Sun, rise
Rise and wane

And the earth remains
As generations are born and die in vain
Rivers return from where they flowed
The winds blow around, around again

In a weary world of nothing new
And unremembered gain
“What is crooked cannot straightened be”
Is the Cursed refrain

End of a world
Evil days
Sun, moon, and every star go out
Heavens hid behind the shroud
The skies have worn away
There at the end

Of a world
Years of pain
Through windows fading, dimly see
Clouds assemble solemnly
Where youth had spent their rain
There at the end

So the silver cord
Is severed by the hand that weaved it whole
Broken by Him
Who breaks the golden bowl
And shattered lies
The pitcher by the weary well run dry
Vain are the words
The mourners wail and cry

End of a world
Fleeting breath
And dust returns to earth and grave
Spirit goes to God who gave
All life dispelled in death
There at the end

If you want an idea of the tune, it’s based on the one here, beginning at 0:27.

Ecclesiastes 7:2-4
2 It is better to go to the house of mourning
than to go to the house of feasting,
for this is the end of all mankind,
and the living will lay it to heart.
3 Sorrow is better than laughter,
for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

Kinda morbid!  These words don’t exactly resonate too well in our self-focused, pleasure-craving culture.  In particular, most college students would much rather hide away in the campus bubble, going to parties and having fun, than attend a funeral or experience the pain and heartache that comes with life.   It’s natural to avoid pain and seek pleasure; that’s why the prosperity gospel is so popular.  One wonders what Joel Osteen would think of this passage — if he ever read it.

In our small group, we even discussed how pain and suffering is presented in popular culture — movies, music, etc.  While it is a major theme, suffering is viewed as either a negative thing to be avoided or an unfortunate thing to be overcome.  It’s almost never viewed in a positive light as a changing force that teaches and refines us.   Yet Solomon here tells us that we should be glad for times of mourning and suffering:  “For by sadness of face the heart is made glad” (v. 3).

How can this be?  The answer is that death and sorrow brings us to our knees.  We realize that “this is the end of all mankind” (v. 2).  It’s a sobering truth that causes us to cry out to God Almighty, “Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12)!  With this perspective, we do not fear suffering.  We do not worry that painful or hard times may come upon us, or that death is approaching.  Rather, we know and trust that God is good through it all, and that he is doing what is best for us.

Background: Ecclesiastes contains King Solomon’s observations about about the natural world—what can we learn about the world “under the sun” through wisdom? (Note that the name of God, YHWH or LORD, is never used. He is simply called “God” or the “Creator”—characteristic of general revelation.)

Verses 1-8 set the stage for the chapter. Human life—on both an individual and a national level—is cyclical and apparently futile.

• This is a major theme of chapter 1: “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun” (1:9). We live in a cursed world in which there is no escape from these cycles (e.g. the “cycle of violence” in the Middle East, the seemingly hopeless poverty and despair in Africa, our own inability to escape from aging, disease, and death).
• Because of these cycles, there is no gain from all of our toil (v. 9). We can’t escape from the Curse, no matter how hard we try to prolong our lives, no matter how high a priority our comfort is, and no matter how much money Bono raises for Africa.
• We seem to be no better off than the animals (vv. 16-22). People are characterized by wickedness, not by righteousness (v. 16)—we are not “more noble” than animals. Also, we cannot tell by observing the world “under the sun” what happens to us when we die…how do we know what will come after our lives, or whether there is an afterlife at all (vv. 19-22)? (Note that in the absence of special revelation from God, we don’t know anything about heaven. Anyone who talks about heaven without divine revelation is speaking foolishly.)
• In spite of this apparent hopelessness, God has given us work to do, which we are to rejoice in (vv. 10, 13, 22). This is a tension found throughout Ecclesiastes as well as the entire Bible: God has a sovereign, unalterable plan for the universe, and it is not our place to know it unless He reveals it through prophecy. Rather, we are to be concerned with day-to-day obedience to His commandments.

In contrast to man and the futility of his achievements, God is eternal and sovereign (vv. 11-15).

• God has placed eternity in our hearts (v. 11). We have an intuitive understanding that there is something beyond the transient reality around us. However, God has also placed ignorance in our hearts—we can’t see what he has done “from beginning to end” (v. 11). We don’t know His divine decree, or plan, for the universe.
• God’s work is never futile. Rather, “whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it” (v. 14). His sovereign purposes can never be thwarted (Job 42:2). In fact, God is responsible for the cursed cycles of the world (v. 15)—it is part of His plan.
• God decrees that these cycles continue and that evil may take the place of justice and righteousness. There is an appointed time for all these things in His plan (vv. 1-8, 11, 14-15, 17) This is the overarching theme of chapter 3. He does this to humble man and to make him fear God (vv. 11, 14, 18).

May God be praised, for He alone is sovereign and eternal! We are but a vapor, but “from everlasting to everlasting you are God” (Psalm 90:2).