Ecclesiastes 9 Devotional

Our Days in God's Hands

“So I took all this to heart and concluded that the righteous and the wise, as well as their deeds, are in God’s hands. Man does not know what lies ahead, whether love or hate.”Ecclesiastes 9:1 (BSB)

The Teacher faces death squarely in this chapter. The same end comes to the righteous and the wicked (9:2). The dead have no further share in anything done under the sun (9:6). Time and chance happen to everyone, so the fastest runner does not always win (9:11). A poor wise man saves a whole city by his wisdom, and then no one remembers him (9:15).

But the chapter does not end in despair. It begins with a conclusion: good and wise people, along with everything they do, rest in God's hands (9:1). So the Teacher urges joy at the table, delight in the spouse you love, and wholehearted effort in your work (9:7-10). Death makes the present more precious, not less. Hebrews says Jesus shared our flesh and blood so that by his death he might free those held all their lives by the fear of death (Hebrews 2:14-15). Because your days are in God's hands, you can give yourself fully to today, even if no one remembers it.

To think about: What work or joy in front of you today could you give yourself to fully, trusting that your days are in God's hands?