No Satisfaction

Introduction

When “More” Is Never Enough

It was the six-year-old boy’s first day of school. His one life ambition? Have as much fun as humanly possible. He marched through the gate with the bold confidence that only a child possesses, ready to squeeze joy out of every moment.

But at noon there was a knock at the front door.

There stood the boy—backpack dangling, brow furrowed, eyes blazing with indignation.

“Why are you home?” his mother asked.

“I quit,” he declared. “It’s too hard, too long, and too boring.”

His mother smiled with the wisdom of years.

“Well, son, you’re going back to school—because you’ve just described life.”

>> Another story.

A lonely man longed for companionship without responsibility. He wanted something warm to welcome him home after work—no drama, no noise, no emotional complexity.

“I have just the thing,” the pet shop owner said.

“A canary. Sings all evening.”

The man brought it home, thrilled. The music was heavenly—soft, bright, wonderful.

But when he opened the cage to feed the bird, he froze.

The canary had only one leg.

Furious, he marched back to the store.

“You sold me a defective bird!”

The owner didn’t flinch.

“Sir… what did you want—a singer or a dancer?”

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We laugh, but those vignettes expose something in all of us:

We are rarely satisfied.

God gives us a singer, and we wish for a dancer.

He gives us a child with a unique personality—and we try to mold her into someone else.

He gives us a healthy body—and we push it to exhaustion or dull it with indulgence.

He gives us a beautiful world—and we scar it with greed.

He gives us unique gifts—tailor-made for us—and we covet the gifts of others.

Underneath it all lies the ache of the human heart:

There must be more.

I can’t get no satisfaction.

And that phrase isn’t new.

In 1965, Keith Richards woke up with a hangover and a guitar riff in his head. Mick Jagger added the words, and “Satisfaction” exploded across the airwaves:

> “I can’t get no satisfaction,

’Cause I try and I try and I try and I try…”

The world said it was rock-and-roll rebellion.

But three thousand years earlier, another voice—older, wiser, richer—was already singing that tune.

His name was Solomon.

The wisest man of his generation.

The wealthiest king of his age.

The most accomplished builder, poet, philosopher, and ruler Israel ever had.

But when he looked back over his life, he wrote a refrain that could have been the prelude to a Rolling Stones song:

> “Vanity of vanities… all is vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 1:2)

Solomon had lived the experiment. And the results are in his journal called Ecclesiastes—a book that still speaks with stunning relevance.

He invites us into his journey down three major roads:

1. Wisdom

2. Work

3. Wealth

He pursued each one with unmatched passion.

And every road led to the same dead end.

Let’s walk with him.

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I. THE PURSUIT OF SATISFACTION

A. Satisfaction Pursued in Wisdom

Solomon begins with the life of the mind:

> “I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven… I have gotten great wisdom more than all they that have been before me… yet I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.”

(Ecclesiastes 1:12–17)

This is not a freshman philosophy student dabbling in ideas.

This is Solomon—the man who authored Proverbs, who lectured diplomats, who built academic guilds, who studied botany, biology, engineering, leadership, economics, psychology, theology, and the human condition.

If anyone could find meaning through knowledge, it was this man.

But listen to him:

> “For in much wisdom is much grief, and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.” (Ecclesiastes 1:18)

Knowledge expanded his mind… and multiplied his sorrow.

We see the same today.

Human knowledge now doubles every few months.

We carry supercomputers in our pockets.

We can probe galaxies, decode DNA, and livestream from the ocean floor.

But along with our increased knowledge comes increased anxiety.

We know more

—but we trust less.

We discover more

—but we fear more.

We communicate more

—but feel more isolated than ever before.

Solomon shakes his head across the centuries:

“I mastered wisdom.

And it did not satisfy.”

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B. Satisfaction Pursued in Work

If wisdom couldn’t fill the emptiness, maybe accomplishment could.

> “I built houses… planted vineyards… made myself gardens and parks… pools to water the forest… I made great works…”. (Ecclesiastes 2:1–6)

The scale was breathtaking.

He built the temple.

He developed cities.

He created irrigation systems.

He designed orchards and gardens still discussed in archaeological circles.

He constructed a kingdom that attracted queens from distant lands.

By earthly standards, he succeeded at everything he touched.

Yet at the end of the road, he says: