Father who sees all that we are.  Other people might think of us much higher than we truly deserve as God knows what is in our heart and what we do when others do not see us.  However when we truly fear God, we are led to make accurate assessment of ourselves.  And as a result, we avoid all extremes.  We are not so wise after all and we are not so righteous after all.  Often we see people who get caught up with themselves and consider themselves superior to others because of their seeming devotion to their beliefs. 

            They come across as being spiritually more mature or more gifted and others also tend to reinforce this notion by lifting them up or constantly praising them.  Eventually when this practice continues for a prolonged period, those who bask in such praises begin to see themselves that way and become accustomed to such accolades.  This is rather dangerous for everyone involved.  This kind of practice eventually will prove to be their downfall.  Hypocrisy and deception will naturally emerge and there will be an eventual collapse where everyone will be disillusioned and hurt.  When this happens, no one benefits. 

            One who fears God is one who understands better than anyone else what an utter sinner he is and what he truly deserves from God who is perfectly righteous and wholly wise.  In contrast to this perfect God, a sinner can do nothing but fall on his face and acknowledge his state of sin and misery.  One who truly grasps this important truth cannot be proud but bow down before God in depth of his torment and acknowledge that he is in dire need of God’s mercy shown through Jesus Christ.

            Then when we receive Jesus Christ into our heart as Lord and Savior, we are so filled with gratitude and understanding of what we are and what we have done, we would daily recognize our deficiencies and seek God’s wisdom and His righteousness while being reminded of our constant failings.   One who has truly come to this realization will avoid all extremes and live daily trusting in His strength and in His mercy.  Therefore this person leads a balanced life not falling into either extreme.  Solomon then continues to speak in praise of wisdom and its importance in verse 19. 

Wisdom makes one wise man more powerful than ten rulers in a city.  There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.

            Wise man is more powerful than ten rulers in a city.  People in position rule but if they lack wisdom, their rule does not last.  However wisdom wisely dispensed garners trust and confidence of the people.  Solomon may very well be speaking of himself here but not in a boastful way or manner.  Though he may have been brought wisdom and righteousness while he governed as the ruler of his kingdom, he is careful to say that there is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.  This can be a personal confession.  If it is such confession, we would conclude Solomon was indeed a man who knew his limitation and never stepped over that boundary.  He did not become arrogant and prideful that he would bring his own downfall.  Romans 3:10 states as follows,

As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one;

            While he ruled, he never forgot that truth that there is no one who is righteous other than God who rules with perfect justice and perfect wisdom.   

            Since there is no one who is truly righteous, we can only conclude our need for the one and only righteous one who came to die on the cross for us.  That righteous one is Jesus Christ.  Jesus is the only one who can claim perfect righteousness.  In light of this truth, can we dare put ourselves in the same category with Jesus by saying that we are righteous?  Absolutely not!  Knowing that we are not righteous, we can only humble ourselves and acknowledge our frailties daily as we approach our Lord.  Solomon warns us about self-righteousness in verses 20-21.

Do not pay attention to every word people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you- for you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others.

            We seem to get upset with other people when they say things about us that we believe are not complementary.  However, we should look at ourselves and remind ourselves that we have also done the same regarding other people.  Therefore when we feel righteous anger when others do us wrong, we should take a few steps back and ponder how we’ve done some wrong against others and realize that we have failed. 

            This realization truly humbles us and forces us to be more self-conscious of our own dealings with other people.  When we recognize this, we should be more moderate in judging others or condemning others.  We can be more forgiving towards others when they seem to do wrong to us.  We are not so quick to react in retaliatory manner but to be more generous and gracious with those who do us wrong.  After all, we remember what Christ has done for us while we were still sinners.