Commonplaces Visits Ecclesiastes: Miserable Tyrants of the Wildest Order

When a man realizes his ambition, he may pervert it and become tyrannical.  Unless kings and rulers are God-fearing men, they may become tyrants of the wildest order.  

One of the great stirring truths of the Bible is that the man who looks for justice from others is a fool.  In moral and spiritual life if a man has a sense of injustice, he ceases to be of value to his fellow men.  

Never waste your time looking for justice; if you do you will soon put yourself in bandages and give way to self-pity.  Our business is to see that no one suffers from our injustice.  

The man who has satisfied his ambition may suddenly become a miserable tyrant and all his joy will go.  

"These things have I spoken to you," said Jesus, "that my joy may be in you."  What joy did Jesus have?

He failed apparently in everything He came to do; all His disciples forsook Him, He was crucified, and yet He talked of His joy.  

The joy of Our Lord lay in doing what the Father sent Him to do.  His purpose was not to succeed, but to fulfill the design of His coming - "For I come down from Heaven not to do My own will, but the will of Him that sent Me."

It takes a man a long time to see that his "chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.  But to put things on any other basis will end in disaster.

Adapted Excerpt from The Shade of His Hand by Oswald Chambers