Behold, I have found only this, that God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices!
Ecclesiastes 7:29
Our week begin with hearing the last couple of verses of Solomon’s highest song. We continue to watch this young women grow until she declares that her breasts are as towers, she has fully matured! Every part of her being has been attended to. The Bridegroom is pleased with all that He sees!!! She has learned to stay in the arms of her Beloved and lean on Him. What a contrast from the little sister who has no breasts. She is totally unprepared on the day “she is spoken for.” I trust you will determine with me to do all we can to be prepared for the Bridegroom’s call!
At the conclusion of Solomon’s song, we meet a whole different Solomon. On Wednesday we are introduced to the flaws of his life. Here is the man to whom God had given such great wisdom. He has the wisdom to rule the kingdom, but fails to use that wisdom in his personal affairs. There certainly is nothing new under the sun!!! How many times do we hear of men (or women) who can run a successful business, but fail in their homes and in their marriages? We are told that Solomon loved what he shouldn’t have; he love foreign woman! He failed to keep God’s command when He told Israel not to marry women from the nations of Egypt, Moab, Ammon, Edom, the Hittites and others, because they would “turn their hearts.” Obviously, Solomon thought=2
0he was different from the rest and that his wisdom could handle it. WRONG!!!! You wonder how he could have gotten it so wrong! Compromise comes little by little. I’ve been watching it in the church for years!!! Things seem harmless in the beginning, sometimes it even look like a good thing. But little by little, values change and what people would have never embraced before, doesn’t look so bad anymore.
The saddest thing is to watch Solomon turn into a Saul!!!!!! God tells him that He is going to take the kingdom from him because of his failure to stay true to YHWH. And so what does Solomon do? He endeavors to kill the one he fears will succeed him.
The last part of our week looks at a Solomon in a whole different phase of life; Solomon the old man. The path we follow in the territory of Ecclesiastes can seem very confusing. But if we put it in perspective, we will find it quite enlightening. Solomon has been searching for wisdom and the meaning of life. He has tried to understand everything under the sun. He has learned that the ability to know everything belongs only to God! Study and search every moment of your life, and you will still come up alarmingly short of the goal. If there is one thing I have learned in my lifetime of study, it is that I will not live long enough to scratch the surface of knowing and understanding all that the Word of God contains. I
t’s knowledge and hidden meanings are far to vast to be absorbed in a lifetime, no matter how long I am given!!!!!!
Ecclesiastes looks at the futility of life if there were no God and no eternity. What’s the sense of it? Time and time again, Solomon reminds us that the only time we can find purpose is when we recognize God does exist and He does pay attention to what we do with our lives. He acknowledges that God’s ways are the only paths that bring contentment and satisfaction to life. Solomon has seen the worship of foreign gods, up close and personal. He has even been nagged into taking part in his wives’ pagan rituals. (He obviously knew the effect of their constant “drippings,” like the annoyance of a leaky roof!) In spite of all he has experienced, Solomon cannot shake the truth that when we live a life pleasing to God and walk in His ways, there is a sense of satisfaction with life.
So take out your notepads as you walk with this man of wisdom and failure, and learn the true meaning of life. God has put eternity in our hearts and given us the desire to live pleasing to Him. So let’s keep striving to know our Maker and live in the realm of eternity while we are walking on this earth!
