Unhappy with your life?
Advice from perhaps the smartest man who ever lived?
There are 3 books of philosophy in the Bible: Job, Ecclesiastes and Proverbs. Some find these books hard to understand and I concur that it might take you several years of intermittent study to truly comprehend the beauty and majesty of philosophy (and perhaps “psychology”) inspired by the Eternal Creator.
It’s likely though, that even a cursory reading will be rewarding. Also, you’ll find that quite a few statements and phrases are scattered throughout the lexicon of our culture.
Not only that, but the book of Ecclesiastes is “tough love” – it contains some things that may make you angry; other things are highly disturbing to some. However, I don’t think after careful contemplation you will deny the truth from Solomon.
Caveat: He may have been the smartest man who ever lived but he still came to a bad end. Wisdom, intelligence and knowledge guarantee neither happiness nor salvation; it is only our faith in our Creator that lead to both.
About that “bad end”1
Though the author of Ecclesiastes never specifically claims to be Solomon, the third king of Israel – successor to Saul and David – at the height of Israel’s power as a nation, study of the books of Biblical, historical Israel (I&II Samuel, I&II Kings, I&II Chronicles) and the extant oral histories confirm the author’s identity as do these passages from the book:
12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. Ecclesiastes 1:12 (NIV84)
1 The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem: 2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” Ecclesiastes 1:1–2 (NIV84)
What a statement to start a book of philosophy!
The KJV translation reads, “All is vanity.”; elsewhere Solomon’s “meaningless” is equated with “a chasing after the wind.”
Solomon expands “meaningless” with this statement of despair:
3 What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun? 4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. 5 The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. 6 The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. 7 All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again. 8 All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing. 9 What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Ecclesiastes 1:3–9 (NIV84)
Furthermore, Solomon reminds us of the fate of all men – the grave – and that the memory of almost all men is soon forgotten:
11 There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow. Ecclesiastes 1:11 (NIV84)
Solomon decided, since he had tremendous wealth and power, and since Israel was at peace with all their neighboring nations, he had time and the means to search for the meaning of life, the value of wisdom and knowledge:
13 I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men! Ecclesiastes 1:13 (NIV84)
This search took many years but Solomon was determined to try everything.
Since Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines2 and more wealth than all the other kings of the earth [1 Kings 10:23–11:3], he certainly tried everything of a sensual nature:
1 I thought in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. 2 “Laughter,” I said, “is foolish. And what does pleasure accomplish?” 3 I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives. Ecclesiastes 2:1–3 (NIV84)
Solomon made use of his wealth and power to see the worth of money and how much of it he could accumulate, the value in building vast projects and controlling people:
4 I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. 5 I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. 8 I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a harem as well—the delights of the heart of man. 9 I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me. 10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. Ecclesiastes 2:4–10 (NIV84)
But, see Solomon’s conclusion:
11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. Ecclesiastes 2:11 (NIV84)
Solomon evaluated all of his pleasure-seeking, money-spending, project-building, wealth-accumulation, carousing with 1,000 women, alcohol-binging, delving in madness and folly and came to realize:
10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. 11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. Ecclesiastes 2:10–11 (NIV84)
It turns out that for all his knowledge, wisdom, fame and fortune, and experimenting in everything this world has to offer, Solomon could find no pleasure or meaning in most of the things in this world – the things that most people spend their lives trying to experience or achieve. All those things were, in fact, “meaningless” and “a chasing after the wind”.
If you are old enough or have experienced enough to have tried some of those things yourself, are you still unhappy in your own life?
I am grateful that although Solomon became “jaded” and perhaps a little bitter about his life and his discoveries, he still took the time to point out some of the really good things about human life and its meaning.
Read the advice of perhaps the smartest man who ever lived:
12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. Ecclesiastes 3:12–13 (NIV84)
10 Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless. Ecclesiastes 5:10 (NIV84)
15 Naked a man comes from his mother’s womb, and as he comes, so he departs. He takes nothing from his labor that he can carry in his hand. Ecclesiastes 5:15 (NIV84)
18 Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him—for this is his lot. 19 Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God. 20 He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart. Ecclesiastes 5:18–20 (NIV84)
20 There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins. Ecclesiastes 7:20 (NIV84)
27 “Look,” says the Teacher, “this is what I have discovered: “Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things— 28 while I was still searching but not finding— I found one upright man among a thousand, but not one upright woman among them all. 29 This only have I found: God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes.” Ecclesiastes 7:27–29 (NIV84)
11 When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, the hearts of the people are filled with schemes to do wrong. 12 Although a wicked man commits a hundred crimes and still lives a long time, I know that it will go better with God-fearing men, who are reverent before God. Ecclesiastes 8:11–12 (NIV84)
14 There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: righteous men who get what the wicked deserve, and wicked men who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless. 15 So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life God has given him under the sun. Ecclesiastes 8:14–15 (NIV84)
7 Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do. 8 Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. 9 Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun— all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom. Ecclesiastes 9:7–10 (NIV84)
11 I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all. Ecclesiastes 9:11 (NIV84)
5 As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. Ecclesiastes 11:5 (NIV84)
1 Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”— 6 Remember him—before the silver cord is severed, or the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, or the wheel broken at the well, 7 and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. Ecclesiastes 12:1; 6–7 (NIV84)
13 Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil. Ecclesiastes 12:13–14 (NIV84)
It’s never too late!
If you find that you are unhappy with your life, don’t despair; instead, today go someplace where your are truly alone.
Take the time to look at your life and evaluate – what you have accomplished, where you have failed, where you have done good, where you have mistreated others.
If you have not already done so, ask God to forgive you of your sins in the past and in recent times. Ask Him to show you the way to avoid those sins in the future; how to strive to become what He made you capable of becoming.
God will hear you and He will answer your prayer if you truly believe in Him – the Eternal Creator, our Heavenly Father.
In today’s world, the cacophony of the media and the world around us makes it difficult to truly hear God’s voice. If you keep praying and believing in Him, you will eventually hear Him and He’ll talk to you and guide you for the rest of your life.
Take the advice of perhaps the smartest man who ever lived.
“Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”
Solomon built temples in Jerusalem for the false gods of his wives, some right beside the great temple he had built and dedicated to the God who made him king and gave him great wisdom. God was very angry with Solomon and informed Solomon that the nation of Israel would divide after Solomon’s death, and the Israelites were never again to be one nation. [1 Kings 11:1–13] He also made some very dedicated enemies [1 Kings 11:14–25] who tormented the last several years of his reign
I’m quite sure most men would join me in my shock, fear and trepidation at the thoughts of dealing with 1,000 women. They would likely agree with me in asserting “one is sometimes too much”. How, in the name of sanity, could any man have agreed to have 700 wives?!!
