May 27 Daily Devotional

Scripture for Day 27—Ecclesiastes 9:13–10:1

[chapter 9]

¹³I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. ¹⁴There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. ¹⁵But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. ¹⁶But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard.

¹⁷The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. ¹⁸ Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

[chapter 10]

¹Dead flies make the perfumer's ointment give off a stench;
     so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.

Devotional:

In this text the author turns his attention to wisdom. Wisdom is far better than folly or mere strength, and those who have it know how to live before God. The point is illustrated in an apophthegm, a story that highlights this truth. The story develops the contrast between a great king whose great siege works threaten the existence of a small city with few people in it. The city does not stand a chance against the power of the king, but one poor man by his wisdom proved to be stronger than military might and delivered the city. Yet, the real point of the tale is that despite the astonishing achievement, no one cared to remember that poor man. He was not a celebrated hero. And so the lesson is: Wisdom has its limits because it is rarely heeded. Wisdom is better than might, and, at the same time, wisdom is despised.

The story of the forgotten sage is then followed by a series of proverbs that crystallize the author’s intent. Although wisdom is always superior, folly has a sheer infernal capacity to win the day. 10:1 applies the principle to the individual, appealing to the proverbial fly in the ointment. Just as insects can ruin a most valuable concoction, so just a little folly can pollute one's reputation for wisdom and honor.

In other words, wisdom is not only underrated in the world, it is also exceedingly volatile and hard to conserve or protect. One uncalled-for word can spoil a relationship, one foolish deed a person’s reputation. It can be a single act long ago, a sexual contact with some other than one's spouse, a small unpaid loan from years past, or a decision to invest in a fraudulent scheme. It goes on record.

Folly is wooden-headedness, the fatal desire not to be deflected from a course of action by the facts or by warnings. We all have smelled the stench of it, and not merely once or twice. The odor of foolishness is pervasive not only in our sphere but in the world at large, where the consequences of bad choices leave no good thing unsullied. The unmistakable rotten stench of things or bodies that perish is a physical reminder of the reality.

Now think of your own willfulness as a rotten stench that fills the air. The smell of death and decomposition! Left to ourselves we are an ugly sight and horribly odious. But God did not turn up his nose. He has actually made us a lovely fragrance in Christ. Paul, in appealing to the notion of smell, speaks in this way in 2 Cor. 2:14: "But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere."—The fragrance of Christ! How different a scent!

What can you do, what must you do to guard and preserve this wonderful fragrance that God is spreading through us everywhere? This fragrance of the gospel may still be despised in the world, and we can add our own folly to the mix, but, by God's grace, it is more than capable of retaining its power and beauty despite human error and sin. It will always remain what it is in those who speak and act sincerely in the sight of God in Christ: the fragrance of the wisdom of Christ.

The author of these devotionals, the Rev. Martin Emmrich, is an ordained OPC minister (Westminster OPC, Corvallis, Oregon) as well as the author of Pneumatological Concepts in the Epistle to the Hebrews, a book on the teaching of Hebrews on the Holy Spirit. We are happy to make these devotionals on Ecclesiastes and other passages of Scripture available to you.