We know that Northview people love to be in God’s Word and often ask for direction on different devotional apps and reading plans.

While there are several good options available through various sources, we’d like to encourage you to join in our Northview Devotional Guide which will guide you to read and reflect on the passages preached in our weekend sermons! We hope this will unite our congregation around the study of God’s Word, and help us to more readily absorb and apply the great teaching provided by our preaching pastors. Each week we’ll be providing a suggested schedule for working through a passage slowly (15 minutes a day). You’ll need a Bible and a notebook or blank paper to record your observations.

Each day we include a reminder to pray. If you are new to the Adoration / Confession / Supplication method, here are some questions to help guide you as you pray:

  • Adoration: What can you praise God for today?
  • Confession: What thoughts / attitudes / actions might you need to confess to God today?
  • Supplication: What will you ask God for today?

Click here to download printable version

Day 1 – Themes: Wisdom

Read Ecclesiastes 8:1-17 and focus on what this text has to say about wisdom.

  • What does the wise person know?
  • What does wisdom “do” for a person?
  • What is the benefit of having a “wise heart”?
  • What are the limitations of wisdom?

Prayer: As you pray today, ask the Lord for a wise heart!

Day 2 – Themes: Wickedness

Read Ecclesiastes 8:8-14 and focus on what this text has to say about wicked people.

  • What kind of hold can wickedness have on people?
  • What happens, sometimes, when wicked people lord it over others?
  • In what ways does wickedness seem to pay off while people are here on earth?
  • Despite the fact that wicked people often seem to prosper, what does the teacher affirm about the ultimate state of a wicked person?

Prayer: As you pray today, search your heart in confession. Are you practicing wickedness in any part of your life? Are you tempted to participate in wrongdoing because you don’t think you’ll be caught or punished?

Day 3 – Themes: Righteousness

Read Ecclesiastes 8:12-16 and focus on what the text has to say about righteous people.

  • What is the righteous person’s posture before God?
  • What often happens to the righteous person while they are on earth?
  • What conclusion does the teacher draw for righteous people? How does he advise that they live?
  • Reflect:
    What would it look like for you, today, to put away thoughts of whether or not you are getting what you deserve in the moment, and simply focus on enjoying the day before you – eating, drinking, and being glad for life and breath and your ‘toil’?

Prayer: As you pray today, praise God for every good gift he has given you to enjoy! Praise him for people who are in your life, your work, your volunteer engagements, your hobbies & interests, your physical home etc.

Day 4 – Big Idea: Wise Engagement with the Authorities

Read Ecclesiastes 8:2-6 and focus on what the text has to say about how we can wisely engage with earthly authorities.

  • Why, according to the teacher, should a person be careful about opposing the king? He gives several reasons in these verses.
  • With this caution in mind, however, the teacher suggests that there may be times to thoughtfully oppose the king.
    • What does verse 3 caution against?
    • Based on these cautions in verse 3, how or when might it be appropriate to oppose the king? (eg. what are the opposite actions to those which he cautions against?)
      What does verse 5-6 add to this idea?
  • Reflect:
    Are there situations in which you have felt pulled between obeying and opposing those in authority? How could the teacher’s suggestions – that we don’t rush into action, that we don’t support bad causes, and that we patiently wait for the proper time and procedure – guide your thoughts and actions?

Prayer: Pray today in confession and supplication – asking God to help you to discern the proper time and procedure for working through any difficult situation you may be facing with people in authority over you.

Day 5 – Big Idea: The Limits of our Wisdom

Read Ecclesiastes 8:16-17 and focus on what the text has to say about the limitations of human wisdom.

  • What perplexes you today about life ‘under the sun’? What are you struggling to comprehend?

Prayer: As you pray today, talk to God about all the things that you don’t understand, and that you are struggling to comprehend. Ask him to give you wisdom to understand what you can, and peace in leaving the rest with him.