Ecclesiastes 7:15-29: a reflection

15All this I have seen in my days of vanity: there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who lives long in his evildoing. 16Don’t be overly righteous, neither make yourself overly wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17Don’t be too wicked, neither be foolish. Why should you die before your time? 18It is good that you should take hold of this. Yes, also don’t withdraw your hand from that; for he who fears God will come out of them all. 19Wisdom is a strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city. 20Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and doesn’t sin. 21Also don’t take heed to all words that are spoken, lest you hear your servant curse you; 22for often your own heart knows that you yourself have likewise cursed others. 23All this I have proved in wisdom. I said, “I will be wise;” but it was far from me. 24That which is, is far off and exceedingly deep. Who can find it out? 25I turned around, and my heart sought to know and to search out, and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know that wickedness is stupidity, and that foolishness is madness. 26I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and traps, whose hands are chains. Whoever pleases God shall escape from her; but the sinner will be ensnared by her. 27“Behold, I have found this,” says the Preacher, “to one another, to find an explanation 28which my soul still seeks, but I have not found. I have found one man among a thousand, but I have not found a woman among all those. 29Behold, I have only found this: that God made mankind upright; but they search for many inventions.”

In his searching reflections, the Preacher states a truth about human nature that humbles us all: there is not a righteous person on earth who does good and never sins. Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and doesn't sin, the Preacher says. And later: God made mankind upright, but they have sought out many schemes. However good a person may be, no one is so righteous that they never sin; all fall short. And though God made us upright, we have all gone astray, seeking out our own devices. This is an honest acknowledgment of the universal reality of human sinfulness, which humbles us and points to our need for grace. This shows the humbling truth that all sin, none perfectly righteous, and our need for grace. No one is so righteous as never to sin; all fall short. God made us upright, but we have all gone astray. The universal reality of sin humbles us all. All fall short and need grace.

Notice the honest acknowledgment the Preacher makes. He does not flatter human nature or pretend that some are perfectly righteous; he states plainly that there is no one on earth who does good and never sins. However good a person may be, however righteous, no one is without sin; all fall short in some measure. And he adds a reflection on the origin of this: God made mankind upright, but people have sought out many schemes, gone astray, turned from the uprightness in which they were made. This is a humbling truth, and an honest one. It levels our pretensions. We can imagine ourselves, or others, to be righteous, good, without serious fault; but the truth is that all sin, all fall short, none is perfectly righteous. This humbles our pride, both in ourselves and in comparing ourselves favorably to others; for we are all in the same condition, all sinners in need of grace. And it points us to our need. If none is righteous, if all sin, then we cannot stand before God on the basis of our own righteousness, which is flawed; we need grace, forgiveness, a righteousness not our own. This honest reckoning with universal sinfulness humbles us and drives us to the grace of God in Christ, who alone provides the righteousness we lack. We do well to acknowledge honestly that we sin and fall short, and to seek the grace we need. All sin and fall short; none is perfectly righteous. This humbles our pride and drives us to grace. We cannot stand on our own righteousness, which is flawed. Acknowledge your sin, and seek the grace you need in Christ.

That is worth taking to heart, for the truth that all sin and none is perfectly righteous humbles us and drives us to the grace we need, as the Preacher acknowledged that no one on earth does good and never sins. We can imagine ourselves righteous, or compare ourselves favorably to others; but the Preacher states plainly that there is no one who does good and never sins, and that though God made us upright, we have gone astray. All fall short. Do not imagine yourself righteous or above others; acknowledge honestly that you sin and fall short, and seek the grace you need in Christ. Acknowledge honestly that you sin and fall short, as all do, letting this humble your pride and drive you to the grace you need in Christ, for the Preacher states the humbling truth that there is not a righteous person on earth who does good and never sins, and that God made mankind upright but they have sought out many schemes; for however good a person may be, no one is so righteous as never to sin, all falling short, and though God made us upright we have all gone astray and turned from the uprightness in which we were made, which is a humbling and honest truth that levels our pretensions, since we can imagine ourselves or others to be righteous and without serious fault, but the truth is that all sin and fall short and none is perfectly righteous, which humbles our pride both in ourselves and in comparing ourselves favorably to others, since we are all in the same condition, all sinners in need of grace, and points us to our need, since if none is righteous we cannot stand before God on the basis of our own flawed righteousness but need grace, forgiveness, and a righteousness not our own, so that this honest reckoning with universal sinfulness humbles us and drives us to the grace of God in Christ, who alone provides the righteousness we lack, and we do well to acknowledge honestly that we sin and fall short and to seek the grace we need.

Lord, in his searching reflections, the Preacher states a truth about human nature that humbles us all: there is not a righteous person on earth who does good and never sins. Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and doesn't sin, the Preacher says. And later: God made mankind upright, but they have sought out many schemes. However good a person may be, no one is so righteous that they never sin; all fall short. And though you made us upright, we have all gone astray. This is an honest acknowledgment of the universal reality of human sinfulness, which humbles me and points to my need for grace. Show me the honest acknowledgment the Preacher makes. He does not flatter human nature or pretend that some are perfectly righteous; he states plainly that there is no one on earth who does good and never sins. However good a person may be, no one is without sin; all fall short. And he adds that you made mankind upright, but people have gone astray, turned from the uprightness in which they were made. This is a humbling truth, and an honest one. It levels my pretensions. I can imagine myself, or others, to be righteous, without serious fault; but the truth is that all sin, all fall short, none is perfectly righteous. This humbles my pride, both in myself and in comparing myself favorably to others; for we are all in the same condition, all sinners in need of grace. And it points me to my need. If none is righteous, I cannot stand before you on the basis of my own righteousness, which is flawed; I need grace, forgiveness, a righteousness not my own. This drives me to your grace in Christ, who alone provides the righteousness I lack. Take that to my heart, for all sin and none is perfectly righteous, which humbles me and drives me to grace. Keep me from imagining myself righteous or above others; help me acknowledge honestly that I sin and fall short, Lord, and seek the grace I need in Christ, who alone provides the righteousness I lack.