Ecclesiastes 4 Devotional

Not Meant to Toil Alone

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor.”Ecclesiastes 4:9 (BSB)

The Teacher looks at oppression and sees tears with no one to comfort them (4:1). He goes so far as to call the dead better off than the living (4:2-3). Scripture lets that despair be spoken. Then he turns to work: much of it springs from envy of a neighbor (4:4), and he describes a man with no son or brother who never stops working and finally asks whom all his toil is for (4:8).

Against that loneliness, the chapter praises companionship. Partners get more from their work, help each other up, keep each other warm, and stand together where one alone would fall (4:9-12). The Teacher saw people with no comforter. Paul later calls God the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts his people so that they can comfort others (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). The people God has put beside you are part of his care for you, and you can be part of his care for them.

To think about: Who has God placed beside you that you could lift up or lean on this week?