Solomon: Safeguarding Wisdom Part 3

Recap

Wisdom allows us to...

Sort through the confusion (competition)

identify what is of God and what is not

practical application of His will

Three Pitfalls to wisdom

Remembering the Basis: “Obey my commands”

Persistent Secular Pursuits

Untamed Passions

The power of Regret

What is one lesson/advice you wish you would have internalize while growing up?

Why do you think it is so hard to learn from the mistakes of others?

I won’t take it that far

It won’t happen to me

I am in control

What do you think blinds us in life?

Self-centeredness

false truths

Misconceptions of success, joy, security

The bigness of life and my relative insignificance

There is a reality to the relative insignificance of our life on earth

Ecclesiastes 1:3–5 NKJV

3 What profit has a man from all his labor In which he toils under the sun? 4 One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever. 5 The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, And hastens to the place where it arose.

There is a reality to the passing of our existence on the earth. Solomon, who accomplished unparalleled heights realized that it was a matter of time before it would come to nothing.

~under the sun = under heaven

Ecclesiastes 1:6–7 NASB95

6 Blowing toward the south, Then turning toward the north, The wind continues swirling along; And on its circular courses the wind returns. 7 All the rivers flow into the sea, Yet the sea is not full. To the place where the rivers flow, There they flow again.

Reinforcing the idea that humanity accomplishes nothing....futile activity

Its daunting to reflect on the work we are doing in our various organizations as coming to nothing.

Yet being created in the image of God, we are designed to work...

“…tend and keep the garden...”

“…created in Christ Jesus for good works...” Eph 2

The question to wrestle with is where to focus our efforts and work..

Old Testament IX: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon Those Who Toil for the Eternal Gain Much

THOSE WHO TOIL FOR THE ETERNAL GAIN MUCH. DIDYMUS THE BLIND: Those who are rich in things that are valued in the realm of the natural do not gain anything. They do not gain longevity. Rich and poor are in the same situation: they go through life quickly and do not stay for a long time. Thus “from all the toil at which they toil under the sun” one does not gain anything, no increase in natural qualities. But the one who toils and strives for things that lead to the eternal and to the invisible gains something: A human being becomes a god, an uncertain human being becomes a strong one, a coward becomes courageous

Pursuing pleasure for fulfillment

Going to extremes to find pleasure and fulfillment

Ecclesiastes 2:1–2 NKJV

1 I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure”; but surely, this also was vanity. 2 I said of laughter—“Madness!”; and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?”

“mirth” ~ joy and gladness experienced in the context of festivity

Solomon tried to find fulfillment in two ways

Engage in lavish parties and fun

excessive laughter

Reason alone can be used to realize that indulging in fun or excessive laughter will not bring joy.

What did Solomon do next...

Ecclesiastes 2:3 NKJV

3 I searched in my heart how to gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives.

Can rationally controlled ‘gratification’ / ‘folly’ bring fulfillment to humanity

NEW American Commentary

Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs 4. On Wealth (2:1–11)

His attempt to embrace “folly”38 while still being guided39 by “wisdom” was not an act of cognitive dissonance (a way of having his cake and eating it too) but an attempt to indulge in pleasure without being consumed by it.

he wanted to know if rationally controlled indulgence in pleasure gave meaning to life. He did not become a drunk. His experiment was an experiment in pleasure…tight rope walk

Gregory of Nyssa

inasmuch as we perceive the good in pleasure, any delight sets desire aflame, for pleasure is united to desire and is always attractive to each stage of our growth.

Solomon’s last reflection for his pursuit of fulfillment came through his possessions.

Ecclesiastes 2:4–7 NKJV

4 I made my works great, I built myself houses, and planted myself vineyards. 5 I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made myself water pools from which to water the growing trees of the grove. 7 I acquired male and female servants, and had servants born in my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me.

Ecclesiastes 2:8–10 NKJV

8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men, and musical instruments of all kinds. 9 So I became great and excelled more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. 10 Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, For my heart rejoiced in all my labor; And this was my reward from all my labor.

V 10. Solomon felt he had the right to enjoy himself b/c he worked hard

ex. work hard / play hard…work hard and reward with extravagant vacations but struggle to really enjoy life and dread coming back.

Ecclesiastes 2:11 NKJV

11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done And on the labor in which I had toiled; And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun.

St. John Chrysostom

There was no one who lived in greater luxury or higher glory. There was no one so wise or so powerful, no one who saw all things so succeeding to his heart’s desire. What then? H had no enjoyment from all these things. What after all does he say of it himself? “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”

Where to turn?

What did Solomon come to at the end of all his reflections

Ecclesiastes 12:13–14 NKJV

13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all. 14 For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.

Fulfillment comes relationally

St. John Chrysostom

Let us believe him, and lay hold on that in which there is no vanity, in which there is truth; and what is based upon a solid rock, where there is no old age or decline but all things bloom and flourish, without decay, or waxing old, or approaching dissolution. Let us, I beseech you, love God with genuine affection, not from fear of hell but from desire of the kingdom.

For what is comparable to seeing Christ? Surely nothing! What to the enjoyment of those good things? Surely nothing! Well may there be nothing [comparable]; for “eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love him.

David was known as a man after God’s own heart and Solomon as the wisest.

Fulfillment comes in the continual reshaping of ourselves into the image of God

St. Augustine: What could be briefer, truer, better for the soul to know? For this is all a person is—a keeper of God’s commandments. Not being such, he is, so to say, nothing at all, because instead of being constantly reshaped to the image of the truth, he remains bogged down in the likeness of shadow

The greatest challenge is to identify how God is trying to reshape us in our current circumstances. Being able to identify His hand and act in response to it requires wisdom

Maintain spiritual priorities amidst crazy schedule or high demands

identify and pull out of toxic relationships or environments

temper our secular pursuits