OUR FATHER WHO GIVES WISDOM TO ANYONE WHO ASKS

The book of Ecclesiates chapter 7 verses 1 - 7, dispensing words of wisdom,  says this;

A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth.

This verse teaches that a good name is more enduring than expensive perfume. It brings to mind the verse in Mathew chapter 26 verses 12 - 13, where a woman, overcome with remorse, breaks a jar of costly perfume over the Lord's body.  The Lord made this statement when the people around commented on her actions;

When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

This gesture of humble adoration is an illustration of how the woman was willing to expend a whole bottle of perfume in exchange for a good name for all the coming ages when the Lord Jesus declared that she would be remembered throughout the world because of her action.

The next section advises that we should give preference to somber and solemn events rather than events marked by laughter, feasting and pleasure.

It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone;  the living should take this to heart.

Frustration is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart. 

The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,  but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.

The counsel given is that the hearts of the wise gravitate towards occasions of mourning while the hearts of the foolish are drawn to occasions of pleasure.

The section that follows speaks to the value to our lives that the wise and the foolish bring.

It is better to heed the rebuke of a wise person than to listen to the song of fools.

Like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of fools. This too is meaningless.

These verses advise us that qualitatively, it is better to hear the rebuke of a wise man than to listen to the  song of fools. Even though a rebuke sometimes difficult  and even painful to receive, it profits us far more than to listen to a pleasant song of fools. The songs and laughter of fools bring no gain to our lives but are like thorns crackling in a fire where they burn away and amount to nothing.

This verse speaks of two ways that people can be induced to perform certain tasks or to overlook some activity. A person could be extorted or person could be bribed; 

Extortion turns a wise person into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart.

This insight given here is that if a wise man is subjected to extortion, he is turned into a fool because every option he has to choose between yields a bad result. 

On the other hand, if a wise man is offered a bribe and he accepts it, his heart will get corrupted in a way that shapes how he percieves himself and how he is perceived by other people.

Amen.