No One Is Righteous

Chapter 7 shifts into proverbs that compare one thing as better than another. A good name is better than fine perfume. The Preacher says it is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men, and the living should take this to heart. Sorrow can teach us what laughter cannot. It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the song of fools.

The wise are patient and humble. Better is the end of a thing than its beginning. The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Don't be hasty in your spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools. Don't say, Why were the former days better than these? For you do not ask wisely about this. Wisdom is as good as an inheritance. Verse 12 adds that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.

God rules all our days. In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider; yes, God has made the one side by side with the other. The Preacher makes a sobering point: Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and doesn't sin. God made mankind upright; but they search for many inventions. In the New Testament, Paul writes, for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).