Scripture Daily

Context No. 4005 of 4322 · Ecclesiastes

Context · Reflection

Ecclesiastes 5:8-12: in context

8If you see the oppression of the poor, and the violent taking away of justice and righteousness in a district, don’t marvel at the matter, for one official is eyed by a higher one, and there are officials over them. 9Moreover the profit of the earth is for all. The king profits from the field. 10He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity. 11When goods increase, those who eat them are increased; and what advantage is there to its owner, except to feast on them with his eyes? 12The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the abundance of the rich will not allow him to sleep.

The Preacher observes a truth about wealth that runs against our instincts: he who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income. The craving for more is never filled by more; the person who loves money always wants a little more than they have, and so is never content.

And he adds a shrewd observation about the burden of riches: the sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich will not let him sleep. The working man, tired from honest labor, sleeps well; the wealthy man lies awake, anxious over his possessions. Two truths meet here. Wealth cannot satisfy the heart; those who love money find that having more only enlarges the appetite for more, so that satisfaction always stays just out of reach. And wealth brings its own burdens, the anxiety of keeping and guarding it, that can rob a person of the simple peace a poorer, contented person enjoys. There is a quiet call here to contentment.

Am I caught in the endless pursuit of more, which never satisfies and only steals my peace, or have I learned the contentment that lets a person, rich or poor, sleep sweetly, trusting God rather than chasing wealth?

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