Ecclesiastes 8 — It Shall Be Well With Them That Fear God
Who is as the wise man? Wisdom maketh his face to shine. I counsel thee to keep the king's commandment. Where the word of a king is, there is power. Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. Though a sinner do evil an hundred times... yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God. No man hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death. Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun.
“Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him:”
— Ecclesiastes 8:12
- v.1-9 Wisdom and authority
- v.10-13 Delayed sentence
- v.14-17 God's ways past finding
A confession of faith in spite of appearances. Whatever the wicked's prolonged success, it shall be well with them that fear God.
A verse for the discouraged believer who watches injustice succeed. Hold the end in view.
Verse 12's confidence is yours. Whatever success injustice currently shows, it shall be well with them that fear God. The book's end vindicates the patient.
Christ is the One in whom it shall be well finds its final guarantee. He took the sentence; the believer's end is secured by His finished work.
God's delay in punishment is misread as approval. The wicked grow bold because the consequence does not arrive immediately.
A psychology of impunity. Delay is not denial; the sentence will come.