Before we look at Ecclesiastes 11:9, let’s get a few things straight first.
Jesus taught that if anyone wanted to follow him, “Let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34). In our culture that encourages people to follow their hearts and be their authentic selves, Jesus’s words are decidedly countercultural. He speaks of denying self and following him, not esteeming self and following your heart.
One of the dangers of the heart is its self-deceit. In the book of Jeremiah, the Lord says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jer. 17:9). A sick heart, one vulnerable to deception, doesn’t sound like the kind of thing we should follow.
In Numbers 15:39–40 the Israelites are told to “remember all the commands of the LORD, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after. So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God.”
The book of Proverbs is very concerned about the fool’s commitment to his own understanding and desires. In Proverbs 12:15, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.” In 14:12, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” And in 3:5, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”
When we reflect on what Numbers Proverbs, Jeremiah, and Mark teach about the heart, the heart is not a thing to be followed.
Now enter the language of Ecclesiastes 11:9. The writer says, “Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.”
Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes? How does this mesh with the other biblical teachings about the heart?
The larger context is always important for any verse. When the author of Ecclesiastes exhorts his readers to any action, he is always doing so with a view toward wise behavior. When he says “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God” (5:1), or “Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart” (9:7), or “Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days” (11:1), these are calls for wise living.
After spending many chapters exposing human folly and exhorting his readers to wise living, he would not suddenly call us to foolish behavior in Ecclesiastes 11:9. Something specific is going on. The question should be: what sort of heart does the writer have in view?
In Ecclesiastes 2:26, the author incentivizes readers to please the Lord. In 3:12, people should “do good as long as they live.” In 3:14, people should “fear” the Lord. In 12:13, people should fear the Lord and keep his commandments. In verses like these, the writer is calling readers to respond rightly to the Lord. Fear him, obey him, doing what is pleasing in his sight.
When other texts tell us not to follow our hearts, they’re doing so because our hearts are naturally bent away from what is good and wise. Over and over in Scripture—and in our lives—we see the danger of what transpires when hearts are set upon the wrong thing. Therefore, the biblical wisdom not to follow your heart makes sense.
But what if your heart is set on what is right? What if your heart delights in God’s word, and you desire what is honoring to him? What if your heart welcomes instruction and correction so that you grow in wisdom? Ecclesiastes 11:9 is talking about a heart like this. When your heart fears God and desires to keep his commandments, your heart is set upon what is good and right.
The writer, in Ecclesiastes 11:9, is not advocating reckless living but Godward living, decisions made overflowing from a heart that fears and follows the Lord.
In order to avoid misunderstanding, the author says at the end of the verse, “But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment” (11:9). People should conduct themselves with the sober-mindedness that a future judgment should cause. Sin is destructive, folly is a terrible life strategy, and a future judgment will involve all people. There is moral accountability in the universe because there is a Creator who is perfectly righteous and supremely wise.
The wisdom in Ecclesiastes 11:9 is an exhortation with moral guardrails. The biblical author wants his readers to walk in joy and gratitude, in faithful work and integrity. Wisdom is a blessing to our temporal earthly lives. As we fear the Lord and remember the Creator (12:1, 13), we are setting our hearts upon the one who has made for his glory. And in setting our hearts upon him, we are following him when we follow our hearts.