Ecclesiastes 9:7

Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works. EAT THY BREAD WITH JOY. Here the voice of the Spirit rebuts the voice of the flesh. Addressed to the "righteous wise" spoken of in Ecclesiastes 9:1. NOW ACCEPTETH THY WORKS Being "in the hand of God," who "now accepteth thy works" in His service, as He has previously accepted thy person (Genesis 4:4), thou mayest 'eat etc., with a cheerful (not sensually "merry") heart' (Ecclesiastes 3:13; Ecclesiastes 5:18;...

4-10 The most despicable living man's state, is preferable to that of the most noble who have died impenitent. Solomon exhorts the wise and pious to cheerful confidence in God, whatever their condition in life. The meanest morsel, coming from their Father's love, in answer to prayer, will have a peculiar relish. Not that we may set our hearts upon the delights of sense, but what God has given us we may use with wisdom. The joy here described, is the gladness of heart that springs from a sense of the Divine favour. This is the world of service, that to come is the world of recompence. All in their stations, may find some work to do. And above all, sinners have the salvation of their souls to seek after, believers have to prove their faith, adorn the gospel, glorify God, and serve their generation....

Verse Ecclesiastes 9:7. _GO THY WAY, EAT THY BREAD WITH JOY_] Do not vex and perplex yourselves with the dispensations and mysteries of Providence; enjoy the blessings which God has given you, and live to his glory; and then _God will accept your works_....

Read these six verses connectedly, in order to arrive at the meaning of the writer; and compare Ecclesiastes 2:1. After the description Ecclesiastes 9:5 of the portionless condition of the dead, the next thought which occurs is that the man who is prosperous and active should simply enjoy his portion all through this life Ecclesiastes 9:7; and then Ecclesiastes 9:11 follows the correcting thought (see Ecclesiastes 3:1 note), introduced as usual...

EXPOSITION ECCLESIASTES 9:1 One fate happens to all, and the dead are cut off from all the feelings and interests of life in the upper world. ECCLESIASTES 9:1 This continues the subject treated above, confirming the conclusion arrived at in Ecclesiastes 8:17, viz. that God's government of the world is unfathomable. FOR ALL THIS I CONSIDERED IN MY HEART EVEN TO DECLARE ALL THIS; literally, _for_ _all this laid up in my heart, and all this I have been about _(equivalent to _I sought_)_ to clear up_._ _The reference is both to what has been said and to what is coming. The ki,...

GO THY WAY,.... Thou righteous man, as Jarchi paraphrases it; and indeed epicures and voluptuous persons have no need of the following exhortation, and the reason annexed is not suitable to them; but the whole agrees better with religious persons, who under distressing views of Providence, and from gloomy and melancholy apprehensions of things, and mistaken notions of mortification, deny themselves the free and lawful use of the good things of life; and seeing there is no enjoyment of them in the grave, and after death, therefore let the following advice be taken, than which of worldly things nothing is better for a man to do; EAT THY BREAD WITH JOY, AND DRINK THY WINE WITH A MERRY HEART; which includes all things necessary and convenient, and which should be used and enjoyed freely and cheerfully; not barely for refreshment, but recreation; not for necessity only, but for pleasure; yet...

CHAPTER 9 _ 1. The common fate (Ecclesiastes 9:1)_ 2. Make the best of life (Ecclesiastes 9:7) 3. The great uncertainty (Ecclesiastes 9:11) Ecclesiastes 9:1. Here is another conclusion. The righteous and the wise with their works are in the hands of God. One event is in store for all, for the righteous, the wicked, the good, the clean, the unclean, the one who sacrificeth and the one who sacrificeth not--the grave is the one common goal. In that goal there is the end of all human toil and ambition. But even with this knowledge that all go one way, and the certainty of it,

ECCLESIASTES 8:16 TO ECCLESIASTES 9:16. LIFE'S RIDDLE BAFFLES THE WISEST QUEST. The parenthesis in Ecclesiastes 8:16_ b_ describes the ceaseless effort of the keen student of life, or perhaps the fate of the toiler who is too tired to sleep; with Ecclesiastes 8:17; cf. Ecclesiastes 7:24; Job 11:6, and from the Christian standpoint Romans 11:33

WINE. Hebrew. _yayin._ App-27....

_Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy_ The DEBATER falls back, as before, on the Epicurean rule of tranquil regulated enjoyment, as in chs. Ecclesiastes 2:24; Ecclesiastes 3:12; Ecclesiastes 3:22; Ecclesiastes 5:18. Life was after all liveable, if a man would but set himself to look at its brighter side. The specific mention of "wine" for the first time in this connexion does not imply anything more than the moderate use of it commended in Proverbs 31:6;...