Subject: WHO KNOWETH WHAT IS GOOD FOR MAN IN THIS LIFE?
Scripture: Psalm 39:1-7; Ecclesiastes 6:11-12; 1 Corinthians 8:2.
Text: Ecclesiastes 6:12: "For who knoweth what is good for man in this life...?"
The wants of man in this life are many. From the day of one's birth unto the day of one's death, the average person is seldom completely free from all wants. We want this, and we want that, and we want the other thing. From the cradle to the grave, man spends perhaps the most of his time and energies in seeking to get that which he wants, that which his heart desires.
There are perhaps few people in the world today who drop down on their knees at night and pray the prayer Uncle Buddy Robinson once prayed after taking a tour of New York City. You remember, perhaps, the words of his prayer, "Father, I thank Thee that I ain't seen a thing I want all day."
The wants of man do not stop with the necessities of life, but are frequently almost like a tremendous chain reaction, the satisfaction of one desire, giving place to the craving for something else that is treading close upon its heels.
Our text tonight lifts up for us a rather searching question at this point, however. In Ecclesiastes 6:12 we read, "For who knoweth what is good for man in this life...?" Our text brings us face-to-face with the fact that though we may want many things in this world, yet our knowledge may be so imperfect that we do not know what is good for us in this life. I suppose we generally go on the assumption that what we want, that what our hearts desire, will be good for us, and that life will be happier and better if we get it. But our text raises the question as to whether we even know what is good for us in this life.
The more we think about how limited our knowledge is in regards to life here on earth, the more perhaps we will come to appreciate our text and the truth that it places before us.
It is said that some years ago, Thomas A. Edison made the statement that "We don't know the millioneth part of one per cent about anything." That statement sounds a bit extreme to the average person, I suppose. And perhaps it is if we think only on a shallow level. But the Apostle Paul reminds us that we know in part - our knowledge is only a partial knowledge - and he says plainly that "if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know." (1 Cor. 8:2.)
We may sometimes think that we know a great deal, but the Apostle Paul seems to be hinting here that the more self-confident we are about what we know, perhaps in regards to the deeper things of life, the plainer it becomes that our knowledge is as yet incomplete.
We want what we want, and usually go on the assumption that if we get what we want, it will be good for us. Just a little thought at this point, however, is enough to remind us that many times in life all of us have no doubt wanted some things that would not have been good for us had we gotten them. Little children often want dangerous things to play with that might injure them if they had them. They often want things to eat that would not be good for them. They often want to do things that mature judgment indicates they ought not to do because of the harm which would result. It is not good for children always to have their own way.
Someone has said that if you take a child and a pig and let each of them have what it wants, you will wind up with a bad child and a good pig...or with a ruined child and a fine hog, whichever way you want to put it. It is easy to see that it is not always good for a child to have its own way.
But we sometimes forget that we who are older sometimes want things that are not good for us. The Psalmist speaks of the Hebrew people and of some wrong desires that they had in the wilderness, and makes this statement: "(God) gave them their request; but sent leanness to their soul." (Psalm 106:15) They got what they wanted but it resulted in their spiritual downfall. It was not good for them.
Let us meditate upon this fact that it may do our souls good: Our knowledge is so limited here on this earth that in many circumstances of life, we simply do not know what is good for us, and unless we are extremely careful, we may seek to satisfy the desires of our hearts to the downfall of our souls!
You and I many times may know what we want in this life, but do we know what is good for us? Who knoweth what is good for man in this life? Do you know? Do I know? Do any of us know?
One thing that most of the people on earth today seem to want is material wealth. Here in our country, this is especially noticeable. The general thinking in America today seems to be that prosperity is good for us and that a recession or a depression is bad. And it is a rather obvious fact that most people in the United States would like to have more wealth, more of this world's goods, than they have.
But who knows which is better for a person here in this life - wealth or poverty? More worldly goods, the same amount of worldly goods, or less of the wealth of this earth?
We live in a nation that seems at times to almost worship prosperity, but it is a fact that prosperity is not always good either for a nation or for an individual.
Perhaps you find it necessary to pinch pennies in order to make ends meet, and think you would be much better off if only you had more money. But do you know whether it would be good for you or not? Many times money, instead of helping a person, proves to be a stumbling block to him along the upward way.
In the parable of the sower, Jesus refers to the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches as thorns which tend to choke the Word of God out of a person's life.
When the prodigal son got hold of a lot of money, instead of it helping him to become a better man, it helped him to take his journey into a far country and to kick up his heels in riotous living. And it was poverty, poverty so great that he lacked enough food to meet his needs, poverty such as most of us hope we never have to experience - it was poverty that finally brought him to his senses and set him on the road back to his father's house and to a better life.
Someone has said that money is to a man about like molasses is to a fly: a little of it is good for him, but a barrel-full of it is likely to drown him. There is a lot of truth in that.
Many a person who had time for the Bible and the church and who tried to live for the Lord when living on a modest income, has had some successful business ventures, become wealthy, and then permitted his business and riches to crowd the things of the Spirit pretty much out of his life.
I remember a boy whom I used to play with years ago. He was a member of a home where there was enough to eat and decent clothes to wear, but where money was not overly plentiful. He was raised in the Sunday School and church, and went regularly week by week. The years passed. He grew up and became a wealthy business man. One day I met one of his uncles, and asked him how his nephew was getting along. "Why, he's so busy that he doesn't have time even to go to Sunday School or church anymore," his uncle replied in effect.
I remember another person who belonged to a church I once served. He had a fair job, but was so poor in the things of this world that he didn't have enough chairs to sit on or plates and silverware to eat with if anybody extra were to visit with him. But he was in Sunday School and church every Sunday - just let the church doors open for a service and you could count on him and his family being present. Let any job come up that he could do, and all you needed to do was ask him and he was ready to do what he could. He seemed to be really moving up the spiritual ladder. But then he got a much better paying job. I suppose most of us who knew his financial condition were glad to see him get it. But as the money began to roll in more plentifully, he began to slack off in his church relationship and before many months had gone by, he seemed to be in a very much back-slidden condition spiritually. From the spiritual viewpoint, it seemed that poverty was much better for him than prosperity.
Our nation has as one of its major goals the expansion of business, the prosperity of its citizens. And we have attained that to a degree seldom before known to mankind. But let's ask a question at this point: Has prosperity brought our nation closer to God? Are we a better country spiritually because we eat higher on the hog? And what about you as an individual? Do you get closer to God when money is flowing freely and your pockets are jingling and you are getting about all of the things of this world that you want? Or do you get closer to God when the money is scarce, when there is difficulty in making ends meet, and when the prayer, "Give us this day our daily bread," has an extremely personal meaning for you?
Who knoweth what is good for man in this life, whether wealth or poverty? whether prosperity or hard times? whether an abundance of worldly goods or an extremely limited amount of this world's goods? Perhaps a good prayer for most people to pray in this respect is that found in the 30th chapter of Proverbs: "Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food sufficient for me: lest I be full, and deny Thee and say, 'Who is the Lord?' or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the Name of my God in vain."
Another thing that most of us want is good health. We do not like to be sick - at least most of us don't. There are perhaps some people who enjoy their sickness and might be very miserable indeed if they did not have some personal illness to talk about, or some aches and pains to relate to their friends. But, most of us prefer good health, and if illness does come, do all within our power to regain our health. Again and again have I heard someone make the statement that when one loses his health, he has lost everything. And as a boy a little verse of poetry that our health teacher had us learn in school was along the same line:
Love nor honor, wealth nor power,
Can give the heart a cheerful hour,
When health is lost.
Well, health is a precious thing, and I would not for one moment seek to underestimate its importance - though it certainly is not the all-important thing in life as some people may lead one to think. And certainly it is neither natural for a person to want to become ill nor is it desirable.
But I would not go so far as to say that fine health is always good for us. As a general rule, health is extremely desirable. But in any specific case who knows what is good for an individual in this life, whether health or sickness? Health is by far the most pleasant, but there is probably far more soul-searching and meditating upon the deep things in life done in hospitals and sick-rooms than is done on ball fields, golf courses, and in swimming pools. Job's afflictions apparently did far more toward bringing him into a deeper experience with God than had some of the days of his health and prosperity.
The Psalmist, looking back on a time when he was afflicted, said, "It was good for me that I was afflicted." (Psalm 119:71)
An outstanding Christian is quoted as saying, "I had to go blind in order to see Christ. I was foolish, selfish, and self-sufficient until my sight was taken and in the darkness I looked for Christ and I saw Him and found Him."
George Muller of England who is looked upon as one of the outstanding men of faith in the history of the Christian church and who, during his lifetime, was a tremendous source of inspiration to thousands of people, had a serious illness in his early life from which at times it seemed that he might not recover. Now, under such circumstances prayer for healing would be the natural course for many to follow. But George Muller looked upon his illness in a different light from most people. He regarded it as being bestowed upon him by God and for a purpose. And when his medical attendant came to minister unto him, he would pray something as follows: "Lord, Thou knowest that he does not know what is for my real welfare therefore do Thou direct him." Then when he would take his medicine, he would pray, "Now, please, 0 Lord, let it produce the effect which is for my real welfare and for Thy glory."
Dr. Louis Evans tells of attending a prayer meeting once, with some elders of the church and friends, held for a young mother who had just come out of an iron lung. They had gathered to pray for the young mother according to the pattern set forth in the epistle of James. They prayed, and he said he had never heard more soul-searching and earnest crying unto God than on that occasion. After all had prayed, the mother prayed, and in her prayer, said something like this: "Dear God, You know Your business better than I do. You know how much I would like to play happily with my children; how much I would like to kneel beside their beds. ...but, God, if I can serve Thee best by being a cripple all my life, I am willing to accept Thy will. Only keep me happy in it, for Jesus' sake. Amen."
Had you been in George Muller's place, how would you have prayed? Had you been in the position of the young mother, how would you have prayed? When you are sick, how do you pray?
Who knoweth what is good for man in this life in any specific case, whether sickness or health? With our limited knowledge, do we know?
Another thing we might consider along this line is that of sorrow and joy. Joy and happiness are surely desired by every normal, reasoning person, and they have a ministry to perform. In Proverbs we read that a merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken. We read further that a merry heart doeth good like a medicine. Joy and happiness are so pleasant that we usually assume that they are good for us and always desirable.
But we need to keep in mind that sorrow and heartache also have a ministry to perform, that they also have a work to do, and that sometimes it is better for a person to travel the pathway of sorrow than of joy.
In Ecclesiastes 7:3 we read that "Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better."
And we need to remember the little poem:
I walked a mile with pleasure;
She chattered all the way;
But never a thing she taught me,
For all she had to say.
I walked a mile with sorrow,
And never a word said she;
But, oh, the things she taught me
When sorrow walked with me!
We want to be happy, and we do not like to experience heartache and sorrow. But who knoweth what is good for man in this life in any specific instance, joy or sorrow? Do you know which is better for you? At any specific place along the road of life, do you know which your soul stands in greater need of, which would help you the most along the pathway toward Heaven? We may know which we want, but with our limited knowledge, do we know which is good for us?
One other point at which the message of our text might well be considered tonight is at the point where the soul hovers on the brink of eternity and life and death hang in the balance. How many millions of times a prayer has gone up from the lips of someone pleading for God to spare the life of one who seemed to be near the portals of death! How many millions of prayers have gone up to the throne of grace beseeching God to raise up one who was sick nigh unto death!
We want our loved ones to live. It brings sadness to the heart when they must depart and we are separated from them. We understand perhaps something of what King David felt when he pleaded with God for the life of his little child who was sick. We feel with King Hezekiah when, during a period of sickness, the prophet Isaiah came to him with the message from the Lord saying, "Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live."
But in any specific case, who knows what is good for a person in this respect, whether it is better for a person to live or to die? There no doubt comes a time in the life of each of us when it is better for us to depart from this world than for us to remain here. But do you know when that time arrives in any person's life? Do you think you will know when it arrives in your own life?
You remember, perhaps, the words of Stonewall Jackson, the great officer in the Confederate army during the Civil War, who was accidentally wounded by one of his own men. As he lay dying, he is quoted as saying, "If I live it will be for the best; if I die it will be for the best. God knows and directs all things for the best of His children. God's will be done."
And then there is the story Dr. George W. Truett used to tell of the young woman who had been extremely sick for a long time with an extremely painful and apparently incurable illness. One day her aunt who cared for her said to her, "If the Lord Jesus were to ask you today whether to choose to go on to Heaven and be taken out of this world of suffering, or whether to choose to stay on here a while longer, you would have no trouble in making your choice, would you?" After a few moments thought, her neice replied, "I would ask Jesus to decide it for me, for I would not know which was the better for me."
Perhaps we draw back from the thought of death, but at any specific instance who knoweth what is good for a person in this life, whether to live or to die, whether to remain in this world or to depart to the next world? Do you know what is good for an individual in this respect?
Our text has a great message for us if we will only heed it and take it to heart. We have so many desires in this world; we want so many things, and choose this, that and the other. And so much of the time we go to God with petitions in our hearts for things that may be good for us or they may not be. Our knowledge is so limited and so partial that if we are not careful, we may even pray for something that would not be good for us or ask God to save us from something that might be for the eternal welfare of our immortal souls.
We may think we know what is good for us in this life, but do we really know?
A good many years ago at the Annual Methodist Conference, Reverend Jim Green learned that he was to be appointed to the Rock Springs Circuit. It was a charge that had had a good bit of trouble among the membership, and one that he said no preacher wanted. He said he made several efforts to get his appointment changed to other work, but finally went to God in prayer to find out what God's will was in the matter. There came the certainity that God wanted him to take the appointment, and that settled it. He went, but the outlook seemed to him rather dark. And yet, in looking back upon his pastorates across the years, two of the richest years of his entire ministry were those two years on the Rock Springs circuit, and such a revival swept the churches on the circuit that he received two hundred and thirty nine into the church during that time.
It makes no difference whether we are preachers or laymen at this point: we need to keep in mind that our knowledge is limited, that it is partial, and that many times we do not know what is good for us in this life.
And that brings us to the great application of our text: namely, that since we do not know what is good for us in this life in so many respects, the thing we need to do in all of our praying and in all of our planning and making of decisions is always to seek God's will in every instance. Stonewall Jackson was right when he said that God knows and directs all things for the best of His children. And so, with faith and trust in the goodness and mercy of God, let us always seek His will and let us always bring our own desires into harmony with His will. Let us not go blindly to the throne of grace saying without any qualifications, "Give me this" or "Give me that." But let us always seek the leading of His Spirit, and always pray, "Thy will be done," knowing that if God's will is done, then the best will come to pass. For who knoweth what is good for man in this life except our heavenly Father? Let us pray...