Satisfaction
Chuck Sligh
October 1, 2017
BIBLE READING: Psalm 63:1-8
TEXT: Please turn in your Bibles to Ecclesiastes 1.
INTRODUCTION
Illus. – I remember one time as a teenager waiting in the car while my mother was talking with someone. I turned the key and flipped on the radio and heard a song by the Rolling Stones titled, “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction.”
Even at that age, as I listened to the song, I thought, “How pathetic.” Though Mick Jagger’s song had a sensual meaning, his title aptly describes our world in which people are in an endless pursuit of fulfillment and satisfaction, but never seeming to be able to find it.
Illus. – I remember sitting out a typhoon in my later teenage years in Okinawa in the early 70’s. The only source of information in English during a typhoon was the American military radio and TV station, so we stayed glued to the radio during typhoons. I remember hearing a song several times on the radio during one of those typhoons titled, “Is That All There Is?” I don’t remember who sang it, or what the words to the stanzas were, but I never forgot the words to the chorus:
Is that all there is?
Is that all there is?
If that’s all there is my friend,
Then let’s keep dancing…
Let’s bring out the booze…
And have a ball
You know what?—People everywhere are searching for lasting satisfaction and fulfillment.
- People live for MONEY, in search of satisfaction.
- People live for MATERIALISM in a desperate desire to find fulfillment.
- Some people look for satisfaction in A PERSON—a lover or a spouse.
- Some try DRUGS or ALCOHOL or ILLICIT SEX.
- Others try FALSE PHILOSOPHIES.
The Bible records a king named Solomon who sought for satisfaction in all the wrong places. The book of Ecclesiastes is a book in which Solomon chronicles his search for satisfaction, and the results of his search.
In chapter 1, Solomon begins by telling us what he discovered in his spiritual journey into hedonism. In chapters 2-11 he describes his search and reflects on it. In the last chapter, chapter 12, he gives us the solution for the heart longing for satisfaction.
He begins in chapter 1, verses 1 and 2 with what was his final discovery: “The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. 2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.” This what you might call his thesis statement. He declares up front what the whole book is going to be about.
He calls himself “the Preacher,” because he wants to warn us about the vanity of attempting to find fulfillment and satisfaction outside of God. And he says that all human activity in which God is excluded, regardless of what it may be, is ultimately VAIN.
The word “vanity” in verse 2 in the Hebrew originally literally meant “soap bubbles.” It came to mean “absurdity, frustration, futility, nonsense.” The closest equivalent in today’s English would probably be the word meaningless. All our attempts at searching for satisfaction outside of God are meaningless—soap bubbles—vain and purposeless.
Look what he says in verse 8 – “All things are full of labor; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.” In other words, there is no real satisfaction or fulfillment without God.
Now in the rest of chapter 1 and in chapter 2 Solomon details for us three areas in which he sought for satisfaction, and how he discovered each to be “vanity.” Let’s look at them, and then see Solomon’s conclusion to the matter in the last chapter:
I. SOLOMON FIRST SOUGHT FOR SATISFACTION IN FLESHLY (OR “SENSUOUS”) PLEASURES – Ecclesiastes 2:1-3
Notice three fleshly pleasures he sought to find satisfaction in, but found them to be vanity—soap bubbles.
1. First was Mirth – Ecclesiastes 2:1 – “I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth,…”
The closest phrase that captures the Hebrew word translated “mirth” here is “having a good time.” This is the “Party Animal” philosophy. It was Solomon’s way of saying that he sought to have a good time…to live it up…to party…have fun. His motto could be summed up as “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.”
Our whole society is built around mirth and amusement and entertainment and escape. Many of them are not wrong in themselves, but the sad truth is that these can never bring true lasting fulfillment.
Note the last phrase of verse 1 and all of verse 2 – “…and, behold, this also is vanity. 2 I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?”
2. The second fleshly pleasure that Solomon pursued was IMMORALITY. – Solomon goes on in Ecclesiastes 2:1 saying he sought to “ENJOY PLEASURE…”
The word “pleasure” here implies a sensual kind of pleasure. Solomon gave himself to sensual pleasures as no other man in history.
He had 700 wives and 300 concubines. If he slept with a different one each night, it would take almost three years to get through them all one time apiece! You know, a cosmetics dealer could rack it up just in Solomon’s home!
By the way, the Bible NEVER sanctioned multiple marriages. In fact, every instance of multiple marriages recorded in the Old Testament is a record of heartbreak and misery. It was never sanctioned in the Old Testament, and it was specifically forbidden in the New Testament.
But Solomon was not concerned about doing what was right. He was wrapped up in a fleshly desire to satisfy his every sensual pleasure in a vain pursuit of satisfaction.
And did this bring the fulfillment Solomon sought for?—NO! He concluded at the end of verse 2: “…and, behold, this also is vanity.”
3. The third fleshly pleasure that Solomon pursued was WINE AND DRUNKENNESS. – Verse 3 – “I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine,…”
I know that the Bible does not condemn moderate alcohol usage. But drunkenness is uniformly condemned throughout the Bible. He’s here talking here about the “drinking culture” we see in our own day—Drinking to excess; drinking to get drunk, losing control of your facilities, doing in things you would not do if you were not under the influence of alcohol.
Satan paints such a pretty picture of the life he wants for us. All the beer commercials show good ’ole boys having a good ’ole time. All the liquor advertisements show chic, sophisticated, well-to-do folks enjoying the good things in life.
But they leave some things out, don’t they?—They forget to show you the torn homes from alcohol abuse…the little black and blue kids beaten by a daddy in a drunken rage…the mangled bodies of the people killed in car accidents caused by drunk drivers…old men on skid-row, lying face down in the gutter in sub-freezing weather in January in any large city just about anywhere in the world—the victim of a search for satisfaction in a bottle.
The Preacher concludes that the pursuit of a good time, immorality and alcohol abuse are lead to emptiness, purposeless, meaninglessness—soap bubbles.
II. THE SECOND AREA WHERE SOLOMON SEARCHED FOR SATISFACTION WAS IN MATERIALISM
In 2:4-11, we see two kinds of materialism
- Materialism in that which he MADE.
- Materialism in that which he ACQUIRED.
1. First, note the things that Solomon MADE – 2:4-6 – “I made me great works [and then he describes them:]; I builded me houses (plural); I planted me vineyards: 5 I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits: 6 I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees:”
This is what everyone dreams of having! Solomon had a perfect environment. He had made for himself everything you could dream for or want!
It has been said that the English are the best gardeners in the world, and having lived there, I can agree with that. But Solomon could put them all to shame. He filled his life with beautiful and pleasant things.
2. Then note the things that Solomon ACQUIRED – 2:7-10 – “I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem (i.e. great herds of cattle) before me: 8 I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces (this refers to special gifts exacted from those under his domain): I obtained for me men singers and women singers (any rock band he wanted, he got), and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts. 9 So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.”
Solomon went on a wild binge of grasping for himself anything and everything he wanted. He went on a spending spree with no holds barred!
Look at verse 10 – “And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy;…” He withheld absolutely NOTHING from himself.
Have you ever thought, “Wow, what would it be like to get anything I wanted, anytime I wanted it—and not have to worry how much it costs?” Well, that’s exactly what Solomon did. And yet, neither did these things give him the satisfaction he craved.
Look at verse 11 – “Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.”
Illus. – This reminds me of Emperor Nero: Nero sat on the splendid throne as Emperor of the vast Roman empire. He was the conqueror of the world. He lived in resplendent wealth and gave prizes to those who could devise new pleasures and new methods of enjoyment. The porches of Nero’s palace were a mile long! The ceilings of his banquet hall were arranged to shower perfumes upon visitors. Entertainers were brought from every corner of the world to amuse the great emperor. His crown was worth over 2 million dollars in today’s currency. His horses were shod with silver and a thousand chariots accompanied him when he traveled. Nero never wore the same garment twice.
But an observer in his day gave this description of Nero—“He was peevish, gloomy, miserably unhappy and dissatisfied.” And it should also be pointed out that he died by suicide!
Why?—Because THINGS do not, and CANNOT, bring lasting satisfaction!
III. THE THIRD THING SOLOMON SOUGHT SATISFACTION IN WAS HUMAN SPECULATIONS AND THEORIES.
Go back to 1:12-14 – “I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith. 14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.”
Human ideas only brought vanity and vexation of spirit.
The phrase “vexation of spirit” in the original Hebrew is literally “grasping the wind.” Try to grasp the wind and you’ll surely be vexed. And human ideas not tied to the anchor of God’s truth is like grasping the wind!
Read the Bible, written by over 40 authors over 2,000 years on three continents, and you see one coherent theme from Genesis to revelation, and one uniform moral code that never changes. But read the Great Books series of the greatest thinkers of Western civilization, and you find that they all disagree on the purpose of life, morality and virtually every single thing you can imagine.
Man’s intellectualism divorced from God results in vexation of spirit—grasping at the wind. Solomon sought satisfaction in two kinds of human speculations:
1. In 1:15 Solomon came as what we would call a PSYCHOLOGIST, but he found that others had problems he could not solve – “That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.”
2. And then in 2:12-16, we see Solomon as a PHILOSOPHER [CAN SUMMARIZE] – “And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what can the man do that cometh after the king? even that which hath been already done. 13 Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness. 14 The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all. 15 Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity. 16 For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool.”
As with everything else Solomon sought that was not moored in God, human philosophy did not offer satisfaction and fulfillment. Look at where all this brought Solomon in chapter 2, verse 17 – “Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.”
CONCLUSION
So, to summarize, the Preacher says this: In and of itself, without God, all of life is vain. If we say there is no God, nothing has meaning; all is senseless; we are just a freak accident of nature—a chance concoction of molecules that evolved into the creatures we are today; after we die, there is nothing more; all is vain and meaningless and senseless—SOAP BUBBLES.
Sounds pretty bleak, doesn’t it? No wonder the rallying cry of our day is “eat, drink and be merry.” “If that’s all there is, my friend, then let’s keep dancing, let’s bring out the booze and have a ball.”
But dear friend, that’s NOT all there is. Solomon does not leave us in this pit of despair.
Look what his final conclusion to the whole matter is in 12:13-14 – “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.”
We’ll look at Solomon’s two injunctions in a moment, but first note with me verse 14. Here Solomon tells us that God will bring every work to judgment and reveal every secret thing, whether good or bad. In other words, there WILL be a day of evaluation of our lives. Therefore, life DOES have purpose and meaning.
Illus. – A little girl once asked her grandmother why she studied the Bible all the time, and she replied, “Honey, I’m studying for my final exam!”
There is purpose in this life in preparing for the next life, and there is no greater fulfillment in the world than living for something greater than your own personal agenda and for someone greater than you.
Now note Solomon’s two final injunctions:
1. First, he says to fear God.
To fear God begins by realizing that turning away from God is to face His fierce judgment. It’s truly something to fear. Hebrews 10:31 says, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” To fear God begins by turning to God in repentance and accepting His provision of salvation from sin through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who died to pay the penalty of your sins.
2. Second. Solomon says to keep His commandments.
This means living for God after you have trusted in Jesus for salvation.
Jesus said in John 14:15 – “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
Whereas a healthy fear of God motivates a person without God to repent and turn to God, the believer obeys God’s commandments out of love. The greatest motivation in the world for obedience is love!
Illus. – Once I fell in love with my wife, there were some things I submitted to because I loved her. For instance, I no longer dated other girls. I submitted to her desire for me to be true to her because I loved her. I limited my freedom, not out of FEAR—not out of DUTY—but because of LOVE. There were some things she asked me not to do. I did them gladly—for love.
The same is true in our relationship with Christ. Once we get to know Jesus through salvation, we fall in love with Him and what He says is our command. Why?—Because of FEAR or DUTY? No—Because we LOVE Him!
In conclusion, can I ask you something: Do you want REAL LIFE?...Do you want TRUE SATISFACTION?…Do you want a life with real meaning and purpose and fulfillment?… Then the answer is very simple: Fear Him by coming to Him and being saved. Then seek to obey Him for the rest of your days!
At the beginning of this message I spoke of two songs, both of which expressed the desperate cry of humanity for meaning and purpose and satisfaction in life. Now I am reminded of another song I learned a few years ago, and the chorus goes like this:
Only Jesus can satisfy your soul,
And only He can take your life and make it whole.
He’ll give you peace you never knew,
Sweet love and joy, and heaven too,
For only Jesus can satisfy your soul.
Dear friend, only Jesus can satisfy your soul. Come to him for purpose, fulfillment, meaning.
