Ecclesiastes 5:12 Commentary and Bible Study

Things are far from what they appear to the covetous. The simple man has none of these worries and anxieties. Measure the tranquillity of a man’s life by the quality of his sleep and you have a shrewd insight into which of two men are the happier. The one man allows his ambition and covetousness to drive him into a state of restless anxiety about how he can increase his riches, how he can retain what he already has, how he can stop his savings losing their value, how he can support the ever growing retinue of hangers on and pay the large workforce that is necessary to maintain his estate, while the other has no such worries to keep him awake. As a result, the first finds his sleep disturbed by restless worries that spill over from his daytime concerns, while the other in good conscience lies down on his bed and happily forgets about his working day and enjoys sweet and restful sleep. The one finds that his riches which were supposed to give him so much happiness are a plague that will not leave him alone even when he goes to his bed, while the other, if he is a man of God, is able to trust all things to the Lord and lie down to sleep, content that he has worked hard and in an honest fashion and committing his future into the Lord’s hands. The comparison is the reverse of what the would-be-rich imagine, because they lack the foresight to see all that riches would bring, and they have not learnt the secret of contentment in this world.