Solomon has wrestled with a sense of meaninglessness, we've seen that through this book so far. A meaninglessness which he could not escape by indulging in every pleasure possible. We saw that the material temporal world could not satisfy him and when hedonism failed to satisfy, Solomon comes to despair of life. He even confesses that he hates life. And it's at this bleakest point in the book, in chapter two, that the king experiences a subtle but really sudden turning point. That's at the end of chapter two. And for the first time in this book, he lifts his eyes above life under the sun to think upon God, to consider for the first time his creator. And that's when the king sees or begins to see God's alternative to vanity, to meaningless life. God's alternative to vanity is to reject despair by seeking to enjoy life as you can. To seek the giver of joy rather than seeking happiness itself and to seek to please God rather than simply seeking to gather and collect all you can in life for a limited amount of time. And from this new perspective, Solomon then reflects on the fact that God is sovereign. It's both comforting and a troubling thought to know that God has appointed all that happens in life. that God sovereignly ordains all that happens in our lifetime, good or bad. And he resolves to, as Solomon is, that is resolves to accept this fact. But in verse nine of our chapter, chapter three, he raises a good question. If God appoints all that happens, what profit is there to any labor that a person does under the sun? What's the point? And last week we saw how the king explores the meaningful, responsible living that is found by living in light of God's sovereignty. Yes, life is still meaningful in light of God's sovereignty. In fact, it's more meaningful. But another question now arises at this point. If God is sovereign, what about all the injustices that we witness in the world? What about all the injustices we witness in our world? Let's read our text, Ecclesiastes 3, 16 through 22. For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies, so dies the other. Indeed, they all have the same breath, and there is no advantage for man or beast, for all is vanity. All go to the same place. All came from the dust. All return to the dust. Who knows that the breath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth. I have seen that nothing is better than that man should be happy in his activities. For that is his lot. For who will bring him to see what will occur after him? That's the reading of God's inerrant word. Just consider the gross injustice across our world for a moment. Last Tuesday, in an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, an 18-year-old brought some weapons into a school, went on a shooting spree that massacred 19 children, 2 teachers. How do you make that right? How do you deal with that? And while even liberals get worked up over mass shootings, they champion the mass murder of the unborn. Researchers from the Gumacher Institute, World Health Organization, and United Nations puts the average annual number of abortions in the US around 886,000 annually. Where's the justice in that? In recent times, we've heard about Russian soldiers leveling Ukrainian cities, bombing even maternity wards, firing upon women and children, executing innocent civilians. Is there no justice? And for years, no one in power really has said much or had much to do about the problem of human trafficking. You know, this modern day slavery where men, women, and children are being kidnapped and exploited into forced labor and sexual exploitation. Where's the effort being made to stop human trafficking? And who's speaking out for Christians and people in the Middle East who are being martyred for their faith? We see a very one-sided presentation of the state of affairs by our liberal-owned, liberal-operated media outlets. Where's the voice of reason? Where's the voice of truth? And if you have just the right team of defense attorneys, you can get away with just about anything, can't you? You see, we live in a society where innocence has really become more a matter of working the legal system. You got enough clout, you got the right lawyers, you can get away with murder. Surely we echo the saints in Revelation 6, who suffering martyrdom cried aloud with a voice saying, How long, O Lord, will you refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth? What about all the injustice in the world? Who's going to make it right? How should we respond to the fact there is so much injustice in the world? Well, the King in our text gives us three ways to respond to injustice. From our text, first of all, we see we must be patient. We must be patient awaiting the Lord's judgment. That's verses 16 and 17. As Solomon has reflected on life's meaning and the responsibility that we have in light of God's sovereignty, this brings him to the subject of God seeking out the past. In verse 15, he makes that little statement. God will seek out the past. And we said that has to do with God in the day of judgment bringing to mind everything that has happened. Nothing will escape God's judgment. Nothing will escape his omniscient notice. And it's from this thought of God's coming judgment that Solomon proceeds to think upon the incongruities and inequities, the injustices of man. He feels this deep judicial sentiment, Solomon does. He has a deep longing for justice. Of course, he was raised with a theistic worldview. as a Jew where the God of Israel had expectations for humans on earth to live according to justice. And the law of Moses is even predicated on the very principles of divine justice. It's divine law. He was taught by his father, David, to rule God's people with justice. And Solomon, of course, would have, like David, shared an expectation for a Messiah. this messianic expectation, an anointed one who would rule over men righteously and rule in the fear of God, 2 Samuel 23. But all this judicial sentiment in the king meets with frustration. It meets with frustration because of the injustice he observes. Look at verse 16. He says, Furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness. in the place of justice. Where's that? Where is that? What is that? Well, that would be the law. That would be the seat of chief justices. You've seen the classical depiction of Lady Justice, right? This woman, this lady in her hand holding a set of scales. What did the scales represent? It represents her weighing the evidence according to reason, seeking to discover the truth fairly, and all at the same time, she's got a blindfold tied about her eyes. Lady Justice does. Why is that? Well, that is to represent her impartiality. She refuses to allow wealth, power, and fame to distort in any way her judgment. And we can applaud that. We can applaud that sentiment as Christians because God has told us in his word that he is a God of justice, a God of truth and without iniquity. He is a God who judges impartially as no respecter of persons. In the other hand, we said she holds a set of scales, but she also holds a sword, which represents her authority to punish evil. You know, that's also a biblical idea. Romans 13.4 tells us government is a God-ordained social institution for justice. It is the minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, Paul said, be afraid. For it, government, does not bear the sword for nothing. For it is a minister of God and avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. At least, that's what God designed government for. Government doesn't always function like that, right? But we look at the injustices in our land, and that lets us down, that frustrates us. Why? Because we expect the seat of justice, we expect the legal system, we expect government, those who have been elected in power or are in power, to uphold what's right. We expect them to uphold the rights of the innocent and instead, many times, we see these rights being struck down. Solomon laments that. He says, in the place of justice, there's wickedness. In the place of righteousness, there's wickedness. And one of the great themes of the Old Testament, if you read through the prophets, is the prophets constantly crying against the sins, the social injustices of their own people. So here's a very natural sentiment. Justice is anticipated. Verse 17, Solomon says, Solomon takes a position of faith on this matter. He says, I said to myself, God will judge. That little phrase, I said to myself, we've seen it before. It's this conversation within the soul. And here it's a dialogue of faith. It is Solomon speaking truth to himself. And here's what he knows. Here's what he assures himself of. God will judge. God will judge. There is a higher court of appeals, he says. And it's from this judge of all the earth that justice will be issued, will be rendered, it will be served. Not by any human court of appeals. Michael Eaton in his commentary observes the term, that is the term judge here, suggests not merely judicial assessment, but the execution of sentence also. For in the Old Testament, to judge includes this dynamic element. The king is not simply awaiting God to issue a verdict upon the wicked. He is awaiting God's execution of the sentence. He wants God to put his ruling into effect over all the affairs of human history. And Hebrews 9.27 tells us, as New Testament Christians we know, that it's appointed unto every man once to die, but after this, the judgment. There is a judgment And this is the hope that sustained Asaph in Psalm 73 as he wrestled with the incongruity of wicked people getting away with all that they were doing. And this hope will sustain you too if you will wait patiently on the Lord. Solomon recognizes here, he says, that for a time, for every matter and for every deed is there. That kind of echoes what he's told us in the first eight verses of this chapter. God has appointed a time for everything, even for judgment. And if there is no judgment to come, that means Adolf Hitler got away. Adolf Hitler gets the same fate as the millions he murdered. And the 9-11 hijackers, yeah, they get the same pass as all those they massacred. But God has put something within our human hearts where we know that's not right. And we anticipate that justice, in the end, will be served. Well, here's what Solomon is saying. There is a time for everything. And so that means the time for judgment will come. It will come. How should we respond to the fact there was so much injustice in the world? We must be patient. We must wait for the coming justice of God. We must wait for the judgment of God. Secondly, we must be humble. That's verses 18 through 21. We must be humble before. We must know our place before God, our judge. So God is going to judge every matter for every deed. Great. Yep. Where's the judgment? Why the delay, God? What are we waiting for? If God is indeed going to judge the righteous and the wicked, why the wait? Verse 18 tells us, God is testing man. Verse 18, I said to myself concerning the sons of men, God has surely tested them in order for them to see that they are but beasts. The verses 18 through 21 here give us four facts that demand our humility before our creator, even in the face of injustice. First, we are not in any place to demand God's judgment. We are but beasts, he says. He is God. We are beasts. We naturally think more highly of ourselves than we ought to, don't we? Yet, we are part of the injustice problem. We are sinners ourselves. That is plain in the book of Ecclesiastes, and that is, of course, very clear throughout the entire message of the Bible. We might cry for justice, but we don't really want justice, at least not to the extent that God would give it. Because we are not perfectly just. You know, we see some punk kid racing down the boulevard, and we think, man, I hope some cop flags him down, gives him a fat ticket, And then we get pulled over. And what are we hoping for? We're hoping this officer will show us a little bit of mercy. We're so unlike our just, holy God. And even though we witness injustice in our world, and that can cause our blood to boil like it did Solomon's. And we can cry, God, how long? We want you to make everything right. Yet, as we wait for God's justice, we must also humble ourselves because we must remember we are unjust. If we got exactly what we deserve, if God gave us justice, we'd be eternally separated from him. We want God's mercy that humbles us. We are unjust persons ourselves and we make our own contribution to the injustice this world suffers. So rather than convincing God of our need for justice in this world, Like we just need to convince God of that, we are far more in need of learning the depths and reality of our own injustice, our own sin. It's humbling. So the king tells us God's delay of judgment is his way of testing us, examining us, or purifying us by causing us to more honestly examine ourselves. The king has told us, God has surely tested them, that is mankind, in order that they might see that they are but beasts. How has God tested the sons of men? By awarding us the same fate as the beasts of the earth. Look at verse 19. We suffer the same fate as beasts. That's a second fact here that's very humbling. We suffer the same fate, the same fate. as the beasts of the earth, given our natural tendency to exalt ourselves above the judgment of God, this display of God's power then humbles us. God causes us to experience the same pitiful course of existence that the animals do. The same fate. turning to dust. They live and die. We live and die. And one commentator, Derek Kidner, remarks on the irony of our fate here in light of Genesis 3. The human species rebelled against God to try to be like God. We wanted to be like him. Remember, that was the first lie. That was the first ambition of man, rebelling against his creator. And so what we see here is that God has cursed us so that we instead have become as the beasts. How ironic. What a cruel irony. Having fancied ourselves as gods, God himself is letting us die like beasts. And the overall effect of suffering the same fate as beasts is that, Solomon tells us, there is no advantage for man over beast. That's humbling. That's humbling. We cannot boast our race above the animals for all is vanity, he says. That is all we are upon. This life under the sun is swallowed up in time, swallowed up in death. And you have nothing to show for your life than the animals. You will live and die on this earth and the very rocks you lived on will be scraped from your existence. So we're not in any place to demand God's judgment because we are beasts. And we suffer the same fate as beasts. And yet a third fact demands our humility. We all return to dust. He says in verse 20, all go to the same place. All come from dust, all return to the dust. From dust to dust. You know that statement, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. You've heard that before? Very common saying. That's not found anywhere in the Bible. It's actually from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. It's spoken ceremonially after the casket has been lowered into the earth and as the first handful of dirt is sprinkled upon the casket. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, it's a morbid thought, right? But it rings true with Ecclesiastes 3.20. All came from the dust, Solomon says, all returned to the dust. God told Adam after he sinned in the garden, That is God putting man in his place. He said, you want to be like me? You want to steal my glory? I'll show you. You're just dust. And it's been that way ever since. That's all very humbling, but Solomon presses this tension even further with the fourth fact that we are not even able to explore anything ourselves after death. Who knows? He says, verse 21, we are left in the dark. Look at verse 21. Who knows that the breath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth? Who knows? Solomon asks. The same methods by which he has explored everything else in the universe here fail him. For he cannot observe any who have gone into heaven. He can't observe what becomes of the breath of an animal. Science can't explore this. We are left in the dark. And the question might be raised from the king's words, do we even survive death? Do we even survive the grave? The king doesn't answer that here, because he's not seeking to comfort us. Now, there are places where the Bible does that, certainly, and I'm very thankful for that. But here, the point is not to give comfort to us in the face of death. Instead, he's calling us to come to grips with the finality of our death, to humble us. This is the way things are. As Solomon has already shown us, he does believe in a future judgment. That's very clear in this book. So don't get the idea that he doesn't believe there's a life or existence after death. If you came to that conclusion, you'd have to believe he was contradicting himself. He was a wise man. He's not doing that here. But he intends on bringing us face to face with a very humbling fact. You don't even know what happens to you when you die. You can't explore that. God has so humbly limited you in this life on earth. And while the body returns to dust, and we see that and observe that, the breath, he says, or spirit of a man, ascends upward. That is, the breath of a man returns to the God who gave it to man in the first place. Genesis 2, 7, then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being. God gives you breath, God takes it. That's why there's a fundamental difference, we could say, between the breath or spirit of a man and the spirit, the anima, the life force of an animal. While God gave the animals the gift of physical life, there's nothing in scripture which suggests their breath or soul continues to exist beyond death. So what's the point? What's Solomon's point in saying this in verse 21? Well, whether we're talking about the breath of a man that ascends upward or the breath of an animal that descends into the earth. Who knows? Who can say what becomes of this breath? Who knows? God knows. That's his point. We don't know. We haven't been there. We can't go there. But God knows. Certainly not man. That is humbling. It's not pessimism here. It's not nihilism. It's realism. Solomon is giving us the way things are. And his words bear striking resemblance to the psalmists in Psalm 45. How God sees that even wise men die and the stupid and the senseless alike perish and leave their wealth to others. The inner thought that they have is that their houses are forever and their dwelling places to all generations. They have called their lands after their own names, but man in his pomp will not endure. He is like the beasts that perish. Verse 14, as sheep, they are appointed for Sheol, the grave. and death shall be their shepherd. He goes on to say in verse 15, here's the hope though. But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol. God will redeem me from the power of the grave, the psalmist knew, for he will receive me. And while Solomon doesn't confess that here, the king doesn't give us that hope here, it's very clear from the greater text of his book that that was his hope in God. And yet who knows? Who knows what happens after the grave, right? Well, the silver lining for us New Testament Christians is that we know and have heard from one who has come back from the dead. And he does know he's the one who said to Martha, Martha, I and the resurrection and the life and he believes in me will never die. Do you believe this? That's the question. Do you believe Christ? He knows Jesus knows he's been there and done that. And that's a good reason to anchor your hope in him. Well, how should we respond to the fact that there's so much injustice in the world? We must be patient. We must wait for the Lord's coming judgment. We must be humble, knowing our place before our maker. But thirdly, we must be content. That's verse 32. We must be content. trusting in our God's sovereignty. Verse 22, I have seen that nothing is better than that man should be happy in his activities, for that is his lot. For who will bring him to see what will occur after him? Once again, we see Solomon arriving at God's alternative to despair. You can despair, that's always an option. A lot of 20th and now 21st century philosophy takes that option, just to simply despair of life. But Solomon has told us already in this book, as an alternative to despair, be content with whatever God gives you. In the sense, don't live your life seeking to gather as much as you can, be content with God's portion. Solomon has told us again, be content with whatever God gives you in the sense of accept whatever happens in your life. Accept that whatever happens to you comes to you from the hand of God. And now here is a third time where Solomon tells us to be content essentially. Be content essentially with whatever God gives you or allows in your life. But here in this context, he's dealing with that in the sense of the injustices that God allows to happen. All the injustices that God allows to happen in the world. How can we be content while there's injustice in the world? Well, as a disclaimer, I hope you understand Solomon's not saying we are to be completely passive. We just lay down, right? That's not the idea of be content. Be apathetic. Don't care. Be indifferent to injustice. That's not the point. The point of this passage is really to do with those injustices that we can't do anything about. Because guess what? We can't solve all the problems of this planet. How can we be content in a world where there's injustice and we can't do anything about it? Well, pursue happiness and the responsibilities that God has given you. Pursue happiness and the responsibilities God has given you. That's verse 22. He says, I've seen that nothing is better than that man should be happy in his activities. That's a faith alternative. Nothing is better. Whenever you see this phrase, it just keeps appearing in our book, doesn't it? Nothing is better. It is a key phrase because it represents making the most of the way things are. Knowing this is best. This is what God has given you. Be content. In this case, we're talking about making the most of life in a world with injustice. And the call to be happy in our activities here highlights the fact that we must not despair in the face of injustice, but we must rather joyfully set about doing the right we can. I'm so glad the American colonists didn't despair in the face of injustice, but they rose to the challenge, didn't they? I'm glad men like William Wilberforce did not despair in the face of injustice, but rather set about doing what he could, laboring tirelessly to abolish slavery in England. And of course we have More recently, men like Martin Luther King and others who stood up to the face of injustice and didn't just despair under it and cower under it, but they made the most of the activities God allowed and had given them. And what do you know? They changed the world. They changed their circumstances. Since you will not see, or sorry, my place there. Solomon's saying, don't despair at injustice, But get busy pursuing with joy the activities that God has given you. Nothing is better than that man should be happy in his activities. And then he adds, for that is his lot. That is his lot. The Hebrew word lot there is helek. It means a share of possession, a portion of the spoil. This is what God has given you. This is your spoil in life. Make the most of it. In addition to pursuing happiness in your God-given portion in life, Realize you only live once. The king asked, notice, lastly, for who will bring him to see what will occur after him? Who will bring you to see what's going to happen after you? And the answer is no one. Once you exit life stage, there's no readmittance. Your part is over. Your script is up. The game is over for you. You only live once. And here is the author's motivation, then, to seek contentment in this life now. in the portion God has given you because you won't be able to enjoy it when you're gone. You won't be able to do anything about it. You'll have no activity when you leave life. And so since you will not see what is to happen after you are dead and gone, make the most of your current situation here now. All right. Beloved, how should we respond to injustice in the world? How should we respond to the fact there's so much injustice in the world? Solomon says, be patient. We must be patient. We must wait for the coming justice of God. He's going to set everything right. We must be humble. We must bow the knee before our maker. We must know our place. We're not going to set God right. We can see the injustice, but we're unjust ourselves. We are beasts. We are dust. We cannot lay any charge against the Almighty. And so we must be humble. But thirdly, we say we must be content. We must seek happiness in the things that God allows us. We must do what we can. We must make the most of our life here and now to the glory of God. That's all we can do by his grace. Let's pray.