Back into our Ecclesiastes, Solomon calls for sensible living in our reading today:

Ecc 7:16  So don’t be too good or too wise! Why destroy yourself?

Ecc 7:17  On the other hand, don’t be too wicked either. Don’t be a fool! Why die before your time?

Ecc 7:18  Pay attention to these instructions, for anyone who fears God will avoid both extremes.

Being too good or being too wise is being self righteous…someone who acts like they are “holier than thou” all the time is no different than a Pharisee, and Solomon cautions against that.  In fact, it is usually the most judgmental people who have the biggest skeletons in their closet.

Meanwhile Solomon in the following verse tells us this should not be a license for us to do whatever we want a la sinning.  Both the overtly righteous and excessive sinner come to bitter ends, and Solomon reminds us to live sensibly and avoid both of these extremes of being too overtly righteous and also not to be an overindulgent sinner, in other words – find a happy medium.