Ecclesiastes 9:11-18--The Limitations of Wisdom

Ecclesiastes 9:11-18​
Christian Standard Bible

The Limitations of Wisdom
11 Again I saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, or the battle to the strong, or bread to the wise, or riches to the discerning, or favor to the skillful; rather, time and chance happen to all of them. 12 For certainly no one knows his time: like fish caught in a cruel net or like birds caught in a trap, so people are trapped in an evil time as it suddenly falls on them.

13 I have observed that this also is wisdom under the sun, and it is significant to me: 14 There was a small city with few men in it. A great king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege works against it. 15 Now a poor wise man was found in the city, and he delivered the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 And I said, “Wisdom is better than strength, but the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heeded.”

17 The calm words of the wise are heeded
more than the shouts of a ruler over fools.
18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war,
but one sinner can destroy much good.

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Earthly wisdom can only get us so far in life.  While there are some advantages to being fast or strong or brave or rich or wise or talented there is still an element of randomness and what people would call "luck" or "fate" (though not a biblical concept) that things will go wrong sometimes, and there's nothing you can do about it.  One day, a fish is just swimming along only to be snagged by the fisherman's hook or snatched up by a hungry bird.  The fish didn't do anything different that day--it was just his day to get caught and die.  Likewise, other animals may be caught in a trap or snare or hunted and just been "unlucky" that day.  In the same way, bad things will suddenly come upon us for no rhyme or reason.  They just seem to happen.  The godly know better than to say that it is simply fate, because God is sovereign and in control of the big things and the little things, but our mind cannot make sense of how these things are anything but random and how God could allow them.

Solomon also says that wisdom is great in peace time and people may even say "Wisdom is better than strength" during those times.  A poor, weak man may even be honored during good times for being wise, yet when his city is being surrounded by an attacking king and his army, it will be the strong man, not the wise man that the city starts looking for.  Therefore, wisdom is not always valued equally in all situations and sometimes it is better to be strong than wise, though many times it is better to be wise than strong.

The wise man will keep his emotions in check so that people will listen to his words that he speaks in a calm manner.  The one who loses his temper and shouts and yells is already losing the argument and proving to be a fool, because he is letting someone control his emotions and letting those emotions control him.  Wisdom is better than weapons of war if used correctly (you can diplomatically agree to peace without a need to fight and have unnecessary death and destruction), but an evil person can destroy and undermine everything that a wise person has tried to negotiate, undermining any chance for peace.