Now, turn with me in your Bibles
to the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 5. Ecclesiastes, chapter
5. Now, the title of the message
is found or taken from, rather, the last verse of this chapter,
verse 20, because that's where we're going to start and we're
going to back up Go through some of these other verses and then
end up there at verse 20. The title of this message is
The Joy of Our Heart. You see that last phrase, God
answereth him in the joy of his heart. And I just think about
that when we do some introspection and self-examination to understand
what is the joy of my heart. the true joy of my heart. And
Solomon began this chapter with talking about worship. You know,
this whole book of Ecclesiastes is about man under the sun trying
to find fulfillment and satisfaction, completeness, even salvation.
And Solomon's point, as he's inspired by the Holy Spirit to
write these words, is that there is no salvation. There is no true, lasting, eternal
satisfaction and fulfillment. for a sinner under the sun on
this earth. That man must look above the
sun. He must look to God in order
to find eternal, everlasting, true fulfillment and satisfaction,
and especially salvation. So he begins chapter 5 there
with the worship of God. And I ask myself as I read this,
is worshiping God one of the true joys of my heart? Is it
yours? Do we long to be in the house
of God with the people of God, hearing the gospel preached,
hearing Christ lifted up? Because that's something that
is a gift of God. That's a gift of God's grace
through Christ. We don't have that naturally.
We seek fulfillment everywhere else, but not in the worship
of God. What he's showing here is that man can only find his
true fulfillment in his Creator, but not only his Creator, but
his Redeemer. I love that passage in the book
of Isaiah which speaks of our God not only as our Maker, but
our Redeemer. Not only did He create us and
put us on this earth and set the boundaries of our habitation
as Paul preached in Acts chapter 17, but He is our Redeemer. And He redeemed us by the precious
blood of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. So there is a necessity
in the heart of man to worship God. Now, man by nature won't
seek God in the true way. We'll seek an idol. We'll seek
a God likened to ourselves. Thou thoughtest I was altogether
one such as yourself. It's not so. We'll seek fulfillment
in the things of this world. But what does the Scripture say?
Verse 7 of Ecclesiastes 5 concludes with, but fear thou God. That
means worship Him, trust Him, reverence Him. And this is the
highest and noblest undertaking of man. And we worship God through
the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life,
the only way to God, through His cross, through that redemption. And then in verse 8, he begins
to talk about evil and injustice that we see in the world. He
says, if thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting
of judgment and justice in a province. Talking about civil government
there. Marvel not at the matter. Don't be amazed. Don't be surprised
at that. He says, for he that is higher
than the highest regardeth and there be higher than they. Now,
I believe he's talking about the succession of governmental
authorities there. Here's a magistrate. He has his
authority, but there's somebody above him and he has his authority
and it all filters down through man. ultimately and generally
in injustice and evil. Now we know that God is over
all. God is in control of all things. But when we see the sinfulness
of man, the injustice of man, the oppression of the poor from
civil authorities, we ought not be surprised considering the
sinfulness of all men by nature, including ourselves. There but
for the grace of God go I. And if we marvel at these things,
if we are surprised at these things, one old wise man said,
it'll multiply words like fools. In other words, we'll go around
asking such questions, well, how can a good and loving God
let things like that go on? Or if God is so good, if he's
in control, how could he let that happen? Well, you see, God
is in control, and He is a loving and a good God, but He's also
a just God. And though He may delay His judgments
for the moment, they are coming. That's what Romans chapter 9
speaks of, the longsuffering of God. He speaks of vessels
of wrath fitted for destruction, that they may not be immediately
destroyed, but they're fitted for it, marked out for it. But
God Himself is not the unjust one. He's not the evil one. He's
not the oppressor. But he uses such things for his
glory and our good. And Solomon shows that such injustice
and oppression is because of the sinfulness of man. It's usually
greed for power and greed for money. And so when you read things
like this in Ecclesiastes, you might say, well, it just seems
like a string of unrelated thoughts. But it's not. As I said, he starts
out here with the highest fulfillment of any sinner And that is, of
course, sinners saved by the grace of God, and that's to worship
God. And then he shows the oppression
of the poor, because man worships himself rather than God. Man
thinks of himself rather than God. He sees his fulfillment
in the lust for power and the lust for money. You know, back
in this day and age that Solomon was writing in, and we don't
see a whole lot of it in our day, because in our country,
I'll say that, because we do have laws that do protect people,
even the poor, to a point. That doesn't mean that all civil
magistrates are just and right in all that they do. They still
try to line their pockets. We all joke about the politicians,
don't we? We get rather upset and frustrated. when we go to vote because we're
talking about usually voting for the lesser of two evils.
And people have been in office too long and how they've lined
their pockets and we just go vote them back in, you know,
because we may think that they might be able to do something
for our town, our community. That's the way we are. I mean,
let's just be honest, you know, that's the way it is. But you
know what? Back in that culture, and then you think about some
third world cultures today, the poor are just chattel. They're
stepped on. I've read a story years ago about
the United States sending food to a starving country, millions
of dollars worth of food and supplies, medicine, and yet the
poor were still starving and dying because those who were
in power in that country hoarded those things in warehouses and
wouldn't let them have it. Is God in control? Would a good
God let that go on? Well, we don't. We don't ask
those foolish questions because we know God has a purpose for
all things and yet He's not the author of sin. And yet every
man who deals unjustly and who finds his fulfillment in his
own power and greed will be dealt with justly. And all we can say
about that is that thank God that He saved my soul by His
grace. That He kept us from the evil
one. And so then Solomon begins in
verse 9 talking about the futility and vanity of trusting in riches,
and he keeps that on to verse 17. And then he concludes it
with these last three verses in chapter 5, 18, 19, and 20. And he speaks of that man, which
I believe he's talking about a regenerate man, a regenerate
person here. who finds his fulfillment in
every way. Listen, in salvation especially,
but not only salvation, but in his very life, his very work,
finds his fulfillment in God. These are things that God has
given him. It's the gift of God. And so God answereth him in the
joy of his heart. Now, this is the heart of worship,
as Solomon has already said. It's the regenerate heart. It's
the new heart, as Ezekiel described. It's the heart that is contrite
and humble, made so by God, because it's a convicted heart. What
is the heart? It's the mind, the affections,
the will, the inner person. It's what you really are. It's
what I really am on the inside. God looks on the heart, the scripture
says. He doesn't just look on the outside.
He just doesn't consider the surface issues that man deals
in and sees. He looks on the heart. And when
he saves a sinner from his sins, he changes that heart. He brings
us under conviction of sin to know who we are, know our frame,
and know that we have nothing good in us and nothing to offer
unto God, nothing to recommend us unto God. And in that conviction
by the Holy Spirit in the new birth, he doesn't leave us to
ourselves, but he drives us to Christ. And so this is a heart
that's purified by faith, purified by looking to Christ. It's a
heart that's established with the grace of God. It's a heart
that is set on Christ. That's what it is. And God answers
him in the joy of his heart. Now, he gives us four negatives
and then one positive here. And the negatives have to do
with man's lust for power and riches. He gives us four things
here. Man longs for riches. Everybody,
you know, a lot of people think that all their problems would
be over if they just had more money, more possessions, more
power. But he gives us these four negatives. And the first
thing he says here, look at it. He says in verse nine, he says,
moreover, the profit of the earth is for all the king himself is
served by the field. You know what? The point that
he's making there is that everybody benefits in some way from the
things of the earth. And the king who steps on the
poor, he can't get along unless he has the poor to work the fields
and work out there and do the things that he doesn't want to
do himself. So we all benefit. But the question is, is how do
we deal with these benefits? Now, these four negatives show
that those who trust in riches are just fooling themselves.
And so in verse 10, the first thing he shows here is that riches
or money or power does not bring eternal satisfaction with it.
May for a time, but not eternally. Look at verse 10. He that loveth
silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth
abundance with increase. This is also vanity. What's his
problem? He'll always want more. He'll
always want more. He can never really be satisfied. But that's not the way it is
with the joy of the heart that's set on Christ. For there is a
satisfaction there. There's a satisfaction in the
completeness of salvation. We sang that hymn, Oh, the unsearchable
riches of Christ. There's a satisfaction in the
richness that we have in Christ of the forgiveness of sins, of
the justification that we have in standing before God, complete
in Christ and accepted in the beloved. Turn to Jeremiah chapter
nine with me. Listen to the prophet. as he
makes this point very clearly in every aspect that man by nature
joys in and seeks satisfaction in, but not the child of God.
He says in verse 23 of Jeremiah chapter 9, he says, Thus saith
the Lord, and here's the command of God, Let not the wise man
glory in his wisdom, that is, his earthly wisdom, neither let
the mighty man glory in his might, his earthly power. Let not the
rich man glory in his riches." Now, most people do by nature. That's what we are by nature.
But he says in verse 24, "...but let him that glorieth glory in
this, that he understandeth and knoweth me." If you understand
and know God as He reveals Himself, that doesn't mean that when you're
saved you know everything about God. It doesn't mean you understand
everything. There's a multitude of things
we don't know and don't understand. God is too high for us to have
Him figured out. Now, you might as well mark it
down. That's why He's God and we are who we are. But He does
reveal Himself to His people in Christ. He gives us a knowledge
and an understanding that we need to worship Him and serve
Him and trust Him. And so He says, Let him that
glorieth, glorieth in this, that he understandeth and knoweth
Me. And here's what He says. Here's how He explains it. That
I am the Lord which exercise loving kindness. That's covenant
kindness. That's what that is. It was Brother
Lloyd talking about that. You know, some people can exercise
kindness without love. Did you know that? Well, if I
have to, if I have to be nice, I know it's the right thing to
do. And we struggle there now, don't you know? It's me too. But God exercises loving kindness. That's covenant love. That's
covenant kindness. That's covenant mercy in Christ.
And I think about that a lot because, you know, We we sometimes
it's almost like sometimes we know we don't have any problem
doubt knowing that Christ is able to save us from our sins.
But sometimes we have trouble in being assured that he's willing
to save me. Willing to save you, but you
know, he is. He is, he's willing and able.
And that's what that loving-kindness is all about. He desires the
salvation of His people. He will not turn a sinner away
who comes to Him pleading the blood and righteousness of Christ.
And so He says that He understandeth to know Me, that I am the Lord
which exercise loving-kindness, but also judgment and righteousness
in the earth. Now, this loving-kindness, this
covenant kindness, is not without justice. It's not without truth. Now, these guys over here that
Solomon is describing, they may pervert justice and judgment
for their own greedy purposes, but not God. You see, God does
it for His glory, and He's the only one who deserves glory. He really is. We don't deserve
any glory at any time for any reason. I want you to chew on
that a little bit. I mean, I thank God for you.
And you may thank God for me, and that's okay, and we're to
love each other. And we're to be kind to one another.
But I don't deserve any glory. God deserves all the glory. All
glory and honor be unto Him. Now, that's it. I don't want
to follow Him. I want you to follow Christ,
you see. I don't want to make a name for
myself. What did Joe read there in Psalm
49? You know, a guy, you know, they name a city or a bridge
or a mud puddle after him. And, you know, and he's dead
and gone just like the beast. You know, he gloried in all that.
And his ancestors, they loved to raise that name up and talk
about it because it's an honor to them, but not to God. Not
to God. That's vanity. That's futility.
So he says, God's going to be glorified. Judgment and righteousness
in the earth. And look at verse 24 of Jeremiah
9. He says, For in these things I delight, saith the Lord. That's
God's delight. Now, when you hear that, he says,
this is my delight. Why is it his delight? Because
you're such a great addition to his kingdom? Or I'm such?
No. It's because it glorifies him.
And that's what he's talking about, the joy of our heart over
here. That God be glorified. It's what
John the Baptist said, it's my joy that Christ increase and
I decrease. And the reason it's my joy is
because He's my salvation, He's my security. Now, you're not
going to get that in riches. You're not going to get that
in a big bank account. That's what Solomon is saying over here.
One more passage here. Turn to Psalm 17. I love this
passage here because this is a prayer of David. And look at
verse 8 of Psalm 17. We usually quote the last verse
of this psalm. But listen to this. I won't read
the whole psalm because I don't have time. But look at verse
8. He says, He says, Keep me as the apple of the eye. Hide
me under the shadow of thy wings. You see, that's where his hope
is. From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies who
compass me about, And incidentally there, when you compare that
with what Solomon is saying, you know, he puts that verse
about oppression and injustice and evil after worship. And what he's telling us, in
essence, there's a lesson there, is that just because there's
sin in the world and there's evil in the world and wickedness
in the world and injustice in the world, that is no reason
for us to not worship God and serve God and trust Him and know
that He is a good God. So David writes in Psalm 17,
verse 10, they are enclosed in their own fat, their own fullness.
With their mouth they speak proudly. They have now compassed us in
our steps. They have set their eyes bowing
down to the earth like as a lion that is greedy of his prey. You
see greed and power, riches. And as it were, a young lion
lurking in secret places. Arise, O Lord. Disappoint him. Cast him down. Deliver my soul
from the wicked, which is thy sword. from men which are thy
hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion
in this life, and whose belly thou fills with thy hid treasure,
they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance
to their babes." Do you know what he's saying there? God gives
them what they want. It's kind of like this, if you're
raising your children, do you always give them what they want?
I hope you don't. Because sometimes they want things
that aren't good for them. But God leads them to themselves.
And He's not unjust in doing that. Because they are worn just
like everybody else. But look at verse 15. I hear
you. As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness. I'm
going to look at Christ. I'm going to see the glory of
Christ. That's what He's talking about. And I shall be satisfied
when I awake with thy likeness. There's the satisfaction, not
in riches. Look back at Ecclesiastes 5.
You may love silver, but you won't be satisfied. You may think
you are for a little while, and God may let you have what you
want. But be like David. You know what the joy of his
heart was? I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness,
when I behold thy face in righteousness. What was it John wrote in 1 John
3 and verse 1? Beloved, behold what manner of
love. that we should be called the
sons of God. It does not yet appear what we
shall be, but we know we'll be like Him, for we'll see Him as
He is. That's our satisfaction. We hunger
and thirst after righteousness, and we're filled because we have
Christ. We seek first the kingdom of
God and His righteousness, and all these other things that we
need and we enjoy are added to us. Look back at Ecclesiastes
5. Now, here's the next thing. Here's the next negative. The
second negative, about riches, talking about possessions. In
verse 11, he shows us possessions bring no security to those who
trust them for it. There's no real security there.
Verse 11, he says, when goods increase, they are increased
that eat them. In other words, the more you get, the more you
got, the more hands you have out there, the more mouths you
have to feed, more, you know. And what good is there to the
owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes? All
they can do is just sit around and look at them. Behold, look
at me, look at what I've got. No security there. You know,
if all you've got to do is just sit around and look at your possessions
or your bank account and all that, let me tell you, one of
two things is going to happen. Either the beauty of those things
will fade or your eyes will fade and you won't be able to see
them anymore. Isn't that right? As you go along, you'll see how
worthless they really are, or your eyes will just fade out,
and you won't be able to see them. What does the scripture
say about those things? Isaiah 64 6, a very graphic passage,
says, We are all as an unclean thing, all our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags. We all do fade as a leaf, and
our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Well, is
there any hope and security for a sinner? Well, the only way
that you can have true hope and security is in Christ, to be
redeemed with the incorruptible blood of Christ. We're not redeemed
with corruptible things like silver and gold from your vain
tradition of your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ. That's our only hope. There's
our security to be under the blood of Jesus, not to be under
the Umbrella of insurance or money or any riches on this earth
All those things spiritual listen, you know spiritual eyes will
never fail To see the glory of Christ and the glory of Christ
will never fade It'll never fade. There's our security our securities
in Christ. It's not in anything of this
where it's not in our family and I listen, you know, I thought
about that too because you know Us parents and grandparents,
we want our children and grandchildren to feel secure, don't we? And
that's not a bad thing. But we want them to know this,
your eternal security is not in mom and daddy or grandma and
grandpa. It's not in anything but Christ and Him crucified
and risen again. Isn't that right? Here's the
third negative. Here in verse 12, he's talking
about riches really bring no peace, no lasting peace. He says, the sleep of a laboring
man is sweet, whether he eat little or much, but the abundance
of the rich will not suffer or allow him to sleep. You may have
a few nights of good sleep, but he's talking about here that
peace of which Paul spoke of in Philippians chapter four,
the peace that passes understanding, eternal lasting peace is not
to be found in riches. I think about our Savior when
He told His disciples before He was going to the cross in
John 14, 27. He said, Peace I leave with you. And He went on to say
it this way. He said, My peace I give unto
you. It's not a peace that we have
by nature. It's not a peace that we work at and earn. It's His
peace that He leaves with us. Not as the world gives, He says,
give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid. Scripture says in Romans 14 and
verse 17, for the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but
righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. And what does
the Holy Ghost do? He leads us sinners. He convicts
us of sin and drives us to Christ. For what? He drives us to Christ
for righteousness, for peace and for joy. And so the joy of
our heart is not in the peace that this world can bring. Romans
15 and verse 13, Paul closed out that great letter, or began
to close it out, with this verse. He said, Now the God of hope
fill you with all joy and peace in believing. Now that's not
just in believing. That's in believing in Christ.
That's in trusting Christ, that you may abound in hope through
the power of the Holy Ghost. And then what we read there in
Philippians 4 when he said, Don't be anxious over these things,
but just through prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request
be made known unto God. All things are of God. He's the
giver of all those good and perfect gifts. And the peace of God which
passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds. How? Through Christ Jesus. Is He the
joy of your heart? Look over at 1 Timothy chapter
6. Paul has a lot to say in 1 Timothy
chapter 6. about the futility of riches.
In verse 9, he says, but they that will be rich, that is, they
who want to be rich, fall into temptation and a snare and into
many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction
and perdition. And so then he says in verse
10, for the love of money is the root of all evil, which While
some coveted after, they have erred from the faith and pierced
themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God,
flee these things and follow after righteousness, godliness,
faith, love, patience, meekness." You can go on and on. Follow
after Christ. There's where your peace is.
And then here's the fourth negative. Go back to Ecclesiastes 5. He
says, wealth carries no guarantees. There's no guarantees. It can
be amassed to our detriment, it can be lost through the meagerest
of circumstances, can it? Here today, gone tomorrow, easily. I wasn't around in the 30s, maybe
some of you all were, but you remember that, you know, on that
day when the stock market crashed and people jumping out of buildings
because they lost everything. What do you know? In their minds
it was everything. And how sad it was. And I'm sure
that they thought the day before the stock market crashed that
they could not lose what they had worked so hard for or what
they had invested in. It's just there. Now we've got
the Federal Reserve to take care of us. You think that's a guarantee? No. In fact, it's becoming less
and less of a guarantee, isn't it? We've seen it. Look at what he says here. Look
at Ecclesiastes 5, verse 13. He says, "...there
is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, here it
is, riches kept for the owners, thereof to their hurt." Hold
on to them for dear life. You end up being their demise.
So there is no guarantee of a good end. He says, verse 14, "...but
those riches perish by evil travail, evil work. And he begetteth a
son, and there is nothing in his hand." In other words, he
lost it all. As he came forth of his mother's
womb, naked shall he return to go as he came and shall take
nothing of his labor. Remember what Job said, naked
came forth, naked shall I go. Which he may carry away in his
hand. And this also is a sore evil that in all points as he
came, so shall he go. What profit hath he that hath
labored for the wind? Chasing the wind. That's what
that literally is. He's chasing the wind, verse
17, all his days also he eateth in darkness. In other words,
he has no light of truth and he hath much sorrow and wrath
with his sickness. That's no guarantee, you see,
when you live under the sun, it's easy to convince yourself
that the road to happiness is through accumulating and keeping
and holding on the best that this world has to offer. But
my friend, the best this world has to offer is nothing. Ultimately. So what's the answer? Well, here's the one positive.
Look at it in verse 18. Behold that which I have seen.
Now, this is Solomon's observation, but not just as a man under the
sun, as a man who's been enlightened by the truth, as a man who's
seen the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And he
says it's good and comely, which means appropriate, for one to
eat and to drink. Now, you've got to eat, you've
got to drink. There's nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong
with enjoying these things. I enjoy it. You do too. All things
in moderation. That's what the scripture teaches.
And somebody comes along and says, well, it's a sin to eat
this and it's a sin to drink that. He's not supposed to do
this. Abstinence, abstinence. And they call that holiness?
Forget them. Don't feed the Pharisees in their
deception. Do all things in moderation with
thanksgiving to the Lord. Nothing wrong with you enjoying
the fruits of your labor. And he says, and to enjoy the
good of all his labor that he taketh under the sun all the
days of his life. That's the number of your days.
You cannot see that in your concordance, whatever days you have. He said
nothing wrong with enjoying them. But here's the key. How many
times has Solomon gone back to this? Look at it. Which God giveth
him. For it is his portion. Now, who
did the portion? Who portioned it out? God did.
It's a gift from God. And all these things we enjoy,
we're to enjoy them, not in pride and seeking our fulfillment and
satisfaction and salvation as if these are the valuable things,
but these are gifts from God. And you know now, you go out
and you work hard and that's good. Nothing wrong with that. You earn your paycheck. You accumulate
things and there's nothing wrong with that, but they're a gift
from God. Now, we of all people ought to
know that. Salvation ultimately, especially, is a gift from God. But all things are, and he says
in verse 19, every man also to whom God hath given riches and
wealth, that God has blessed you financially. And look there
now, God hath given, you see that? You say, well, I invested
wisely. Well, who gave you that wisdom?
Who set you in the day that that stock you invested in would go
up and not plunge down? Who gave you that opportunity?
Who gave you the breath to walk in there? You see what I'm saying? That's it. And God can take it
away just like that. He says, God hath given riches
and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof. You farmers,
you go out and you work those crops and your gardens. I guess that's what we are. We
don't have a lot of big farmers, but we've got gardens. I love
gardens. I love to eat out of the garden.
And you work hard. But just like in salvation, here's
a preacher. He comes along. He sows the Word
of God. But he can't save you. I can't
save you. Can't save myself. God gives
the increase. Same way with your tomatoes and
your onions and your beans. Isn't that right? God gives the
increase. He sends the rain. He prepares
the soil. And it says, and to rejoice in
his labor. And here it is now, verse 19. This is the gift of
God. The gift of God. That's it. And verse 20, for he shall not
much remember the days of his life. I think there's two applications
to that phrase. You know, a lot of people, they
sit around, they reminisce a lot. And they talk about the good
old days. And then some people, they can't
remember much. And it may be as something as
bad as Alzheimer's or whatever. Can't remember hardly anything.
But here's the key, because God answereth him in the joy of his
heart. You see, this is the issue here. We look for answers. And there's
a lot of things we don't know how to, you know, I used to say,
I used to think I knew all the answers and I found out I didn't
even know the right questions. Well, we look for answers. We
don't even sometimes know the right questions. But you see,
there's joy in the heart. when we look to Christ. That's
the key. So what he's saying here is this,
that the central message is the same, the vanity of life here
on earth under the sun without God, without Christ, without
grace, without truth, without even living these physical things
and enjoying them in and by Him as they're gifts from God. So
what do we do? That the only way that we as
sinners can find meaning and fulfillment and purpose and happiness
and satisfaction and peace is number one, salvation by the
grace of God in Christ. If we have that, no matter what
happens here on earth, it's not going to devastate us. And then
secondly, in enjoying the things of this world as a gift from
God. And what does that mean? They're to be used for His glory
and the good of others. Now, let me close with this.
Turn over to 1 Timothy 6, and I'll close with this, because
this sort of sums it all up. when he's talking about riches.
You know, Solomon, he knew something about riches, didn't he? He knew something about them.
He had a lot of them. He had a lot of possessions. But look
at 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verse 17. He says, "...charge them
that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded,
as if these things were not a gift from God." Don't walk around
here as if you're better than everybody else because you have
something that God ultimately gave you. And nor trust in uncertain
riches, puts his faith in them, but in the living God who giveth
us richly all things to enjoy. That's what Solomon's saying.
That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready
to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up in store for themselves
a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay
hold on eternal life. That's the grace of God. That's
joy in the heart of God's people.