Ecclesiastes 7:19 Commentary and Bible Study

Supposing ten princes come into the situation. The trouble with rulers is that they are always right – always ready to justify themselves. One wise person who can see his own depravity has more sense than ten rulers who try to put themselves across. To come to know the Lord, we do not have to be marvellously clever. If you begin to seek the Lord, wisdom is far more valuable to you than a lot of other things.Why is wisdom needed and why are ten mighty men of no use? Because of the superior strength of our enemies, and because if any deliverance is going to come it is God who must fight for us. Something more than flesh and blood is need to prevail. Our enemies are committed to our destruction. Our predicament is dire. What counts in this battle is not human might, but God given wisdom. This explains the need for wisdom in a situation where sin abounds and where what is called for, is not might but repentance and faith to take hold of the grace offered us by God. Our natural tendency is to want to trust in the mighty men of human skill and scientific knowledge, human courage, independency and self-sufficiency, man-made religion and ceremonies; these things rather than the cross of Christ are what fill us with confidence, but we must listen to Scripture’s counsel in this matter and abandon our own ideas. Above all, the sinner’s problem is that he has offended a holy God, and broken his laws. He has built up a debt he can never repay to God, and in this situation, all human powers are useless. God must provide a way of salvation and we must come to him on his terms. The wisdom that comes from above will teach us how to approach him.