Ecclesiastes 9:13-18 – Always take the path of wisdom

Earlier Solomon had shown the unpredictability of life. He asserted that success does not necessarily go to the best, the brightest, the swiftest or the smartest. This being the case, how should one conduct his or her life?  Especially when he or she does not know when something bad may happen? Some may say let’s leave it to fate since there is nothing we can do to prevent it. To such people, life is a chance. But Solomon shows us that we do have other option of doing life. We can always choose to go for the wiser option of the moment.

In verses 13-15, he illustrates with an account of a poor but wise man who saves a city from a great king who came against it. The point is this: all it takes is one wise moment from a man with wisdom to deliver a city from calamity. He may not be rich but he has wisdom. The unfortunate thing is that this poor man was quickly forgotten. Though he never became famous but was a forgotten man, yet the fact remains that with wisdom, he had delivered the city. This is what wisdom can do. It looks like the city had no chance of surviving the onslaught of that great king. It was outnumbered. But the axiom remains that the battle does not belong to the strongest. One man with wisdom outsmarted the strength of a great king and the city was delivered.

In pointing to the fact that a man who delivered his city was forgotten, Solomon shows us that man can be capricious and fickle, and fame can be momentary and brief. We human beings can be very forgetful people. The institution of the holy communion by our Lord Jesus carries an unflattering inference that we are a forgetful people. We tend to forget what we should remember. Admittedly, that poor man was forgotten, but the fact remains that wisdom is still better than might. That’s Solomon’s point in verse 16. “But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard.”

A key emphasis of the text is this: the wise will listen to wise guidance. So, verses 17-18 say, “The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.”  We can see here that the loudest voice may not be the wisest voice. The loudmouth leader may be insistent but the gentle, wise counsel of the words of wisdom is better and to be preferred. We have heard how one loud-mouth person in his folly shouted and got what he wanted. And in the process, he brought down his marriage, his family, and even his business. There is always a better way to go about getting our voice heard. There is no necessity to shout. Loud words do not change the situation at home or at work but wise words will. 

There is a sober warning in the last line of verse 18, It is a counsel that we all must take heed. It says “…one sinner destroys much good.” All it takes is a sinner to destroy and undo the good we thrive for. This is made worse when the leader is that sinner. We are reminded by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 5:6 that “…a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.” It behooves us to be watchful and not to become an instrument of destruction. We must be judicious and vigilant with our life. Talking about wisdom, we know that it begins with the fear and knowledge of the LORD. Make Matthew 6:33 a key drive in our life. Let us “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness” and make it the first thing in our life. As we do so, we shall have wisdom from above.