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"The heart of the wise"

Text: Ecclesiastes 7:4

THE WISE AND THE FOOLISH COMPARED

Solomon devoted much time to collect Proverbial sayings. These contained little nuggets of wisdom. One of the features in the Book of Proverbs was to make comparisons between the Wise and the Foolish.

“The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
But the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.”
Ecclesiastes 7:4

1. “The heart of the wise”

a) The wise is known for a number of things:

i) Desire for instruction

ii) Search for understanding

iii) Love for wisdom (Proverbs 1:1-7)

b) His wisdom is however not just intellectual.

i) His wisdom involves the heart.

ii) Wisdom must enter into the heart (Proverbs 2:2; 3:1).

iii) Only then, would the individual be deemed wise.

c) The truly wise in heart would choose the house of mourning.

i) He learns further about life through understanding death.

ii) He is able to apply wisdom to comfort the bereaved.

iii) He will leave a wiser and more sober man.

2. “But the heart of fools is in the house of mirth”

a) The heart of the fool ignores the reality of death.

i) He does not empathise much with those who have suffered bereavement.

ii) He is detached from those who sorrow and weep.

b) The heart of the foolish

i) It chooses to focus on enjoyment.

ii) It does not have a balanced perspective of life.

iii) He faces the danger of becoming shallow in his comprehension of life.

iv) He longs for all the things that pertain to the house of mirth.

3. The comparison

a) It was done deliberately.

b) The stark difference was meant to be noted.

c) It was written to encourage the choosing of wisdom.