In this sermon, Pastor Dave Capoccia finishes looking at the foundational teaching of Solomon in the beginning of Ecclesiastes. In Ecclesiastes 2:12-26, Solomon gives his final reflections on his personal experiments with wisdom and joy. More specifically, Solomon presents three truths about our coming deaths that should cause us to stop living for vapor and instead enjoy God’s good.

1. Death will frustrate wisdom’s gain
2. Death will frustrate work’s gain
3. Death directs us to God instead

Full Transcript

Well, life is always full of many ironies. One of the great ironies of our present-day is an irony concerning death. In 21^st century America, we are simultaneously, probably more aware of the reality of death than ever. But at the same time, we are less aware of the reality of our own deaths. Maybe more than ever. Consider the news. What is the news, if not in large part, a chronicling of death and the fear of death? This many died this past week from Coronavirus, we hear. Or this person, or this woman, was shot and killed. Or these two nations are about to go to war, and we face the prospect of mass death. Somehow, though, even though we keep hearing about death, this ticker tape of death, doesn’t make us more aware of our mortality but, somehow, less.

We become numb to the idea of death. Death is dulled to us. Death seems somewhere out there, far away. Something that happens to other people. The very old. The careless. We feel like, still, that we will live forever. Especially if we’re young. And we, therefore, turn from the grim news reports to various work and leisure pursuits. Oh, time to mow the lawn. Or, yep, got to start my new job and hopefully, I can get that bigger house. Or did you see that hilarious, new video on TikTok?

As we turn to the Word of God this morning, God’s Spirit, speaking to us through King Solomon in our Scriptures, God’s Spirit wants us to face the reality of our impending deaths. My friends, you must grapple with the frustration that is death. You’re going to die and it’s going to happen sooner than you think. But this truth is not really meant to depress you or to siphon the joy out of your life. Rather, we’ll see from our text today, we’ll see from the Lord’s Word, that it is facing the frustration of death that actually allows you to enjoy life. And really, it gives you the only proper way to face life.

Take your bibles if you haven’t yet and open to Ecclesiastes 2. Ecclesiastes 2, we’ll be starting in verse 12. The title of today’s message is Solomon’s Epic Fail, Part 3. King Solomon, who is the gathering one, the assembling one, the preacher in this book, which is where the title of Ecclesiastes comes from. He opens this message in Ecclesiastes 1:2 by arguing that everything in life is vapor. Hebel, in Hebrew, translated vanity. Life is innately frustrating because everything in it is ultimately ungraspable, like smoke or breath.

He presents this thesis and then in Ecclesiastes 1:3-11 he directs us to just look around at the world and mankind to see how life is indeed vaporous. In the earth and in mankind, nothing fundamentally changes or advances, even though there is a lot of activity, a lot of recycling of people over and over on the earth. No matter how much activity there is, though, there is no real gain, or profit, or satisfaction in the end.

And starting in Ecclesiastes 1:12, Solomon begins to tell us about his own grand experiments. His own testing of this as the great king in the Middle East at that time, if he could find lasting gain for himself, some profit in this fallen world. Solomon began an epic quest for wisdom and knowledge in Ecclesiastes 1:12-18, but he did not find any liberating secrets there. He just found a lot of frustration and pain. And then Solomon conducted an epic quest for joy in Ecclesiastes 2:1-11, and that’s what we looked at together last time we were in Ecclesiastes. He went after life’s pleasures and pursuits, but this experiment also ended in failure. Because Solomon only found emptiness in merrymaking and he found no lasting profit, in even the grandest royal accomplishments.

And for these experiments, Solomon was, as I sought to emphasize to you, the consummate wisdom-seeker and joy-seeker. Par excellence. The greatest. So, whatever he discovered for himself in these experiments, it applies to the rest of us. None of us can surpass Solomon in these experiments. We’re not going to find anything different than he did. Now our text this morning is Ecclesiastes 2:12-26. It represents Solomon’s final reflections on his grand experiments. And though Solomon did not find any fundamental or life-transforming gain in wisdom or in joy, he wants to circle back to see if there’s still something he can recommend to mankind based on his experience. Solomon also now wants to finally explain what it is that ruins any attempt to find gain in this world. And that’s what we’ll see.

Let’s read our text, Ecclesiastes 2:12-26:

So I turned to consider wisdom, insanity, and foolishness; for what will the man do who will come after the king, except what has already been done? Then I saw that wisdom surpasses foolishness as light surpasses darkness. The wise person’s eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I know that one and the same fate happens to both of them. Then I said to myself, “As is the fate of the fool, it will also happen to me. Why then have I been extremely wise?” So I said to myself, “This too is futility.” For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, along with the fool, since in the coming days everything will soon be forgotten. And how the wise and the fool alike die! So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was unhappy to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind.

So I hated all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me. And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is futility. Therefore I completely despaired over all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun. When there is a person who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and then gives his legacy to one who has not labored for it; this too is futility and a great evil. For what does a person get in all his labor and in his striving with which he labors under the sun? Because all his days his activity is painful and irritating; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is futility.

There is nothing better for a person than to eat and drink, and show himself some good in his trouble. This too I have seen, that it is from the hand of God. For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him? For to a person who is good in His sight, He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good in God’s sight. This too is futility and striving after wind.

According to Solomon, what is that great ruiner of gain? A fly in the ointment. The buzzkill of life. It’s death. It’s your coming death. Death frustrates every effort to find lasting profit in this world. But still, though Solomon clarifies that death is truly a terrible reality, there is a way of approaching life, in light of death, that is both wise and joy-filled. Indeed, it is the only way.

Solomon’s main message in this passage and this is the main message of God to you and me today, it is that you must face the frustration of your coming death so that you will stop living for vapor, and instead, enjoy God’s good during your brief sojourn. This teaching from Solomon unfolds in our passage in three main sections of reflection and that is going to form our outline today. Three truths that you must embrace about your coming death so that you stop living for vapor, and instead, enjoy God’s good. Here are the points. 1) Death will frustrate wisdom’s gain. 2) Death will frustrate work’s gain. 3) Death directs you to God instead.

Let’s start with the first truth. The first reflection from Solomon in vs.12-17. 1) Death will frustrate wisdom’s gain. Look at verse 12:

So I turned to consider wisdom, insanity, and foolishness; for what will the man do who will come after the king,except what has already been done?

In verse 11, Solomon just finished telling us about his experiments with wisdom and joy and how they definitely yielded no lasting profit. But now Solomon wants to consider what choice will be left to those who come after Solomon. Not only his own son as the royal successor but the next generation. Solomon knows that no one is going to be able to do anything differently, really, than what Solomon has already done, and which proved to be a failure. And that’s why Solomon asks the rhetorical question here that he does. So, the issue he wants to consider is, which path will be better for mankind going forward? Wisdom or insane folly? Notice Solomon’s answer in verse 13 and the beginning of verse 14. He says:

Then I saw that wisdom surpasses foolishness as light surpasses darkness. The wise person’s eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness.

To Solomon, there’s no contest between the paths of wisdom and folly. Wisdom is clearly better. Solomon says the difference is like light and darkness. And he explains what he means in verse 14. Walking in the path of true knowledge about the world and about God, it’s like walking around in the light. You can see where you’re going. You can avoid the pitfalls and the stumbling blocks of life. You can understand to some extent what is happening to you and why. But walking in folly, walking in ignorance. Walking in what only feels good, or even what is even evil, that’s like walking in darkness. You can not see where you’re going. You’re constantly surprised by the consequences of your actions and the pitfalls of life. And you do not understand what is going on or why you’re suffering.

Clearly, the way of wisdom is better and thus the Bible, especially Proverbs, it keeps commending us to seek wisdom. Now, intriguingly, the Hebrew of this verse here in Ecclesiastes 2:13, it reads, literally:

Then I saw that wisdom surpasses foolishness as light surpasses darkness.

Why is that significant? Because that’s the words Solomon has been thinking about this entire time: What profit is there for man as he lives and works under the sun? And up to this point, what has Solomon’s answer been? None! Now he says there is profit in wisdom, way more than in folly. Wait a second, Solomon, are you contradicting yourself? Well now let’s read the end of verse 14, Solomon adds:

And yet I know that one and the same fate happens to both of them.

Yes friends, wisdom, even God’s wisdom, can help you a lot in life. But there’s one that no amount of knowledge or wisdom can do for you, and that is prevent you from suffering the common faith of mankind – death. No matter how wise you become, you, like the most wretched fool, can not escape death. And notice how this realization so deeply disturbs Solomon in verse 15. It reads:

Then I said to myself, “As is the fate of the fool, it will also happen to me. Why then have I been extremely wise?” So I said to myself, “This too is futility.”

Solomon the great king, full of astounding wisdom, abundant in majesty, he knows that he still will suffer the same fate as the most ignorant and lazy bum. Both of them, Solomon and the fool, they will die. They’ll have their bodies placed into the ground and they’ll be eaten by worms. Really, every category of person is on an equal road to death. Even us, here. Christian and non-Christian, righteous and wicked, rich and poor, man and woman, black and white, liberal and conservative, educated and ignorant, strong and weak, all encounter the same fate sooner or later.

Why? Why should death equalize all this way? The good and the bad. The wise and the foolish. Yet it does. And we hear Solomon’s frustrated cry: why then have I been extremely, or we can translate it, excessively wise? What was the point of wisely avoiding all the pitfalls of life if I just die in the end like any fool? So, Solomon concludes bitterly to himself, this too is vanity. Or this too is vapor.

Here is another frustrating aspect of life that you just cannot grasp, wisdom’s gain is only temporary, and it can’t stop death. But someone might say, yes Solomon, it’s true, you will die but your great wisdom will cause your name to live on. Others will learn from you. By wisdom, you gain an immortal legacy. Such platitudes are no comfort to Solomon as we see him continue in verse 16:

For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, along with the fool, since in the coming days everything will soon be forgotten.

A wise man cannot take comfort in a potential legacy. As Solomon has already pointed out for us in Ecclesiastes 1:11, people, generally, do not remember the past or those who came before. And even what they do remember does not affect them in any truly helpful way. Wise people are eventually forgotten just like fools are forgotten. It’s not enough that both the foolish and the wise die, but they are equally forgotten. How’s that fair? Especially when one works so hard to learn and pass on wisdom. Think about this for yourselves.

Friends, no matter how much wisdom you have acquired in your life, or you seek to acquire, even godly wisdom, you will generally be forgotten. Your legacy will eventually fade, just like the fools. Your friends and your children might briefly remember you for a little while after you’re gone, but within a few generations, probably no one will remember your name or my name. Much less, the professional skills you amassed. The know-how you gained for living life. Even your knowledge about God. No one will know about it. No one will remember you. You’ll be just as forgotten as the young profligate who dies from a drug overdose.

Does your heart cry out that there is something not right about this? It should. This is futility. This is a terribly frustrating element to life. That’s why Solomon exclaims in verse 16:

And how the wise and the fool alike die!

That’s not a question. That’s a cry of exasperation. Why should both the wise man and the fool equally die and equally be forgotten? We can understand why Solomon’s heart goes where it does at the end of his first reflection in verse 17. Where he says:

So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was unhappy to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind.

The word translated grievous here can be translated more basically bad, wrong, even evil. Life ought not to be this way. This is not right. This is wrong. How is it fair that those who strove to learn and act with wisdom so much would have so little to show for it in the end? Solomon says that he hated life, he could not stand the vapor-like nature of existence in the face of death. Death, Solomon says, make wisdom, work, everything futility and striving after wind. We won’t investigate those phrases again. We’ve seen these bleak descriptions of vain effort before in Ecclesiastes. He says that’s what it is. That’s what life is.

When it comes to wisdom, think of all the wisdom that you’re working to amass or you have amassed in your life. You know what’s going to happen to it? It’s going to disappear like smoke. Poof. Death doesn’t just frustrate our anticipated gain by wisdom. Look now, the second important truth. The second reflection from Solomon in vs. 18-13. 2) Death will frustrate works gain, as well. Let’s start in verse 18:

So I hated all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me.

Solomon, here, is still thinking about death and about legacies. Now he’s switching from wisdom to thinking about work. Solomon declares that he found himself hating even all his work because of death. Notice the phrase he uses the fruit of my labor. Literally, in Hebrew, it’s my toil. And this is a word we’ve encountered already in Ecclesiastes. Toil is a word for work that includes the notions of pain and trouble.

We’ve all experienced toil, it’s part of life. But as the word is used here and as the New American Standard translators are bringing out for us, toil doesn’t just refer to the process of work, the labor itself, but also the results and the fruit of that labor. Sometimes the process of toil can be completely unpleasant. Actually, I’d say probably all the time. But the fruits of it can be kind of nice. Oh, you know, this was grueling work but I’m glad it’s over because look what I get as a result.

Fruits of toil can be refreshing. What does Solomon say here? He says that he hated both. I hated the process, and I hated the results. I hated the parks, the palaces, the parties, the slaves, the musicians, the harem, the kingdom, everything. Wait, why Solomon, why’d you hate it all? Because I know I can’t keep any of it. I’m going to have to give it all away.

Friends, do you realize the same is true for you? Think of all that your hard work has acquired for you thus far in your life. Maybe various treasures. Your job, your money, your cars, your house, or your houses. Your clothes, your jewelry, your collections of whatever you fancy. You may have worked painful days and nights to obtain these treasures. When you die, you’ll have to give them all up. They can’t protect you from death. And you can’t take them with you. So, why’d you strive so hard for them? Why were you so devoted to them? Why were you and are you so anxious about them?

Now for Solomon, it’s not simply the fact that he has to give up his treasures that bothers him. It’s that he must give them to another person, even a family member. That might confuse us. You might say, but Solomon aren’t you glad that you can pass on these hard-earned treasures to your family? You know, your son, the successor. But such a process brings its own agony to Solomon and he tells us about it in verse 19. Look there:

And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is futility.

What bothers Solomon about passing on his work is his anxiety over whether the next person is going to ruin it. Have you ever had someone misuse something of yours that was valuable and hard-earned? Maybe it was your phone or your laptop. You let someone borrow it, give it back to you damaged. Maybe it’s something much more important. Maybe it was money for college that you gave to your son or your daughter that was totally wasted. They just lived a party lifestyle and they flunked out. Or maybe it’s your child that you entrusted to a particular relative and that relative, instead, abused your child or taught them in wickedness.

The heart suffers so much in seeing something so precious handled foolishly and sinfully. And consider how this might happen, [so] would the results of all the toil of your life. When you die, it may be that everything you worked so hard to obtain and pass on is totally squandered. You might protest, but no, no, I know where it’s going. I know who is going to get it. I know I can trust that person to handle the things I’m passing on and do a good job with it. Do you really?

Even the wisest people can make terrible mistakes. And people we thought were wise turn out to be wicked fools. Or consider this, maybe the one you hope to be your successor, to handle your legacy, turns out not to be. Turns out to be someone else. I mean, this happens so many times historically when it comes to kingdoms and empires. There’ll be a particular person groomed to be the heir and that heir suddenly dies before obtaining the kingdom. Or dies, suddenly, after obtaining the kingdom. Well, what do you know? The kingdom goes to somebody else. What happened to all those plans?

The point, friends, is that you and I ultimately have no control over the legacy that we pass on. There is the possibility that all our painful work will be foolishly wasted. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to pass on a godly legacy. No, we have a stewardship entrusted to us from God. But you can never be certain how it’s going to turn out. And you can never make sure enough that it will turn out well. Thus death, again, frustrates the gain that we might otherwise have hoped for in our work.

And is that not indeed grievous, as Solomon says? All that hard work wasted. I don’t know. I have to keep thinking about it. What’s he going to do with it? I don’t know. We can echo Solomon saying this whole legacy mess, it too is frustrating vapor. You just can’t get a hold of it. But there’s a further aggravation that Solomon brings up about passing on a legacy. We see it in vs.20-21. Look there:

Therefore I completely despaired over all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun. When there is a person who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and then gives his legacy to one who has not labored for it; this too is futility and a great evil.

Notice here that Solomon is starting to despair. To lose any sense of confidence or hope regarding passing on his hard-earned toil. And the reason is a further thought has occurred to him. Someone might end up with all my hard-earned goods who totally doesn’t deserve it. In verse 21 Solomon broadens this consideration beyond himself. He’s thinking almost proverbial about situations in life, in general, and he’s referring to a situation where a successful man might give his legacy to one who has not earned or been successful.

And the Hebrew term behind this translated term one is ‘adam, literally, a man. Just any old man. This is not the term we would expect for a chosen dynastic successor. And this probably points to a situation that sounds like the worst possible outcome Solomon can think of. And that is, not only is it an undeserving son that is going to get all my goods, but it’s actually a stranger. It could be a stranger. It could be someone outside the family who doesn’t deserve it. Actually, isn’t this what people complain about all the time when it comes to government, taxes, or socialism? Why should I work, and my money and my goods go to somebody who hasn’t earned it? Somebody I don’t even know. People get upset about this. This doesn’t just happen with taxes.

According to Solomon, because of death, it happens to entire legacies. If you intend for a certain hard-working son to take control of the family assets, but after the legal tussle when you pass, it ends up being a different relative who has control. Someone you never wanted it to be. Or even worse, maybe it’s an enemy. Maybe it’s a con man. Maybe it’s some unscrupulous government official. And he manages, or she manages, to steal or swindle the inheritance away from the one that you had intended.

You wanted your money and your goods to support your grandchildren’s education, or Gospel ministry and mission work. It may be, I’m sorry to say, it may be that your hard-earned goods go to fund sinful living, criminal activity, and religious and political causes that you hate. Who knows? Who really knows what will end up, or who will end up with the fruit of your hard-earned toil? It may be someone who totally doesn’t deserve it because you have no ultimate control. Death takes that away from you.

Can we say with Solomon, or can we not say with Solomon, that all this is frustrating vapor and a great evil? Interesting that the NAS translates the term evil here rather than grievous, as above. It’s the same Hebrew term. But certainly, the situation, this situation he’s just described is extremely aggravating. It doesn’t feel right. It doesn’t feel fair at all. Life ought not to be this way. But the terrible reality of death has brought it about. But as if all this weren’t enough, Solomon mentions one other frustrating aspect of death or work in light of death. Look at vs.22-23:

For what does a person get in all his labor and in his striving with which he labors under the sun? Because all his days his activity is painful and irritating; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is futility.

What’s the last frustration Solomon points out? That to secure this future, to secure the fruits of toil that are meant to benefits oneself and benefits one’s descendants, which actually turns out to be entirely uncertain, a person ends up enduring a miserable existence. For something that’s not even certain. That won’t even bring gain. He endures a miserable life. Notice in verse 22, this is a rhetorical question expecting a negative answer:

For what does a person get in all his labor and in his striving

Nothing. Nothing. Meanwhile, day and night are filled with endless pain and anxiety. Even when he tries to sleep, his mind literally can not lie down. Brothers and sisters, can’t we too become caught up in striving to provide for the future? We forgot what Solomon is pointing to us here. That all our toilsome efforts and their results, they are uncertain. They can not stop the leveler of death. They can not guarantee a good legacy to those who we would like to pass it on to. And they only cause us unhappiness all our lives. Solomon justly says, this too is vanity and all this, we’re just grasping again at vapor. And it’s just slipping right out.

Is not death a terribly frustrating reality in our world? It takes away the gain we might have otherwise hoped for in wisdom. It takes away the gain we might have otherwise hoped for in our work. It leaves us with nothing. So how should we, then, live? Should we just curse God and die as Job’s wife once counseled? No. Not at all. Rather, discovering the futility of life in the face of death is a necessary part of preparing you to take a better way.

Brothers and sisters, none of us can change the vaporous nature of life. None of us can escape death. But we can change our perspective and we can change what we’re looking for and living for. And thereby, discover the simple wisdom and the happiness that comes from God. But this is what God meant for us to discover all along. Yes, even by facing death. And this is what Solomon discovered and wants us to see too. Let’s consider Solomon’s final reflection in vs. 24-26. 3) Death directs you to God instead.

Look at verse 24:

There is nothing better for a person than to eat and drink, and show himself some good in his trouble. This too I have seen, that it is from the hand of God.

The declaration of verse 24 probably catches us off guard, at first. Because up to this point in Ecclesiastes, Solomon has been describing his griefs and making depressing observations about life. But now Solomon switches and he is giving advice in how to live in light of death. Now, what’s the advice? Enjoy life. Enjoy life as you experience the good of God. Yes, Solomon says, frustrations of life are still there, and they will irk you. But there is no better way to approach life than to accept the situation that is, and to just enjoy the simple joys that God gives you.

Notice what these joys are, or at least, the ones that Solomon highlights. First in verse 25, eating and drinking. He says you should enjoy it. Friends, you’re going to have to eat and drink, Solomon is telling us. You’re going to have to eat and drink as you go through life. This difficult life in an uncertain world. So why not make sure you enjoy it? Why be like the miser who says, no I’m only going to eat this crusty bread and drink this water because I’ve got all this work to do and I’m piling it up for my successor. Solomon says, what are you doing that for? Yes, be a good steward but enjoy your food and your drink. God gave you these as gifts, so partake.

Solomon also brings up labor. Our translation says a person should tell themselves labor is good. A more literal rendering of the Hebrew is: a person should cause one’s soul to see good in all his toil. What does that mean? I think the ESV captures it best. A person should find enjoyment in his toil. In both the process and the results. Again, Solomon is telling us, yes, work can’t do everything you want it to do. But God has given you your work to enjoy. Yes, you exercising that skill. You tackling those problems. You, even enduring some of the pain of it. He says there is joy in that. And there’s joy in the outcome.

Yes, the outcome is fleeting but you can enjoy that too. You can enjoy the results of your toil. Don’t wait. Don’t wait ‘til some future that never arrives. Or don’t wait just so that uncertain successors will enjoy it. Don’t miss. Don’t miss this opportunity that God has given you. Enjoy your toil. Even enjoy the fruit of your toil.

Now, yes, be a good steward. We’re going to hear more about that as we go through Ecclesiastes. Make sure you don’t miss out on enjoying this gift from God. This actually was something that Solomon noted in his own experience. Remember back in Ecclesiastes 2:10, I pointed it out to you briefly, that Solomon is recounting all his labors and his joy-seeking? And he says, I found pleasure, or I found joy in my toil and it was my reward. He has really come back to that idea now.

Now, he did say in the end I hated it all because it didn’t do what I wanted. But in the middle of it, I enjoyed it. He says you know what, you should learn from that. You should do the same thing. That’s actually what God intends for you to do. And notice the way Solomon actually mentions how God is involved. Very surprising at the end of verse 24. He says, this also. Up to this point in Ecclesiastes, every time we see this also or this also is has been followed by a certain phrase. This also is vanity. Vapor. Chapter 2:1,15,19,21,23 – five times he’s used that phrase. This also is vanity. What does he say here?

This too I have seen, that it is from the hand of God.

It’s different. Yes, as a result of sin and God’s necessary judgment for sin, which began with Adam, the curse on the world, God subjected the world to death and futility. That came from God. And, as has even been mentioned in Ecclesiastes, God has given man certain tasks to be afflicted with. Ecclesiastes 1:13, studying about the world. Ecclesiastes 3:10, all the work that man does. God has given these tasks that afflict mankind. But God has also given something else. That’s what Solomon is drawing our attention to.

In grace, God has given man enjoyment. He has given man enjoyment that a person may bear the burden of living in an uncertain and frustrating world. Food and drink and work, they’re just representative of the God that man intends for man to enjoy. Any good that you experience from God is to be accepted gratefully, as a gift. And it comes from his kind hand. You know, it’s interesting this phrase, from the hand of God, usually that appears in the Old Testament in association with God’s kindness. Before, it said God gave man a task to be afflicted. But here it says, this comes from the hand of God. This is God’s kind, compassionate hand that’s extended to each one of you. Yes, there is a curse here in this world but here is a gift for you.

Now note, in Solomon’s advice here, he is not, get this clear, he is not advocating hedonism. He is not advising us to just live for pleasure or to just find our joy in material pursuits. Because he already tried that, remember? He has already exposed that way in Ecclesiastes 2:1-11. And as long as we have that perspective that Solomon did we’re going to be so frustrated. As long as we think, oh, there’s some more. there’s some gain out there that I have to claw for, grasp for, strive after. I have to keep seeking it, keep seeking it. I have to serve it as an idol.

You know what the outcome of that is because Solomon has already tested it. There is no profit. It’s striving after wind. You won’t find what you’re looking for. But if you stop grasping. Stop seeking so desperately for the more. You content yourself with the lot that God has given you. Something surprising happens. You know what happens? God gives you joy. God gives you even the satisfaction you’ve been looking for all along. Really, in another kind of irony in life, those who fear God and refuse to live for the vaporous things of the world, they are the ones most able to enjoy life and its simple gifts. Even though those gifts are vaporous. Because they see it comes from the hand of God. And Solomon goes on to explain further in vs. 25-26:

For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him? For to a person who is good in His sight, He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good in God’s sight. This too is futility and striving after wind.

Now, it’s true that even unbelieving and foolish persons are at some level able to experience the good of God and enjoy parts of life. Nevertheless, it is also true that joy is a gift that God has specifically portioned to those who are good in his sight. What does that mean? These are people who follow after God. These are people who love God, who have faith in God, who are seeking to follow and serve God. Or what the bible calls righteous, saints, holy ones. To such a one, Solomon says in verse 26, God grants wisdom. God grants knowledge. God grants joy. For the righteous follower of God, the God-fearer, he’s able to walk wisely in life without expecting too much out of life itself. By the sufficient wisdom God has given him, by God’s Word, he’s able to successfully navigate the different issues of life. And this righteous one is also able to find joy and true contentment in God.

And that’s the key. It’s not the things of the world, it’s ultimately in God. And that is why I’ve been appealing to you. That’s why I again appeal to you on behalf of Solomon, on behalf of God, that you stop living for the vaporous things of the world and instead find your gain in God. This is a matter of repentance. Changing your mind leading to a change of action.

There is still going to be a judgment. Solomon hasn’t mentioned it yet, but it is coming. Judgment is coming and also Solomon’s mention of it is coming. In Ecclesiastes 3:17, Solomon says, Hey, there’s a lot of things I don’t understand about life, but one thing I do know, it will go well for the righteous in the end when God judges. And your choice of what you’re going to pursue in life is going to come under God’s judgment. He is greatly angry about you living for vapor. Because you’re supposed to live for Him. He’s your creator. He’s a good God. He’s the one who is providing you with all these gifts. You’re supposed to be serving Him, not these things.

And the fact that you love and worship these things more than Him, it’s blaspheming God. Consider the way Jeremiah speaks about it in Jeremiah 2:13, speaking of Israel, Jeremiah says, or rather God through Jeremiah:

“For My people have committed two evils:

They have abandoned Me,

The fountain of living waters,

To carve out for themselves cisterns,

Broken cisterns

That do not hold water.”

They say I think this is good, that smells so good. Don’t you see how offensive that is to God? That’s what we do when we will live for vapor. When we live for things of the world. God says, you must repent of that or I’m going to judge you. It’s not only that. Solomon has not even brought up the judgment of God yet here because the emphasis he wants to take is, it’s about joy. Do you want to be joyful in this life? Do you want to walk truly wisely and happily? Then stop living for vapor. Live for God and then you can enjoy all the gifts of God in this life, in their proper way. And not only that, but another reason to make this change in your mind is because of what’s coming. Notice at the end of verse 26, the very interesting phrasing Solomon uses in describing this sinner:

For to a person who is good in His sight, He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy,

But gives something to the sinner to and you know what that is? Solomon tells us:

while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good in God’s sight.

What Solomon is revealing here is eventually all that gathering and collecting, which due to the hebel nature of life, ends up in uncertain hands. One day it’s going to be very certain whose hands it’s going to end up in. It’s going to end up in those who are good in God’s sight. Those who are true lovers of God. They are actually going to, bringing in other Scriptures, inherit the world. Because you have God, and to be clarifying from the New Testament, because you have God’s Son, Jesus Christ, as your perfect substitute, as your Lord, as your Savior, then you get what God has. And what does God have? Everything. Jesus says this explicitly, I’m coming. I’m bringing a kingdom, and you know what? My followers, my disciples, my slaves, you will rule and reign with me. Which is why Paul is able to say in the book of Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 3:22:

all things belong to you

Hey Corinthians, why are you fighting, and why are you being so divided? Don’t you know all things belong to you. They are yours in Christ. And consider the contrast. You can live for vapor in this world, gather and collect, and really miss out on the joy of life. You’re like what Solomon described earlier. The person who is just afflicting himself day and night. Never able to really enjoy it. You can do that and then lose it all in the end. You’re just gathering up so that God can give it to the ones He wants to give it to. Do you want that? Or do you want, basically, the whole world? The kingdom of God that is coming. You can have that, God says, if you’ll stop living for the vapors of the world and instead live for Him.

Isn’t it a no-brainer? Isn’t it such good counsel from God? He’s speaking to you. He’s speaking to each one of you, whether you’re in Christ or not. I know that even as believers we can start living for the vapors of the world. We can start becoming devoted and then anxious about those things. We forget what Solomon is telling us here. What God is telling us here. So, God counsels you, it’s time to lay that down. It’s time to stop living for vapor and turn to Me. Then you can enjoy life. Then you can avoid the judgment. And then you can have life in the world to come. Even abundant life. If you know Christ, repent, and do that. If you don’t know Christ, repent, and do that. Don’t suffer the judgment. Don’t miss out on the joy that could be yours, even now. And don’t miss out on the life to come.

It’s sobering what Solomon says to conclude verse 26. He says:

This too is futility and striving after wind.

I believe what Solomon is referring to there is the life of the one that stubbornly refuses to go God’s way. They experience, in full, the futility of life. Striving, chasing after wind which you never catch, and even if you could, you’d have nothing. Is that what you want for yourself? Who would want that for anybody? Therefore, listen to the good counsel of the Lord. He really is showing us the wise and happy way. Face the frustration for your coming death so that you’ll stop living for vapor and instead experience God’s good, both now and in the world to come.

Now this concludes the foundational section of Solomon’s teaching in Ecclesiastes, but he has much more to tell us. This is a good starting point, but he wants to come back and specifically talk to us about topics such as work, and companionship, and getting old, and wealth, and other things. So, I look forward to going over those with you. But let’s not miss the message of God today. Let’s listen to His good counsel. Let’s believe it and put it into practice.

Let’s pray.

God, I thank You for this wise word. It may be not what we expected. Not even what we wanted to hear. Oh God, it’s so easy to start thinking that we will live forever, and all our pursuits will bring us the gain we’re hoping for, expecting, but Solomon pulls back the veil that has been placed over our eyes. And He says, “See. See your own death”. Lord, we’re grieved that the world is this way but we’re glad that it won’t always be this way. You are bringing in a kingdom. You will create a new heaven and a new earth where there isn’t futility, there isn’t pain, there isn’t death. But that’s for Your righteous ones. That’s for the ones who embrace Your wisdom which Solomon only painfully found in the end. Lord, I pray that we will not take so long to find it and to embrace it. Lord, by your Spirit, please work in the hearts of those who have heard Your word today. To, indeed, just as I said, hear it, believe it, and put it into practice. We know we’ll get the joy of it in the end and life. So please do this. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

In this sermon, Pastor Dave Capoccia continues looking at Solomon’s epic experiments with wisdom and joy in Ecclesiastes 1:12-2:26. In Part 2, Pastor Dave looks specifically at Solomon’s experiment with joy in 2:1-11, explaining how Solomon shares his failure in his epic experiment with joy so that we will not vainly pursue the passing treasures of the world as a way to lasting gain. Solomon discusses his joy experiment in three parts and gives three preliminary conclusions.

1. The Experiment Overviewed (vv. 1-2)
2. The Experiment Specified (vv. 3-8)
3. The Experiment Concluded (vv. 9-11)
A. Solomon Was the Greatest Joy-Seeker (vv. 9-10a)
B. Solomon Found Temporary Joy in His Work (v. 10b)
C. Solomon Found No Lasting Gain (v. 11)

Full Transcript:

All right. Well to start this morning I’d like you to picture something in your mind. Imagine for yourself what the good life looks like. By good life I mean the life that would bring you the most joy, the most fulfillment. Picture that in your mind. Can you picture it? All right now, don’t raise your hand. But how many of you, as you picture the good life, are thinking of the life that you have right now?

I’m guessing it’s probably not most of us. When we think of the good life we’re inclined to think of something that is better or greater than what we have right now. Maybe we imagine a life where we have lots and lots of money. I don’t have to worry about financial obligations anymore. You can build or you can buy whatever it is you think that would make you happy. Or maybe it’s a life for you have supreme accomplishments. You are successful in your work, or in your church ministry, or in your family raising your children.

And therefore you have become admired and beloved by those around you. Or maybe the good life for you, it represents your ability to enjoy perfectly and unendingly certain pleasurable experiences. Maybe you really like sports, or video games, or you’re looking for that perfect romantic, or even, sexual relationship? Or is the good life for you something else? Whatever it is, imagine that you actually had the good life that you’re dreaming of. Would you be happy?

What’s very interesting to me is that so many times in history and today, the people who have a good life, or what everyone agrees is the good life, that very state of being that so many are longing for and chasing after, those same persons are the ones who admit or demonstrate so frequently that such a life is not satisfying. Somehow we think it will be different for us. We think: Oh, they just didn’t do it right! If I had the good life I know I would be happy. I would be satisfied.

If there’s anybody who knew how to do the good life right it was King Solomon of Israel. Actually, our next section of Ecclesiastes as we work our way through this book is an explanation of Solomon’s try for the good life.

See, as part of Solomon’s quest to find out what good exists for man in this cursed and fallen world, he decided not only to test the bounds of wisdom and knowledge, which is what we looked at last time, Ecclesiastes 1:12-18. But he also comprehensively tested the pursuits and joys of life. As the greatest and wisest king of his day, Solomon was a man uniquely suited to discovering a definitive answer as to what the good life is and what it can provide. His experiment turned out to be truly epic but in the end, it was an epic fail.

The title of today’s message is Solomon’s Epic Fail, Part 2. If you haven’t already, please turn to the passage we will be looking at, Ecclesiastes 2:1-11. It’s also on the back of the bulletin in the Calvary app or if you picked up a paper copy. Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 is our text for examination today. Let’s read through it. Solomon speaks to us:

I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy yourself.” And behold, it too was futility. I said of laughter, “it is senseless,” and of pleasure, “What does this accomplish?” I explored with my mind how to refresh my body with wine while my mind was guiding me wisely; and how to seize foolishness, until I could see what good there is for the sons of mankind to do under heaven the few years of their lives. I enlarged my works: I built houses for myself; I planted vineyards for myself; I made gardens and parks for myself, and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees; I made ponds of water for myself from which to irrigate a forest of growing trees. I bought male and female slaves, and I had slaves born at home. I also possessed flocks and herds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. I also amassed for myself silver and gold, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I provided for myself male and female singers, and the pleasures of the sons of mankind: many concubines.

Then I became great and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me. All that my eyes desired, I did not refuse them. I did not restrain my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was please because of all my labor; and this was my reward for all my labor. So I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted and behold, all was futility and striving after wind, and there was no benefit under the sun.

We see here, or we will see here, the main idea of today’s passage is quite similar to the main idea of the last passage that we went through. Previously, Solomon shared his experience with his epic experiment with wisdom. But here Solomon shares his failure and his epic experiment with joy so that you and I will not vainly pursue the passing treasures of this world as a means to lasting gain. That’s the main idea. Let me say it again for today’s passage. Solomon, King Solomon, he shares with us his epic experiment with joy so that you will not vainly pursue the passing treasures of this world as a way to lasting gain.

Solomon unfolds his experiment with joy for us in three parts. And we’re going to look at each of those parts as we move to the passage verse by verse. The first part of Solomon’s experiment appears in verses 1-2. And that is, number one: The Experiment Overviewed. Look again at the first part of verse 1, Solomon says:

I said to myself, “Come now. I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy yourself.”

Having already conducted his great experiment with wisdom, Solomon now has a excellent foundation for pursuing another experiment. Even a greater experiment. Notice that we do indeed see experiment language even in verse 1. Solomon says to himself: I will test you. I will try you. I will subject you to certain experiences and then examine the results. In a way, this is very scientific. And what is it that Solomon wishes to test himself in this second grade experiment? Well, most modern English translations use the word pleasure in verse one. That’s the translated term. But the Hebrew word is simchah – fun to say, again, I love Hebrew – simchah, which means joy or jubilation. Solomon seeks to test himself with joy and with that which would bring him joy.

Now, it’s worth noting that in English we often use the word joy for something that’s higher, deeper, more noble, while we might use the word pleasure for something that’s a little more shallow, less noble, and lower. And this is probably why translators go with the word pleasure to describe what Solomon is pursuing in the beginning part of our passage rather than the word joy. But actually the two terms overlap a lot both in English and in Hebrew. There is a shallow kind of joy just as there’s a deep kind of joy. And there is an evil kind of pleasure just as there is a noble kind of pleasure.

So realize that when Solomon is about to conduct this great experiment he’s involving simchah or joy in general. He’s pursuing joy. And also notice, this goes outside our immediate passage but it’s close by, look down at the end of our chapter at Ecclesiastes 2:26. This is part of the section of reflection on Solomon’s two experiments with wisdom and joy. But notice what Solomon says at the beginning part of verse 26. He says:

For to a person who is good in His sight, He (that’s God) has given wisdom and knowledge and joy.

That’s interesting. We have the word joy in our translation here when it’s the same word simchah translated pleasure in the passage we’re examining. And also notice that God is quite willing to give joy or pleasure to his people. Nothing wrong with that. He’s glad to do that. But what about a situation where someone seeks to, as it were, take joy by force? Not wait for the joy of God but go out and acquire joy for himself. In a way, that’s what Solomon’s experiment is all about. What would be the results? Because of his goal of examining gain for man, what’s profitable for men by looking at joyful pursuits, notice Solomon’s outlook in verse 1, he says:

“So enjoy yourself”

Literally, Look with good! Have a positive outlook! I mean if you were looking at a life of joy or pleasure ahead of you, you’d probably have a positive outlook too. But then, notice Solomon immediately follows that statement with another statement the ending part of verse 1, he says:

And behold, it too was futility.

Wow! Solomon says see everybody look at my great joy experiment. I just want you to know right at the outset, it also was futility. That’s that word that we’ve seen before, hebel, is the Hebrew word. It literally means vapor. Solomon says this new experiment I’m about to do, it’s no different from what I’ve already found with wisdom and knowledge. There’s, in the end, no real substance to it. Doesn’t last. You can’t grasp it. It’s vanity. It’s vapor. And this was part of what Solomon also declare to us and his thesis about life. If you just go back to Ecclesiastes 1:2. This is that truth that informs the entire book of Ecclesiastes. Solomon says:

“Vanity of vanities all is vanity.”

Everything in life is the most insubstantial of vapors. Joy and wisdom? Included. So just when we might be getting a little excited about Solomon’s quest for joy, he slams on the brakes for us and he says: look see for yourself. My quest for joy, my quest for gain through joy, it turned out to be nothing but a puff of smoke. No profit at the end of it. But we ask, “What do you mean Solomon?” And he elaborates for us a little in verse 2. Notice what he says there:

I said of laughter, “It is senseless,” and of pleasure, “what does it accomplish?”

Here, Solomon is giving us two ends of the spectrum of enjoyment. You have laughter on the one end, which is a term which indicates a more shallow kind of merrymaking. And then we have the pleasure or joy on the other end and that can be quite deep in certain instances.

Solomon finds both ultimately useless. Mere laughter, he says, is insanity. Guys, I know we are laughing, we’re joking, we’re partying or having a little fun, being a little stupid. But we’re just ignoring reality. Our fun is kind of a world of make-believe. I mean, how can we keep on going on in this frivolity when we and the world are in such a tragic state? This is madness! And as for joy? No matter how deep or noble it seems, Solomon asks, what has it accomplished? Literally, what is this doing? All right, so I enjoyed that experience but what has changed for me now that it’s over? Where’s the gain? Where is the advancement? Where’s the satisfaction? I’m right back where I started.

Ever felt that way after you finished or took another stab at a certain pursuit. I’m right back where I started. It’s already in the overview of his epic experiment with joy Solomon is showing us that running after enjoyment, it will not lead to lasting profit for any of us in this world. But we might wonder, how did you go about it, Solomon? What did you pursue specifically? Well, he’s going to tell us now in the second part as he explains his epic experiment with joy. Point number two, we have: The Experiment Specified. This is versus 3-8. Look just for now, though, at verse 3. He says:

I explored with my mind how to refresh my body with wine while my mind was guiding me wisely; and how to seize foolishness, until I could see what good there is for the sons of mankind to do under heaven for the few years of their lives.

Solomon is now beginning to explain specifically his efforts to realize the good life. And as we move down this report down to verse 8, we’re going to see that the enjoyment that he pursues is really the joy that is uniquely available to a king.

We might all have different ideas as to what would make life really great for us, but we often have to abandon those dreams because they’re just not realistic. I mean, (a) we don’t have the power to bring our dreams the past. Usually because we have very limited money. Or (b) we don’t have the time to experience our dreams. We’ve got a bunch of other obligations we have to take care of and (c) we don’t have the freedom to pursue our dreams because there are consequences we would have to deal with. Maybe health consequences, legal consequences, social consequences.

But Solomon? He’s a king. And not just any king, quoting 1 Kings 1-4, describing Solomon’s reign, he is the wisest king who ever lived on earth. He had supernaturally-bestowed understandings that no one was like him before or since. He was also awash in wealth, we get a specific description of all the different things that he had brought to his court. And it’s just astounding. He made precious metals cheap in his kingdom because he had so much of it. He also was totally secure. He subdued or made peace treaties with any of the threatening nations around him or any of his uppity subjects. And he also was the highest human authority in his realm. Solomon answered to no man.

Therefore, if Solomon had an idea that would bring him joy, if he had a dream, he could actually make it happen. He had the power, the time, and the freedom to do whatever he wanted in the name of joy. It’s an important fact for us to realize because it means that Solomon not only represents for us the wisdom seeker par excellence, which is what we saw in our previous passage, but also the joy seeker par excellence. He is the highest, the most able, the greatest when it comes to pursuing means of joy. If anyone could find a means to lasting gain through the joys of life, it would be Solomon.

Yes times change, technology updates, but as Solomon already told us in Ecclesiastes 1:9 there’s nothing new under the sun. There’s a version of whatever we have today that he had. So whatever he found is going to apply to us. He will not be outdone by any of us today, nor will he be contradicted. He was the joy seeker par excellence? But where did he start with his joy seeking? well, he started with wine.

Notice Solomon says in verse 3 that he sought to stimulate his body with wine. And the Hebrew word translated stimulate here means, literally, to carry off or drag away. Surely this expression means both enjoying the pleasant taste of wine as well as it’s pleasantly intoxicating effects. Solomon decides he’s going to test how to get maximum pleasure from wine drinking. He’s going to have the best wines, enjoyed in the best places, in the best way, and with the best company.

Notice also from verse 3 that Solomon is willing to utilize both wisdom and folly in order to discern the best and most profitable way to enjoy wine. He says on the one hand he sought wine:

while my mind was guiding me wisely;

He was still acting with discernment, understanding. He was very purposely, thoughtfully approaching wine. But lest someone suppose that this just means that Solomon was a connoisseur of wines, not a debauched partier or drunkard, notice the very next phase says that Solomon sought to take hold of folly, of foolishness. In fact you could translate this middle part of the verse, in verse 3 in this way: my heart, leading by wisdom and seizing by folly, until I saw which of the two is where good is for the sons of man. I’m sure Solomon did approach wine like a connoisseur. I mean he’s a wise guy, but he was also willing to try different levels of inebriation to see what he could recommend to mankind.

Of course drunkenness is a sin. That’s evident in the Scriptures. And it’s a shameful way for kings to act. Solomon would know this. It’s written right in Proverbs 31. But Solomon was committed to his experiment even if it meant sinning against God. And this is notable because it means there’s nothing you can try for the sake of gain or for the sake of joy in this world that Solomon hasn’t already tried. Even sin. So Solomon looks for joy in wine. This really could function as a stand-in for any physical or social experience today. So just eating, drinking, smoking, injecting that makes the body feel good and perhaps alters the mind in a pleasant way.

Solomon already tried it out and he did it better and more wisely than anyone before or since because he was the great king. But that’s not all, that’s just the beginning of Solomon’s joy seeking. Look where else Solomon sought joy in verses 4-6. We will read those again:

I enlarged my works: I built houses for myself, I planted vineyards for myself, I made gardens and parks for myself, and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees; I made ponds of water for myself from which to irrigate a forest of growing trees.

Here, we’re told that Solomon goes on a building spree. He says: I enlarged or I made even greater my works and accomplishments. Now, if you’re king back then, there are usually two ways that you made yourself accomplishments or a great name and that was through battles or through buildings. Solomon doesn’t need to fight. He has already subdued all the surrounding neighbors. So he goes for the latter option. He’s going to build. Solomon explains his works in a pretty matter-of-fact manner.

He says, oh yeah, I build houses, vineyards, gardens, and parks. Notice each of those in the plural. I mean, if you just built one great house that would have been notable but he says, Oh, I built a bunch of them. Oh yeah, and a bunch of parks too. I filled them up with every kind of tree and I built pools and ponds, which not only were surely beautiful, but they would irrigate all the greenery he constructed.

Note, even as he explains this, the extreme emphasis on self in that description. It’s almost obnoxious. Solomon says: I did this. I built this. I planted this, and for whom? For myself. For myself. He keeps on saying it. For myself. Not for the community. Not for God. For myself. Our flesh temps us to think that if we just seek things for ourselves that we’ll find gain or lasting joy. And if that’s true, well that means that Solomon, as someone definitely committed to himself, he would have experienced that gain. If it’s really true he would have experienced it because he was certainly acting for himself. And imagine just how enjoyable these different works he just mentioned would have been.

I mean, do you have a nice house? How about a palace? How about multiple palaces? I’m not talking about gaudy McMansions here. Solomon is a man of wisdom and good taste. So when he built a palace it surely was an awesome edifice and he’s got multiple of these. Imagine you had that. Or do any of you like going to parks or strolling through gardens? Usually great parks and gardens become tourist destinations people travel from all over the world to come to the Americas for some of America’s parks.

Now imagine you owned one of those great parks or you own some of those most exquisite gardens. You had multiple of them and they were attached to your houses. You could come and go to the park or the garden whenever you wanted. You could make any adjustments to it you wanted. Yeah, I want more flowers over here. You could stroll through it with friends, picnic with your family. You could open it to the public or you can keep it all to yourself. It’s yours! You can do whatever you want with it.

Can you imagine what that would be like? This is what Solomon had. This is what he brought about for himself. Man, he must’ve been a smart guy. Man, he must have had some power to be able to put all these things together and he did. And surely there was joy in seeing these visions realized in the real world, but then enjoying it afterwards. Actually using it. Only kings could accomplish such feats and enjoy such treasures and that’s what Solomon did as much as he wanted.

That’s not all. Look what else Solomon had in verses 7-8. He says:

I bought male and female slaves, and I had slaves born at home. Also, I also possessed flocks and herds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. I also amassed for myself silver and gold, and the treasures of kings and provinces. I provided for myself male and female singers and the pleasures of the sons of mankind: many concubines.

Solomon not only did great works, but he also had all the treasures that animals and men can provide. Solomon speaks first of slaves. He says, I had all kind of slaves. Even had slaves born to me from my slaves. And today we understandably look down upon using or owning slaves. But of course that was not the attitude of the ancient world. Slavery was completely normal.

Actually it’s kind of a strange parallel that we experience. I mean, do you enjoy your machines today? Do you enjoy devices that tell you the news, wash your dishes, or send messages for you? These convenient, these labor-saving devices. You know, they had the same kind of thing in the ancient world, except it wasn’t mechanical. The greatest labor-saving device in their mind was a human slave.

Sure was convenient when you were rich. Solomon was like this. He didn’t have to ask how am I going to get this done? Ugh, this looks like it’s going to be a lot of work, how am I going to get through it? He’s got plenty of slaves. He’s got plenty of skilled slaves to take care of any of the work that he needs to do and to keep him comfortable. And he’s got more slaves being born to him every day so he’s not going to run out of his labor anytime soon.

Not only did Solomon own people but also animals. He says he had more flocks and herds than anyone before him. Realize that owning many slaves and many animals in the ancient world was a mark of great prestige. Woah, do you see how much he’s got? He’s a somebody. So Solomon was not only enjoying what these animals and people could provide but also the status that went with it.

Not all Solomon’s treasures were alive. Notice in verse 8 Solomon says that he collected, or he gathered for himself, all kinds of beautiful objects. Silver, gold, treasures of the different kings who have submitted to him in their tribute, and also the the tribute of the various administrative provinces of Solomon’s kingdom. Imagine what these different treasures might have been. I’m sure jewels, and furniture, and other things.

The law of Moses, the law God given through Moses to Israel in Deuteronomy 17:17, it specifically forbid Israel’s kings from multiplying gold and silver for themselves. Kings were to be stewards seeking the good of God’s people. And again Solomon disregards this command for the sake of obtaining his own joy. How many of us have truly costly treasures. Some exquisite paintings, vessels of gold, jewels, I’m guessing not many of us.

It’s true we have little rings and some expensive machines, but imagine you had all the material treasures that you could dream of. You know you usually see these things in museums these days but imagine if you had them. You had all the fine clothes. You had the furniture, the jewelry, and in the modern sense, you have the cars, the computers. You had crowns. What would that be like? Whatever you can think of Solomon had it or he had its equivalent. He didn’t have a car but I’m sure he had some great chariots.

Solomon also says that he provided male and female singers for himself. Now this probably doesn’t strike us as being particularly impressive, at first, because music is so readily available to us these days. I mean, a lot of time you don’t even have to pay for it. You just look it up on YouTube or Spotify. You can have any song you’re looking for. But it wasn’t so long ago that music was not on demand like this. I mean, think back before streaming music, before CDs, before cassette tapes, before the radio, before music records.

If you wanted to hear good music you had to go hear it performed live and it usually wasn’t free. Solomon? He had his own personal Spotify. He had trained singers that he either paid or owned as slaves. And these would sing or play for him, whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. Imagine this, many of you love music. Imagine having a music group that was dedicated to coming up with songs for you, according to your taste. You have your own personal band or orchestra making music just for you. That’s what Solomon had. Few people on earth have ever experienced something like that. Solomon did.

Finally, Solomon says that he provided for himself the delight of the sons of man, many concubines. What strikes me about that phrase is that it actually seems a bit of an understatement when you consider what we know about Solomon’s marital state. Having a huge harem, or collection of wives and concubines, was something that only kings can usually do by Solomon’s day. Particularly because most people didn’t have the audacity or the financial means to support such a large collection of women.

To have a large harem was considered a sign of greatness. And that’s exactly what Solomon had. According to 1 Kings 11:3, Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. That’s a thousand wives. That’s a ridiculous amount of women. And these women were surely devoted to Solomon. I mean, he’s the great. He’s the wise. He’s awesome. He’s blessed by God. I’m sure he was handsome too. What woman would not want to be with him? Be his wife.

No doubt Solomon’s mind was immensely flattered to think of all these great and beautiful women, many of them were royalty, the daughters of other kings. He’s flattered to think that all these women were adoring him, desiring him, there to serve him. And surely he was envied and admired for this great harem. Yet again, no, this is in direct contradiction to what God commanded in his law. Deuteronomy 17:17 also says that Israel’s kings were prohibited from multiplying wives for themselves.

Certainly, it contradicts Genesis 2:24, which lays out the fundamental pattern for marriage one man and one woman bound together permanently. But again Solomon, for his joy experiment, he flouts God’s rule. And so as we come to the end of the second part of Solomon’s explanation, we can see that Solomon was definitely living what people would call the good life.

The list he’s provided is not exhaustive, as we’ll see in a moment. But surely it illustrates for us that Solomon, as king, he was seeking out joys, different joys, and at different levels of intensity that none of us will ever be able to match. He was living like a king. Because he was a king and the greatest of the kings at that time. But after indulging in all this fun. After seeking all his pleasures and accomplishments.

After striving after all this joy, what did Solomon think of it all? We see in number one: The Experiment Overview. We see in number two: The Experiment Specified. We now arrive at number three: The Experiment Concluded. This is verses 9-11. In this last part Solomon explains three preliminary conclusions from his grand experiment with joy. I want to give you those conclusions as sub-points. Now I called them preliminary conclusions because Solomon actually will have more to say regarding both his experiment with wisdom and his experiment with joy in the rest of chapter, verses 12-26. We’ll come back to that. But for now, we have three preliminary conclusions that Solomon wants us to see. The first of these, point (3a) Solomon was indeed the greatest joy seeker. You see this in verses 9-10. Solomon says:

Then I became great and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me. All that my eyes desired, I did not refuse them. I did not restrain my heart from any pleasure.

If you were with us before, the language of verse 9 should sound familiar, because back in Ecclesiastes 1:16 when Solomon is talking about wisdom he made a similar boast. He says, I have more knowledge and understanding than anybody before me. And now he’s saying the same thing about joy. Solomon boasts: my status, my accomplishments, my pleasurable pursuits, they greatly excel all my predecessors.

And you know what? This is true. We actually can’t argue with Solomon about this based on what he’s told us and what is also written in the book of Kings. And part of the reason why this is true is, as Solomon’s even keen to remind us here, it’s because his wisdom, his great wisdom was informing his choices the entire time. He says, my wisdom stood by me. He knew what he was doing. He had chosen the particular path of greatness that he pursued in order to perfectly conduct his experiment.

But in case we thought the list of kingly joys in verses 3-8 was exhaustive, Solomon adds here something that’s a little bit more all-encompassing. Doubly emphasizes in verse 10 the extent of his pursuit.

He says, anything that my eyes desired, anything that they asked for, I granted. I did not refuse my eyes anything. I did not withhold, he adds, I didn’t withhold myself from any pleasure, from any joy, anything I thought would please me. It looked good, sounded good, felt good, I had it. I obtained it for myself. Whether it was lawful or unlawful. Whether it was considered wise or foolish, noble their shameful. I acquired it for myself. Here again, we see Solomon was willing even to sin to find the maximum enjoyment and thereby any gain that would come from it. So looking back at his experiments only knew he was the greatest joy seeker and we need to see that too.

Now notice the second preliminary conclusion from Solomon. And this is perhaps one we wouldn’t notice if we’re reading too fast. Point (3b) Solomon found temporary joy in his work. Look at the second half of verse 10.

For my heart was pleased because of all my labor; and this was my reward for all my labor.

See, for the sake of joy Solomon had to do a lot of work. You have to come up with plans, give orders, oversee tasks, make adjustments, inspect materials and personnel, much more. Really, it’s amazing how much work is involved in obtaining joy for oneself, even today. But what’s even more amazing is what Solomon tells us about it. He says, you know what? I did a lot of work, but I enjoyed the work. I enjoyed laboring to bring about my heart’s expectation. I enjoyed the process. He even claims, this was my reward. Or literally, this was my assigned portion. Like an inheritance, a land inheritance, or a portion of plunder. This is what was assigned to me.

I will have much more to say about this point when we come back to the latter part of chapter 2, but don’t miss this, even as we go into verse 11. Solomon found some enjoyment, some temporary enjoyment, in his joy search. Yet we must now look at Solomon’s third and most important preliminary conclusion in verse 11. What did Solomon find in his grand experiment with joy? Point (3c) Solomon found no lasting gain. This is verse 11, look at it:

So I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold, all was futility and striving after wind, and there was no benefit under the sun.

Here Solomon looks back at his entire life experiment which, of course, must have stretched over years. All the joy seeking activities. All the labor he exerted to bring them to pass. And he concludes, it wasn’t worth it. It wasn’t worth it. Notice the triple emphasis in Solomon’s disappointment. He uses those three powerfully depressing phrases that we’ve already seen up to this point in Ecclesiastes.

He first says, all was vanity. It was all vapor. It slipped right through my fingers. It was gone in an instant. He then says, it was striving after wind. All of it was striving after wind. It was like trying to chase a stream of air. An endless, an impossible task. But even if you were able to do it, you’ll get nothing in the end. You’d have just air. And then he says, there was no profit under the sun, not even a little bit.

No matter where he looked in this world, no matter what pursuit he went down, there was no lasting benefit. There was no real advancement. There was no gain in any of it. So consider what an epic failure this is. Solomon, the wisest, the most blessed king, he could not find lasting profit including lasting joy from any of his pursuits. He couldn’t find it in sensory experiences. He couldn’t find it in any work accomplishments. He couldn’t find it in exalted status. He had gone to the extreme to find joy in the things of the world. Yet he could not find it. Nor could he find gain. And if that’s true for Solomon, who was like the poster boy of the good life, what does that mean for us?

Consider yourselves and your own lives this morning. What are you pursuing in your life as gain? As a means to lasting profit for you? We can see the parallels with Solomon’s own experience. Is it food and drink experiences, culinary enjoyment? Is it having a good time with alcohol or drugs? Is it in wealth, material pleasures and various objects? Is it houses? Is it travel experiences? Is it entertainment? Is it music? Video games? Movies? Maybe something to distract you from what the world really is?

Is it success at work or with your family? Yeah, I just get that I’ll have made it. Is it influence, prestige, becoming the greatest in some particular field? Is it a romantic relationship? I mean, this is pop culture all over, right? I just get that one love relationship, that one marriage, that one sexual relationship, then you’ll have made it.

Is that what you believe? and not all of these things I just mentioned are necessarily sinful in and of themselves. But is it your greatest pursuit? Because if these are your ultimate treasure, your great priority in life, what you see as the means to lasting joy or gain, the Bible has another term for it, not mentioned here, but certainly in other Old Testament Scriptures. Do you know what that term is? Idol. It’s an idol. That’s what you ultimately worship.

And this term is particularly instructive because just as people bow down to, and made offerings to, and worshipped various pagan gods in ancient days. And unfortunately still today. So you, in your heart, are seeking after a god because you think that god will give you something valuable. You think that god will provide you with gain just as the ancient peoples turn to Baal and other kinds of gods because they thought they could get gain from that false god.

But not only does the rest the Bible clarify that God will not accept such heart idolatry. He will not accept your divided worship of him with another god or you abandoning him for another god. He alone is worthy of worship. He is your creator. He’s provided you with all good things. He says:

I will not give my glory to another

Isaiah 42:8. So you will come under his judgment for pursuing that idol. Even eternal wrath and hell. But not only that, and this is perhaps what makes the first part even more tragic, that false god that you were worshiping and pursuing, according to our text, is not going to be able to provide for you what you’re looking for.

And you know, there is kind of an interesting parallel. You know how this text uses the word futility, vapor, hebel? The Old Testament prophets use that same word for idols themselves. They say, why do you turn to vapor? Why do you turn to this false god who is nothing but hot air? It can’t do anything for you that’s substantive. It’s a big waste. And Solomon’s saying the same thing about the treasures of the world that you are tempted to or that you go after. It won’t give you what you’re looking for and it’ll just be vapor.

You are foolish, then. We are foolish, then, to pursue gain through any of the treasures of the world. Are we not? Solomon is the most extreme proof. He had, realize this, he had whatever it is your heart is seeking and he says there’s no profit in it. You won’t get anything for it. He even testifies via his own experience, it was worthless in the end.

And he does more than that. We don’t see it here, but it’s in the passages to come, he’s going to look back at his life and tell us that it was so regretful. He says, I hated life once I realized there is no profit in any of it. I hated everything that I did, all my great works, hated it all. He says you will do the same. That’s what he’s implying to us. You will do the same. Yeah, it might be temporarily pleasurable for you. You might enjoy the process. But when you stand back and look at what you’ve actually accomplished you realize it’s a big waste. How foolish of me. I hate what I decided to do in my life.

So what are we to do with this? Surely it is to learn from Solomon. And learn from God’s Spirit that speaks to us through Solomon because all Scripture is God-breathed. This isn’t merely one wise man telling us about his experience. This is God himself affirming, confirming, speaking through Solomon, saying: my people, those who I created, listen. Listen and learn. Stop living for the broken cisterns that cannot satisfy your thirst. That’s the way Jeremiah speaks about it. Stop devoting your time, your energy, your money, the things that will not ultimately profit you.

Stop subsisting on a temporary pleasure, that little temporary high, because in the end that little pleasure that you’re pursuing as your great gain is working for you greater and greater disappointment, and regret, and pain, and judgments.

Don’t get caught up in that anymore. Instead, pursue a better way. What is that better way? Solomon is going to tell us about it. I don’t have time to go there today but let me give you a preview version of what Solomon will say even later in this chapter. Of course, he’s going to keep on coming back to it in this book. Solomon clarifies for us and I’ll add in just a little bit of New Testament addendum. There is no lasting gain in this world. But if you turn from serving yourself, pursuing your own joy and instead pursue God, make God your gain, make Jesus Christ your treasure, then not only will you gain God – who is really the only and greatest treasure – and you will gain eternal life with God, but you will also be able to become grateful for the little, passing gift of this life.

To say it another way. When you stop grasping for self-willed joy, as Solomon was trying to do, and you instead fear God and follow Him and you know what God will do? He will give you joy. He’s quite willing to do that. He will give you joy. A joy that is not dependent on the things of the world and yet is felt in the things of the world. Because you realize, yes, even in the midst of these troubles and these uncertainties God has given me these little gifts. He’s a good Father. He’s a kind God. And He’s mine.

Solomon will keep telling us again. And again in the book of Ecclesiastes, this is the only way to live. It is the only truly wise way to live. It’s the only truly happy way to live. And it’s also the only way that will protect you from the judgment of God to come.

Of course, this is all realized in the Lord Jesus Christ, the son of God who came to live and die for sinners. And rose again to cover them with His right to life and to pay for all their sins. Listen to God’s entreaty to you from Solomon in this book today. No longer live as Solomon lived. He did it more extreme than you and it didn’t profit him. So don’t do that anymore.

Just as we heard from the Scripture reading this morning, don’t seek the treasures of earth where moth and rust destroy, but seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all the things you need, that God determines that you need, will be provided for you. In God’s way and in God’s timing. How will you respond to your Creator’s word to you today? What’s amazing to me about Ecclesiastes is that it’s not presented to us in terms of ‘this is God’s command and if you violate it you’ll be judged’. He will mention the judgment but that’s not the primary mode of this book.

It’s entreaty. It’s a wise man, speaking on behalf of God, entreating you. Won’t you choose the better way? That’s what God is doing for you this morning. Would you listen to him? Will you stubbornly and proudly refuse such an entreaty or will you humbly and wisely say, yes God, I will follow your way? May God be so gracious as to make it the latter in your life. Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your Word that needs to shatter our delusions about what life can provide for us. There is no lasting gain apart from You. But when we seek You as our highest joy, and as our highest gain, God, then all of a sudden life comes alive that’s full of so many little gifts. Sweet kindnesses from You, even in the midst of tragedies and troubles. Lord, we thank You that You are sovereign. You alone are worthy of our worship and we thank You for Jesus Christ, who not only saves us from our sins but also, in His kingdom to come, redeems us from the futility of this world to a world that will be made as sweet as we long for our present world to be. Without death. Without decay. Without frustration.

A world where we can be in Your presence and enjoy Your goodness in all the little different ways that You have prepared for Your own. Lord, I pray that, as necessary, Your people would hear this message today and repent going after false gods that cannot provide, instead turn to You, walking in wisdom. In Jesus name. Amen.