There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, 6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
That is the way life works.
9 What do workers gain from their toil?
Food and stuff hopefully. Probably not much else if the king is complaining about it, and he’s the one who can actually do something about it, besides the Lord Himself of course.
10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race.11 He has made everything beautiful in its time.
He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet[a] no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
He is God. We are not. Even though people want to be. People who aren’t me.
12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.
Solomon has said this recently.
13 That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.
15 Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account.[b]
16 And I saw something else under the sun:
In the place of judgment—wickedness was there, in the place of justice—wickedness was there.
17 I said to myself,
“God will bring into judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time to judge every deed.”
Yes, and I won’t be able to remember all of mine if I have my current brain in that moment. I know that for sure.
18 I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals.19 Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath[c]; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless.
Severe depression here. Solomon didn’t understand how death was going to work yet, since he was living. All the wisdom in the world will not prepare us for the things God has in store for us. This is a good thing.
20 All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.21 Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?”
God would know, and that’s the important thing.
22 So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?
I just thought of this song when I read that. I’m not sure if it fits.
IIWAC: Turn Turn Turn
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
That is the way life works.
9 What do workers gain from their toil?
Food and stuff hopefully. Probably not much else if the king is complaining about it, and he’s the one who can actually do something about it, besides the Lord Himself of course.
10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time.
He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet[a] no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
He is God. We are not. Even though people want to be. People who aren’t me.
12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.
Solomon has said this recently.
13 That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.
15 Whatever is has already been,
and what will be has been before;
and God will call the past to account.[b]
16 And I saw something else under the sun:
In the place of judgment—wickedness was there,
in the place of justice—wickedness was there.
17 I said to myself,
“God will bring into judgment
both the righteous and the wicked,
for there will be a time for every activity,
a time to judge every deed.”
Yes, and I won’t be able to remember all of mine if I have my current brain in that moment. I know that for sure.
18 I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. 19 Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath[c]; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless.
Severe depression here. Solomon didn’t understand how death was going to work yet, since he was living. All the wisdom in the world will not prepare us for the things God has in store for us. This is a good thing.
20 All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. 21 Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?”
God would know, and that’s the important thing.
22 So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?
I just thought of this song when I read that. I’m not sure if it fits.
Scripture Discussed: Ecclesiastes 3