Scripture Daily

Context No. 3508 of 4322 · Ecclesiastes

Context · Reflection

Ecclesiastes 12:9-14: in context

9Further, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge. Yes, he pondered, sought out, and set in order many proverbs. 10The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words, and that which was written blamelessly, words of truth. 11The words of the wise are like goads; and like nails well fastened are words from the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd. 12Furthermore, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. 13This is the end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. 14For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil.

The whole book of Ecclesiastes, with its restless searching after meaning under the sun, comes down at last to a settled conclusion. The words of the wise are like goads, the Preacher says, prodding us in the right direction. But the sum of it all is simple: fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

After all the vanity and striving, all the pleasures and labors that could not finally satisfy, the Preacher lands on this bedrock: reverence for God and obedience to him. And he adds the reason it matters: God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or evil. Life is not meaningless after all, because it is lived before God, who sees everything and will one day weigh everything. The long search for meaning ends where it might have begun, in the fear of God, who holds even our secret deeds to account, and in the quiet obedience that reverence produces.

After all my own searching and striving, do I rest in the sum of it, to fear God and keep his commandments, remembering that he will bring every deed, even the hidden ones, into judgment?

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