| “Then I [Solomon] looked on all the works that my hands had wrought … and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 2:11). |
| As we saw yesterday, Solomon asked the Lord first of all for wisdom, and the Lord gave it to him. However, the Lord also gave him riches and honor. Sadly, we saw that Solomon did not manage his riches and honor well, and disobeyed the Lord in getting a lot of horses, silver and gold, and wives. He had to find out that none of this made him happy. He did not need all those horses and chariots to defend himself; the Lord could have protected him without all that. He did not need to gather as much silver and gold as he could; he could not take it with him, and what good did it do him? Finally, he should not have had so many wives; they too did not make him truly happy. |
| Toward the end of his life, after he had tried all these things, Solomon wrote the book of Ecclesiastes. The word ecclesiastes means “the preacher.” Solomon had tried everything in this world and had found out that it could not make him happy. However, Solomon had learned something from all this, and that is why he wrote the book. Now you and I do not have to try everything Solomon tried, to see if it will make us happy. We can read the book of Ecclesiastes and learn from Solomon’s experience. |
| The book of Ecclesiastes is sometimes rather sad, for Solomon explains very clearly all the frustration and disappointment that he experienced when he tried so many things. He had to learn that all of man’s efforts to find happiness outside of God will end up in vanity, which means emptiness. There will also be “vexation of spirit,” which means that we will have a lot of irritation in this world, because nothing is perfect. Sin has spoiled everything. |
| For you and me who know the Lord Jesus, we can find happiness and rest in Him. Only He is able to fill our hearts. |
