FBC Morning Light – May 5, 2022

Good Thursday morning to you. How are you doing on this fifth day of May, in this first week of the month of May already? I trust your week is going well for you. Aren't you glad that you're not an evolutionist or an existentialist?

The Frustration of Life Under the Sun

Why do I ask that question? Because if you are, then you have to look at this world in which we live as if it's all there is, and you look at this life that you're living as if that's all there is, that what you see is all there will be, and that when your life is over, that's it for you and everything else is going to go on.

Solomon did a little experiment, and he writes about it in the book of Ecclesiastes. What he does is he tries to perceive the reality of this life through the eyes of an existentialist, as if this world in which we live is all there is.

When he looks at life that way, it leaves him utterly frustrated. He wants us to go along with him on this journey, this little experiment, because he wants us to come to that same conclusion. If we conclude that this world in which we live is all there is, this life that we're living is all there will be, then we'll be utterly frustrated.

Let me show you how he does this. He begins with a conclusion, like a summary of a thesis statement, if you will, in chapter 1, verses 12 through 14. He says, I, the preacher, was king over all Israel and Jerusalem.

He never names himself, but he's the king over Israel and Jerusalem. He's the king when the empire was at its apex. It's Solomon. He says, and I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven.

I'm looking at life under heaven, and I'm looking at everything I can possibly look at. Then he says this, it's this burdensome task God has given to the sons of men by which they may be exercised. I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind.

How utterly frustrating life is under the sun, apart from God. It is exasperating. This is reality. To illustrate that, he takes us with him on some of his experiences to try to find meaning in this life under the sun.

Look at the different ways he tries this. First he tries to seek and to know wisdom, to gain wisdom, and find meaning and significance and a sense of accomplishment in getting wisdom. He says, I communed with my heart saying, look, I have attained greatness and have gained more wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem.

My heart has understood great wisdom and knowledge, and I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. But what did he conclude? He said, I perceive that this also is grasping for the wind, because in much wisdom there's much grief, and he who increases in knowledge increases sorrow.

We may think that the more we know, the happier we will be. Not necessarily, because after all, the more you know, the more you know you don't know, and the more there is to be known. Sometimes the more you know, the more frustrating it is, because of what you don't know and can't find out, answers that you can't get, and things that you come to know that they don't bring satisfaction, but instead bring heartache and grief.

So, wisdom and knowledge, that doesn't help. That doesn't give me satisfaction. That doesn't give me meaning and significance in life. He moved from there to the indulging in pleasure. In chapter 2, verses 1 through 3, he says, I said in my heart, come now, I will test you with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure.

But surely this also is vanity. Have you ever visited an amusement park? Isn't it an interesting case study in human beings? I've been to a few in my years, and taken our kids to them and so forth. It's really kind of fascinating to stand in one of these long lines, waiting to get on an exhilarating ride, and just look at the people.

Just look at the people. Sure, some are kind of goofing around, and seem like they're having a good time. Others are just standing there frustrated, because it's all taking so long, and they're standing in a line for 45 minutes to get on a 90-second roller coaster, or something like that, that's supposed to be exhilarating.

They finally get up to the front of the line, and they're about to get on, and they get excited, and they're sitting in the seat, and they go on the ride, and they're screaming, and they're hollering, and they're having a great old time, and they get off the ride, and they go, we've got to get to the next one, and they've got to run to the next thing, and then they're standing in that line again, and their arms are folded.

How brief the pleasures of life are, how briefly they last, the mirth that comes from seeking pleasure. I said of laughter, madness, and of mirth, what does it accomplish? You ever sit in a clean comedy show, you go in, and maybe your heart was heavy over something, and you go, and you sit down, and this comedian tells their jokes, and all this stuff, and gets everybody laughing, and you're having a jolly good time, but then you walk out of the thing, and how long does it take before the reality of life completely obliterates all of the laughter?

Doesn't take very long, does it? This is what Solomon discovered. He said, I searched my heart to gratify my flesh with wine while guiding my heart with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives.

I made my works great. He says, I tried all this pleasure stuff, and now he's moving from that to making great works, and accomplishing impressive things with his skills. He said, I make great works, I build houses, and vineyards, and gardens, and orchards, and I made water pools, and all this kind of stuff.

I did all of these impressive works, but at the end of the day, he says, it's all vanity. It's all vanity. You build a house, you have to maintain it. You plant a garden, you have to weed it, and so on and so forth.

In verses 7 and 8, he talks about the accumulation of wealth. He said, I acquired male and female servants. I had great possessions of herds and flocks, more than all who were in Jerusalem before me. I gathered for myself silver and gold, and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces.

I acquired, and acquired, and acquired, and acquired, and acquired, and I had all of this wealth. I had all this wealth. But at the end of the day, it's just grasping after wind. So what's the conclusion of the matter?

He's done all these things, what does he conclude? In verse 17 of chapter 2, he says, therefore I hated life, because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for it's all vanity and grasping for the wind.

Then I hated all my labor, which I toiled under the sun. Why? Why did he hate it all? Because he says, I must leave it to the man who will come after me, and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool.

It's probably a good thing he didn't know. You know the story of Solomon's son, right? The guy who became the king after Solomon, Rehoboam, under whose reign very quickly the kingdom of Israel that was in such a glorious state when Solomon passed off the scene was soon split in two.

All the wealth that had been accumulated before long was all dissipated. It's a good thing he didn't know. It's a good thing he didn't know. Finally, he says in verse 22, he says, what has a man for all his labor and for the striving of his heart which he's toiled under the sun?

All his days are sorrowful and his work burdensome, even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity. It's frustrating. It's so frustrating. Boy, what a downer of a devotional this morning.

Contentment as a Gift from God

What's the answer to all of this? Verses 24 and 25, he says, nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. There's nothing better for a man than to find contentment and satisfaction in the simple things of life, is what he's saying.

But, he says, this I saw was from the hand of God. In other words, only God can give this to a man contentment and satisfaction with just the simple things of life. Enough food to eat, roof over my head, a meaningful job that provides for my family and provides the things, the stuff of life that I need.

He goes on to ask the question, for who can eat or who can have enjoyment apart from him? No one. No one. So, here's the bottom line. You find yourself looking at life under the sun and getting frustrated and discouraged and disappointed and so forth, and what do you do?

You get down on your knees and say, oh God, the God who alone can give enjoyment in the simple things of everyday life, please grant me that contentment. Grant me that contentment. I can't find it apart from you.

Our Father and our God, may you give that contentment to your people, and we pray this in Jesus' name and for his sake. Amen. I trust you'll have a good rest of your Thursday and may God bless you richly in it.

Have a good day.