I want to tell you about a book I’m reading. This book had been on my radar for a while. I had heard it referenced on a number of podcasts I listen to, a couple of blogs that I read. People were highly recommending it - that not strange, but what was strange was who was recommending it. People on the left. People on the right. Pastors. Academics. I saw an interview with the author sitting down with pastor Tim Keller, and a review by the Gospel Coalition. Russel Moore of the Southern Baptists called it “the most important book in years.”
The book is called “The Righteous Mind” by Jonathon Haidt. Haidt, a social psychologist at the NYU-Sterm School of Business, is interested in how people think. More specifically, Haidt, a ethnically Jewish, politically left-leaning, and religiously atheist democrat, was interested in why people on the right politically were so irrational. The book is centred around the question of why people on the left and people on the right talk past one another, misrepresent one another, and think that each other irrational. It’s a pretty amazing book. Haidt’s major conclusion after undertaking major anthropological studies across continents, age groups and social classes, is that people think differently - process facts differently, reason differently, and argue differently, not because they are irrational, but because thinking is first and primarily an expression of one’s deeper moral inclination - what Haidt called intuition. How the heart is inclined influences what the mind accepts as rational. The reason Haidt’s book is so influential is that it basically argues against the way that we in the West have been thinking about thinking. Since the enlightenment, we’ve come to think that we are primarily rational creatures - like computers. Data comes in, is processed by reason, and adjustments to our thinking are made. Haidt proves that is not the case. Haidt provides scores of evidence that one’s moral inclination precedes reason, that we use reason not to come to justify the beliefs we are morally inclined to accept. How the heart is inclined influences what the mind accepts as rational.
I was thinking of Haidt’s book as I reflected on this last passage in this book of all books, Ecclesiastes. For Solomon, or since Solomon is referred to in the third person here some people think a later compiler of Solomon’s writings, in any case, this final passage also speaks to our thinking, and the relationship between our thinking and our moral inclinations:
Eccl. 12:9 Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. 10 The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.
Eccl. 12:11 The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. 12 My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
Eccl. 12:13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.
These last verses make two major points:
The Fear of the Lord is the Beginning Upon Which All True Understanding is Based: So We should take the practice of loving the Lord with our minds as a serious undertaking, both in how we communicate and receive truth.
The Fear of the Lord is the Conclusion to Which All True Understanding Points: so the love of the Lord with our mind will naturally lead us to proper worship and righteous living
The Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Which All True Understanding is Based We cannot separate Solomon’s conclusion to his work from the process that produced it. What I mean is, in arriving at the conclusion that one ought to fear God, Solomon feared God in the process. Solomon understood that the Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Which All True Understanding is Based, in other words, he knew before Jonathon Haidt that one’s moral inclination influences our thinking. In Proverbs, Solomon writes that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of all knowledge and wisdom
Prov. 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. Prov. 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
There it is: the inclination of our heart precedes rationality. If our heart is inclined away from God, we will not receive the things of God, and therefore that which would be wisdom and righteousness and truth will seem to us to be foolishness, wickedness and error. In Romans 1, the apostle Paul explains that because we do not see it fit to worship God we suppress the truth in unrighteousness, and thus, as it says in 1 Corinthians the wisdom of God will seem to us to be foolishness. Thus, the orientation of our heart matters when reflecting upon the wisdom and knowledge of God - the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. This is why you can be in a conversation with someone, and if they don’t share the same heart inclination, you will find yourself speaking past one another and one persons common sense logic will seem irrational to the other. Haidt is right. Our rationality begins in our heart, with our will. We will not receive that which we do not inclined to believe.
How The Wise Communicate Wisdom
With Thoughtful Words: “weighing and studying”
With Careful Words: and arranging many proverbs with great care”
With Delightful Words: “The Preacher sought to find words of delight”
With Truthful Words: “and uprightly he wrote words of truth.”
Thoughtful words: ‘Weighed and studied” - taken together, “he carefully evaluated” NET. He set all things on the scales of his mind. He knew that a rash word or any hasty, unreflective sentiment would do damage to his cause. The communicator has wrestled with the truth himself. When a new observation is made, it should sink deeply into the depths of what has already been considered. The process of reflection, meditation, reflecting on your field and on your faith. Synthesize knowledge. Internalize it. Especially when it come to knowing and studying God’s word, ask the Holy Spirit to plant God’s word deep within you. Memorize it. Mull it over. Sermon prep process. Christian, are your words thoughtful? Are you a deep and careful thinker?
Careful words: “and arranging many proverbs with great care”: Solomon considered how he presented his reflections on life. He used great care in the form of his writing. Teach the truths you have internalized to many audiences: teach Sunday school, teens, the educated, the blue collar. Christian, are your words careful? Do you choose your words carefully for greatest impact?
Delightful words: The ESV rightly translates “words of delight”. Solomon’s writing is delightful in form. It doesn’t bore. “For of all I have ever seen or learned, this book [Ecclesiastes] seems to me the noblest, the wisest, and the most powerful expression of man’s life upon this earth – and also the highest flower of poetry, eloquence, and truth. I am not given to dogmatic judgments in the matter of literary creation, but if I had to make one I could say that Ecclesiastes is the greatest single piece of writing I have ever known, and the wisdom expressed in it the most lasting and profound.” American Poet Thomas Wolfe. The early church leader, Ambrose, once said to preachers, “Therefore let your sermons be flowing, let them be clear and lucid so that by suitable disputation you may pour sweetness into the ears of the people. . . .”
Solomon’s writing in also delightful in content. Even when cutting us with the daggers of the brutal realities of life, Solomon was there with the balm. Like a sailor looking out at the storm and setting his face against it, knowing that it will be his resolution that will keep him from losing his clarity in the chaos, Solomon described all of the hebel of life, all the perplexities and harsh realities, and concluded, “Be joyful”. Take from the hand of God, eat your fill, drink with merriment and enjoy your family and your work. Delightful. Christian, are your words delightful? Both in form and in content?
Truthful words: Solomon has never shrunk back from telling us the harsh realities of life. He told the truth. Describing the realities of the rebel of our lives. Life is short, perplexing, harsh, unfair, unjust, vexing. That’s they way it is. Life is pain your highness, and anyone who says differently is selling you something.
That’s an amazing filter of all of us who wish to communicate truth. Before you post on social media: Are my words thoughful, careful, delightful and true? Before I preach: Are my words thoughful, careful, delightful and true?
What Truth Does to Those Prepared to Receive It
Truth Goads Us: “The words of the wise are like goads”. A goad is a pointed stick used to drive cattle in the desired direction. It prodded. It hurt. To get to truth we must risk offending and being offended. We’ve supposed the exact opposite in our culture; that the truth must not offend, and if you cause offense, you must not be speaking the truth. We’ve supposed the exact opposite in our culture; that the truth must not offend, and if you cause offense, you must not be speaking the truth.
Truth Settles Us: "and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings” The second thing that the truth does is to give us something to rest our minds upon. You cannot live your life without finding truths to centre your world around.
In his novel, the Great divorce, C.S. Lewis tells of a man who spends his whole life in inquiry, but never settles on truth. The Spirit of God leads him to the edge of heaven, with the promise“I will bring you to the land not of questions but of answers, and you shall see the face of God.” But sadly the man is not ready to let go of his quest, stating that his mind must remain so open as to never fix itself upon anything, and so he returns to lead a discussion group in hell. The nails of truth must never be fixed, for the inquirer, “to travel hopefully is better than to arrive” at truth. To Lewis, however, this was a great tragedy, and the spirit answers, ”If that were true, and known to be true, how could anyone travel hopefully? There would be nothing to hope for."
Solomon wrote the book of Ecclesiastes understanding the despair of learning that leads nowhere, of the hebel or exploration that never rests. Yet his desire has been instead to nail some things down for us, that we may not waste our lives in never-ending inquiry.
Truth Guides Us: “they are given by one Shepherd” The ESV has followed the convention of most commentators by capitalizing the S in Shepherd, signifying that even as Solomon arranged his proverbs with great care, he recognized that God’s was through him providing wisdom and guidance to his people. Ryken recognizes this verse as important to the doctrine of revelation, "Ecclesiastes is the very Word of God. The Preacher’s words are not merely the musings of some skeptical philosopher; they are part of the inspired, infallible, and inerrant revelation of Almighty God. Therefore, it is not enough merely to admire their artistry and respect their integrity—we must also submit to their authority. As the Shepherd of our souls, God uses this book—as he uses everything written in the Bible—to prod us into spiritual action.”
Truth Guards Us: “12 My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.”
Solomon is not saying that we should never expand our reading beyond the scripture, but we are to be warned to be careful when reading the multiplication of books and the wisdom of man. The scripture alone is to be our authority, but not our only source. And so we are to be careful when we study and read and watch youtube videos that we are always setting our rule by scripture.
And so the fear of the Lord, guides our acquisition of knowledge and our administration of wisdom. Solomon thoughfully, carefully, delighlightfully and truthfully has written his account of life and its purpose. The one who fears the Lord has a shepherd who goads us, anchors us, guides and guards us.
The Fear of the Lord is the Conclusion to Which All True Understanding Points:
To acknowledge, honour, and respect God. The fear of God is better described than defined. Story of military man [see Joy of Fearing God]. First when he was in basic training, he feared the General because of his authority and rank. Then over the years he was promoted to be the driver of the general, and he got to know the man through proximity and observation. His awe of the man grew, but it was no longer primarily fear, but admiration and respect, yet he always knew his rank and always responded, “Sir, yes sir!” Then one day in combat, they both were thrown from the vehicle and the officer risked his life to rescue the soldier. Over the next few weeks, the general made it a point to visit the young man as his wounds healed. And though they still maintained that relationship and fear, the soldier loved the man for his sacrifice, and believed the general truly loved him, yet the relationship was maintained - “Sir.Yes sir!”
This is the fear of God: maintaining a trembling, obedient honour of God while growing in admiration, gratitude, love. How specifically has Solomon taught us to acknowledge, honour and obey God in Ecclesiastes?
FIND the Beauty of Each Moment
ENJOY all that God grants you in this life
APPLY your heart to know God and his ways
RECEIVE your lot as a gift from his hand
FIND the Beauty of Each Moment
Eccl. 3:1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
10 I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
ENJOY all that God grants you in this life
Eccl. 8:15 And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.
Eccl. 9:7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.
APPLY your heart to know God and his ways Three times Solomon writes that he applied his heart to figure out life in the breath, and each time it led him to greater and greater vexation and sorrow.
Eccl. 1:13 And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.
Eccl. 1:17 And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.
Eccl. 8:16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on earth, how neither day nor night do one’s eyes see sleep,
Eccl. 12:13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.
RECEIVE your lot as a gift from his hand
Eccl. 2:24 There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God,
Eccl. 3:22 So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him?
Eccl. 5:18 Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. 19 Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God.
The Urgency of the Gospel: the Breath Will End
Eccl. 12:13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.