Humble Before God

Devotional

Day 1: Joy in the Crooked Day

Solomon observes God’s sovereignty over both prosperity and adversity. When days overflow with blessings, we’re commanded to rejoice. When life twists into hardship, we’re told to consider God’s purpose. The same hands that give sunlight also send rain. Trust His rhythm even when the path feels crooked. [21:36]

God designs seasons to dismantle our illusion of control. Like sailors learning dependence in storms, our trials expose our need for Him. Prosperity tests our gratitude; adversity tests our trust. Both days are classrooms to deepen reliance on the One who holds the winds.

When your plans unravel, do you resent the interruption or seek His lesson? Identify one “crooked” circumstance in your life. How might God use it to redirect your dependence?

“In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.”
(Ecclesiastes 7:14, ESV)

Prayer: Thank God for three specific blessings from your last “good day.” Confess one way you’ve resisted His work in a current hardship.
Challenge: Write “JOY” and “CONSIDER” on two sticky notes. Place them where you’ll see them daily.

Day 2: When Righteousness Surprises

Solomon witnessed a paradox: righteous people suffering, wicked people thriving. This shatters formulaic faith that treats goodness as a bargaining chip. Overzealous righteousness becomes a performance to manipulate God, while secret pride in our morality breeds bitterness when trials come. [22:11]

God refuses to be controlled by human merit. His ways transcend karma. Job lost everything yet worshiped. Asaph envied the wicked until he saw their end. True righteousness flows from awe, not arithmetic.

Where have you expected God to “owe” you for good behavior? Name one area where you’ve felt entitled to blessings because of your obedience.

“There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing.”
(Ecclesiastes 7:15, ESV)

Prayer: Ask God to reveal any transactional motives in your spiritual habits.
Challenge: Text a trusted friend: “I’ve struggled with ___. How can I pray for you?”

Day 3: The Heart’s Hidden Ledger

Solomon’s blunt diagnosis stings: no one is sinless. Even our best deeds carry pride’s fingerprints. The woman who tithes faithfully still gossips. The elder serving tirelessly still resents. Our hearts hoard secret cruelties and compromises. Universal brokenness levels all ground at the cross. [23:04]

This truth isn’t meant to paralyze but to humble. When others wound us, we remember we’ve wounded too. When we fail, we run to grace, not self-pity. Chesterton’s “I am” echoes Solomon’s clarity.

What sin have you minimized as “not that bad”? How might acknowledging it deepen your dependence on Christ?

“Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.”
(Ecclesiastes 7:20, ESV)

Prayer: Confess a “small” sin you’ve rationalized. Thank Jesus for covering it.
Challenge: Apologize to someone you’ve wronged—even unintentionally—this week.

Day 4: Upright Made, Schemes Remade

God created humans upright, but Eden’s choice fractured everything. We scheme to control outcomes—through financial plans, relational strategies, or religious rituals. Solomon’s search for wisdom left him empty until he surrendered to the God who alone restores our design. [24:07]

Christ became our righteousness because we couldn’t self-generate it. His perfection replaces our ledgers. Our role isn’t to fix the crookedness but to trust the One who straightens souls.

Where are you striving to “scheme” your way to security? What would surrender look like today?

“See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”
(Ecclesiastes 7:29, ESV)

Prayer: Ask God to expose one self-reliant plan. Trade it for “Your will, not mine.”
Challenge: Read Genesis 3. Circle every consequence of human scheming.

Day 5: Curses and the Mirror

Solomon warns: don’t obsess over others’ criticism. Your own heart has whispered similar judgments. The coworker’s snide remark, the friend’s betrayal—they sting because we recognize our capacity for the same sin. Grace disarms our defensiveness. [23:54]

When hurt by words, look inward before reacting outward. The same mouth that praises God curses others (James 3:9). Our failures don’t excuse theirs but remind us to extend the mercy we daily need.

Whose criticism has angered you? How might their words—even if unfair—reveal a truth you need to hear?

“Do not take to heart all the things that people say… Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others.”
(Ecclesiastes 7:21-22, ESV)

Prayer: Forgive someone who wronged you verbally. Ask forgiveness for your own harsh words.
Challenge: Write a kind note to someone who criticized you recently.

Sermon Summary

Ecclesiastes 7 speaks as a wise friend. Solomon says God is sovereign over the rhythm of life. In the day of prosperity, be joyful. In the day of adversity, consider. God has made the one as well as the other. This alternation is not an accident. It is a kindness that breaks the illusion of control and keeps a person humble and watchful. The storm teaches dependence. The calm breeds presumption. So the good day calls for thankful joy. The hard day calls for patient reflection under the same sovereign hand.

Solomon then presses on the limits of tidy formulas. The retribution rule is generally true, yet not ironclad. A righteous man may perish. A wicked man may prolong his days. This is not chaos. It is a reminder that righteousness is not a remote control for God. Be not overly righteous and do not make yourself too wise does not bless mediocrity. It exposes a performance righteousness that bargains with God. Ritual faith tries to manage the unmanageable. Such posturing will only leave a person appalled when the deal does not deliver. The fear of God, not leverage, is the safe path out of both temptations, pride and folly.

Wisdom still matters. It strengthens more than ten rulers in a city. Yet wisdom has a ceiling. I said, I will be wise, but it was far from me. Deep, very deep. Who can find it out. That confession is not defeat. It is the doorway to true wisdom, because it places a person before God with reverence, trust, and submission.

Then Solomon drops the verdict everyone needs to hear before venturing any bargains. Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. No one can stand before God and say, I have kept my side of the bargain. That truth should shape the tongue. Do not take to heart everything said. Every heart knows it has cursed before. Universal sinfulness should quiet outrage and grow gentleness.

Finally the search lands on first principles. God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. The fall broke the inner straightness and bent even love into snares. The only safe escape, in sexual temptation or any snare, belongs to the one who pleases God. The gospel answers that loss. Christ Jesus became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Not a righteousness achieved, but a righteousness received. In him, the uprightness first given and then lost is restored by grace to the one who fears the Lord with humble faith.

Key Takeaways

1. God authors both days for humility Prosperity invites thankful joy. Adversity invites careful consideration. The alternation is God’s fatherly way to end the lie of control and keep a person close to him. Dependence grows in storms, not in calms. [31:43]
2. Reject remote-control righteousness with God Be not overly righteous unmasks a bargaining spirit that tries to force outcomes with religious performance. Rituals that aim at leverage are about control, not faith. The fear of God, not technique, keeps the heart from both self-righteousness and folly. [44:03]
3. Universal sin invites gentleness Since no one is righteous in the absolute sense, outrage over others’ words needs to be tempered. The tongue often sins, and memory should humble the offended because the same heart has spoken carelessly before. That realism breeds mercy instead of retaliation. [57:40]
4. Wisdom is good yet limited Wisdom protects, but it cannot master reality. Solomon reached for it and found it far, deep, very deep. True wisdom begins where self-confidence ends, in reverent trust before God’s hidden ways. [60:59]
5. Christ restores the lost uprightness Humanity was made straight but chased many schemes. Righteousness cannot be achieved by deals or display. Christ is God’s wisdom and righteousness given, restoring what was lost to any who receive him with humble fear. [69:34]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[21:22] - Scripture Reading: Ecclesiastes 7
[27:54] - Two Days, One Sovereign God
[30:56] - Joy in Prosperity, Consider in Adversity
[33:13] - Humbled to Release Control
[34:23] - Storms Teach Dependence
[40:21] - Retribution: Rule and Exceptions
[44:03] - Not Overly Righteous or Wicked
[47:44] - Rituals Try To Control God
[51:18] - Fear God, Not Performance
[52:58] - None Righteous, No Not One
[57:40] - Gossip, Memory, and Mercy
[60:59] - Wisdom Is Deep, Very Deep
[66:12] - God Made Man Upright
[69:34] - Christ Our Wisdom and Righteousness

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Ecclesiastes 7:13-29 (ESV)
Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked? In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him. In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing. Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? Be not overly wicked, and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time? It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them. Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city. Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others. All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out? I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness. And I find something more bitter than death: the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her. Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things—which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found. See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”

Observation Questions

What two commands does Ecclesiastes 7:14 give for responding to prosperity and adversity, and what reason does it provide for both?
According to Ecclesiastes 7:15-18, what paradox does Solomon observe about righteous and wicked people? How does he warn against responding to this paradox?
What does Ecclesiastes 7:20 say about human righteousness, and how does the sermon connect this truth to our interactions with others? [57:40]

Interpretation Questions

Why might Solomon warn against being “overly righteous” (7:16) in light of the earlier observation that even the righteous suffer? How does this relate to trying to “bargain” with God? [44:03]
Ecclesiastes 7:29 states, “God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.” How does this explain the brokenness Solomon observes in relationships and human behavior?
The sermon says, “Wisdom protects, but it cannot master reality.” How does Ecclesiastes 7:23-24 support this idea, and what does it teach about the limits of human understanding?

Application Questions

In seasons of prosperity, how can you cultivate intentional gratitude instead of presumption? In hardship, what practical step could you take to “consider” God’s purpose rather than despair? [31:43]
When have you tried to “control outcomes” with God through religious routines or bargaining (e.g., “If I do ___, then God must ___”)? How can you replace this mindset with trust in His sovereignty?
Ecclesiastes 7:21-22 urges humility when others wrong us because “your heart knows you’ve cursed others.” How might this truth soften your response the next time someone criticizes or offends you?
The sermon says, “Christ restores the lost uprightness” we lack. What area of your life feels “crooked” or broken where you need to rely on Christ’s righteousness rather than your own efforts? [01:09:34]
How can acknowledging the universal sinfulness of all people (including yourself) lead to gentler conversations in conflicts at home, work, or church?

Sermon Clips

64s

“It sounds like Solomon says, do a little sinning on the side, But he's not advising spiritual mediocrity. What he is attacking here is something very specific and sometimes very subtle. Sometimes we use our righteousness, as I mentioned at the beginning, as a remote control to dictate to God what he should do to us. It's a kind of religious performance which existed in every culture, every religion, the Pharisees or, you know, the the best example that we have in the bible, and this type of righteousness operates on the principle of of, let's say, a bargain. You bargain with God.”

54s

“You know, in a storm, everyone is alert, you know, watching, praying, but in calm waters, some of those sailors will will leave the wheel, would not pay attention, and and these these experienced sailors will say, the storm teaches dependence. The calm breeds presumptuous. And and god's alternation of prosperity and adversity in our lives is is not, is not cruelty. Somebody said that it's the kindness of a father who knows that his children need to keep their hands on the wheel and their eyes on the horizon.”

68s

“Not something that we can achieve, but something that we can receive by faith as a gift. That's why Paul will say again in Corinthians, Christ Jesus became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption. The one who fears God in the true biblical sense of the world will receive Jesus as the gift of God. In Christ Jesus, that original design is restored. God didn't give up on that design. Through Jesus, he's restoring in all of us, in you and me, if we come to him with humility and faith. May the Lord help us all to trust Jesus our Lord. He is our righteousness and our wisdom. Amen. Let's sing one more song.”

54s

“The bible says that God made Jesus to be seen, you know, he who knew no sin, so that in him we might be the righteousness of God. Not that self made righteousness that Solomon is talking about here who is destroying us because it's providing us a false sense of security and it's deluding us thinking that we are saved by our own works. In Christ, the one who was made sin, in him we might become the righteousness of God. That uprightness that God originally gave us by creation and we lost through the fall is offered back to you and to me through Jesus Christ.”

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Southside Baptist Church, Port Coquitlam This sermon · AI assistant

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Humble Before God

Devotional

Day 1: Joy in the Crooked Day

Day 2: When Righteousness Surprises

Day 3: The Heart’s Hidden Ledger

Day 4: Upright Made, Schemes Remade

Day 5: Curses and the Mirror

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Humble Before God

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