Some years ago, I began reading the Bible through, from beginning to end, using my English Standard Version Study Bible. I determined to read every introductory article and every footnote, as well as every verse of Scripture. I also chose to read a couple of commentary-type books that go along with the book of the Bible I was reading. I didn’t want to use one of those read-the-Bible-through-in-a-year schedules, though there is nothing wrong with those. I wanted to linger over each book, each passage, and meditate over them.

So, at this point, I am reading through the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes.

It is a very realistic book. It is not a book of great stories of God’s rescue or redemption. And it is not a book of uplifting truths of God’s love and mercy and grace, or even his power. It is a book that speaks of the reality of God’s presence in the everyday-ness of life. Chapter 3 has the memorable words, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; . . . a time to kill, and a time to heal; . . . a time to weep, and a time to laugh . . .” Some of you are old enough to remember these words from the song, “Turn! Turn! Turn!” made popular by the Byrds. (Folk artist Pete Seeger wrote the song to emphasize his desire for world peace—the last line calls for a time for peace (“I swear it’s not too late”)—despite the fact that the passage also calls for a time to hate and a time for war, but we won’t go there.)

Directly following that famous passage, the author (who many believe to be King Solomon, also the author of the book of Proverbs) says, “I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live” (3:10-12).

What strikes me from this passage is the underlying faith that Solomon has in the sovereign control of God over all things. There are a couple of truths that point to God’s sovereignty here. First, Solomon announces that everything is beautiful in its time. (If you’re old enough to remember the Byrds, you’re old enough to remember Ray Stevens’ song “Everything is Beautiful,” which, however, has nothing to do with Ecclesiastes.) God has made everything beautiful in its time. We have to believe that there is a beauty to everything in due time. The seasons, as they turn from winter to spring to summer to fall, have a beauty to them. The intricacies of nature are beautiful. The stars of the heavens are beautiful. The complexities of the human body are beautiful. And there is a beauty to God’s timing. When God chooses to do what God chooses to do, it is beautiful because God is beautiful.

Second, God has put eternity in our heart. God has placed eternity, transcendence, perfection in our heart. And yet, because of sin, we live in a world, a situation, that is quite distant from eternity, transcendence, perfection. So, we long for more. We try to make temporary pleasures satisfy eternal desires, and they never will. God has made us to need him. Augustine said that our hearts are restless until they find their rest in God.

Third, Solomon is content to say that we can’t find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. We don’t know all that God has done. We don’t the reasons for what God does. We don’t know the reasons for when God does what He does. He has put a longing in our heart for him, and yet he has not told us fully of his plans or why he has chosen to do what he has chosen to do. We simply don’t know what God knows.

So, what do we do? Solomon tells us. We are to be joyful and do good. We must believe that all God does is beautiful, because God is beautiful. We let our restless hearts rest in Him. And we have faith that God knows the beginning from the end, even though we do not. And as we do those things, we are full of joy. We let our joy be based on the character of the God who knows all things and does all things well. And then we do good to others. Jesus would paraphrase this by telling us to love God and to love our neighbor.