Ecclesiastes 6:7 - Meaning and Application

The preacher again shows the emptiness and foolishness of piling up wealth and expecting happiness from it.

No matter how hard people work, the most they can get for themselves is what keeps them alive. All a person’s labor is for the mouth, that is, for food and basic support (Proverbs 16:26). It is only food and clothing. Others may get the rest, but not us. Wealth can fill the body, but it cannot feed the mind or enrich the soul. A little is enough to sustain us well, and a great deal can do no more.

Those who have much are still wanting more. A person may work hard just to satisfy hunger, yet the appetite is never fully satisfied. Natural needs return again and again. A person may eat well today and still be hungry tomorrow. Sinful desires for the world never stop growing, and wealth to a worldly person is like drink to someone with a dropsy, it only makes the thirst worse (Ecclesiastes 5:10). Even if a person gets everything he hoped for, the desire still reaches beyond it. The soul is not filled by worldly riches. When God gave Israel what they asked for, he sent weakness into their souls (Psalm 106:15). The rich fool who said to himself, “Soul, take it easy,” was deeply mistaken.

A fool may have as much wealth and enjoy as much outward pleasure as a wise person. He may even seem less troubled by it. “What does the wise man have more than the fool?” (Ecclesiastes 6:8). A fool may have as fine an estate, trade, or position as anyone else. Even if both have the same possessions, a wise person cannot squeeze more than enough to meet basic needs from them, and a fool can do that too. A fool can eat well, dress well, and make as good a show in public as a wise person. So if there were no pleasures or honor belonging to the mind, the wise and the fool would stand on the same level in this world.

Even a poor person, if he has work and is sensible, steady, and skillful in it, may pass through this world as comfortably as the one with great wealth. Think of what the poor person lacks, if he knows how to walk before the living, that is, how to live properly among others, do his duty, earn an honest living, and use his time well. What does he have? He is often more loved and respected by his neighbors, and he may have more influence than many rich people who are greedy and proud. What else does he have? He has as much of life’s comfort as many rich people do, food and clothing, and if he is content with these, he is as truly rich as the one with abundance.

It is more reasonable to enjoy what we have than to keep grasping for more (Ecclesiastes 6:9). “The sight of the eyes” means making the best of what is present, instead of letting the mind wander after far-off things and imagined pleasures. The person who is content, though he has little, is happier than the person who is always craving more, though he has much. This does not mean it is better to trust only what we can see than to fix our desire on God and rest in him. It is better to live by faith in what is coming than by sight alone. But it is better to be content with what is before our eyes than to let our minds chase after the world, which is uncertain and never fully satisfying. This wandering desire is vanity and trouble of spirit. Even when a person gets what he wanted, it often does not live up to his hopes. And when he is denied what he chased, the disappointment turns into deep inner trouble.

Our lot in life, whatever it is, has been appointed by God’s wise plan, and no one can change it. So our wisdom is to accept it and be content with it (Ecclesiastes 6:10). What has been, or what is, and what will be, has already been named, that is, it has already been fixed in God’s foreknowledge. All our care and effort cannot make it different from what God has set. The die is cast. So it is foolish to fight against what will be, and wise to accept what cannot be avoided. We shall have what pleases God, and that should please us.

However far our desires wander, and however hard we work to follow them, we cannot fight against God’s providence, his governing care over all things. We must submit to what he orders, whether we want to or not. If a person is only man, he must not argue with one who is mightier than he is. It is arrogant to question God’s ways or accuse him of folly or injustice. It is also useless to complain, for he is unchanging, and who can turn him? Elihu calmed Job with this clear truth, that God is greater than man (Job 33:12), so man must not contend with him or resist his judgments when they come with his authority. A person cannot use even great riches to escape sickness or death. He must yield to what comes to him.