Ecclesiastes 5:8-6:12 (Contentment in Work and Wealth)

Introduction

About 40 years ago, a country singer by the name of Chris LeDoux became moderately famous (with some help from Garth Brooks). Chris LeDoux was a real rodeo cowboy (a bareback horse riding champion), and he pioneered a blend of rock and country in a way that no one had done at that time.

He recorded a song (and sold it on cassette tapes) back in 1991, called “Workin’ Man’s Dollar.” And the chorus goes like this:

“They say I’m the root of all evil, I bring lust, power, and greed,”

“But this workin’ man’s dollar only buys the things a workin’ man really needs.”

Friends, money certainly can tempt us to sin, and it can give us the power and opportunity to sin in greater ways that we might do without it. I once heard it said that we should not mistake holiness for the lack of opportunity, and I think we might be surprised to discover just how unholy some of us might act if we had more opportunities to sin.

But money is not itself evil or wicked, neither is it righteous or good. Money is just a tool… like a hammer or a computer. It’s what we think about money, how we talk about money, and what we do with money that carries moral weight.

Similarly, our energy spent in work or labor or toil can be either good or bad… depending on what kind of work we’re doing, what priority labor has in our lives, and how our toil complements or contradicts our love for Christ and our love of others.

I preached a sermon last week on the subject of Christian giving, so we talked a bit about money then. But today, we’re continuing our study through the book of Ecclesiastes, and we’ve come upon a text that speaks (not to Christian giving, but) to our stewardship of both our skills in labor and the proceeds that we enjoy from our labors.

How might we live well as Christians with some means in the world?

What are our major temptations and pitfalls regarding work and money?

How can we live with joy and contentment, regardless of whether we have much or little in this life?

These (and others like them) are the questions before us today.

Now, before I get into our text, I need to say something important. We are in a part of the Bible that is known as wisdom literature. That means that our text is intended to point us toward the wise way of living and away from being fools.

Therefore, the principles I’m going to draw out of our text today are universally true – both for Christians and non-Christians. However, the Bible’s main call to wisdom is to begin with the fear of God… And if we take the whole Bible’s message, then the beginning of a healthy fear of God is when we come to Him in humility about our sin, and trust Him to graciously forgive and save us.

The most important response that any of us can have to God and to His word is not merely a commitment to obey His laws, but a trust that God has done what we cannot do in the person and work of Christ.

God has mercifully loved sinners by sending His own Son to live and die on their behalf.

In Christ’s life and death, God has punished our sin and given us Christ’s righteousness.

And in Christ’s resurrection and ascension, God has demonstrated that this one and only Savior is our genuine hope in life and death.

If you want to respond well to God’s word today, then the most important thing you can do is come to Him with open hands of repentance and faith, and receive the gift of forgiveness and everlasting life in the name of Jesus Christ.

And if you want to talk more about what this means or how you might respond this way, then let’s get together after the service.

But our passage today is speaking to those who are fearing God, those who are trusting in God’s grace, those who now want to live according to the design and instructions and commands God has given us.

And God has told us much about how to live in our relationship to money and wealth. Let’s consider some of what God has said about it today.

Scripture Reading

Ecclesiastes 5:8–6:12 (ESV)

5:8 If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness, do not be amazed at the matter, for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them. 9 But this is gain for a land in every way: a king committed to cultivated fields.

10 He who loves money will not be satisfied with money,

nor he who loves wealth with his income;

this also is vanity.

11 When goods increase, they increase who eat them,

and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes?

12 Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much,

but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep.

13 There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, 14 and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand.

15 As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came,

and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand.

16 This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and what gain is there to him who toils for the wind? 17 Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger.

18 Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. 19 Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God. 20 For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.

6:1 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind: 2 a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them.

This is vanity; it is a grievous evil.

3 If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life’s good things, and he also has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. 4 For it comes in vanity and goes in darkness, and in darkness its name is covered. 5 Moreover, it has not seen the sun or known anything, yet it finds rest rather than he. 6 Even though he should live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy no good—do not all go to the one place?

7 All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied. 8 For what advantage has the wise man over the fool? And what does the poor man have who knows how to conduct himself before the living?

9 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite:

this also is vanity and a striving after wind.

10 Whatever has come to be has already been named, and it is known what man is, and that he is not able to dispute with one stronger than he.

11 The more words, the more vanity, and what is the advantage to man? 12 For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun?

Main Idea:

We should commit to cultivating (i.e., building, laboring, investing), receive joy in our labors and profits as gifts of God, and be content with God’s providence.

Sermon

1. Committed to Cultivating (Eccl. 5:8-9)

At first glance (maybe even after some long hard looks), v8-9 of chapter 5 (these first two verses) may not seem to fit very well with the rest of our passage.

The “Preacher” mentions a “high official” [literally a “high one”] of a “province” who is “watched” by a “higher” official, who himself has “yet higher” officials (or “rulers” or “leaders”) “over” him (v8).

The “Preacher” is observing the “oppression of the poor” and the “violation of justice and righteousness” by those with authority (v8).

And “Preacher” says something about “a king” (or “ruler” or “leader”) being “committed to cultivating fields” (v9).

v9 is particularly hard to translate.

I don’t know Hebrew very well myself (I barely passed two semesters of Hebrew to earn one of my degrees, and I haven’t retained much since then). But I know v9 is hard to translate… because every English translation I consulted has it worded quite differently. And one of the most notable Hebrew scholars alive today… his translation doesn’t match any of those!

The KJV says – “Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: a king himself is served by the field.”

i.e., productive fields are good for everyone, even the king.

The NIV84 puts it similarly – “The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.”

There’s a slightly different emphasis in the NASB – “After all, a king who cultivates the field is an advantage to the land.”

Here, cultivated fields are good, but a king who sees to that cultivation is an advantage… (better than a king who doesn’t).

This is the same emphasis (it seems) in the ESV – “But this is gain for a land in every way: a king committed to cultivated fields.”

Here’s the way I understand it (based on context) – The “Preacher” is contrasting (A) the “king” (or “official” or “high one”) who rules and manages a “province” where the “poor” are “oppressed” and “justice and righteousness” are “violated” and (B) the “king” (or “ruler” or “official”) who is “committed to cultivated fields” and is himself “gain… in every way.”

Now, this may still seem a bit abstract and distant from most of us today… so, let me try to pull it out of the air and make it more concrete… and even give us an action item to key in on.

The “king” (or “ruler”) here (I think) applies to any head of a household.

The “Preacher” of Ecclesiastes lived in a day when men were understood as the “rulers” or “heads” or “chiefs” of their household.

The ancient Hebrew word can apply to the “king” of a whole nation, or all the way down to the guy in charge of a tribe or clan.

Consider the word “patriarch” (it’s the combination of two Greek words, “father” and “ruler” [or “first” or “chief”]).

In other words, the “πατρια-ἀρχη” is the “chief dad.”

There’s a sense in which (I think) every one of us who is head of our household (with responsibilities and authority) are implicated in this contrast between (A) the kind of leader who “oppresses” and “violates” and (B) the kind of leader who “commits” to “cultivate.”

If we understand these opening verses like this, then…

A commitment to cultivation is better than merely consuming.

We who have “fields” to “cultivate,” and people reliant on our produce, should “commit” to “cultivate” (not just growing our bellies or barns).

And as we’ve noted earlier in our study of Ecclesiastes, labor or work or toil is not just the kind of thing we do for a paycheck.

It IS what we’re doing when we go to work… but also…

It’s what we do when we get married and build a family.

It’s what we’re doing when we’re managing our homes.

It’s what we do when we’re raising our children.

It’s what we’re doing when we’re forming institutions.

It’s what we do when we invest our time and money.

And, friends, we ought to be committed to cultivating, not merely eating or spending or selfishly storing up our profits… to the detriment of others.

2. Vanity of Loving Money (Eccl. 5:10-17)

Our passage today includes three affirmations of “gain” (5:9) or “good” (5:18) or “better” (6:9), and these are sandwiched around two observations of what is “vanity” (5:10, 6:2) or “a grievous evil” (5:13, 16, 6:1).

The first affirmation is what we’ve just noted (in the opening two verses) – (5:9) “this is gain for a land in every way: a king [or “ruler” or “head”] committed to cultivated fields.” The “Preacher” is (I think) urging his reader to be the kind of leader who is committed to cultivation, and not mere profit or consumption.

But the first negative observation here is found in v10-17. The “Preacher” says that the “love of money” will short-circuit this kind of commitment (v10).

Not “money,” but the “love of money.”

Let me note here that it’s not money or wealth itself that is “vanity” or “evil,” but the “love of money” (5:10) and the inability to “enjoy” wealth as God’s gift (6:2; cf. 1 Tim. 6:10; Heb. 13:5).

Friends, our passage today is about finding joy in good labor and in God’s provision… whatever may be our return on investment.

It’s all about how we can enjoy the resources we have in life without suffering the anxiety and emptiness that inevitably comes to those who love money and the things it can buy.

And vv10-17 describe three ways that a “love of money” is “vain” or “evil.”

The “love of money” doesn’t satisfy.

“He who loves money will not be satisfied with money… this… is vanity” (v10).

Friends, if we love money for the sake of more money… or wealth for the sake of having greater wealth… if we set our affections on what money can buy or on what we can consume with it… then we will discover (sooner or later) that there is no real satisfaction in it.

Have you ever heard of the “lottery winner syndrome” or “sudden wealth syndrome”?

It’s not an official diagnosis, but it’s a real phenomenon.

When some average wage-earner comes into a windfall of cash, he or she is almost certainly destroyed by it.

The love of money overwhelms them, and the love of what money can buy… so they spend it on the most ridiculous things… and nearly all of them find themselves in financial ruin within just a few years.

Friends, if money is what we love, then we will never have enough.

The “love of money” leaves us hurt and empty.

The “Preacher” says “there is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun,” and it is when “riches were kept by their owner to his hurt” (v13).

And “riches” can also be “lost in a bad venture” (v14).

And if we squander all our riches in life, we will have “nothing” in our “hand” to pass down to our children (v14).

Friends, if wealth is what we love, then having more will lead to our hurt.

We will be devastated when we lose a chunk of money on some bad investment… or because of our poor use of money.

Our love of money may lead us to squander it, and we will have nothing to help our children in life or entrust to them at our death.

What a terrible master money is to those who are ruled by it.

The love of money can make a man sell his integrity and honor.

The love of money can make a woman sell her dignity and virtue.

The love of money can corrupt the best of us, it can shame many of us, and it will leave us with nothing in the end.

Friends, if money is what we love, then it will hurt and drain us.

The “love of money” will produce evil, both in life and death.

The “Preacher” says, “This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and what gain is there to him who toils for the wind” (v16).

“Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger” (v17).

Friends, most of us know the old adage – “You can’t take it with you.”

Maybe you’ve heard it said, “There is never a U-haul trailer behind a funeral hearse.”

If we love money in life, then death will steal away what we love.

So too, even in life, the “love of money” will produce “vexation” and “sickness” and “anger.”

This makes me think of Mr. Scrooge (from A Christmas Carol).

It’s a stereotype, but it’s based in reality.

Before he’s confronted with his stinginess, Scrooge is angry with those who don’t have what he does.

He thinks everyone is out to get in his pocket.

And he’s sick with isolation and anxiety.

Friends, if even pagans can see that the love of money is such a detriment to those who give themselves over to it, then how much more should we be warned to seriously make efforts to war against the love of money?!

I think the “Preacher’s” observations would be good for us to remember often… in our efforts to push against the love of money.

Do you find yourself tempted to love money?

Then remember that it won’t satisfy.

Remember that it will hurt you and leave you empty.

Remember that it will produce evil in your life and leave you with nothing in death.

Instead of loving money… instead of laboring only for wealth (as a goal in itself)… may God help us to be a people who are committed to cultivating to building to investing… to enjoying God’s good gifts… not merely our own consumption or the building of our own riches… but enjoy the good of labor, the good of others, and the generous stewardship of whatever God gives us.

3. Joy in Labor (Eccl. 5:18-20)

I think these three verses may be the central takeaway for our passage this morning. The “Preacher” is emphasizing here what is “good and fitting” to do with wealth or profit (or the earnings of our “toil”)… and he’s telling us where and how we can find “enjoyment” in both our labor and the profit that comes from it.

Joy in labor (and the enjoyment of what we earn) is a gift of God… IF we will understand such things as a gift of God. Let’s unpack this in two ways.

We must understand that joy in labor and profit is a gift from God.

The “Preacher” says that “life” itself is something “God… gives” (v18).

The “Preacher” also says that “God” is the one who “gives” “wealth and possessions” (v19).

So too, he says that the “power to enjoy” both life and the possessions we have is what “God gives” (v19).

Friends, it is “good and fitting” for us to “eat and drink and find enjoyment in all [our] toil” (v18).

As I said last Sunday, it is not a sin to spend money on good food, on good experiences, on good pleasures of various kinds.

It can be sinful to spend money on such things, but only if we are setting our love (our affection, our desire) on the things in themselves.

If, however, we are enjoying God’s good gifts, and if we are praising God in the enjoyment of them, then let your conscience be free from guilt… and enjoy!

Indeed, to find real joy in God’s gifts of labor and profit is itself a gift of God, and we ought to receive it as such!

We must accept what God gives as a gift.

Note the end of v19. The “Preacher” says that it is also a “gift of God” to “accept” our “lot” and “rejoice” in our “toil” (v19).

This is leading us near the last section of our passage, but let’s point out here that the major backdrop of our whole passage (and the book of Ecclesiastes) is the concept of God’s providence.

Whatever ability and opportunity we have to labor (or “toil”), and whatever profit we may gain from our labor is from God’s hand.

This sort of perspective is how we can enjoy our skill and our wealth without becoming a slave to money or worldly pleasures.

We understand that our ability to labor (in all areas of life)… building, investing, raising and managing our home/family…

We understand that our money, our assets, our profits… whether earned or inherited… whether we’ve produced such things with our hands or our heads…

ALL of this is a gift of God… So, we praise and thank Him for it… and we receive it as a gift.

We don’t begrudge those who have better skill or condemn those with lesser skill.

We don’t accuse those who have more money than we do, and we don’t assume that those with less are necessarily either virtuous or foolish.

We don’t lament our meager status or position in life, nor do we flaunt our greater wealth over those who are below us.

We thank God for what we have, and we diligently put it to use in godly service and good enjoyment.

Friends, joy in labor (and the enjoyment of what we earn) is a gift of God… IF we will understand and receive such things as God’s gifts.

4. Joyless Wealth (Eccl. 6:1-6)

At the beginning of chapter 6, the “Preacher” observes yet another “evil” and “vanity” – that of having “wealth, possessions, and honor,” but NOT the “power to enjoy them” (Eccl. 6:2).

The lack of joy.

This is the experience of those who live in direct contrast to the way we’ve just been highlighting.

Rather than receiving their “lot” as a “gift from God,” they are lovers of money who gain (in full) their hearts “desires” (v2).

But they are “not satisfied with life’s good things” (v3).

And because of their squandering of life…

“a stranger enjoys” their stuff (v2),

and no one cares to “bury” them with love and honor (v3).

Again, I can’t help but think of Mr. Scrooge.

He was one of the wealthiest men in old London, but he was never satisfied with what he had.

He even had friends and family treat him with kindness, but he was resolute in to condemn them for their joy.

And there’s a scene when Mr. Scrooge is able to get a preview of his death… and a few of his colleagues (in the banking business) are talking about him afterward.

One chap asks another, “Is there going to be a funeral?”

Then one man says, “I’ll attend… if lunch is provided.”

Friends, how is it that we would come to the end of our lives (today or tomorrow… or years from now)…

and we might have wealth, but no joy…

we might have money, but no friends…

we may have all sorts of notable accomplishments (academic degrees, businesses built, land accumulated, numerous children and grandchildren, bank accounts filled, destinations traveled)…

but no one knows the warmth of our fellowship,

no one remembers the sound of our laughter,

and no one experienced the joy of our time with them?

Or worse… out lives of selfishness and sin become a crushing burden of guilt as we stand before God’s judgment.

As the “Preacher” puts it in chapter 6 verse 3, “If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years…” (v6, “Even though he should live a thousand years twice over”)… “I say that a stillborn child is better off than he” (Eccl. 6:3).

At least the child who dies in infancy doesn’t have a whole lifetime of selfishness and squander to weigh down his/her soul in death.

Friends, may God help us escape the love of money and selfish gain, and may God help us find enjoyment and contentment in whatever lot He gives us.

5. Contentment is Better (Eccl. 6:7-12)

The last section of our passage today includes several questions, and these are meant to be (as I understand) rhetorical and instructive (The “Preacher” is using the Socratic method of teaching before Socrates made it famous). And these questions are all pointing the reader to the backdrop I mentioned earlier – the providence of God.

v8 – “what advantage has the wise man over the fool?”

Answer: The wise is better in every way!

Wisdom does not prevent unjust affliction, poor health, or even death itself… but the wise man fares far better than the fool… both in this life and the life to come.

v8 – “what does the poor man have who knows how to conduct himself before the living?”

Answer: Such a man has more than all the wealth of the rich man who does not know how to conduct himself!

Remember Eccl. 5:12 – “Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep.”

Neither poverty nor riches can take or give one ounce of joy, but the person who fears God and receives everything (great or small) as a gift from his Maker is rich indeed.

The point here (the point of our whole passage) is that God is the one over and above all of us… and He has created us to live as stewards of His good gifts… committing ourselves to cultivating (i.e., building, laboring, investing), receiving joy in our labors and profits from His omnipotent hand, and being content with whatever God gives us.

As the “Preacher” asks in v12, “who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow?”

Answer: GOD DOES! And He has told us what is good!

Consider v9 – “Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is vanity and a striving after the wind.”

In other words, look around and see what God has provided!

“Count your blessings, name them one by one;”

“Count your blessings, see what God hath done;”

“When you look at others with their lands and gold,”

“Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;”

“Count your many blessings, money cannot buy”

“Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.”

“So, amid the conflict, whether great or small,”

“Do not be discouraged, God is over all;”

“Count your many blessings, angels will attend,”

“Help and comfort give you to your journey's end.”

“Count your blessings, name them one by one;”

“Count your many blessings, see what God hath done!”

The final question is there in v12, “who can tell man what will be after him [a man] under the sun?”

Answer: God can! He’s the “one [who is] stronger” (v10).

God is the one who has “already… named” whatever “has come” and “what will be after” (v10).

God is the one who “knows” what “man is,” because God is the one who designed us for His good purposes (v10).

Therefore, it is for us to believe and to live as God intends.

It is not for us to decide what will come from our labors.

We are to work and toil with whatever skill and opportunity God has given.

It is not for us to store up treasures here on earth.

We are to enjoy God’s good gifts and make use of them for good… both for ourselves and others.

It is not for us to set our affections on the stuff God gives…

But we are to set our love and find our joy in the Giver of all the good we have.

“Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite.”

May God help us to see Him as our greatest delight and joy… and to see Him as the one who gives us all the good we have… in work and in wealth.

Conclusion

Friends, I’ve argued today that we should commit to cultivating (i.e., building, laboring, investing)… we should receive joy in our labors and profits as gifts of God… and we should be content with God’s providence.

Money is not the root of all evil, and money is not to blame for the way we sin with it. Wealth does not make us guilty, and enjoying God’s good gifts of labor and profit is actually what we are called to do.

And yet, money and the opportunities it gives us can be a serious danger to our soul. The Scriptures command Christians to “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have” (Heb. 13:5). And the warnings about riches and wealth are numerous in the Bible.

What we want to do is to understand that God is the one who owns everything, and that He allots to each of us the abilities we have to earn, to invest, and to produce (in all sorts of ways)… And God also appoints for each one of us the socio-economic status we have in life.

This is not to say that we can’t or shouldn’t work to improve ourselves, our bank accounts, and our property. Indeed, we should certainly do that!

But it is to say that we are to live with our attention directed toward what is good, what is noble, what is virtuous.

Consider the words of Colossians 3 – “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Col. 3:1-4).

Friends, if we are trusting and loving and serving Christ, then our greatest riches far exceed any money or wealth we might attain in this life. And we ought to use the lives God has given us (including our resources) to serve Christ, to order ourselves and others in light of God’s good design for us, and to do good in the world… until Christ comes.

There is a high ruler or king or sovereign over us all, and we will give an account to Him one day for how we stewarded what He’s entrusted to us.