Eccl 6_1-6
Did you even have one of those teachers who asked difficult questions and then left you to figure out the answers for yourself? I remember thinking to myself. Hey you’re getting paid to give me the answers.
But a good teacher knows that dishing out easy answers doesn’t help a student to stretch and develop their mind.
In Ecclesiastes Solomon takes on the role of a teacher and he really stretches us. He doesn’t give easy answers to the difficulties of life.
He uses a number of methods to challenge us.
· Sometimes he brings up a tough question and just leaves us to ponder it like he did in 2:22. He asks What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun?
He wants us to ask ourselves: What am I really working for?
· Sometimes Solomon makes a shocking statement to get you to think. In 3:21 he’s speaking about death and he says Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth? (Ec 3:21)
I believe Solomon knows the answer but he wants us to stop and contemplate what is on the other side of death. Are people different than the animals?
· Solomon also liked to shake up the conventional philosophy and wisdom of his day. He lived in a time when people believed that ultimate meaning and purpose and happiness could be found under the sun. In the things of this world such as entertainment and education and possessions.
The world is full of people who still believe that once they get enough wealth or prestige or pleasure then they will be happy.
To that worldly wisdom Solomon says “Oh yeah? Let me tell you what I have experienced under the sun”
· I had it all and it didn’t satisfy me.
· I’ve seen people chasing after the dream only to die before they could enjoy any of it.
· I’ve seen the rich miserable and the poor happy.
· I’ve seen the fool and the wise man share the same fate.
The message of Ecclesiastes still speaks to us today for two reasons:
1) God the Holy Spirit is the real author of this book and His truth is timeless.
Psalm 119:89 Forever, O LORD, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.
2) People are basically the same. The toys and trappings may change but the heart is
the same.
So this morning the eternal truth of Ecclesiastes is going to challenge your heart a bit more. Please turn with me to 6:1-6 (READ)
In these verses Solomon confronts three commonly held beliefs of his day. We can summarise those beliefs like this: Wealth, a large family and a long life are the pathways to ultimate joy.
I would say these beliefs are still common among people the world over. What we believe is important because our beliefs are what drive us as people.
If you believe wealth will bring you ultimate joy then you will do everything you can to acquire that wealth. You will think about making money when you get up in the morning and when you lie down at night.
That would be fine if wealth could give you ultimate joy. But can it?
I. In verses 1 & 2 God’s Word say Wealth is no guarantee of ultimate joy.
1 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind 2 a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honour, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity; it is a grievous evil.
A. Solomon literally says here is a situation that is much on mankind. That can mean it’s something very common or as it’s translated here it lies heavy on mankind. It is a burdensome situation.
B. He tells of a man who has everything. God has given him wealth, possessions and honour so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires. Many would look at this guy and say “He’s got to be the happiest guy in the world.”
Now it’s not always God’s will to give prosperity and success. Many are enticed to come to Christ with promises of wealth and happiness but this is not always the case.
The Apostle Paul certainly was not given those kinds of promises at his conversion. In Acts 9:16 the Lord said For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” And Hebrews 11 recounts how some of God’s choicest servants went through life in chains and destitute.
C. This man was given much but you can see that having wealth is not the same as having joy.
Solomon says God has not given him the power to enjoy them. We’re not told why God gave this man all these things but not the grace to enjoy them.
God is sovereign and He doesn’t need to explain His actions to us.
· It might have been done this way to keep the man from falling in love with the creation rather than the creator.
· It is more likely that the man had already made stuff his god and the Lord is bringing judgment on him. Sometimes the Lord gives a person over to their desires just to show them how empty they really are.
(ILL) This situation is like a person sitting in front of the choicest of foods in the world only to realise he can’t taste anything.
This man desired wealth but it gave him no joy. It was left to a stranger to enjoy it. Solomon says this is vanity and a grievous evil.
These verses ought to remind you to desire the right things. If your joy is based on what you own then what happens if those things are taken away from you?
Psalm 37:4 and Matthew 6:33 point to something better . Psalm 37 says: Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Make the Lord and His kingdom your desire and nothing can rob you of joy.
II. Let’s look at verses 3-5 because Solomon shatters another common belief. Solomon shows that a large family is no guarantee of ultimate joy.
If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life’s good things, and he also has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. 4 For it comes in vanity and goes in darkness, and in darkness its name is covered. 5 Moreover, it has not seen the sun or known anything, yet it finds rest rather than he.
Someone might try to answer Solomon’s first point by saying: Well, he might not be able to enjoy his stuff but at the end of the day family is the real source of joy.
This was certainly a commonly held belief in Solomon’s day. A large family ensured that someone’s name would live on and that was treasured more than gold.
Solomon refutes that in these verses. He uses hyperbole to say that that even if a man had 100 children it’s no guarantee of ultimate joy. Despite the large family this man’s soul might still not be satisfied with life’s good things.
Now Children certainly are a blessing from the Lord. Psalm 127:3-5 (READ)
But children must not become your source of joy. They will let you down at times. They may even reject you. The man in verse 3 was not even given a proper burial. It seems like his whole family just abandoned him at death.
Solomon says to end up like that is worse than never having been born in the first place. At least a stillborn baby finds rest which means he or she is free from toil, anxiety, and misery.
Not like this man who was looking to wealth or family to give him ultimate joy. He was never content. As wonderful as a family is, it can never take the place of the Lord. In fact it’s only when you find your joy in the Lord that you can truly enjoy your family.
When you look to other people as the source of your joy you get very discouraged when they let you down. If you look to the Lord for joy you will never be disappointed.
Jeremiah said this in Lamentations 3:24 “The Lord is my portion, therefore I will hope in him.” David could say this about the Lord in Psalm 27:10 Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.
One final belief people have is that a long life brings happiness.
III. In verse 6 Solomon has to point out that a long life is not a guarantee of ultimate joy
6 Even though he should live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy no good—do not all go to the one place?
Some people will work very hard at prolonging their life. They will eat healthy foods, exercise regularly and avoid dangerous activities. They might be motivated by a fear of death or maybe they just want to be wise.
Solomon was speaking about wisdom when he said in her left hand are riches and honour. (Pr 3:16) Those who live wisely are often blessed with long life.
The point Solomon is making in verse 6 is that a long life in and of itself does not produce ultimate joy. (ILL) If that was the case then the older a person got the happier they would be.
I can ask those of you who work with the elderly if that is true. They don’t use the term “grumpy old men” for nothing. A long life in not a guarantee of joy.
Verse 6 comes at the end of Solomon saying a stillborn baby is better off than this miserable rich man in his old age. (Matthew Henry) put it like this: “Better the fruit that drops from the tree before it is ripe than that left to hang on till rotten”.
Long life can be a blessing from the Lord but only if it’s accompanied by joy in the Lord.
IV. Conclusions
John Piper has written a number of books about finding your joy in the Lord. He sums up much of his teaching with this phrase God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.
Nothing can take the Lord’s place. Wealth, family and a long life are blessings from the Lord but when we make them the source and fountain of our joy then we will be disappointed every time.
Oh that you and I would follow in the footsteps of David, Isaiah and Paul!
Psalm 36:7-9 How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men
find refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house;
you give them drink from your river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life;
Isaiah 61:10 I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God.
In the New Testament Paul told the Philippians 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
These men had a deep abiding joy in their life because they knew the ultimate joy giver.
(Q) Do you?
Or are you still investing your life in things that cannot satisfy?
C. S. Lewis said We are half-hearted creatures, fooling around with drink and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.
In this passage the Lord has exposed the lie that ultimate joy can be found outside of Him.
My prayer is that you will think on these words and then ask the Lord for the grace to find your joy in Him.
Let’s pray!