At age 45, Howard Hughes was one of the most glamorous men in America. He dated actresses, piloted exotic test aircraft, and worked on top-secret CIA contracts. He owned a string of hotels around the world, and even an airline—TWA—to carry him on global jaunts. Twenty years later, at age 65, Howard Hughes still had plenty of money—$2.3 billion to be exact. But the world’s richest man had become one of its most pathetic. He lived in small dark rooms atop his hotels, without sun and without joy. He was unkempt: a scraggly beard had grown waist-length, his hair fell down his back, and his fingernails were two inches long. His once powerful 6’4” frame had shrunk to about 100 pounds. This famous man spent most of his time watching movies over and over, with the same movie showing as many as 150 times. He lay naked in bed, deathly afraid of germs. Life held no meaning for him. Finally, wasting away and hooked on drugs, he died at age 67 for lack of a medical device his own company had helped to develop.
Perhaps Hughes could have been spared from much of that misery had he only read and heeded the words that we’ll look at this morning from the 6th chapter of Ecclesiastes:
1 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men: 2 A man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor, so that he lacks nothing for himself of all he desires; yet God does not give him power to eat of it, but a foreigner consumes it. This is vanity, and it is an evil affliction. 3 If a man begets a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with goodness, or indeed he has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better than he - 4 for it comes in vanity and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness. 5 Though it has not seen the sun or known anything, this has more rest than that man, 6 even if he lives a thousand years twice - but has not seen goodness. Do not all go to one place? 7 All the labor of man is for his mouth, And yet the soul is not satisfied. 8 For what more has the wise man than the fool? What does the poor man have, Who knows how to walk before the living? 9 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind. 10 Whatever one is, he has been named already, For it is known that he is man; And he cannot contend with Him who is mightier than he. 11 Since there are many things that increase vanity, How is man the better? 12 For who knows what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he passes like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will happen after him under the sun?
Ecclesiastes 6:1-12 (NKJV)
Before we begin to examine this passage, I wanted to take a moment to clear up one issue that might be a bit confusing to some of you who haven’t been with us since the beginning of our journey through Ecclesiastes. Since we can’t be certain about the authorship of this book, I’ve chosen to refer to the author by the Hebrew name with which he identifies himself at the beginning of the book – Qoheleth. While most of our Bibles translate that word as Preacher or Teacher, the word literally means “one who assembles”. It is probably referring to one who gathered together an assembly in order to listen to a particular teaching, thus the reference to a preacher or teacher. But it is also possible that it could be a person who assembled all these various teachings into one book. So since we can’t be sure about many of these things I’ve chosen to just refer to the author as Qoheleth.
In this passage, Qoheleth continues with his thoughts about contentment that we looked at last week at the end of chapter 5. And, although what he writes here is certainly consistent with that passage, he expands his thoughts here and gives us some further insight into how to live a life of contentment.
Key Phrase
Although this is another one of those passages that appears at first glance to contain a bunch of unrelated thoughts, Qoheleth repeats one phrase that is the glue that holds this passage together. We find that phrase in both verse 3 and verse 7:
…his soul is not satisfied… (v. 3)
…the soul is not satisfied… (v. 7)
I really like how Eugene Peterson paraphrases verse 7 in The Message:
We work to feed our appetites; Meanwhile our souls go hungry.
The Hebrew word for “soul” that is used here is the word that means “the complete life of a being”. We first find that word used in connection with the account of the creation of man:
the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
Genesis 2:7 (NIV)
In this passage, the same Hebrew word translated “soul” in Ecclesiastes is
rendered “living being”. When God breathed life into Adam, he became a complete person. So when Qoheleth refers to the soul that is not satisfied, he is writing about who we are as a complete person.
Qoheleth identifies for us several things in which man tries to find satisfaction for his soul, only to find that those things don’t really satisfy after all. But fortunately, even though it may be a little harder to discern in this passage than in some of the others we’ve looked at, he also helps us to identify how we can satisfy our souls. Let’s look first at…
THINGS THAT DO NOT SATISFY THE SOUL
There were three primary indicators of success and of God’s favor in the Hebrew world. And all three of these measures, as we will see, find their roots in the Scriptures. But as Qoheleth accurately points out here, none of these blessings of life can, in and of themselves, provide satisfaction for the soul.
1. Wealth
Qoheleth confirms here that wealth and riches do come from the hand of God, a principle that we find in this Old Testament passage, among others:
Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.
1 Chronicles 29:12 (NIV)
As we saw last week at the end of chapter 5 as well as in verse 2 here in chapter 6, God is a giver and it is He who gives riches, wealth and honor to man. But as Qoheleth also makes quite clear, just because one has riches, wealth and honor does not guarantee that he will be able to enjoy these things.
…yet God does not give him power to eat of it, but a foreigner consumes it. This is vanity, and it is an evil affliction. (v.2)
Qoheleth sounds almost accusatory towards God here. He claims that the same God who gives riches, wealth and honor fails to give some the power to eat, or to enjoy, these blessings. But Qoheleth has already made it quite clear why some are unable to enjoy the blessings of God earlier in the book:
For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him? For to a person who is good in His sight He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy…
Ecclesiastes 2:25, 26 (NASB)
The implication here is quite clear. The man who can’t find satisfaction, enjoyment and contentment in his wealth can’t blame God. It is when we try to find enjoyment in these blessings apart from the One who bestowed them upon us that we will fail to be satisfied.
2. Lots of children
Unfortunately in our culture, children are often viewed as an imposition. But to the Jews, they were viewed as a blessing from God:
Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.
Psalm 127:3-5 (NIV)
A man named Daad Mohammed Murad Abdul Rahman from the United Arab Emirates has certainly taken this Psalm to heart. At 60 years old, he has already fathered 78 children with 15 different wives. He has had to divorce these wives as he goes along in order to remain within the legal limit of four wives at one time. He is now lining up his next two wives in his bid to reach his target of 100 children by 2015.
But as Qoheleth points out, even having a hundred children will not automatically bring satisfaction to the soul and contentment. The gift of family is a great blessing in our lives, but if we are not careful, it is very easy to make even our families an idol if we separate them from our relationship with God.
I can’t think of a better example than the so-called “Octo Mom” Nadya Suleman. Even though she was blessed with six children, that just didn’t satisfy. So she went and found a doctor who would help her bear eight more children. And as long as she tries to find her satisfaction and contentment in those children apart from God, even 14 children isn’t going to be enough.
3. Long life
God expressed the blessing of long life to His children as they prepared to enter the Promised Land.
so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life.
Deuteronomy 6:2 (NIV)
Qoheleth uses a couple of extreme examples to point out the futility of trying to find satisfaction in long life. At one extreme is the man who lives for 2,000 years – over twice as long as Methuselah lived. At the other extreme is the stillborn child. But since they both eventually suffer the same fate – death – there is no inherent advantage in merely living a long life if that life is not lived for God.
We live in a world where we devote a great deal of effort and resources in order to try and extend our lives. We exercise and try to eat healthy foods. We take supplements. We develop new drugs and medical treatments. There is certainly nothing wrong with most of these efforts. But the problem is that merely extending life will never bring satisfaction and contentment. What is far more important is how we live that life.
A lot of people view Ecclesiastes as a depressing book. When Qoheleth presents life as it is viewed from “under the sun”, it’s not always pleasant. But we sure can’t say it isn’t real. I continually marvel at how these words written around 2,500 years ago describe our culture so accurately. But, in its proper context, I don’t view this book as being depressing at all. Although it is not always easy to find, Qoheleth consistently presents the solutions to the kind of life that he describes as “vapor” or “breath”. And he does that once again in this passage. So let’s see what he has to teach us about…
HOW TO SATISFY OUR SOULS
1. Trust in God’s sovereignty
I’m going to begin with the last part of this passage. Although some of the details of verses 10-12 are a bit difficult to make sense of, there is certainly no mistaking the overall message here. Qoheleth is emphasizing here the limitations of man and the corresponding sovereignty of God. This is a principle that runs throughout the book, one that Qoheleth first made all the way back in chapter 1 when he pointed out the futility of man trying to influence or to use for his own profit the cycles that God has put into place in nature.
Since God is sovereign and His purposes and plans cannot be thwarted by man, we just need to trust that whatever God has given to each one of us is adequate for the satisfaction of our souls and our contentment. We need to trust that the process we are going through in our lives is being used by God for our good. We also see just how pointless it is to try and contend with God or argue with Him about what he has ordained for our lives. I’m reminded of the words of Paul as he quotes the prophet Isaiah:
But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ’Why did you make me like this?’" Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?
Romans 9:20, 21 (NIV)
Job also understood this principle. When Mrs. Job encouraged Him to curse God, Job responded with these words:
…Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
Job 2:10 (NIV)
Since, as we’ve seen, the lack of satisfaction for our souls results from trying to find enjoyment and contentment apart from God, then it only makes sense that one of the keys to satisfying our souls is to trust in God’s sovereignty. That means trusting that everything that comes from God - the pleasant and the painful, the easy and the difficult – is being used by Him in my life for my ultimate good.
Paul confirms this principle in a verse that we’ve come back to often in our journey through Ecclesiastes:
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.
1 Timothy 6:17 (NIV)
It couldn’t be any clearer than this. We are not to trust in our riches, which are only temporary, but rather to trust in the God who provides us with everything that we need for the satisfaction of our souls.
2. Let God determine my desires
In this passage Qoheleth points out the difficulty of trying to control our appetites and desires. And that is something that is equally hard for both the wise man and the fool, for both the rich and the poor.
Intellect is insufficient when we try to control our desires. When it comes to that effort, wisdom provides no advantage over folly. And even the poor man, who would appear from a human perspective to be able to better control his desires, is really doing nothing more than concealing them.
Here’s the problem. As we saw in Ecclesiastes 3:11, God has put eternity in the heart of every man. So we’re not capable of being satisfied with the temporary riches of this world. And as we indulge our appetites, rather than being satisfied, those appetites actually increase. George Bernard Shaw accurately observed:
There are two tragedies in life: one is not to get your heart’s desire. The other is to get it.
So if it is not possible for us to control our human appetites and desires, then what is the answer? It is found implicitly here in this passage, but much more explicitly in the Psalms, especially in this verse.
Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4 (NIV)
This is certainly a verse that we need to be very careful with. Far too many people have used it to try and claim that if we just delight in God, He will give us everything that we want. But I’m convinced that the Psalmist is making another point here. He says that if we delight in God that God will put the desires that He wants us to have in our hearts. That certainly is more consistent with the teaching that we find in the rest of the Bible.
In other words, when I pursue God rather than pursuing wealth, and children and a long life, God will put in my heart the kind of desires that will allow my soul to be satisfied. He will prevent me from pursuing the kind of desires that can never be fulfilled, the kind that just lead to even greater desires.
Our hearts need to reflect the attitude that the Psalmist reflected in this Psalm, with which Qoheleth almost certainly would have been familiar.
Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Psalm 73:25, 26 (NIV)
In his book Money, Possessions and Eternity, Randy Alcorn records the words he heard from a persecuted Romanian pastor during the days of the Iron Curtain:
95% of believers who face the test of persecution pass it; 95% who face the test of prosperity fail it.
These are some sobering words for us here in a country where even the poorest among us are quite wealthy by the world’s standards. It is only by making our first priority delighting in God that we will be able to keep our desires in line with His purposes, plans and ways and keep our souls satisfied so that we can be one of the 5% that pass the test.
3. Enjoy the reality of the present instead of yearning for the future
There is a very interesting saying in verse 9:
9 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire…
This is almost an exact parallel to our modern day proverb “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”. In other words, we need to learn to enjoy the reality of what we have in the present, rather than engage in wishful thinking about what we might get in the future.
How many of us, even those who are followers of Jesus, have no satisfaction in our souls, because we’re constantly focused on what we don’t have and how to get it rather than just living in the present and enjoying what we have.
This must be a very important principle for us to grasp since Qoheleth keeps returning to it over and over again in various forms. Nearly half of the messages from Ecclesiastes have dealt with this idea of living in the present and finding joy in what we already have.
In Proverbs we gain some insight into why this is so important:
…give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ’Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.
Proverbs 30:8, 9 (NIV)
Either poverty or riches can pull us away from God if we let them. That’s exactly what Qoheleth has written in this passage. Both the poor and the rich have difficulty reining in their desires. The rich get so fixated upon their wealth that they are tempted to think they’ve obtained it all themselves and forget that it is God who has provided all their riches. And the poor, in their desire to gain more, are tempted to violate God’s moral standards in order to try and achieve their goals.
But the solution for both is exactly the same. Live in the present, acknowledge that whatever you have, be it great or small, is from the hand of God, and just enjoy what you have.
Is your soul satisfied this morning? Or is your life a whole lot more like Howard Hughes, minus the billions of dollars of wealth? Are you trying to find satisfaction in your wealth, or in your family or the length of your life? Are you spending all your time and energy pursuing those things? Or are you living your life in the pursuit of God, who is the only one that can truly bring satisfaction to your soul?
