26. Lessons in the House of Mourning (2)

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Hymns: RHC 532 Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us 543 Face to Face 536 Safe in the Arms of Jesus

Study of the Book of Ecclesiastes

(Remember Now Thy Creator)

– Lessons in the House of Mourning (2)

Ecclesiastes 7:1-4

1 A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth. 2 It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. 3 Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. 4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

 

OUTLINE

  • A Good Name (v1)
  • Better Than House of Feasting (v2)
  • Better Sorrow than Laughter (v3)
  • For the Wise of Heart (v4)

 

INTRODUCTION

We celebrate the beginning of life when a child is born. We think of the life ahead. The child is very much dependant upon the parents in the initial years. The parents hold the responsibility of nurturing the child to maturity and the child when grown up begins his own family. And his children comes and perhaps by reason of strength he sees his grandchildren and even great grandchildren and the end draws and one day, we shall be notified to be at the house of mourning to remember the departed.

Solomon in this study of Ecclesiastes has explained in great detail that truly, all is vanity under the sun. This life without God will be a life of regret in the final analysis and he brings us to a funeral scene in a vigil service to help us to see the end of a man so that we may be wise to live this “in-between” life after birth and before we take our last breath.

We will notice also a change in his style of writing from narrative to a poetical style of parallel and contrasting thoughts, very much the style of the book of Proverbs to bring us home to the godly wisdom that we have so much known him by as the man God has promised to endow with heavenly wisdom.

 

Consider these thoughts:

  • A Good Name (v1)
  • Better Than House of Feasting (v2)
  • Better Countenance of the Heart (v3)
  • For the Wise of Heart (v4)

 

(1) A Good Name (v1)

1 A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.

When we begin life on earth, our parents give each one of us a name. We are identified by our names. And through the course of life, by the way we live, we either bring for ourselves a good reputation or a bad reputation. Of course, it is our desire that we will have a good reputation in the course of our lives and when we die we leave behind a good name or a good testimony.

Solomon is saying to us that a good reputation at the end of one’s life can be assessed as a good life. This life has been lived profitably.

At the end of a person’s life, such a life can be evaluated by the living and assessed. How is the end of life better than the beginning of life?

 

(2) Better Than the House of Feasting (v2)

2 It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.

At the house of mourning, we see the end of a man’s life. A sobering time when we realize that we too are going this way. There is no escape. It causes us to sit up and to ponder, to think and evaluate life and its purposes realistic.

Whereas in the house of feasting, we are often lost in a make-believe utopia that this feasting and partying can go on forever. A time of reckoning is nigh.

I recall the funeral services on the first day of this year of grace 2016 for sister Ivy Ng-Jamieson. She went home to be with the Lord on 31 December 2015.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(3) Better Sorrow than Laughter (v3)

3 Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.

Solomon does not tell us that we are to live life feeling tearful and sad but he is saying to us that there is place for sober reflection in life – sorrow is beter than laughter. He draws our hearts from what Charles Bridges called “the vain and perilous joys of the world! So valuable, so needful is itm that we doubt whether it be safe to be wotuout sorrow till we are without sin.”

In Psalm 90, the psalmist reflects upon the difficulties of life and sought the Lord in prayer.

Psalm 90:10-17 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. 11 Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath. 12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. 13 Return, O LORD, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants. 14 O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. 15 Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil. 16 Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children. 17 And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.

 Swindoll said well, “God wants us to be able to cope with real sorrows of life without forfeiting an inner joy. In fact, those who avoid dealing with death and instead live their lives pursuing pleasure as a means of escape are foolish.”

 

(4) For the Wise of Heart (v4)

4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

The heart of the wise reflects upon the end of life in the house of mourning and provoked to see a way out. It is there in the vigil service that the preaching of the gospel to the gathering of mourners has impact upon the thoughtful and reflective of those attending the service.

Truly, until we arrive at the understanding of God’s grace in Jesus Christ that brings God’s only escape from the judgment of hell fire for the departed dead, there is hope.

Revelation 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

 But the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. The fool, who thinks of nothing but present enjoyment, and how to make life pass pleasantly, turns away from mournful scenes, and goes only there where he may drown care and be thoughtless and merry. [Pulpit Commentary]

Daniel 5, we see the judgement upon men who blasphemed God. Daniel was God’s instrument to share the message of God’s impending judgment to Belshazzar, the last king of the Babylonian empire, the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar.

The king hosted a great banquet to a thousand of the most honoured lords in his kingdom. In this feast, Belshazzar showed off his power and might by belittling the God of the Jews. He ordered that the vessels taken out of Israel’s Temple in Jerusalem be used to serve wine for his guest. This act demonstrated his superior power and might. It was a time of utter wantonness. Yet we know that they are already a city under siege for the Median king Darius will take over the kingdom by the time we finished the chapter. The last bastion of the once glorious Babylonian empire is now the city of Babylon itself. Ironically, they were living luxuriously like the frog in his bath water under a slow burning flame. By the time, he felt the heat, he is cooked.

The time of deliverance for Israel in captivity is approaching. The year is 539 B.C. Remember, Jeremiah told Judah that their captivity will be for a period of 70 years and Isaiah (Isaiah 44:28) told them that in the time of Cyrus they would be allowed to return to their homeland. By now, Daniel is well over 80 years old.

Isaiah 44:28 That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.

This time is approaching.

 Jeremiah 25:12 And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.

Our Lord was not oblivious of the ease of the wicked. We see how God’s people must be pleading for relieve and justice as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, waiting upon the LORD until He will have mercy on them. Indeed, the proud, the scorning, the men at ease were wicked men. Will they get away with blasphemy? God Himself will vindicate His name.

 Psalm 123:1-4 A Song of degrees. Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us. Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us: for we are exceedingly filled with contempt. Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud.

These drunken men praise the gods they worshipped, these dumb idols, gods of gold, silver, wood and stone (v4).

Where was Daniel, doubtless, he was not a part of this wanton gathering, he was in his room praying and resting. He was a misfit in such a party. Daniel was careful to keep himself from the wanton, immoral pleasures of this life.

Belshazzar was living like the rich man, in Luke 16, clothed in purple faring sumptuously everyday till one day he died. And found himself in the torments of hell fire because of his sins. Then in that account, there was the beggar Lazarus, who did not have the good things of this life. But he believed God and has received forgiveness of sins. When he died, he was taken to heaven. Question – would you rather be the rich man or Lazarus? You may tell me I want to be like the rich man in life and like Lazarus in death! Dear friends, you cannot have both.

 

CONCLUSION

May the Lord help us to learn well the lessons in the house of mourning to take hold of the things eternal for our soul’s sake. Amen.