God Is the Satisfaction Fuller-Upper

“ECCLESIASTES contains reflections of an old man, the “Preacher,” as he considered the question of meaning in life.” He looked back and saw the futility (“vanity”) of chasing after even the good things this life can offer, including wisdom, work, pleasure, and wealth, just things are satisfying for a time, death is certain to end this satisfaction.

Scriptural Text:

God Is the Satisfaction Fuller-Upper

7532 “World Will Give You Up” A man once said to D. L. Moody, “Now that I am converted, must I give up to the world?” “No,” answered the evangelist, “you need not give up the world; if you give a ringing testimony for the Son of God the world will give you up pretty quick. They will not want you around.” —Al Bryant Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc., 1996), 1641.

 Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc., 1996), 1641.

Introduction

people are plagued by addictions today just as they were in Solomon’s day. Medical programs and clinics are springing up within most if not all nations to help meet the growing needs of people paralyzed by addictions. Alcohol, drugs, gambling, sex—these addictions and so many others seem to be getting increasingly worse. Why are humans so prone to addictions?

The Teacher of Ecclesiastes answers this question in chapters one and two. People are subject to addictions because they are searching for something to bring meaning, fulfillment, and lasting satisfaction to their hearts.

The Great Disappointment of Life: Nothing on Earth Lasts, Endures, or Fully Satisfies the Human Heart, 1:1–2:26.

Preacher's Outline and Sermon Bible - Commentary - The Preacher's Outline and Sermon Bible – Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon.

All things fail to fully satisfy the human heart (1:2-11).

a. All things are meaningless—fail to satisfy, last, or endure (v.2). conclusion of his research:

Vanity of vanities…vanity of vanities; all is vanity (v.2).

“Vanity,” in Ecclesiastes, and usually in Scripture, means, not foolish pride, but the emptiness in final result of all life apart from God. It is to be born, to toil, to suffer, to experience some transitory joy, which is as nothing in view of eternity, to leave it all, and to die. See .  C. I. Scofield, ed., The Scofield Reference Bible: The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments (New York; London; Toronto; Melbourne; Bombay: Oxford University Press, 1917), 696.

b. All human activity (labor) gains nothing—not of permanent, eternal value—because life is so brief (vv. 3-7).

Solomon illustrated his point by asking a rhetorical question. “What profit does a man gain from all his labor under the sun?”

“For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away” ().

“For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away” ().

“Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” ().

c. All things are ultimately wearisome—never fully satisfying (vv. 8-11).

An individual’s labor and activities can be draining, wearing a person out and causing extreme disillusionment in every area of life.

 1) Things become wearisome to the earth-bound because the eye and the      ear are never fully satisfied (v.8). No matter what a person sees, he or she wants to see more. No matter what a person hears, he or she craves to hear something new and fresh. This unquenchable thirst in people fuels much of our world’s economy. New books will always be printed; new songs will always be sung, and new forms of media will always be produced. People are restless and never fully satisfied. Their hearts crave…                    

But no matter how much a person experiences, no matter how much he or she sees and hears, it is never enough. Contrast this with what Jesus promised in the Beatitudes:

“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled” ().

…and with His words to the woman at the well:

“Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again” ().

Preacher's Outline and Sermon Bible - Commentary - The Preacher's Outline and Sermon Bible – Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon.                    

) Things become wearisome to the earth-bound because life is full of routine and monotonous activity ( vv. 9-10). All things are merely repeated: there is nothing new in life. For the person living strictly under the sun, life can easily be a dull routine, a vicious cycle like the course of the sun, the wind, and the streams. The daily activities of an average adult go something like this: a person arises from sleep, washes, dresses, eats, goes to work, returns home, spends a few hours with family or some other activity and goes to bed. The next morning it starts all over again. But the very purpose behind it all is also routine. William McDonald candidly describes such a life:

Frail man’s life is filled with labor and activity, but where does it get him when all is said and done? He is on a treadmill, a tiresome round of motion without progress. You ask him why he works, and he replies, “To get money, of course.” But why does he want money? To buy food. And why does he want food? To maintain his strength. Yes, but why does he want strength? He wants strength so he can work. And so there he is, right back where he began.

In addition to the routines of life, there is nothing in life that is truly new. Think about it: all things that appear new were already here, created long ago by the hand of God. Even the progress of modern times is not new. Man only discovers what is already there. All the things that people invent are from the elements God already made. Humans merely rearrange them and make from them some different shape or form. People cannot create anything new. As great as some inventions are, they are merely the reshaping of substances that already exist—that God made. Only God can create something new.                     3) Things become wearisome to the earth-bound because a person has no permanent legacy (v.11). The earth-bound person’s life, work, and contributions to society are soon forgotten once the individual passes away. Eventually, the person is no longer remembered. Most people never become famous; consequently, their legacy in life is soon forgotten after their deaths.

Thought 1. Solomon was the wisest man to ever live, but he shamefully and tragically meets Jesus’ qualifications of a fool. In , Jesus told of a wealthy man who spent his life accumulating and enjoying the things his labor had brought him. But he gave no thought to eternity and things of eternal value. Jesus followed with this admonition:

“Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth” ().

Jesus also declared this truth in the Sermon on the Mount:

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal” ().

if we invest our lives in things of eternal value, we will have an eternal reward. This is the promise of God’s Holy Word:

“For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have showed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister” ().

Contrast Solomon’s attitude at the end of his life with the attitude of Paul in his last days:

“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you” ().

“For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing” ().

Note another significant fact: even our works can continue after we die. expresses a truth that pertains to every faithful believer:

“…Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord…they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them” ().

⇒ The spiritual vineyards we have planted will live on and continue to produce when we no longer remain.

“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled” ().

“But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” ().

“For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness” ().

“Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” ().

“And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not” ().

Preacher's Outline and Sermon Bible - Commentary - The Preacher's Outline and Sermon Bible – Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon.

Conclusion:

God meets us in this book in three main aspects: as Creator, as Sovereign, and as Unsearchable Wisdom

As Creator, He sets the whole scene. We can’t iron out it to our liking. For “who can make straight what he has made crooked? (7:13)” Chapter 3 points out we have very those in this matter.

‘As you do not know how the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything’ (11:5)

know the work of God who makes everything’ (11:5)

As Sovereign, however, it is God who has prescribed the frustrations we find in life. He has given us a treadmill existence, “It is an unhappy business that God has given to the sons of men to be busy with…All is vanity and a striving after wind” (1:13,14).

As Unsearchable Wisdom, reducing our most brilliant thoughts to little more than guesses.

(3:11) “He has made everything beautiful in its time; also he has pput eternity into man’s mind, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”

(7:14) “God has made the one as well as the other—good and bad--’so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.”