Day 1 · Obey the King
Ecclesiastes 8:1–9
1Who is like the wise man? Who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man’s wisdom brightens his face, and the sternness of his face is changed. 2Keep the king’s command, I say, because of your oath before God. 3Do not hasten to leave his presence, and do not persist in a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases. 4For the king’s word is supreme, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?” 5Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure. 6For there is a right time and procedure to every purpose, though a man’s misery weighs heavily upon him. 7Since no one knows what will happen, who can tell him what is to come? 8As no man has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has authority over his day of death. As no one can be discharged in wartime, so wickedness will not release those who practice it. 9All this I have seen, applying my mind to every deed that is done under the sun; there is a time when one man lords it over another to his own detriment.
Berean Standard Bible
Observe
According to verse 2, what motivates keeping the king's command, and what limit on human power does verse 8 highlight?
Apply
How can you show wisdom and proper timing when responding to authority figures in your life this week?
In the app, each day also opens the words in the original language, what the passage meant to its first readers, pastors teaching it, a place to write, and a time to pray.