Experiences of Life

Introduction: Solomon offers insights he has gained from observing and experiencing life. One of the greatest forms of learning is through observation, and in this text we see the impact of what Solomon has observed.

Informed vs. Innocent Life (4:1-3)

Informed by Observations (4:1-2) - “1 Again, I observed all the acts of oppression being done under the sun. Look at the tears of those who are oppressed; they have no one to comfort them. Power is with those who oppress them; they have no one to comfort them. 2 So I admired the dead, who have already died, more than the living, who are still alive.”

Proverbs 28:3 (HCSB) - “3 A destitute leader who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain that leaves no food.”

Psalm 42:3 (HCSB) - “3 My tears have been my food day and night, while all day long people say to me, "Where is your God?”

James 5:1-4 (HCSB) - “1 Come now, you rich people! Weep and wail over the miseries that are coming on you. 2 Your wealth is ruined: your clothes are moth-eaten; 3 your silver and gold are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You stored up treasure in the last days! 4 Look! The pay that you withheld from the workers who reaped your fields cries out, and the outcry of the harvesters has reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.”

Innocent from Observation (4:3) - “3 But better than either of them is the one who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil activity that is done under the sun.”

Job 3:10-14 (NLT) - “10 Curse that day for failing to shut my mother’s womb, for letting me be born to see all this trouble. 11 “Why wasn’t I born dead? Why didn’t I die as I came from the womb? 12 Why was I laid on my mother’s lap? Why did she nurse me at her breasts? 13 Had I died at birth, I would now be at peace. I would be asleep and at rest. 14 I would rest with the world’s kings and prime ministers, whose great buildings now lie in ruins.”

Jeremiah 20:18 (HCSB) - “18 Why did I come out of the womb to see [only] struggle and sorrow, to end my life in shame?”

Psalm 55:6-11 (HCSB) - “6 I said, "If only I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and find rest. 7 How far away I would flee; I would stay in the wilderness. Selah 8 I would hurry to my shelter from the raging wind and the storm." 9 Lord, confuse and confound their speech, for I see violence and strife in the city; 10 day and night they make the rounds on its walls. Crime and trouble are within it; 11 destruction is inside it; oppression and deceit never leave its marketplace.”

Effort vs. Laziness (4:4-6)

Motivation for Effort (4:4) - “4 Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind.”

Note: Jealousy motivated Cain to kill Abel; Joseph’s brothers to sell him into slavery; and Saul to despise David.

Proverbs 27:4 (HCSB) - “4 Fury is cruel, and anger is a flood, but who can withstand jealousy?”

Acts 7:9 (NLT) - “9 “These patriarchs were jealous of their brother Joseph, and they sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him”

1 Corinthians 13:3 (HCSB) - “3 because you are still fleshly. For since there is envy and strife among you, are you not fleshly and living like ordinary people?”

Unmotivated Laziness (4:5-6) - “5 “Fools fold their idle hands, leading them to ruin.” 6 And yet, “Better to have one handful with quietness than two handfuls with hard work and chasing the wind.”

Psalm 37:16 (HCSB) - “16 Better the little that the righteous man has than the abundance of many wicked people.”

Proverbs 6:10 (HCSB) - “10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the arms to rest, 11 and your poverty will come like a robber, your need, like a bandit.”

Prosperity vs. Purpose (4:7-8)

Prospering in Life (4:7-8a) - “7 I observed yet another example of something meaningless under the sun. 8 This is the case of a man who is all alone, without a child or a brother, yet who works hard to gain as much wealth as he can.”

Psalm 112:1-3 (ESV) - “Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments! His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.”

Proverbs 13;22 (ESV) - ‘A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous.”

Proverbs 17:6 (ESV) - “Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers.”

Illustration: David’s Blessing of Solomon was a reflection of God’s blessing toward David. - 1 Kings 2:1-4 “When David's time to die drew near, he commanded Solomon his son, saying, “I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, and show yourself a man, and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn, that the Lord may establish his word that he spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’”

Purpose Adds Value to Life (4:8b) - “But then he asks himself, “Who am I working for? Why am I giving up so much pleasure now?” It is all so meaningless and depressing.

Matthew 6:20-21 (ESV) - “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

3 John 1:4 (ESV) - “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”

John 15:16 (ESV) - “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.”