Ecclesiastes 4:4–16

Bringing the sermon home:

In the fourth chapter of his sermon, “the Preacher” begins to incorporate more proverbial statements to communicate his message, forcing us to listen more closely to discern how to understand each passage.

Verses 4-8 clearly speak to the issue of contentment while verses 7-12 (overlapping 4-8) clearly speak to the issue of community, but how do verses 13-16 relate to these two topics? The answer comes in realizing that what sets the contented laborer (v. 6) apart from the restless rival (v. 4) and the miserly scrooge (vv. 7-8), and what sets the faithful companion apart from the straying loaner (vv. 9-12) is the same thing that sets the “poor and wise youth” apart from the “old and foolish king who no longer knew how to take advice” (vv. 13-16): the key to contentment and community is humility.

From the broader context, we see that “the Preacher” is seeking to humble us by letting the certainty of our impending death and forgottenness teach us that we are not God, for we are but vapors. Only by taking this to heart will we experience the joyful contentment and meaningful community that he commends to us. Let us not toil for ourselves, and let us not toil by ourselves!

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” (1 Corinthians 12:21)