Sermon Tone Analysis

Scripture Reading

Introduction

Solomon has been considering wealth, and last week we looked at another some dangers that Solomon demonstrated concerning wealth.

That was demonstration of the utter futility of wealth.

Man is never satisfied, and so he’s always accumulating more for himself.

(Ecc.

5:10)

This pursuit of wealth very often brings sleeplessness, so the person isn’t able to sleep well at night.

(Ecc.

5:12)

The wealth is sometimes hoarded to the harm of its owner (Ecc.

5:13)

All of those aspects that we look at last week as we considered Solomon’s words had to do with an attempt at gaining more, and being very worried to protect that which has already been gained.

But in this morning’s text, Solomon considers another man in life, also with relation to wealth, but this man has been blessed in abundance, and yet is unable to enjoy that blessing of abundance.

1.

An Abundance Unenjoyable (vv.1-2)

As we look at this passage, we see that Solomon continues in his consideration of life under the sun.

Notice his words in verse 1...

As has been mentioned, Solomon is attempting to find solutions in his search for meaning in life, but continues to come up unsuccessful.

As we consider his words here, what we need to keep in mind is that this life that Solomon is considering is a life divorced from relationship with God.

Solomon does not come from a perspective of truly knowing and understanding God, or living in right relationship with God.

As we will see in a moment, he has not entirely forgotten God, for He still makes mention of God, and acknowledges God at least in some measure.

But it is not a life lived in proper communion and fellowship with God.

It is not a life lived in right relationship with God.

And the conclusion that he comes to as he evaluates life from this reference point is that it is evil.

Furthermore, it places a heavy burden on man.

I would add one further reminder here before we delve into the details of this passage, and that is that the scenarios that Solomon describes are not necessarily true of every person all the time.

God deals with different people differently according to His providential working.

With that in mind, Solomon begins in verse 2 to outline what specifically this grievous evil is that he is now considering.

Notice as we consider this grievous evil, that Solomon indeed begins by acknowledging God.

As I’ve said, Solomon has not left God entirely out of his equation of what’s happening in the world.

In this instance, he acknowledges that God is the giver of good things.

Solomon states unequivocally that God is the giver of the gifts of a man.

It was God who gave this man wealth, possessions and honor, no doubt through hard work and toilsome labour as Solomon has previously described it.

This perfectly fits in with the common grace of God to mankind.

To this extent at least, Solomon is acknowledging or admitting to God being the provider of these “good things”.

But we must look carefully at the next phrase Solomon uses here.

He says that this person lacks nothing that their heart desires....

This is a very important statement for us to consider and take note of as we study this passage.

Within the heart of this man are his desires.

In the Scriptures, the heart is the control center of the body.

It is the place where our desires in this life are born.

We want things out of life.

To achieve things

To accomplish goals

To pursue wealth, status, positions...

All of these desires begin in our hearts, and once birthed in the heart, we pursue those desires.

The heart desires drive us towards that which we believe will satisfy us.

This is not intrinsically wrong… if we never had any kind of desire, then we would never accomplish much in life.

The problem comes in when heart desires after things in this world become the focal point of our lives.

Look at some of the examples of the good and bad heart desires that we find of this in the Scriptures.

Consider Solomon, who had some fairly noble desires in his heart in his early years as king...

Consider the parable of the sower and the seed, and that seed falling on different kinds of soil.

When Jesus explained the seed that fell among the thorns, he explained it with these words...

Those desires that Jesus speaks of are the desires that are in opposition to God-oriented desires of the heart.

A question that we need to ask ourselves is, what are the desires of our hearts?

Solomon shows that this person has desired the things of the material world - wealth, possessions, and honor among men.

Furthermore, God allowed them even to obtain the desires of their hearts.

But God didn’t allow them to enjoy those desires.

Although they had obtained the very desires of their hearts, they were in no way content!

According to Solomon, this is a grievous evil!

Remember that Solomon is looking here from the perspective of man… through man’s eyes without considering a right relationship with God.

A grievous evil indeed, that man would seek after these worldly pleasures with no thought for God Himself!

Martin Luther called these verses “a description of a rich man who lacks nothing for a good and happy life and yet does not have one.”

(in Ryken p.140)

2.

An Infant Unfortunate (vv.3-6)

As Solomon continues to lament the situation of a man being unable to enjoy their wealth, he begins to consider that perhaps the unfortunate fate of the stillborn child is better than that of the man who cannot enjoy his prosperity.

Both of these phrases again speak of the blessing of God upon the life of the person being evaluated.

Solomon speak of long life being given to a man, even up to two thousand years (as Solomon mentions down in verse 6).

Long life is that which itself should be understood to be a blessing from the hand of God...

We recall also the commands of God to children:

So this long life that Solomon considers is again a gift from the hand of God...

The other aspect that Solomon addresses is a great offspring - he mentions even a hundred children.

That certainly doesn’t speak of the average person..

This is hyperbole, although in royal families in that day the kings often had many wives and concubines which could have led to high numbers of children.

Again, the point that Solomon is driving home is the blessing from the hand of God.

A man may be richly blessed, and may have long life and many children, but if he is not able to enjoy that prosperity, and also to have a proper burial, then a stillborn child is better.

Just a note on “proper burial”.

A proper burial was an important matter on that day.

A person would desire to be honoured with a proper burial.

A person who didn’t receive a proper burial may even have been seen to be under the curse of God.

An example is Abijah, the son of Jeroboam, who was the only son who would receive a burial…

The rest of Jeroboam’s children were killed and were left to be eaten by wild animals, again demonstrating the curse of God upon them.

Solomon continues by saying that if a man has prosperity, long life and a multitude of offspring, but then cannot enjoy them, and be honoured in his burial, "a stillborn child is better off than he.”

He then goes on (in somewhat morbid fashion) to describe the coming and going of the stillborn child...

When Solomon speaks of this stillborn coming without meaning, he certainly does not mean that its life has absolutely no meaning.

All life will have some kind of meaning, certainly for the parents of that child.

The fact is that this stillborn child will never have the opportunity to make any significant impact on the world.

The stillborn child “comes in futility” (see ESV / NASB etc.)

The name of the child, says Solomon, is shrouded in darkness.

Philip Ryken says here:

“Even its name is covered in darkness — not because the child is never named by his or her parents, but because death shrouds his or her identity and personality.

No one ever gets to know the child’s character or abilities.”

(Ryken, p.142)

In a sense this is a very depressing kind of picture.

When we consider such a child, we would think about this situation with sadness.

We would probably consider such a child to be very unfortunate.

But Solomon seems to think that this stillborn child’s life is better than going through a life in which prosperity is obtained, but then cannot be enjoyed.

He goes on in verse 5 to explain...

The stillborn child doesn’t even get to see daylight, or experience anything of life.

But herein is the place where Solomon sees their advantage.

As he sees it, the stillborn child at the very least doesn’t need to go through the pains of learning and growing.

The stillborn child doesn’t need to suffer in life with other people giving trouble or hardship.

In a stillborn child, there is no guilt, no disgrace, no pain, no discouragement, no hurt of loss, no punishment.