SERIES: “BE SATISFIED”
“IS LIFE WORTH LIVING?”
ECCLESIASTES 1:1-3
Three guys are shipwrecked on a deserted island. They’ve been there for quite awhile. One day, a magic lamp washes up on the shore and they find it. One of them begins to rug the lamp and sure enough, out pops a genie.
The genie says that he will grant each one of them a one wish apiece. The first guy says, “I’ve really missed my wife’s’ cooking. I wish I could be back at home ready to eat one of her great meals.” The genie waves his hands and POOF! The man is sitting at the table in his house ready to eat dinner.
The second man says, “I’ve never been married but I really miss my girlfriend. I wish I was on my way to her house to pick her up for a date.” The genie waves his hands and POOF! The second man is driving in his car on the way to pick up his girlfriend for a date.
The third man says, “I’m really glad those guys got what they wanted but I sure do miss them. I wish they were back here with me again.”
Imagine with me this morning that you can have anything that you want. Literally, anything that you can think of to ask for is yours – be it material or spiritual. You want riches, ask for it. You want a long and healthy life? All you have to do is ask. You want a new and better job, go ahead and ask away. The question is, what would you choose?
There once was a man who was asked this very question by God Himself. His name was Solomon and he became king of Israel after his father David had died. Solomon was probably about twenty years old when he was asked this question. 1 Kings 3:5 – At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”
I’m sure that if I asked for people to come forward this morning and we all shared what we would ask for in this situation, we would all say wonderfully spiritual things: “I’d like to see every person in the world come to know Jesus as Savior and Lord.” “I’d like to see an end to world hunger and the eradication of poverty.”
But in our heart of hearts, wouldn’t we be thinking about how nice it would be have a much higher paying job? Or better yet, enough money where we wouldn’t have to work? Possibly we’d consider a nicer house or a nicer car. Of course, we’d all tithe on the value of the things we received, wouldn’t we?
Do you know what Solomon asked for? Listen as we pick up the story in 1 Kings 3:6-9 – Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you
and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father
David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the
people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning
heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”
What was it that Solomon said that he wanted more than anything? Wisdom. 1 Kings 3:10 tells us that God was very pleased with Solomon for choosing wisdom. And because Solomon asked for wisdom, listen to what God said to him: 1 King 3:11-14 – So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or
wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both riches
and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. And if you walk in my ways and obey
my statutes and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.”
Now let’s flash forward. We’re near the end of Solomon’s life. What sort of life do you think he had? After what you just heard, wouldn’t you expect it to be a full and enjoyable life? If I had been a publisher at the beginning of Solomon’s life, I would have signed him up immediately to write his memoirs. And that book has been written. We call it Ecclesiastes. It is Solomon’s reflections on his life experiences and the lessons that he has learned.
Today we start a new series called, “Be Satisfied.” We’re going to go through the book of Ecclesiastes and see what life principles it can teach us for today. You see, Ecclesiastes is not just an interesting exhibit in a religious museum. It is viable and practical for life in the 21st century. In fact, the world in which Solomon lived three thousand years ago was much like ours today. There was injustice toward the poor, crooked politicians, guilty people who continued to commit crimes, materialism, and people back then even longed for the “good old days.”
Solomon began his reign as a humble servant of God, but as he grew older, his heart turned away from the Lord. He played around with multiple marriages and false gods. He tried possessions, pleasures, power, and prestige. Nothing filled the whole in his heart. He had forgotten what he told God was most important in his life.
This morning, we’re just going to get our toes wet in our study of Ecclesiastes. Next week, we’ll get much deeper but this morning, we need to come to grips with Solomon’s main ideas for the entire book. Today’s message is called, “Is Life Worth Living?”
Eccl. 1:1-3 – The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem: “Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless. What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?”
Let’s look at the key statements in these first three verses. These key statements clearly give us an overview of Solomon’s purpose in writing this book of reflection and wisdom.
Phrase #1: “MEANINGLESS! MEANINGLESS!
UTTERLY MEANINGLESS! EVERYTHING IS MEANINGLESS!”
Listen to how some other translations handle this statement: KJV – “Vanities of vanities, …vanity of vanities; all is vanity.” NCV – “…Useless! Useless! Completely useless! Everything is useless!” The Message – “Smoke, nothing but smoke. …There’s nothing to anything—it’s all smoke.” AMP – “Vapor of vapors and futility of futilities… Vapor of vapors and futility of futilities! All is vanity (emptiness, falsity, and vainglory).” What a description of life!
In Hebrew, if a word is repeated even once, it’s repeated for added emphasis. Here, this statement in the Hebrew is repeated five times in the same verse! Can’t you feel the exasperation, the frustration, and the realization that came to Solomon as he examined is own life?
The Hebrew word translated in the NIV as “meaningless” literally means, “empty, unsatisfactory, futile.” It’s consistency would be like that of vapor, which disappears quickly, leaves nothing behind, and fails to satisfy. One scholar defined this word as “whatever is left after you break a soap bubble.”
What a conclusion for Solomon! He utilizes this word over thirty times in the book of Ecclesiastes.
What Solomon is saying is that when he considers his wealth, his works, his wisdom – in fact, everything in his life – he comes to this conclusion in Eccl. 2:11 – “Then I looked on all that my hands had done and the labor I had spent in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after the wind and a feeding on it, and there was no profit under the sun.” Someone has described life as a “blister on top of a tumor, and a boil on top of that.” As Solomon took stock of his life, I’m sure that he would have agreed with that assessment.
Phrase #2: “WHAT DO WE GAIN?”
Stephen Covey says that many people are climbing the ladders of success, but when they get to the top, they will find that the ladders are leaning against the wrong walls. Is there any value or profit for all the things we do on this earth? If our labor is meaningless as far as this life is concerned, what can we do?
Jesus said in Mt. 6:19-21 – “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Solomon is now an old man looking back at what he has accomplished. From a human standpoint, Solomon has accomplished a lot in his life. He has been king over Israel, built great buildings, accumulated great wealth, lived life to its absolute fullest. In the earthly profit column, he was way ahead. However, Solomon is now an old man. He’s staring death in the face. We can fool ourselves into ignoring the important questions of life - until it is time to face death
We can live any way we please - until a brush of death makes us reevaluate. Death is a judge who questions the worthiness of our lives. Death is a litmus test, indicating the quality of the way we have lived.
Death is a knife that divides the world into the fearful and the unafraid, the remorseful and those at peace, the angry and the accepting, and the hopeless and the hopeful
Solomon comes to see all too clearly that his time is short and he becomes obsessed with death - he is angry at death and fearful of death For Solomon, death is a defeat not just of the physical body but of all the hopes and dreams and ambitions of life. Because man dies, nothing in life means very much at all. If one cannot come to grips with death, he cannot ever come to grips with life.
Phrase #3: “UNDER THE SUN”
Solomon says that there is a specific reference for everything that he says. He is looking at life “under the sun.” That phrase occurs 29 times in the book of Ecclesiastes. Solomon is letting us know that he is looking at life from an earthly point of view. He is looking at life from the human level. For most of the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon is reflecting on a life lived apart from God.
Solomon uses another phrase quite frequently in Ecclesiastes – “under heaven.” Solomon is contrasting a life lived from an earthly perspective with one lived from a heavenly perspective. G. Campbell Morgan said, “This man had been living through all these experiences under the sun, concerned with nothing above the sun … until there came a moment in which he had seen the whole of life. And there was something over the sun. It is only as man takes account of that which is over the sun as well as that which is under the sun that things under the sun are seen in their true light.”
Here is one of the applications of this book: Life only makes sense with God. A number of years ago, Coca-Cola had a slogan that said, “Things go better with Coke.” Solomon, while reflecting on his life and sharing what he has learned from his life, would say, “Life goes better with God.” Apart from God, from an “under the sun” perspective, life is utterly futile, empty and meaningless. We need God and a personal relationship with His Son in order for life to many any sense.
Let’s look at the reality of things. A lot of people, including you and me, are looking for a life filled with satisfaction and purpose. We spend too much time looking in the wrong places. I guarantee that there are people in your workplaces, in your families, and in your neighborhoods that are looking for God and don’t know it. They’re sensing that their lives are empty and futile and meaningless, and are searching for something to fill that void. Solomon’s father, David, said it well in Psalm 37:4 – “Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart.”
CONCLUSION
Thomas Wolfe once wrote, “For of all I have ever seen or learned, this book seems to me the noblest, the wisest, and the most powerful expression of man’s life upon this earth - and also the highest flower of poetry, eloquence, and truth. I am not given to dogmatic judgments in the matter of literary creation, but if I had to make one I could say that Ecclesiastes is the greatest single piece of writing I have ever known, and the wisdom expressed in it the most lasting and profound.”
Two ideas set the tone for the book of Ecclesiastes: 1. Life apart from God is empty, futile, and unsatisfactory. 2. Only God can satisfy the deep desires of the heart.”
You’re probably familiar with the TV game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Originally hosted by Regis Philbin and now hosted by Meredith Viera, contestants answer questions at different value levels until they reach the million dollar mark. As a contestant, you have several things you can count on at different times for assistance in answering questions. They are called “lifelines.”
One of the lifelines is “Ask the Audience.” If you feel shaky about a question, you can request that the audience be polled and you choose to take which answer gets the largest percentage of agreement by the audience. Of course, you’re depending on people you don’t know to give you the answer that will provide you with the best chance at success. You take just follow what a majority of people are doing. Just follow the crowd. Solomon says that is meaningless.
The second lifeline is “Phone a friend.” One of the dangers is that your friend is going to give you the wrong answer. Too many people already live their lives by what their friends think anyway. Solomon warns that their opinions are meaningless.
A lifeline that was added sometime back is called “Ask the Expert.” The person you get to ask for help is an expert is some field of expertise. The problem is that it may not be in the field of expertise where you need help. Again, way too many people are trying to follow experts who have no idea concerning what the Designer of the Universe has to say about anything. Just remember, amateurs built the Ark. Experts built the Titanic. Which one stayed afloat?
Solomon, the writer of Ecclesiastes is referred to as “The Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem.” There is another Teacher (rabbi) in scripture who is referred to as the son of David and king in Jerusalem and everywhere else. His name is Jesus. He is our only true lifeline.
