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Life is Pain
In the cult classic movie, “The Princess Bride,” Westley, the protagonist rescues Buttercup, his true love, under the disguise of The Pirate Roberts.
Buttercup is under the impression that The Dread Pirate Roberts killed her true love Westley five years earlier.
In their dialogue leading up to the big reveal, Buttercup says to the dread pirate Roberts, “You mock my pain!” Westley responds,
“Life is Pain, highness.
Anyone who says differently is selling you something.”
Westley-Princess Bride
“Life is pain,” has been one of Solomon’s themes throughout the book of Ecclesiastes.
It is the reality of living in a sinful broken world.
Anyone who says differently is trying to sell you something.
Why is life pain?
Solomon reminds us verse 11-12 that,
Life is Difficult & Unpredictable (Eccl 9:11)
Verse 11, is full on odd realities.
The swift are expected to win the race, the strong are supposed to win the battle, the wise should have plenty to eat, and the those who are skilled at what they do should be admired by people.
Yet, in this life, the swift do not always win, the strong are sometimes defeated, the wise go hungry, and the skilled worker is not paid what he is worth.
These realities make life unpredictable and difficult.
It explains Murphy’s Law.
Secondly,
Life is Certain to End in Death (Eccl 9:12)
Solomon has hammered this theme all throughout Ecclesiastes.
Death is the great antagonist to your health, wealth, and prosperity.
And you do not know when death will come for you.
You just know it is coming.
“Life is pain because it is difficult, unpredictable, and certain to end in death.”
Solomon, however, advises not to meddle too long on this reality.
In fact, he has some good news for his readers.
Despite life being painful, God desires for you to enjoy every single day He gives you on this earth.
Solomon exhorts you to respond to life’s painful existence or adversity with joy six times in Ecclesiastes.
He says,
He says,
He says,
He says,
and finally,
Yes, life is pain.
We know this.
The Bible teaches it and life validates it.
However, God does not leave us to suffer under the dark clouds of difficulty and death.
All throughout the book Solomon has called you to fear God and trust in his sovereign justice and goodness.
Because when you build our life on the foundation of His sure justice, despite your difficulty and certain death, God ensures you can rejoice, even when life is painful.
Dr. Michael LeFebvre, who has written on Ecclesiastes, writes in his book Ecclesiastes: Joy That Perseveres,”
“Ecclesiastes admits the problem of life’s many vanities.
But it does not leave us to despair in our plight...Solomon calls us to source our joy in faith that God governs the world’s order.
It is the Lord who promises not to leave his world in the possession of sinners.
He will ultimately bestow the world’s fruits to those honoring him.
As becomes increasingly clear through the course of the book, the Lord’s final provision is only certain in the coming judgment.
There are no guarantees of outcomes today.
But trusting God’s justice offers a basis for joy, even while suffering present vanities.”
Dr. Michael LeFebvre
God grants joy to those who fear him and trust in His sovereign justice and goodness, even as life is painful.
God does not deny the pain, but he gives you joys to help you hold fast as he brings this world into his perfect order.
But joy is not only given, it is commanded.
Solomon Commands Joy
In chapter 9, Solomon offers four joys for you to consider in this life that help you hold fast.
These are not suggestions.
Solomon commands you to enjoy these things.
He uses imperative phrases like, “Go, eat with pleasure,” or “ Let your clothes be white,” or “Enjoy life” or “rejoice young man.”
These are things you must do, which means you have to set your heart to do them with intention.
Joy is not just a spontaneous feeling.
Joy is commanded in the Bible.
Paul might be your greatest example when he says to the Philippian church,
Understand that the Philippian church was undergoing a lot of stress.
Life for them was painful.
They were being persecuted from the outside and suffering discontent from within.
Paul tells them that their suffering has been granted to them to suffer for Christ sake, that is God has brought suffering to them for His glory and their joy (Philippians 1:29).
Their painful circumstances were governed by God’s sovereignty.
Knowing this, Paul gives them the imperative to rejoice, then he doubles down and says “again I say rejoice.”
You don’t just have joy, you choose to have joy.
It’s a choice you make with your heart to keep the right perspective about this painful life through the lens of God’s sovereign goodness and justice.
So, Solomon commands you to enjoy life despite its difficulty.
How is your attitude this morning?
How is your heart?
Has the pain of life burdened you so much that you feel bitter?
Take a moment to repent and ask God to help you see his goodness and justice, to see Jesus’s death and resurrection.
Ask God to help you to rejoice, even through your tears, you can be joyful.
Four Enjoyments in This Life.
Enjoy Your Meals (Eccl 9:7)
God has ordained that food be a source of joy in this world.
Just a few examples will suffice.
In the Garden of Eden, God gave Adam and Eve the entire garden to enjoy minus one tree.
When God called his people out of Egypt, from the bondage of slavery, he told them to eat a passover meal together (Exodus 12).
When God called the 70 elders that were to help Moses up to his mountain,
Fast-forward to the New Testament and you see Jesus eating and drinking and celebrating with people.
He begins his ministry at a wedding feast held in Cana of Galilee (John 2:1-10).
He ate dinner with tax collectors and sinners with Matthew (Matthew 9:10).
He had dinner with Simon the Pharisee (Luke 7:36-50).
The wee little man, Zacchaeus came to salvation eating dinner with Jesus at his house (Luke 19:6-7).
He ate with Mary and Martha and Lazarus often.
Can you imagine how great of a dinner they had together when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead (Luke 10:38-42; John 12:2)?
When Jesus’s hour had come, one of the last things he did with his disciples was eat the Lord’s supper (Matthew 26).
After he is resurrected, he eats lunch with Peter and his disciples on the beach.
There is great theology in food, especially when it involves eating meals together.
Food is not just for sustenance, but for fellowship, community, and spiritual growth.
God uses food to bring joy into your life.
One the one hand, He blasts your taste buds with sweet and savory foods that warm your heart to glorify Him. he could have made everything bland.
On the other hand, He forms the meal around community so that you get satisfaction from both the food and the fellowship.
How often have you enjoyed a meal simply because it was eaten in good company?
There is something out of this world special about good food and eating together, which begs the question,
Why are we not eating together more?
Think about the Home.
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