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The Futility of Pleasure
Ecclesiastes 2:1-11
May 9, 2021

I realize that there probably aren’t any other churches in the world this morning who are celebrating Mother’s Day while studying Ecclesiastes, but I’ll have to admit I’m totally intrigued and can’t bring myself to go anywhere else right now.

So, we’ll just wish all of our moms a Happy Mother’s Day
And honor them by preaching a message this morning
That godly moms have been preaching for years.

Perhaps there is no other person in our lives who shapes and molds our moral DNA like our mothers.
• She, more than anyone else is the one who cares about our manners and our behavior and our morality.
• She certainly probably prays about those things more than anyone else.

And every boy who grew up with a godly mother also knows that
Moms can do their fair share of preaching too.

• They will warn a young man about the dangers and temptations of life.
• They will correct a young man regarding his choices and the benefits of them.

So while Ecclesiastes may not be the obvious choice for Mother’s Day
I think I can accurately say that it is a fitting choice
Because godly moms have been preaching the message of Ecclesiastes
For years whether they realized it or not.

As you know we are now listening to “The Preacher”
And he is talking to the young man about life.

And he has started the book EXPOSING THE FALSE ALLUREMENTS
That life will often flash before the young man or woman.

In this way, last week, we referred to him as “The Critic”.
• He is the guy at the bottom of the Amazon page giving you the accurate
review of this new shiny product that the advertiser has assured you that you can’t live without.

Only the preacher isn’t talking about some tool or gadget,
The preacher here is giving you an HONEST REVIEW REGARDING LIFE.
• He has heard every sales pitch…
• He has listened to every gimmick…
• He has watched all the infomercials…
• And most of it he has bought and tried…

Now he is saving you the time and the heartache
By telling you what things aren’t as advertised.

LAST WEEK he began by revealing the truth about KNOWLEDGE.
• He actually said he sought out wisdom.
• What he spoke of was earthly wisdom, better known as philosophy.

Why did he seek it out?
• Because he thought he would find fulfillment there.
• Perhaps he was even told he would find fulfillment there.

WE SAID that knowledge was a great place for the preacher to start
Because often times it is the first promise handed out to the young man
As he is about to embark on life.

• The chief question often peddled to young people about to graduate high
school is: “Where are you going to go to college?”

• There is a sense in which this world thinks that the secret to happiness and
fulfillment and the satisfied life at least begins with a quest for knowledge.

• And sadly, many a young person is actually promised that if they will simply
obtain knowledge than they can have the successful life.

The Preacher gave his critique of that promise and called it “Fools Gold”.
It wasn’t true.

That’s NOT TO SAY knowledge is bad; certainly it isn’t.
Scripture affirms that you should get knowledge.

• But knowledge as the end goal
• Or knowledge as the sole pursuit
• Or knowledge even as the means to a fulfilling life
IS A LIE.

There IS a wisdom that brings fulfillment
But you won’t find it in the library or lecture hall of any university.

The only wisdom that brings any fulfillment in life
Is the wisdom that comes through Jesus Christ.

It is a wisdom that FULFILLS
• Because it reveals to us the glorious love God has for us,
It is a wisdom that SAVES
• Because it teaches sinful men how to be justified before God.

If you spend your life seeking the world’s wisdom
But never obtain God’s wisdom
You have successfully wasted your life.

• What benefit could it possibly be to know all this world has to offer but to still go to hell at the end?

So the preacher grabbed the young man and told him that
Worldly wisdom by itself is like striving after the wind.

Well as we begin chapter 2 we move on to the next area of Fool’s Gold
And that is PLEASURE

I think it is fairly safe to say that if you could list and rank all of the false promises of fulfillment that are tossed at young people.

• We could say that the most offered promise to young people is the promise
that knowledge brings satisfaction. I think that is probably the most offered.
• But if you wanted to say what is the most tried promise by young people then
we would say it is that pleasure brings satisfaction.

We’ve all seen it in the stereotype of the modern day college student.
• Many a student enrolled in college under the guise of getting an education,
• But what they were really after was the wild and raucous pleasure seeking life of the college student.

That is to say, some go to college for an education,
Some go to have a good time.

Well that certainly again makes the warning of the preacher so relevant,
For not only did he at one point give himself to knowledge,
But he also gave himself to pleasure.

This morning we examine his review or critique of that search.

We can break down this text into 4 points this morning.
#1 THE PURSUIT HE MADE
Ecclesiastes 2:1-2

Here we get the announcement and the immediate review of his search.

It sort of reads again like the title of his review.

“I said to myself…”

And I want to remind you that what we are talking about here is
A decision in the inner man, a decision of the heart.
• The KJV reads, “I said in mine heart…”
• These quests he’s talking about were not half-hearted searches.
• When he went in, he went all in.

After pursuing knowledge he then shifted to go after pleasure.

“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 madness,” and of pleasure, “What does it accomplish?”

That is sort of the title of this review.
• I sought pleasure.
• I wanted to laugh
• I wanted to feel good
• I did it, I tried it, I experienced it, and there was no value in it.

THAT IS THE TITLE OF HIS REVIEW.

What he is talking about here is a very common modern day mindset.
Philosophy actually has a name for this mindset.
It is called HEDONISM

Hedonism basically states that: “The meaning of life is found
Through acquiring pleasure and avoiding pain.”

That is the secret to happiness.
Store up as much pleasure as you can and avoid painful things.

The sort of chant or creed of hedonism would be:
“If it feels good, it is good” or “If it feels good, do it”

This is certainly the cry of our culture.
• Advertising actually runs on that premise.
• “Have it your way” or “Just do it”
• Many a young man or young woman have been lured into drinking or drugs or sex under the promise of how good it will make them feel.

I was in my mom’s store a couple of weeks ago and watched a young woman decide to buy a leather jacket and her statement was about how good she felt now and how she knew that now she was going to have such a good day.

We all understand that.

But LISTEN CAREFULLY here so that we don’t get our wires crossed.

Just as we said with knowledge, we say again with pleasure.
THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH PLEASURE.
Pleasure is not intrinsically evil.

When the God of the universe created you,
He did so with a nervous system and with emotions and with feelings.

If God had no intention of you ever feeling any kind of euphoria
Then He would not have created you with the capacity to experience it.
Pleasure is not intrinsically evil or wrong.

Some religious zealots have actually gone way too far the other direction with this thought thinking that to enjoy anything in this world is a sin.

Some even ascribe to things like self-abasement and self-flagellation
And things like that thinking that feeling good would be bad.

NOT SO
• God gave you life and He gave it to you with the ability to have pleasure.
• And when the God of creation gives you things that are pleasurable you do not have to feel guilty about it.
• You should enjoy it.

Two Sunday nights ago we studied Psalms 104 about the glory and majesty of God who created and sustains all things.

Some of you may remember that we read:
Psalms 104:14-15 “He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And vegetation for the labor of man, So that he may bring forth food from the earth, And wine which makes man’s heart glad, So that he may make his face glisten with oil, And food which sustains man’s heart.”

You can’t just pluck such verses out of the Bible.
Pleasure is not necessarily wrong or evil.

HOWEVER: THE SOLE PURSUIT OF PLEASURE
AS THE SOURCE OF SATISFACTION WILL GET YOU IN TROUBLE.

And that is what the preacher did here.
• Like he had done earlier with knowledge, now he has done with pleasure.
• He has given himself over to hedonism.

This mentality will fail you every time.

The Pursuit He Made
#2 THE PLEASURES HE TRIED
Ecclesiastes 2:3-8

Here he gives you his list.

He wanted pleasure as the purpose and satisfaction of life;
Well, what pleasures did he pursue?

You can see 4 of them here.
1) WINE (3)

(3) “I explored with my mind how to stimulate my body with wine while my mind was guiding me wisely, and how to take hold of folly, until I could see what good there is for the sons of men to do under heaven the few years of their lives.”

Again the POINT here is NOT
• That he drank a glass of wine.
• It’s actually not even that perhaps he got drunk a couple of times.

But here the picture is that he gave himself over to alcohol
To find his happiness there.

Again, the KJV says, “I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine.”

We don’t have to have the whole alcohol debate here.
• Jesus turned water into wine.
• Jesus drank wine.
• Paul told Timothy to add a little wine to his water.

And you can dance and spin all you want to call it grape juice or highly diluted or whatever, but if you want to be accurate to the text, it will never fly.
The Bible speaks of people drinking wine.

You also know that the Bible unequivocally condemns drunkenness
And our culture is filled with examples of ruined lives and broken homes
Due to the devastating effects of alcoholism.

Proverbs 23:29-35 “Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger long over wine, Those who go to taste mixed wine. Do not look on the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it goes down smoothly; At the last it bites like a serpent And stings like a viper. Your eyes will see strange things And your mind will utter perverse things. And you will be like one who lies down in the middle of the sea, Or like one who lies down on the top of a mast. “They struck me, but I did not become ill; They beat me, but I did not know it. When shall I awake? I will seek another drink.”

The issue isn’t wine, it’s lingering long there.
You know this.

But the even bigger issue here in verse 3 is that
Wine became for this man the means through which
He would find true happiness in life.

He wanted to understand the attraction to “folly”
He wanted to understand the attraction to drunkenness

It’s a peculiar attraction isn’t it?
• We see and hear people boast about the joys of getting drunk.
• We see and hear people boast about the stupid and even painful things other drunks do.
• And often times those stories are told as if they were the greatest and most fun moments of their entire lives.

Well, the preacher heard those stories as a young man
And he decided to jump in with both feet
To find all the happiness he could there.

He wanted to “take hold of folly, until I could see what good there is for the sons of men to do under heaven the few years of their lives.”

He decided to drink it up!

But that wasn’t all he tried.
2) WORKS (4-6)

(4-6) “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 he determined that happiness would be found in building something that lasts.
• He was going to accomplish great projects.
• He was going to build bridges and build parks and build reservoirs, etc.

Now it may seem strange
To link wine and works back to back like this under the same heading,
Because we perceive one of these things to be immoral
And the other we perceive to be noble,
BUT IN MANY WAYS THEY ARE THE SAME.

They both represent a man who is trying
To squeeze fulfillment and happiness out of life.

For a while he tried to find it in the bottle
And then he tried to find it in corporate America

But it’s the same guy.

There was a good feeling from WINE
And there was a good feeling from ACCOMPLISHMENT.

Both made him feel good and so that’s what he pursued.

And that’s not all.
3) WEALTH (7-8a)

(7-8a) “I bought male and female slaves and I had homeborn slaves. Also I possessed flocks and herds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. Also, I collected for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces.”

Then he got rich.
Because money makes you happy right?
• He just bought everything he wanted.
• He just built the life of extravagance.

Like that guy in Jesus’ parable
Who had full barns so he tore them down and built bigger barns
So that he could just enjoy and be at ease the rest of his life.

Surely wealth was going to bring his sole the satisfaction he wanted.

But, like the first 2, it didn’t and so he moved on.
4) WOMEN (8b)

(8b) “I provided for myself male and female singers and the pleasures of men – many concubines.”

Next it is simply a search for SENSUAL PLEASURE.
Women to sing and dance and sleep with.

And we could spent a lot of time addressing all the passages in the Bible
About the dangers and consequences of sexual immorality.

Indeed WE COULD talk about the judgment of God on all these things.
• Drunkenness
• Pride
• Greed
• Sexual Immorality

We could talk about God’s judgment on all those things,
And the preacher will a little later.

But his point here is not that God judges those things,
But rather that those things never live up to what they promise.

And this is something that you should know.
Every young person should write this down in all caps.

SIN CAN NEVER BRING HAPPINESS

God won’t allow it.
The God who created you will not allow sin to bring happiness to your.

BUT…
Sin CAN bring pleasure…for a season.

Why else do you sin if it isn’t fun?
• That is in fact the lie we deal with when we are tempted.
• We believe that fun is found on the other side of sin, and we believe that if we don’t sin we won’t have fun.
• We actually link fun with sin because in our fallen mindset we think we can’t have fun without it.

And for a season sin does bring pleasure.

Proverbs 9:17-18 “Stolen water is sweet; And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.” But he does not know that the dead are there, That her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

Proverbs 20:17 “Bread obtained by falsehood is sweet to a man, But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.”

How many drunks ever found pleasure in the bottle?
• (All of them, but they never find happiness there)

How many workaholics ever found pleasure in their work?
• (All of them, but they never find happiness there)

How many people ever found pleasure in shopping or money?
• (All of them, but they never find happiness there)

How many men ever found pleasure in sexual immorality or pornography?
• (All of them, but they never find happiness there)

And this is where pleasure leads us astray.
IT CANNOT SATISFY.

And that is what the preacher wants you to understand.
It will leave you just as empty as when you started.

In fact, it MAY LEAVE YOU EMPTIER
Because of the collateral damage you’ll do to those you love.

The Pursuit He Made, The Pleasures He Tried
#3 THE POSITION HE ATTAINED
Ecclesiastes 2:9-10

His point here to the younger man is that
When he pursued this life of pleasure, HE WENT ALL OUT.
He is eliminating the excuse that he just didn’t give it a chance.

HE’S NOT a teenage kid who went out one night, got drunk, woke up the next morning sick and said, “I’m never doing that again.”

Someone might well come up to that kid and say, “You didn’t try it enough, here try this and I’ll show you a good time.”

This guy was no light weight participant.
He went further after pleasure than anyone.

(9-10) “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 withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor and this was my reward for all my labor.”

Did you catch that?
“I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure…”

RC Sproul was discussing this concept and talked about the old movie “Animal House” which was basically a movie about the wild and sinful fraternity life of a college student.

It was quite literally a picture of
A person killing themselves to have fun or pleasure.

This is what the preacher pursued.
You can’t talk about any pleasure that he didn’t try and try fully.
• You want to talk about drinking, he drank it all.
• You want to talk about accomplishments, he built it all.
• You want to talk about possessions, he made money and bought it all.
• You want to talk about women, he gave himself to it and experienced it all.

This guy is a QUALIFIED EXPERT to give a review on the life of pleasure.

You see that.

Well, let’s get to his conclusion.

The Pursuit He Made, The Pleasures He Tried, The Position He Attained
#4 THE PROFIT HE GAINED
Ecclesiastes 2:11

There it is.
“behold all is vanity and striving after wind and there is no profit under the sun.”

The promise of pleasure as the meaning of life was an empty promise.
• It brought no satisfaction.
• It brought no fulfillment.
• It was like grabbing smoke.
• It was like chasing wind.

There was “no profit” in it.
There was no advantage to it.
He left him just as empty as when he started.

I told you that the philosophical term for seeking a life of pleasure
Is called Hedonism.

Well in philosophy there is also a reality called:
THE HEDONISTIC PARADOX

The Hedonistic Paradox states this:
• If you seek pleasure and it alludes you, you are doomed to a life of frustration.
• If you seek pleasure and you find it, you are doomed to a life of boredom.

So even the philosopher realized that in pursuing pleasure
You are doomed to either a life of frustration or a life of boredom.

Can you not see that in our world?
• We see those who live life frustrated in sort of an unfulfilled covetous state where they are upset because they can’t have the pleasures they seek.
• But we also see those whose lives are filled with pleasure and success who also seem to never get enough.

THERE IS NO SATISFACTION.

And that is what the preacher said.
• Listen young man, you’re going to turn on the television and see a beer
commercial and it’s going to show you physically fit models drinking bear in
bathing suits and it’s going to look like the best life imaginable…

• Listen young man, you’re going to hear your buddies in the break room talk
about how much fun they had at the bar chasing women…

• Listen young man, you’re going to see the advertisements of wealth…

And this world is going to tell you that this is where satisfaction is found.
IT’S A LIE!

Even without discussing the ramifications of eternal judgment,
I’m here to tell you that even in this life it will not satisfy.

And so that’s review #2 from the preacher.
1. Don’t let someone tell you that knowledge and education is the secret to the fulfilling life.
2. Don’t let someone tell you that pleasure is the secret to the fulfilling life.

Both are false advertising.
Both are fool’s gold.
Both are merely a vapor and a mirage.
That’s the truth young man.

Pleasure will not satisfy, but there is One who does.

TURN TO: JOHN 4:1-10

Now, we don’t have to go into great detail about this story for it is a familiar one, but it is suffice to say that we have here a woman who has chased pleasure and come up empty.
• You know all the stories about here:
• Gathering water in the heat of day…
• Married 5 times and now living with a man…
• The life of pleasure alluded her.

I want you to SEE WHAT JESUS OFFERS THIS WOMAN
Who bought the hedonistic lie that pleasure brings happiness.

(READ JOHN 4:1-10)

Did you hear Him?
“If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

There is a simple analogy there.
Namely that living (flowing) water is better than dead (stagnant) water.

Jeremiah used a similar analogy to describe the difference between seeking God and seeking false gods.
Jeremiah 2:13 “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, The fountain of living waters, To hew for themselves cisterns, Broken cisterns That can hold no water.”

• Obviously a fresh flowing spring is preferred over an old cracked cistern.

That’s the same analogy Jesus is making to this woman.

But His analogy isn’t so much to idolatry
(though here worldliness is clearly an idol),
Jesus is talking about the difference between
Seeking happiness through pleasure, or seeking it in Him.

Seeking pleasure is an old stagnant pool.
Seeking Christ is a fountain of living water.
That’s the analogy.

John 7:37-39 “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

There it is again.
• Only Jesus satisfies because only Jesus can put inside of you that which brings satisfaction; namely His Holy Spirit.

Jesus is merely confirming the promise of another prophet; Isaiah.
Isaiah 55:1-2 “Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost. “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance.”

You hear that same promise and plea don’t you?
• That’s the plea of the preacher here in Ecclesiastes.
• That is certainly the plea and the offer of Jesus.

Jesus promises satisfaction over this world.
You are familiar with the parable of the treasure in the field or the pearl of great value.

• In both of those parables Jesus reveals a treasure so valuable and so fulfilling
that if you could catch a glimpse of its worth you would part ways with every
earthly treasure to obtain it.

That is the kingdom of heaven.
That is true fulfillment.
Only in Christ, not in pleasure.

In Philippians Paul spoke of finding this same fulfillment.
Philippians 3:7-11 “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

• There is Paul’s testimony (just like the preacher in Ecclesiastes).
• I tried it all, I experienced it all, and when I perceived Christ I gladly let it all go!
• Christ satisfied like this world never could.

Listen to the testimony of Moses.
Hebrews 11:24-26 “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.”

• Moses had it all in Egypt, but it was so empty he chose slavery with Christ as a
greater reward.

Listen to them young man, they are showing you the path to walk.
Fulfillment is not found in seeking a life of pleasure, only in Christ.

One more text I want to show you and we’ll end with it.
(There is not enough time for these messages, my goodness the book of Ecclesiastes hits the nail on the head)

TURN TO: PSALMS 73

Again, many of you are familiar and we don’t have to work all through it.
• Basically you have Asaph who was captivated by the world (1-2)
• He saw their pleasure and their comfort (3-9)
• He saw their abundance and even their godlessness (10-12)
• And he decided that by not seeking that life he made a mistake (13-14)

He was buying the lie.
The salesman nearly had him.

But something pivotal happened in his life.
(READ 17-20)

He saw what the writer of Ecclesiastes wrote about.
HE SAW THE END.

And the end was not only futility, but also judgment.
The promises pleasure made, it could not fulfill.

And it changed Asaph’s perspective.
(READ 21-24)

• Only in Christ is there glory.
• Only in Christ is there fulfillment.
• Only in Christ is there eternal life.

And so listen to Asaph’s Review.
Listen to his answer to the false promises of pleasure.
(READ 25-28)

• Asaph learned what the preacher is talking about.
• Asaph learned what Jesus told the woman at the well.
• Asaph learned what Paul was talking about.
• Asaph learned what Moses had learned.

That the only true satisfaction you will find in this life
Is not through worldly knowledge and it is not through pleasure.
It is only found in Christ.

Young man listen!
Don’t let the flashy advertisements of this world drag you into a world of seeking happiness through pleasure.
• Sin brings momentary pleasure, but it cannot bring happiness.
• Seeking happiness anywhere other than in Christ is like chasing the wind.

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He Is The Lord Our God – Part 1
Psalms 105 (1-15)
May 2, 2021

Tonight we study the final Psalm in this trilogy of sorts
Which focuses in on the praise which God deserves.

It is the culmination of the “Bless the LORD, O my soul.” Psalms.

Psalms 105 is often included in this group because many think that
The final two lines of Psalms 104 actually belong in 105.
“Bless the LORD, O my soul. Praise the LORD!”

Perhaps that is true, I don’t know.

But even without that distinction
I still have no problem including 105 with 103 & 104
Because like those two Psalms, 105 is still pure praise.

Like the 2 before it,
• There are no complaints,
• There are no requests,
• There are no expressions of danger
• Or any predicament listed.

Psalms 105 is a reflection upon the goodness of God to His people
And a reflection that should motivate the soul to praise God.

In 103 we heard David tell his soul to “forget none of His benefits”

Things like:
Psalms 103:3-5 “Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.”

David looked inwardly to the spiritual work which God had done personally for him in regard to his soul.

And the question was simple.
How could you not be compelled to praise a God who has been so personal and thorough in saving you from your sin?

• This God who has removed your transgressions as far as the east is from the
west…
• This God who has not dealt with you like you deserve…
• This God whose loyalty to you is from everlasting to everlasting…

How could your soul not be motivated
To bless this great God who saved you?

That was the call of Psalms 103.

In Psalms 104 we said that David moved from looking inwardly at the benefits of his soul and started looking outwardly at the greatness of creation.

David examined the greatness of God
Through the world He made and the way He sustains it
And David once again commanded his soul to bless God.

• He is the God who created light, the heavens, the sea and the dry land, the
sun and moon, vegetation, and all the animals.

• He is the God who sends rain and fills the rivers so that His creation might
drink.
• He is the God who feeds all things.
• He is the God of great creativity in all that He has designed.

And again the question:
How can any living thing not be motivated to bless the God who gives and sustains life?

And so based on God’s greatness in creation
David again called his soul to bless God.

Tonight we move to Psalms 105.
• In 103 David looked inwardly…
• In 104 David looked outwardly…
• In 105 David looks historically…

To put it another way he begins to examine
All that God has done for him and his people throughout history.

And as David takes inventory of
The benefits of God for His people throughout history,
David is again motivated to praise God.

• Perhaps those last two lines of 104 DO FIT here and David again tells his soul to bless God.
• Or perhaps they are rightly placed in 104 and the praise David calls for doesn’t specifically use that phrase.

However, when reading the first 7 verses of this Psalm
We might say that David includes the specifics
Of what it means to “bless the LORD, O my soul.”

We have again a Psalm of total praise
With truth for you to ponder that your soul might also be motivated
To bless and be a blessing to God.

And TONIGHT we want to look at the history
Of who God is and what He has done for His people.

There are 6 points to be made in the Psalm.
#1 GOD’S EXPECTATION
Psalms 105:1-7

Since all Scripture is inspired by God we can accurately say that
THIS IS GOD’S EXPECTATION FOR THOSE HE HAS REDEEMED.

But at face value, it is also David’s expectation for the people of God.

And you actually see 8 commands here.
• All of 8 of these actually expound on the command to “Bless the LORD, O my soul.”
• If you were to ask what a blessing soul looks like, well, it would look like this.

GRATITUDE
(1) “O give thanks to the LORD,”

Based upon what God has done (as we will see in a minute)
The first and most obvious command is that you tell Him “thank you”.

• Acknowledge what He did.
• Acknowledge that He did it for you.
• Acknowledge that it was a benefit for your life.
• And tell Him thank you.

In high school my senior English teacher was Mrs. Johnson.
• She was a mild-mannered and soft-spoken lady.
• But one issue got her fired up like no other.
• Towards the end of the year she would address the senior English class
because she knew we would all soon be receiving graduation gifts from friends and family.

And she would say, “If someone sends you a gift or money for graduation and you do not send them a “thank you” card you are the scum of the earth.”

It sank in, I even wrote Mrs. Johnson a card for teaching me English
Just to make sure I didn’t get labeled.

She understood that if you were a beneficiary of grace
Then you were obligated to be a giver of gratitude.

Certainly that is true in regard to the God of our salvation.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 “in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Gratitude is important to God.

TRUST
(1b) “call upon His name;”

In our culture sometimes calling upon someone
Is perceived as a nuisance or a bother.

But it is not so to God.
It is in fact a compliment.

It is a declaration that God is capable
Of what we are not capable of and we are in need of Him.

And God desires this.
Psalms 50:15 “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.”

Even in the New Testament we are promised:
Romans 10:13 “for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”

Over and over and over in Scripture we are commanded
To honor the Lord by calling upon Him and placing our trust in Him.

EVANGELISM
(1c) “Make known His deeds among the peoples.”

Certainly when God does great things for us,
The expectation is that we so honor Him by telling of what He has done.

I actually love the title given to those who do this.
Acts 1:8 “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

• Certainly there are those who are teachers.
• Certainly there are those who are preachers.
• And those are specific callings with specific gifts of the Holy Spirit.

But what we are called to be is “witnesses”
In fact many people even refer to evangelism as “witnessing”

What is that?
Acts 4:19-20 “But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

It is gratitude in the other direction.

When God does great things for us,
First we tell Him thank you and then we tell the world what He did for us.

PRAISE
(2) “Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;”

Why sing?
Why singing?
BECAUSE GOD LIKES IT.

We all understand this.
Years ago I helped Dancie Fulmer unload a trailer while they were moving to Spur,
• As a thank you she gave me some of those peanut batter crackle cookies with the cocoa puffs in them.

I helped Leo remodel his kitchen,
• I got one of Joan’s world famous apple pies.

Because I love those things.

Well, God doesn’t want crackle cookies and God doesn’t want apple pie,
(Though I feel certain that was probably Jesus’ favorite dessert on earth.)
He wants a song.
He wants you to sing praise to Him.

Of all the things He could demand as payment, this one is letting you off easy.
Ephesians 5:18-19 “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;”

He likes singing.

MEDITATION
(2b) “Speak of all His wonders.”

The word “speak” there can also be translated “meditate”
(i.e. speak to yourself)

It is to give deep contemplation to all that He is and all that He does.
• Think on Him.
• Ponder Him.
• Focus on Him.

Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”

There is only One who I know of who fits all of those criteria

It is the opposite of ignoring Him…
It is the opposite of giving Him no thought…
Instead we seek Him out, we read His word, we ponder who He is.

BOAST
(3a) “Glory in His holy name;”

This is actually the result of meditating on Him.

When you grasp who He is and what He has done,
Bragging on Him and boasting about Him is a natural response.

When we catch a glimpse of His majesty the boast is automatic.

• We all in a sense quickly become like those 4 living creatures who gaze upon the Lord and “day and night do not cease to say, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty’”

It’s just the natural response.

We understand this in our day
• As we brag about our kids
• Or we brag about our spouse
• Or some who even brag about their dog.

We get boasting, but the one place our boasting always fits
IS IN REGARD TO THE LORD.

1 Corinthians 1:30-31 “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.”

SATISFACTION
(3b) “let the heart of those who seek the LORD be glad.”

Don’t you like it when people enjoy the work of your hands?
• If you clean the house or cook a meal or wash a car or mow the grass or perform any other service…
• Do you like it when the people you did it for turn up their lip or complain?

No, you actually want to see their satisfaction.
You actually want to see their gladness in what you have done.

Well so does God.
Contentment and gladness are great elements of praise to God.

Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!”

DEPENDENCE
(4) “Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face continually.”

Here it is a seeking of Him because of who He is and what He can do.
• We seek Him because we need Him.
• We depend upon Him.
• We lean on Him.

This was the heart of Paul regarding Christ.
Philippians 3:10 “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;”

Paul would actually also “boast about his own weakness” because it was then that he was made fully dependent on God and only then was he really strong.

This is an honor God deserves.
(He deserves for you to depend on Him)

If you ever watched Michael Jordan play basketball.
You saw time after time when the game was on the line they put the ball in Michael’s hands.

When it mattered most they depended on Michael.
• Do you think he saw that as a burden?
• Absolutely not, in fact, he would have considered it an offense if they would
have entrusted the game to anyone else.

It was his glory that when it mattered most the team looked to him.

Can you not see that also with God?
Why would you not put it all in His hands at every moment?

Now, that is a quick look at that list,
But these are the expectation of God as you relate to Him.

Gratitude – Trust – Evangelism – Praise
Meditation – Boasting – Satisfaction – Dependence.

These are things that you should give to God.

And if you are having trouble giving God those things
Then David again has the answer.

We saw it back in 103
Psalms 103:2 “Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits;”

David taught us that if a soul needs motivation to bless God,
You provide that motivation through the memory.

• You simply start counting your many blessings.
• You name them one by one.
• And before long, your soul will be blessing God.

Well, David’s methodology hasn’t changed much here in 105.

If you are having trouble with gratitude or trust or evangelism or praise
Or meditation or boasting or satisfaction of dependence
THEN HERE IS THE WAY YOU FIX THAT.

(5) “Remember His wonders which He has done, His marvels and the judgments uttered by His mouth”

In short, if you are having trouble responding to God as He has desired
Then stop and remember the judgments He has rendered
And the miraculous way He has carried those judgments out.

Think about His miraculous works.
• Think about His unfathomable deeds.
• Think about why He did them.

All of that will make more sense in a moment
When David starts listing some of them.
But this is the cure for failing to meet God’s expectation.

And here to give FURTHER EXPLANATION
David actually mentions the TARGET GROUP we are talking about here.

Who is to be grateful and trusting and satisfied and boastful in God?
(6-7) “O seed of Abraham, His servant, O sons of Jacob, His chosen ones! He is the LORD our God; His judgments are in all the earth.”

Who is David talking to?
• Those who are sharers in the covenantal promises to Abraham.
• Those who recipients of all the benefits of the promises God made to Abraham.
• Those whom God has chosen.
• Those who bear the distinction as “God’s people” or even more accurately, “God’s chosen people”

David says, “He is the LORD our God”

Think about that statement for a moment.

“He is the LORD” is alone a marvelous reality.

“LORD” there is the divine name of God – Yahweh
• He is the supreme authority and covenant savior of Israel.
• He can do whatever He wants.
• He acts and none can reverse it.

But He is not some distant unknown being.
He is “our God”
• We are His people.
• He has redeemed us.
• He has saved us.

And when David says “His judgments are in all the earth”
• He is talking about God’s judgments that are made on behalf of His people.

David now after calling Israel to praise God
Is beginning to remind them of their obligation to do so.

You of all people should be eager to praise God
For He has done things for you that He has done for no one.

• He continually works in this world on your behalf.
• He continually makes judgments in the world that benefit you.

Now that’s really just the prologue to the Psalm.
It is God’s expectation.

But, as has been the method for the last two Psalms,
David now will start chronicling all the evidence.

When David wanted his soul to bless God
• He started listing all those personal benefits of salvation.

When David wanted his soul to bless God
• He started listing all the realities of God’s creation.

Now when David wants Israel to join and worship God with all their soul
• He is about to start listing all the benefits God has shown to them as a nation.

Now obviously we are not going to get through all of them tonight,
But I want to start looking at the first one at least.

So you’ve seen God’s expectation, now let’s start talking about all the great things about God that should cause you to worship Him as He expects.

#2 GOD’S LOYALTY
Psalms 105:8-15

The word is not mentioned in these verses,
But the evidence of it drip out of every verse.

We remember that favorite Hebrew word CHECED.
Commonly translated as “lovingkindness”
But it actually speaks of the loyalty of God.

It is different than faithfulness,
• Which David will talk about later in verses 37-44.

Faithfulness is simply a reference to the fact that God always faithfully does what He promises.

If God says He will do it, then He will do it.

Where loyalty is different is that
GOD always seems to keep making the promises.

Regardless of their mistakes, God just never leaves them.
• God keeps working on behalf of Israel.
• God continues to make promises to them when He is under no obligation to do so.

At least when we say God is faithful we understand that
He is obligated to be faithful because He must keep His word.

But what obligates God to continue making promises?
Well that is the loyalty we are talking about.

The loyalty that the God of the universe looked down from heaven
And of all the people of the earth He decided that
He was going to show favor to one man and his descendants.

God looked down at Abraham and His loyalty has never waned.

(8-11) “He has remembered His covenant forever, The word which He commanded to a thousand generations, The covenant which He made with Abraham, And His oath to Isaac. Then He confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel as an everlasting covenant, Saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan As the portion of your inheritance,”

It is one of the most peculiar occurrences in Scripture.
Genesis 12:1-3 “Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

And the question we would ask is “WHY?”
What had Abram ever done to warrant such a promise?
• And the answer is nothing.
• Abram was a pagan idol worshiper.
• Abram was a slave owner.
• Abram was a greedy seeker of worldly prosperity.

And Scripture doesn’t say that Abram approached God,
God approached Abram under absolutely no compulsion whatsoever,
God made this wild promise to Abram.

God decided that of all the people on the planet,
Abram would be the one He would bless.
It is the purest expression of grace imaginable.

And you know about the life of Abram.
• You know how God cultivated his faith.
• You know how God forgave his flaws.
• You know how eventually Abram became a man of great faith.

GOD NEVER GAVE UP ON HIM.

But what is even more remarkable is that
Even though He was under no obligation to do so,
God continued making that same promise to his descendants.

Next comes Isaac,
Who if there was a dud among the patriarchs, it is Isaac.

However:
Genesis 26:24-25 “The LORD appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you, and multiply your descendants, For the sake of My servant Abraham.” So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.”

You know what you call that?
Loyalty.
• God just was loyal to Abraham, and so he extended that same favor to his son.

And not just his son, even Jacob his grandson.
• Jacob you remember as a scoundrel.
• A raucous, arrogant, deceptive, conniving, worthless individual.

But…
Genesis 28:13-15 “And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. “Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

Why?
Again it is unspeakable loyalty.

God just always seems to show loyal commitment
To Abraham and his descendants.

(12-15) “When they were only a few men in number, Very few, and strangers in it. And they wandered about from nation to nation, From one kingdom to another people. He permitted no man to oppress them, And He reproved kings for their sakes: “Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm.”

Do you remember this?
We actually saw it twice.
(Once to correct Abram’s blunder, once to simply protect him)

First when Abram fled the Promised Land because of a famine and went to Egypt and told Pharaoh that Sarai was his sister.

Genesis 12:17 “But the LORD struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.”

That was Abram’s blunder, but God protected him.

Later, Abraham was oppressed, and God protected him again.
This time it was Abimelech.

We don’t have time to outline again the entire chapter,
But the study is available on our website.

Most see Genesis 20 as another mistake by Abraham.
They see it as the old Abraham again passing his wife off as his sister.
• And they think Abraham is blowing it again.

But Genesis 20 never says that.
In fact Abraham never gets rebuked at all in the chapter.

The only rebuke is for Abimelech.
Genesis 20:3 “But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is married.”

God again preserved Abraham.

It’s like he was God’s favorite or something.
God was always looking out for him.

I personally love the story about when Abraham sent a servant to go and find a wife for Isaac.

The servant was pretty nervous because
• He was supposed to travel back to Abraham’s land,
• Find a girl,
• And convince her to come back and marry Isaac sight unseen.

That servant thought it was a far-fetched plan,
BUT HE WAS SURE OF ONE THING.
He knew that God was loyal to Abraham.

Genesis 24:12 “He said, “O LORD, the God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today, and show lovingkindness to my master Abraham.”

• We have him praying to God on behalf of his CHECED that He always shows Abraham.

Remember the test was to find a woman
Who would draw water and water all of his camels.

After God honored that request, notice the prayer again of the servant.
Genesis 24:26-27 “Then the man bowed low and worshiped the LORD. He said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His lovingkindness and His truth toward my master; as for me, the LORD has guided me in the way to the house of my master’s brothers.”

The servant marveled at how loyal God always was to Abraham.

We are simply talking about the benefit of being God’s children.
We are talking about the blessing
Of being able to say that the LORD is our God.

And David wants Israel to stop and ponder this great loyalty
As a motivation to fulfill God’s expectation of praise.

WE SHOULD TOO.
We also enjoy God’s loyalty.

The pinnacle passage on this is found in the book of Romans.
Romans 8:31-39 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Do you understand what Paul is saying there?

You are treated by God every bit as well as God treated Abraham.
• You are under His favor
• You have His loyalty
• He causes you to conquer in the face of hostility
• Nothing can separate the bond He has with you

It’s God’s loyalty, just like He showed it to Abraham.

And based on that reality you too should be motivated
To fulfill God’s great expectation of worship and praise.

Gratitude, Trust, Evangelism, Praise,
Meditation, Boasting, Satisfaction, and Dependence.

That is the least we can do
Based upon the great benefit of God in our lives.

That’s all we have time for tonight, next time we’ll continue looking at these great benefits.

Download Here:

The Futility of Knowledge
Ecclesiastes 1:12-18
May 2, 2021

As you know last week we began looking at
This marvelous book known as Ecclesiastes.

• “Ecclesiastes” is a Latin word that means “The Preacher”
• In Greek the word for the church is EKKLESIA
• This is the one who stands before them.

And as we said last time,
“The Preacher” here is not the author of the book.

Rather, the author is merely reiterating to you
The message that the preacher preached.

It was so profound, so penetrating, so convicting, so relevant, so enlightening,
That the author recorded it and has preserved it for you.

IF YOU WEREN’T WITH US LAST WEEK during our introduction
I would simply remind you now of
THE PURPOSE OF THE SERMON that the preacher here preaches.

Very simply it is “TO KEEP YOU FROM WASTING YOUR LIFE”

It is apparent that as the preacher is preaching
He has set in his sights particularly the YOUNG MAN.

The man who is about to set out and embark upon life.
• He is filled with adventure…
• He is filled with ambition…
• He is filled with excitement…
• He’s going to go out and make his mark on the world.

The preacher is talking most specifically to him.

Perhaps my favorite quote that the preacher makes to the young man is this:
Ecclesiastes 11:9 “Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. And follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things.”

• Every year our church gives Bibles to the graduating seniors.
• Many seniors have received a reference to Ecclesiastes 11:9 in their Bible.

But you see the preacher here, presumably now an old man,
Is preaching to the young man,
And he is seeking to cut through all the nonsensical fluff
That is commonly peddled to young people.

Many have referred to the preacher by a different title.
Many have called him “THE CRITIC”

That’s sort of what he feels like.
• He just doesn’t seem to be able to find anything good to say about life at all.
• He comes across as that angry co-worker in the breakroom who you only wish him a good day as you walk out the door.

BUT THAT IS NOT THE PREACHER AT ALL.

The preacher here is merely an honest man
Who is filled with experience and who wants to save a young man
From the same pitfalls he made when he was younger.

Do you ever read the reviews before you purchase on Amazon?
Whose advice carries more weight with you; the advertiser or the reviewer?

This man is giving you honest reviews on the things the world is selling.
• He drips of practical wisdom.
• He drips of reality.
• He drips of the kind of tough love that will grab his son by the ear and yank
him away from the pitfalls of life.

• He has seen all the commercials…
• He has heard all the sales pitches…
• He has tried all the gimmicks…

And he is here to make sure you know the truth about all of them.

HIS MESSAGE IS SO IMPORTANT.

LAST TIME we called Ecclesiastes the Perfect Primer For The Gospel.

This world is filled with millions of shiny objects
That seek to attract your attention and devour your resources,
And all of them are FOOL’S GOLD.

There is only 1 true treasure.
There is only 1 object that is truly worth your sincerest affection.

Matthew 13:44 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

The Preacher is making sure you search for the right treasure.
And when you find it, it is the goal of the preacher to make sure that
You too will gladly sacrifice every other earthly treasure to obtain it.

THIS PREACHER IS VERY EVANGELISTIC.

But the book of Ecclesiastes is also a SANCTIFYING BOOK.

• Even as believers, who have seen the value of Christ, and proclaimed Jesus as Lord, and entered the kingdom of heaven…
• Even we can become distracted and confused as we live in this world with all its allurements.

• Even though Jesus told us not to store up treasure here, but to store it up in heaven…
• Even though Jesus told us that you can’t serve God and mammon…
• Even though Jesus told us that the world and its lusts are passing away…

Even though we know those things
Sometimes we still get sucked in to the perverted thinking of the world
And go chase after things that have no value.

The preacher here reminds us of what those things are truly worth.

THAT IS HOW YOU SHOULD READ THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES.
The Preacher is telling you about life
And about what infomercials you should pass on.

Last week in the prologue we got the title of the critique didn’t we?

When asked to review life, what was the title of the preachers review?

Ecclesiastes 1:2 “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.”

Again “Vanity” is the Hebrew word HEBEL (he-vel)
It means “vapor” or “breath”

It’s all a Mirage!
It’s all False Advertising!
It won’t last!
It won’t satisfy!

To which he went on to say:
Ecclesiastes 1:3 “What advantage does man have in all his work Which he does under the sun?”

There is no advantage.
There is no benefit to all the worldly endeavors.

Listen young man!
All the things that the world is offering you as satisfaction are not true! They won’t satisfy.
• It’s like trying to catch smoke!
• It’s like trying to catch the wind!
• You’ll chase it your whole life and never find it.

What a message!

This morning we start The Specifics, and first on the list is KNOWLEDGE

THIS IS OFTEN THE FIRST THING THE WORLD OFFERS

I think every young man or women ABOUT TO GRADUATE
Can identify with this one.

How many times do you suppose the question will be asked: “Where are you going to go for college?”

And we understand why people ask that.
• Much of our culture runs on the expectation of higher education.
• Many jobs require college degrees.
• Most see college as a necessary step to obtaining the successful and fulfilling and satisfying life.

And know from the outset here,
THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH EDUCATION.

In fact, the Bible speaks highly of the importance of knowledge.

Proverbs 10:14 “Wise men store up knowledge, But with the mouth of the foolish, ruin is at hand.”

Proverbs 19:2 “Also it is not good for a person to be without knowledge, And he who hurries his footsteps errs.”

Proverbs 24:5 “A wise man is strong, And a man of knowledge increases power.”

KNOWLEDGE IS A GOOD THING.
If you want to be able to contribute to society you need knowledge.

Knowledge is even required for salvation
• For it was Paul who asked how can a man call on One in whom he has never heard?

The quest and THE GOAL of the preacher here IS NOT
To convince you that knowledge is bad and that it is preferred
That you just go out into life as an uneducated buffoon.

CERTAINLY NOT.

However, if you think knowledge is going to somehow
Be what brings you a fulfilling and satisfying life,
I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news for you.

Listen to the preacher.

Let’s break our text down into 3 points this morning.
#1 THE QUEST
Ecclesiastes 1:12-13

“I, the Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.”

As we said, most think this to be Solomon.
• And we certainly remember Solomon as the man who prayed for wisdom.
• We certainly remember Solomon who was called the wisest man to ever live.
• And we also remember how Solomon fell prey to the temptations of life and didn’t finish as well as he started.
• We know about Solomon.

Well here he is passing on the lessons of his life to the next generation.

And he begins with the first box on his list
That HE THOUGHT would bring him satisfaction.

(13) “And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven. It is a grievous task which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.”

Very simply put,
Solomon set out to be the man who was finally able to make sense of life.
(Many a philosopher after him has attempted the same thing)

Solomon could see, as could so many others, that this life “is a grievous task which God has given the sons of men to be afflicted with.”

Would we agree with that?
Life is hard

Sure you would, because life is hard.

There are all sorts of struggles and tragedies and hardships and frustrations that we face every day.
• Suffering is real
• Injustice is real
• Tragedy is real
• Disaster is real

Now, we are not confused as to why life is hard.
The gospel has given us this answer.
It’s called sin, and it’s called the curse.

This world wasn’t created bad, it was created good,
But when sin entered the world, God cursed this world.

• By the sweat of your brow you bring forth food – God said.
• And by the pain of your body you bear children – God said.

LIFE IS HARD.
SOLOMON KNEW THAT.

His ambition was to make sense of it all.
“I set my mind to seek and explores by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven.”

Now there’s a few things that need to be understood here.

1) You see the phrase “under heaven”

This is an IMPORTANT PERSPECTIVE that Solomon likes to reference.
Typically you read it as “under the sun”

• You already heard him use it last week twice (vs. 1:3 and 1:9)
• He uses it in our text this morning in verse 14.
• And he uses it a total of 29 times throughout the book.

The reason he speaks of “under the sun” or “under heaven”
Is because he is reminding you of your vantage point.

God is above the sun.
• God is in heaven.
• He sees and knows things that we do not see or know.

We are “under the sun” or “under heaven”
And we simply are not privy to the information that God has.

J.I. Packer spoke of this reality in his book “Knowing God” and likened it to the control platform above a train station that has the lighted grid which shows you all the trains and makes sense of their movements.

• We are not in that platform.
• We don’t see why one train stops and another moves.
• We are on the ground level.

So very simply you have Solomon saying here
That his objective was to observe what happens under heaven
And see if he could make sense of it all
As though he were in heaven with God.

He’s seeking to gain that eternal divine perspective and understanding.

2) We also see the phrase “I set my mind to…”

He uses such language often.
• (16) “I said to myself…”
• (17) “I set my mind to know wisdom…”
• (2:1) “I said to myself…”
• (2:3) “I explored with my mind…”

All of those phrases carry with them a SINCERE DEVOTION.
• The NASB translates them all “mind”
• But the actual word there is “heart” or his “inner man”.

What we are talking about here
Is a man who literally gives himself to these things.

When he says “I set my mind to seek and explore”
He is saying “I gave my heart and soul to this endeavor.”

Later in chapter 2 he will give his heart and soul
• To pleasure
• And then to wine
• And then to projects, etc.

My point is, he’s not a halfway kind of guy.

He is all in.
• This isn’t a peripheral study in his life.
• He puts everything aside to pursue these things.
• He is seeking with all that is within him to find.
• He set out to find, not just seek.

3) The other thing we need to clarify before we move on here is what he means by “I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom”

We need to clarify what is this “wisdom” he speaks of.

Now first,
You know that there is a difference between knowledge and wisdom.
• Knowledge = what you know.
• Wisdom = what you do with what you know.

A knowledgeable man KNOWS what is right.
A wise man DOES what is right.
(Whereas a fool may know and still do wrong)

But the greater distinction we need to make here is the source of wisdom.

There is in Scripture true wisdom from above
And there is natural wisdom from below.

Wisdom from God begins where?
“the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom”

But earthly wisdom comes not from a fear of God but from ambition and desire.

James 3:13-17 “Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.”

We might better make a distinction by altering the terms.
• We might refer to wisdom as that which is from God.
• We might refer to philosophy as that which is from man.
Now, in the book of Ecclesiastes
The preacher is seeking to drive you to Godly wisdom.

His goal is to get you to walk with a fear of the LORD.

BECAUSE THAT’S NOT WHERE HE STARTED.
(And he’s trying to save you)

When you read verse 13 and he says, “I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom”
• He’s NOT talking about the fear of the LORD kind.
• You’d be more accurate to understand him speaking about philosophy or
worldly wisdom.

He went searching through all of academia
To try and find the meaning of life and to gain an understanding
For why life is so hard, and how to fix it.

THAT IS HIS QUEST.

“And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven. It is a grievous task which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.”

So just to make sure you see what is happening here.
• He recognizes the perplexity and hardship of life.
• He thinks the answer to life’s hardship is through knowledge and education.
• So he devotes his heart and soul to searching out that answer.

That is philosophy.
That is his first ambition in life.

He’s going to seek knowledge and education and reason
Until he understands life and how to fix it.

The Quest
#2 THE CONCLUSION
Ecclesiastes 1:14-15

And there it is.
“I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind.”

He gave his heart and soul to understanding the human condition through education and philosophy and WHAT WAS HIS CONCLUSION?

It’s “vanity and striving after wind.”

It’s his honest review.
It’s his critique.

HE GAVE HIMSELF to human understanding
And applying his knowledge and philosophy to every situation
AND AT THE END OF HIS QUEST HE FOUND NO FULFILLMENT.

WHY?

(15) “What is crooked cannot be straightened and what is lacking cannot be counted.”

• There’s his problem.
• Actually it is two problems.

1) DEPRAVITY
“what is crooked cannot be straightened”

It is a moral depravity.
• The word for crooked there actually means “perverted”

That is a good way to describe our world.
It is morally deprave and perverse.

Solomon realized all the knowledge in the world couldn’t straighten it out.

The other problem was:
2) DEFICIENCY
“what is lacking cannot be counted”

It is not enough, it can’t satisfy.
(This world is a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle with only 999 pieces)

• He took this life which was full of grief and pain
• And sought to bring correction and meaning to this life
• Through human knowledge and education and philosophy
• But it brought him no comfort.

All the knowledge in the world couldn’t fix his depravity.
All the knowledge in the world couldn’t fix his deficiency.

Incidentally, if you’ve heard R.C. Sproul’s testimony, this was the verse that led him to salvation.
• He was a very intellectual young man,
• But he was crushed under the weight of his own personal depravity and
deficiency.
• And it didn’t matter how much he knew, his knowledge couldn’t fix his problem.

AND THAT IS SO TRUE.
Consider the Law.

The Law is full of knowledge and instruction and clarification
About the holiness of God and the mandate for human living.

But the Law never fixed anyone.
Romans 7:9-11 “I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.”

• Knowledge didn’t make Paul more upright, it only revealed how wicked he was.
• Knowledge didn’t give his life fullness, it only revealed his deficiency.

Remember the Centurion who had the sick slave and he wanted Jesus to heal him?

Matthew 8:8 “But the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.”

Literally that centurion said, “I am not enough”
• It is the very essence of being “poor in spirit”
• It is the idea of being spiritually bankrupt.

Knowledge won’t make you righteous.
Knowledge won’t make you complete.
All it will do is reveal that you aren’t.

And that is exactly what Solomon learned.
• Despite all that he knew.
• Despite all that he had learned.
• Knowledge provided no answers for how to actually turn depravity into righteousness or deficiency into something satisfying.

Continue on with Paul in Romans 7.
Listen to him lament his powerlessness to turn his knowledge into actual righteousness.

Romans 7:14-20 “For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.”

• Paul knew the Law.
• Paul agreed with the Law.
• Paul desired to obey the Law.

What was the problem?
Sin wouldn’t let him!

“What is crooked cannot be straightened and what is lacking cannot be counted.”

And the point?
While knowledge has great value in this life,
Knowledge alone will not bring you satisfaction and fulfillment.
And it certainly will not bring salvation.

It has been the misunderstanding of our culture.
Our culture thinks you can fix moral problems with education.

• I’ve seen the “shattered dreams” presentations where you instruct kids on
the facts about drunk driving.
• My kids just told me about a school program to give the facts about the
dangers of vaping.
• Countless sex education courses have sought to educate people to the
dangers of sexual immorality.

And yet, drinking, vaping, and sex are still going on!
If you want to help kids overcome sin
You’d better give them something more than knowledge!

Education and knowledge and philosophy
Cannot straighten what is crooked and cannot complete what is lacking.

That was Solomon’s Conclusion.

His Quest, His Conclusion
#3 HIS LAMENT
Ecclesiastes 1:16-18

Do you hear his despair?
“I said to myself, “Behold, I have magnified and increased wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.” And I set my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly; I realized that this is striving after wind.”

• What good did it do?
• What benefit did I receive from all my study?
• What advantage did I gain from my knowledge?

NONE!
It couldn’t make me righteous and it couldn’t bring me fulfillment.

WHY?
(18) “Because in much wisdom there is much grief and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.”

It is exactly what Paul spoke about.
• The more I knew the worse it hurt.

There is a since in which the axiom “Ignorance is bliss”
Is a true statement.
There is a since in which immoral sinners are actually happier
Without the truth of the knowledge of God.

Solomon sought to fix his problems through his knowledge
And it didn’t fix anything.
It only brought more pain and more grief.

Now listen to him young man.
Listen to him young woman.

As I said, knowledge and education are NOT BAD THINGS.
Scripture unequivocally says they are good things.

HOWEVER – If You Think that an education or knowledge or philosophy is going to provide you with the answers for life you are gravely mistaken.

• Your education may teach you how to coach a sport or work with children…
• Your education may teach you how to perform physical therapy…
• Your education may teach you how to install an air conditioning unit…

All those are fine things to know.

But your education will never make you righteous
And will never bring you fulfillment in life.

It is an empty hope to assume that it will.
1 Corinthians 1:20-21a “Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God…”

It is “striving after wind”
It is trying to catch what cannot be caught.

1 Corinthians 3:18-20 “Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, “He is THE ONE WHO CATCHES THE WISE IN THEIR CRAFTINESS”; and again, “THE LORD KNOWS THE REASONINGS of the wise, THAT THEY ARE USELESS.”

All the promises of our culture that fulfillment is found
In education and degrees are a lie.

I have no problem with you pursuing them,
But if you give your heart and soul to them
With the hope that it will give you fulfillment it will not.

Solomon learned it the hard way.
Learn from him.

And let him drive you to the gospel.
1 Corinthians 1:30 “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption”

Paul said that Christ Jesus “became to us wisdom from God”

1 Corinthians 2:6-10 “Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but just as it is written, “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.” For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.”

There is a wisdom available in Christ that the world does not have.
• It is wisdom that can straighten what is crooked.
• It is wisdom that can complete what is lacking.

Because Christ CAN do those things.

PAUL LAMENTED in Romans 7 that all his knowledge in the Law couldn’t not help him.
Romans 7:24 “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?”

But Paul also found satisfaction in Christ.
Romans 7:25-8:4 “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

• Knowledge couldn’t make Paul righteous, but Jesus could.
• Knowledge couldn’t bring Paul fulfillment, but Jesus did.

Jesus straightened what was crooked and completed what was lacking.

Listen to Paul speak to the Colossians.
TURN TO: COLOSSIANS 2:8-15

Do you hear Paul warn of the “empty deception” of philosophy and worldly wisdom?

Listen, human philosophy is totally unnecessary.
• When human philosophy is accurate it will agree with Scripture and therefore unneeded.
• When human philosophy is wrong it will disagree with Scripture and therefore dangerous.

It is not needed.
It only promises what it cannot offer.

And so Paul tells the Colossians not to be sucked into it.
Literally not to be “carried away” by it.

“takes you captive” is actually a Greek word which means “to carry off the booty” (as in a Pirate)

Where is fulfillment?
• If you have a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle and you’re missing a piece, there’s ONLY ONE who can count what is lacking…the manufacturer of the puzzle.
• Where is true righteousness? Only the creator can fix what is crooked.

True fulfillment and true righteousness are only found in Christ.

(Read 9-15)

Do you see that?
• Only Christ is complete and only Christ makes you complete.
• Only Christ can clean up your flesh (spiritual circumcision).
• Only Christ can forgive you of sin
• Only Christ can cancel out your debt
• Only Christ has authority over the enemy

Education and knowledge and philosophy certainly can’t do that.

And that is the message of Solomon this morning to the young man.

There’s nothing wrong with education
But if your whole life is spent in search of human wisdom
You will only find yourself still in your sin and still unfulfilled.

It is commonly said that “Knowledge is Power”
To an extent that is true.

But it’s not power to fulfill
• It’s not power to sanctify
• It’s not power to forgive
• It’s not power to redeem
• It’s not power to deliver

Only Christ is that.

That’s two sermons in and already it is obvious to me
That we just don’t have enough time.
This is such rich information.

Download Here

The Satisfaction of Creation
Psalms 104
April 25, 2021

Tonight we come to the 104th Psalm.
There are many who put 103, 104, and 105 in a sort of trilogy.

After all, we spent much time in Psalms 103 speaking about the command to “Bless the LORD, O my soul!”

And indeed we see that command once again reiterated here.

You also see that same statement end this Psalm.
(35b) “Bless the LORD, O my soul. Praise the LORD!”

Some have even included the final parts of verse 35
As verse 1 of Psalms 105 and thus you see the trilogy of sorts.

They are Psalms in which David commands his soul
To leave its complacency and apathy behind
And to rise up and bless the Lord.

That is still the emphasis of Psalms 104.

The difference is Psalms 103 focused on the BENEFITS OF REDEMPTION,
Psalms 104 focuses on the GREATNESS OF CREATION.

• In Psalms 103 David command his soul to look with spiritual eyes and remember all of God’s benefits.
Things like forgiveness, deliverance, redemption, and blessing.

• In Psalms 104 David commands his soul to look with physical eyes at the splendor of creation and take note of all that God has done, and still does.

In David’s mind both should easily motivate the soul to bless God.

So Psalms 104 is a Psalm that blesses God
Because His great work as the Creator of the universe.

And the Psalm is very specific in this regard.

Keep a finger here in Psalms 104, but also Turn To Genesis 1
And let’s examine the mind of the Psalmist here.

1:3-5 “Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.”

On the first day God created light.

And here in Psalms 104:2 we read:
“Covering Yourself with light as with a cloak, Stretching out heaven like a tent curtain.”

That is Day 1 of Creation.

Then we read about Day 2 in Genesis 1:6-8
(1:6-8) “Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.”

On day 2 of creation God separated the heavens and created the expanse
We refer to as the sky or the atmosphere.

And here in Psalms 104:3-4 we read:
“He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters; He makes the clouds His chariot; He walks upon the wings of the wind; He makes the winds His messengers, Flaming fire His ministers.”

The Psalmist references God’s creation of the sky and the firmament in the heavens upon which God walks and that which does His bidding.

An interesting point to be made on these verses is that
The writer of Hebrews clarifies verse 4 for us.

Hebrews 1:7 “And of the angels He says, “WHO MAKES HIS ANGELS WINDS, AND HIS MINISTERS A FLAME OF FIRE.”

According to the writer of Hebrews verse 4 is not about literal wind or literal lightning, but rather is about God’s angels who at times work in that form and in that way.

But you see day 2 of creation referenced here in Psalms 104.

Day 3 of creation is revealed to us in Genesis 1:9-10
(1:9-10) “Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good.”

God separated the waters and caused dry land to appear.

And in Psalms 104:5-9 we read:
“He established the earth upon its foundations, So that it will not totter forever and ever. You covered it with the deep as with a garment; The waters were standing above the mountains. At Your rebuke they fled, At the sound of Your thunder they hurried away. The mountains rose; the valleys sank down To the place which You established for them. You set a boundary that they may not pass over, So that they will not return to cover the earth.”

David is marveling here at what God did on the 3rd day.
• How God pulled back the oceans and set a boundary for them.
• How God caused the mountains to rise and the valleys to appear.
• How God told the sea where she had to stop.

Job 38:8-11 “Or who enclosed the sea with doors When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb; When I made a cloud its garment And thick darkness its swaddling band, And I placed boundaries on it And set a bolt and doors, And I said, ‘Thus far you shall come, but no farther; And here shall your proud waves stop’?”

That happened on day 3 and David is marveling at it here.
Can you imagine anyone harnessing the sea?
God does.

Also on Day 3 of creation we read:
(1:11-13) “Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a third day.”

That also on day 3 after the land appeared
God covered it with vegetation and plants.

And in Psalms 104:14-17 we read:
“He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And vegetation for the labor of man, So that he may bring forth food from the earth, And wine which makes man’s heart glad, So that he may make his face glisten with oil, And food which sustains man’s heart. The trees of the LORD drink their fill, The cedars of Lebanon which He planted, Where the birds build their nests, And the stork, whose home is the fir trees.”

Clearly David is working through the glory of the creation of God.

On Day 4 of creation God created the great luminaries as a sort of time-keepers over the planet.
(1:14-19) “Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.”

So on the 4th day God made the sun and the moon.

And here in Psalms 104:19-23 we read:
“He made the moon for the seasons; The sun knows the place of its setting. You appoint darkness and it becomes night, In which all the beasts of the forest prowl about. The young lions roar after their prey And seek their food from God. When the sun rises they withdraw And lie down in their dens. Man goes forth to his work And to his labor until evening.”

On the 5th day God created the great creatures of the sea and of the air.
(1:20-23) “Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.” God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.”

And here in Psalms 104:25-26 we read:
“There is the sea, great and broad, In which are swarms without number, Animals both small and great. There the ships move along, And Leviathan, which You have formed to sport in it.”

You see the glory of God’s creation reiterated here again in Psalm 104.

And then on the 6th day God created man and then God commanded man to eat of all the produce which He had provided on the earth.

(1:29-31) “Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”

And in Psalms 104:27-28 we read:
“They all wait for You To give them their food in due season. You give to them, they gather it up; You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good.”

So the connection is obvious.

We have David here basically opening his bible to Genesis 1,
Going through the creation account
And then taking a moment to reflect
On the glory of each day of creation.

And in response to the greatness of creation
David is again commanding his soul to bless God.

But what you also notice in Psalms 104
Is that David doesn’t just marvel at the EXISTENCE OF creation,
But David also marvels as the SUSTENANCE OF creation.

It’s not just that God created the world, but also that God sustains it.

When you look at verses 10-12 we see David focus in on the fact that God also cares for His creation.

(10-12) “He sends forth springs in the valleys; They flow between the mountains; They give drink to every beast of the field; The wild donkeys quench their thirst. Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; They lift up their voices among the branches.”

There is a meticulous care which God gives
To make sure He provides for creation.

In verse 14, “He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the labor of man, so that he may bring forth food from the earth”

I’m reminded of the movie “Shenandoah” with Jimmy Stewart.
Him sitting at the table with his family and offering the prayer before the food.

“Lord, we cleared this land, we plowed it, sowed it, and harvested. We cooked the harvest. It wouldn’t be here, we wouldn’t be eating it, if we hadn’t done it all ourselves. We worked dog bone hard for every crumb and morsel but we thank you just the same anyway Lord for this food we’re about to eat Amen.”

What Jimmy Stewart’s character failed to acknowledge
Is that one pretty important part of the process
Which is that the seed he planted GREW.

• Anyone who farms knows the work behind clearing, plowing, planting, and harvesting.
• Anyone who cooks knows the labor behind taking raw ingredients and fashioning a meal.

But it is not as though man does it all without the help of God.

“He causes the grass to grow…and vegetation for the labor of man, so that he may bring forth food from the earth.”

And the next time you seek to question that reality,
• Then go clear yourself a patch of land, plow it,
• And plant in there a quarter (so that you can grow a money tree)
• And let me know how the harvest works.

• Same amount of work…
• Same amount of effort…
• But without the provision of God there is no harvest, I don’t care how hard you work.

And that is what David also realizes in this Psalm.
It’s not just that God created all things,
But it’s also that God cares for His creation.

He made it and He cares for it.

In fact, look at verses 27-28
“They all wait for You To give them their food in due season. You give to them, they gather it up; You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good.”

And we think of passages like:
Matthew 6:26 “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?”

And this is the focus of David’s song here.

On one hand he is reading Genesis 1 and David marvels at the beauty and majesty and greatness of creation.
• He sees the mountains…
• He sees the mighty ocean…
• He sees the birds in the sky…
• He ponders the creatures in the sea…
• He watches the sun rise every morning…
• He sees all the vegetation…

On the other hand David also marvels because God cares for His creation.

He didn’t make it and then walk off and leave it.
God continues to care for it.

So the Psalm is Psalm of praise for God as Creator and Sustainer.

The overwhelming mood of the Psalm
Is to praise God with your soul for satisfying us
And meeting all our needs.

James 1:17 “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”

Based on that reality we have no problem
Making the application that Jesus made.

Matthew 6:25-33 “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? “And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

God’s unfailing care should inspire peace and faith
And a focus on His kingdom.

But overall what we find in the Psalm is that
DAVID IS SATISFIED WITH ALL THAT GOD HAS DONE.

In this way, tonight’s Psalm is a very fitting balance
To the discussion we had this morning surrounding Ecclesiastes 1:1-11

This morning we looked at what we called “The Circle of Life” and the writer of Ecclesiastes saw it as a futile and even depressing circle of vanity.

And we certainly still hold to that.
If you’re hope is to find your fulfillment in this life then it will greatly disappoint you.
It is all meaningless!

However when we come to Psalms 104 we are again presented with “The Circle of Life” only this time with a much different perspective.

Look at “The Circle of Life” here.
(27-30) “They all wait for You To give them their food in due season. You give to them, they gather it up; You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good. You hide Your face, they are dismayed; You take away their spirit, they expire And return to their dust. You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; And You renew the face of the ground.”

That’s the same circle isn’t it?
Ecclesiastes 1:3-7 “What advantage does man have in all his work Which he does under the sun? A generation goes and a generation comes, But the earth remains forever. Also, the sun rises and the sun sets; And hastening to its place it rises there again. Blowing toward the south, Then turning toward the north, The wind continues swirling along; And on its circular courses the wind returns. All the rivers flow into the sea, Yet the sea is not full. To the place where the rivers flow, There they flow again.”

• The writer of Ecclesiastes looked at it from the perspective of trying to find
satisfaction in this life and he said it was vanity and meaningless.

• But David looks at that circle, not seeking to find fulfillment in this life, but
rather seeking fulfillment in the Creator of this life and David’s perspective is much different.

This Psalm makes a great balance for us.

We might say that
There is no satisfaction in this life if this life is all you seek,
But there is tremendous satisfaction
In seeking the God who gives this life.

Psalms 84:11 “For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.”

The key for understanding the Psalm comes in the final stanza.
(34b) “As for me, I shall be glad in the LORD.”

There it is…
• Not, I shall build bigger barns and store up the world…
• Not, I shall hoard my wealth and live life to the full…
• Not, I shall explore how to enjoy ever worldly pleasure…

As the writer of Ecclesiastes will show you, those are POINTLESS quests.

But if your quest is merely to be satisfied with the God of creation,
Then you are the path to fulfillment.

That is really the heartbeat of Psalms 104.

Now, we’ve already looked all over and through it tonight in the introduction,
But let me go ahead and outline it just so you can get a sense of the flow.

There are 2 main points here in this Psalm.
#1 THE GREATNESS GOD DISPLAYS
Psalms 104:1-30

Again, it is merely David taking a look at
THE MAGNIFICENT GREATNESS OF GOD’S CREATION.

Now, we can break that down a little bit further too to help you follow it.

David breaks down for us God’s greatness.
1) HIS CREATIVE POWER (1-9)

You pick up on the recurring statements.
• (3) “He lays…”
• (3) “He makes…”
• (4) “He makes…”
• (5) “He established…”
• (6) “You covered…”
• (8) “You established…”
• (9) “You set…”

Everything you see in this created world is that which God did.
Man created nothing.

• Sure, man designs and builds and man rearranges, but only God creates.

• We may use the land, we may use the sea, we may use the resources under the ground, we may use the wind, but only God created those things.

• Who else can make a sky?
• Who else can create a planet?
• Who else can restrain the ocean?

It is the sheer creative power of God that has captivated David.

“Oh Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds Thy hands have made. I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed. When through the woods and forest glades I wander, And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees; When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur, and hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze. Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee; How great Thou Art!”

Laura Story wrote the song Indescribable:
“From the highest of heights to the depths of the sea Creation’s revealing Your majesty From the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring Every creature unique in the song that it sings…Who has told every lightning bolt where it should go Or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow. Who imagined the sun and gives source to its light Yet conceals it to bring us the coolness of night, None can fathom
Indescribable, uncontainable, You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name You are amazing God All powerful, untameable, Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim You are amazing God You are amazing God.”

That is David here.
(5) “He established the earth upon its foundations, So that it will not totter forever and ever.”

What a statement!
Who else can do that?

Job 26:7 “He stretches out the north over empty space And hangs the earth on nothing.”

God simply told it to stay there, and it does.

It is sheer creative power and David is blown away.

That is part of God’s greatness.
2) HIS CARE FOR CREATION (10-23)

This is that sustenance we talked about.

In verses 10-13 God provides water

• “He sends for springs in the valleys…”
• “They give drink to every beast of the field…”

This earth has existed for thousands of years
And still has not run out of water.

This past summer our family went to Yellowstone National Park,
• If you’ve been there you know that in the northern parts there is a massive lake that feeds some of the biggest and most glorious mountain rivers you’ll ever see.
• We came down into Jackson Hole and rafted there on the river that in places is hundreds of feet deep.

Where does all that water come from?
Snow, rain, underground springs; and yet they never cease to flow?
It’s incredible.

Many of you have been with us to Africa
• And stood at viewing point to watch Victoria Falls.
• The sheer amount of water barreling over that cliff every second is beyond comprehension.

And yet it continues to flow.
God gives that.

In verses 14-18 God provides vegetation

• “He causes the grass to grow…”
• “He causes…vegetation for the labor of man…”

It’s a remarkable miracle that a farmer can take a seed,
Bury it in the ground,
And it will reproduce into a plant bearing fruit.

Science can tell you how it happens, but only God can cause it to happen.

And just like the earth has never run out of water,
It has also never run out of food.

• How much food does it take to feed a Bison herd for a year?
• How much food does a school of wales need?

God cares for His creation.

In verses 19-23 God provides day and night

God appoints the day and God appoints the darkness.
• Some creatures live by day and others live by night.
• Some labor in the morning and some labor in the evening.
• But all “seek their food from God”

Isn’t it amazing how this earth turns over from day to night?
• During the day man would run free and work free and live off the earth.
• At night man goes to bed, and God appoints the wild beasts to wake up and live off of the same earth.

They operate in a designed cycle and God in His wisdom designed it all.

So you see the greatness of God in His creative power and in His care for creation.
3) HIS CREATIVITY (24-26)

David boasts, “O Lord, how many are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all; The earth is full of Your possessions.”

In the past month our backyard has been invaded with chickens.
I’ve never owned chickens before, but I have marveled at them.

I have marveled at God’s creativity while watching them.
• The God of the universe designed a bird that will stay in your yard,
• Follow you around,
• Give you an egg nearly every day,
• And then you can eat it. (Not Abigail’s but other chickens)
• They walk around on two legs, they put themselves up at night, they are remarkable animals.

But what animal isn’t?
• The cow produces milk and meat.
• The horse is so beautiful and majestic and powerful and useful for work and transportation.

God is so creative.

Go to a zoo sometime and marvel at the imagination of God.
• Who could have thought up the giraffe?
• Who could have invented the rhino?

He is remarkable.
He is so great.

4) HIS CONTROL OVER CREATION (27-30)

David recognizes that God also controls their boundary
And the days of their habitation.

He sits in absolute sovereignty over the world He created.

Acts 17:26 “and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,”

And all of this speaks to His greatness.
David is just blown away at the Greatness
God Displays through His creation.

Stop and see His work.

The earth is indeed filled with the glory of the LORD, can you see it?

Well that is the bulk of the Psalm.
David simply wants you to marvel at God as Creator.

But then we come to the SECOND POINT
And this is where the true APPLICATION comes in.

The Greatness God Displays
#2 THE GLADNESS GOD DESERVES
Psalms 104:31-35

Look at verse 31.
“Let the glory of the LORD endure forever; Let the LORD be glad in His works.”

• Do you understand that statement?
• Do you see David’s point?

We often think of the point of the first 30 verses of this Psalm.
• We often think of how glad we should be in God’s creation.
• We often think of how we should recognize God’s greatness in creation.

But here David announces that God desires the same.
God desires to enjoy His creation.
God desires to “be glad in His works”

It brings to mind that hymn:
“I am satisfied, I am satisfied, I am satisfied with Jesus. But the question comes to me when I think of Calvary, is my Master satisfied with me?”

What a tragedy to think that the God of creation
Would find no pleasure in the world He created.

Think back to Genesis 6
Genesis 6:5-6 “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.”

What a horrible reality.

Think back to Psalms 95
Psalms 95:8-10 “Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, As in the day of Massah in the wilderness, “When your fathers tested Me, They tried Me, though they had seen My work. “For forty years I loathed that generation, And said they are a people who err in their heart, And they do not know My ways.”

What a tragedy
That God would demonstrate such power and provision for creation
Only to have it bring Him no satisfaction.

And certainly it is awful for those who disappoint God
For He has great POWER TO PUNISH those who do so.

(32) “He looks at the earth, and it trembles; He touches the mountains, and they smoke.”

You certainly don’t want to grieve your Maker.
And David understands that.

So look at DAVID’S CONVICTION.
Look at DAVID’S DECISION. (33-34)

(33-34) “I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. Let my meditation be pleasing to Him; As for me, I shall be glad in the LORD.”

As one who is created by God,
David is going to make sure that God finds gladness in him.

1 Corinthians 8:6 “yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.”

David understands that.
He is created for God.

Acts 17:26-27 “and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;”

We were created to seek and to find God.
David most certainly will.

David’s ambition is to be a part of God’s creation that God can rejoice in.

When we talk about the satisfaction of creation,
We are NOT primarily talking about our satisfaction with creation,
We are talking about God’s satisfaction with creation.

What a great goal.
• There are plenty of humans who grieve God.
• Be a human who delights Him.

Be like Abraham
Hebrews 11:13-16 “All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.”

And incidentally, this is also where we bring the gospel in.
• For it is only when we are “in Christ” and are clothed in His righteousness that we can truly become pleasing to the Father.
• Christ was “My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
• So in order to be a part of creation that brings God pleasure we run to Christ.

For the alternative is gloomy.
(35) “Let sinners be consumed from the earth And let the wicked be no more. Bless the LORD, O my soul. Praise the LORD!”

This would be those whom God created
Who still refuse to “honor Him as God or give thanks”.

They abide under God’s wrath
And one day will be totally removed from the earth.

And based on that truth it only reaffirms David’s conviction.
“Bless the LORD, O my soul.”

We might say, “BE A BLESSING TO GOD O MY SOUL!”

That is truly a great ambition.
• It is easy for us to marvel at all the glories of creation.
• It is easy for us to marvel at the great care God gives.
• It is easy for us to marvel at God’s great creativity.
• It is easy for us to marvel at God’s sovereign control.

When we stop and think about it,
We are easily satisfied with all that God has created.

The question of Psalms 104 is
Whether God is able to be satisfied in His creation.

Whether God is able to be glad in me whom He has created.

David was determined to make sure He was.
“I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. Let my meditation be pleasing to Him; As for me, I shall be glad in the LORD.”

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The Circle of Life
Ecclesiastes 1:1-11
April 25, 2021

I’ve certainly never been one to want to include movie clips in a sermon, but if I was ever going to do it, I would have started this one with that opening clip from the Lion King with the singing of “The Circle of Life”

For that’s exactly what the book of Ecclesiastes calls our attention to
And certainly is highlighted in the first 11 verses of the book.

That everything about our existence
Flows in this endless and unchanging circle.

The difference between Disney and the book of Ecclesiastes
Is where Disney sought to celebrate this great circle of life
The book of Ecclesiastes laments it.

(2) “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.”

It is no doubt the redundant cry of the book.
• Over 20 times the book contains the word “vanity” or “vanities”
• 11 times we read the word “futility”
• 9 times we read the phrase “striving after wind”

The Hebrew word translated “vanity” here is HEBEL (hev-el)
It means “vapor” or “breath”

And the preacher uses it 30 times in the book
As his best descriptive word about life on this planet.

And so you are already making one reference in your mind
To the New Testament writers and their usage of such theology.

James 4:13-14 “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.”

James took that straight from the Preacher in Ecclesiastes.
• James learned from the Preacher that it is utter foolishness to bank on
certainty in this life, it’s just a vapor; it’s just a breath.

That is the horse that the Preacher will ride throughout this book.

And because he goes there so often,
It has led many to make some FAULTY ASSUMPTIONS about the book.

When I was a teenager my pastor said that “Ecclesiastes was the only book in the Bible written from the perspective of a non-believer.” He said that “Solomon wrote it late in life after the consequences of all his sin had made him bitter.”

He was not alone in that assessment. Indeed some through the years have made such an interpretation and then questioned if Solomon was even saved at all.

“How could a saved man write such a book?” they would say.

But I would state it just the opposite.
• How could a saved man not write such a book?
• It is certainly not something a lost man would write!

In fact, it might surprise you to know
That much of Jesus’ preaching can be found in truths
That were also echoed by the Preacher here in Ecclesiastes.

When Jesus asks the question:
Matthew 16:26 “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”

That is exactly the point the Preacher makes in Ecclesiastes.

When Jesus warns:
Matthew 6:34 “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

That is the exact perspective of the Preacher here.

• When Jesus laments a farmer who stored up treasure on earth but was
not rich toward God…
• When Jesus tells of a rich man who enjoyed all his good things in this
life, and now get torment in the afterlife…
• When Jesus warns of the judgment of God on those who choose this life
instead of the next…

All of those realities are the very point of the Preacher here in Ecclesiastes.

The apostles certainly followed suit.
I already read you James’ warning that our life is a vapor,

But that wasn’t all James had to say.
James 5:1 “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you.”

That is the very warning of the Preacher here
To the man who pours all of his effort into this life.

Listen to John:
1 John 2:17 “The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”

That is exactly the warning of the Preacher.

When the writer of Hebrews reminds:
Hebrews 13:14 “For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.”

One might wonder if he just finished reading Ecclesiastes.

When the apostle Paul tells Timothy:
1 Timothy 6:17 “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.”

Paul is merely echoing the truths taught by the Preacher in this book.

The point is that the book of Ecclesiastes
Is NOT a book written from the perspective of a non-believer.

• Ecclesiastes is a book from an extremely mature Christian perspective.
• Ecclesiastes is written by a man who has crucified the world to himself.
• Ecclesiastes is written by a man whose treasure is not in this world.
• Ecclesiastes is written by a man who lives in light of eternity not here.

And it is a necessary message for the world.

In fact, this may surprise you a little,
But when you read Ecclesiastes you are not getting a first-hand account,
You are getting a second-hand account.

What do I mean?
• Ecclesiastes is written by an unknown man, we simply call him “The Author”
• But only about 7 verses in the book are original to him.

The rest of the book is the author quoting “The Preacher”.

This becomes evident especially at the end of the book when we read:
Ecclesiastes 12:9-10 “In addition to being a wise man, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge; and he pondered, searched out and arranged many proverbs. The Preacher sought to find delightful words and to write words of truth correctly.”

When you read those verses it becomes evident that
The Preacher didn’t write the book.

Instead the author is summarizing for you
All that he learned from the Preacher.

The author of Ecclesiastes thought this message was of such importance
That he took the time to compile all that he taught and preserve it for us.

THIS BOOK HAS SUCH AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE.
• What is the message?
• Why did the author write down for us the message of the Preacher?

It’s very simple.
TO KEEP YOU FROM WASTING YOUR LIFE.

AND I CAN’T STRESS ENOUGH
How relevant such a message is for our culture today.

We live in a nation that wastes everything.
• We waste food…
• We waste time…
• We waste money…
• We often waste relationships…

Sometimes this is done out of laziness or apathy,
But most of the time it is done out of misdirection.
We run after and pursue the wrong things.

• Kids waste their supper because they want the treat…
• We waste time when we engage in non-profitable engagements…
• We waste money buying what we don’t need…
• We waste relationships when we throw away one because another looks better…

But our world is filled with people
Who don’t just waste and afternoon, or a paycheck,
But who literally waste their entire lives.

I shared with you a couple of weeks ago about the John Piper sermon that inspired my generation.
• Where John Piper told the story he read in Readers Digest about a couple who spent their retirement in Florida collecting shells.
• Piper said, “That’s a tragedy. That’s a tragedy.”
• And he spoke of how pathetic it would be some day when that couple stands before God and says, “Look Lord, my shell collection!”
• To which Piper pleaded, “Don’t waste your life.”

It is such an important point of contemplation.
• What are you pursuing?
• What are you seeking?
• What are you accomplishing?

And 100 million years from now will it even matter what you did?

This book is the warning of the Preacher not to waste your life.

Yet is often rejected or overlooked because our culture expects positivity.
We certainly value optimism over pessimism or realism.

• If you approach someone and say, “How’s it going?”
• You expect them to say, “It’s good”
• If they say, “Life is terrible!” something in you wants to get away.

That’s how this book feels when you read it.

But to shy away from this book would be a massive mistake.
• This book is evangelistic – it awakens the lost to death and judgment.
• This book is sanctifying – it helps you crucify the world to yourself.

It is so valuable!
It will help you let go of the world
That makes this book A GUIDE to show you how to live this futile life.

One thing no one can argue with is that
The book of Ecclesiastes IS BRUTALLY HONEST.
• There is no flattery here.
• There is no fairy tale.
• There is no Hallmark ending.

The Preacher will tell you to take off your rose-colored glasses and take a long hard look at this world.
• Do you see the pain?
• Do you see the suffering?
• Do you see the injustice?
• Do you see the untimely death?
• Do you see the random nature of it all?
• Do you see the futility?

The Preacher isn’t going to sugar-coat this life for you.
He is no motivational speaker.
He is pure unadulterated reality.

And he does so because it is his objective
To get you to quit seeking satisfaction in this world.

In 1965 that great theologian Mick Jagger wrote his masterpiece to sum up this life; and he sang, “I just can’t get no satisfaction.”

And have we ever seen it!
• How much money will finally satisfy?
• How many cars will finally make you happy?
• How many super bowls do you need to win?
• How much land do you need to own?

• What is that one purchase that will finally satisfy the craving of you heart?
• What earthly relationship has finally given you everlasting contentment?
• What award finally left you feeling like all the work was worth it?

You know the answer: NOTHING

Do you know why?

BECAUSE GOD HAS FIXED IT TO MAKE SURE
THAT YOU NEVER FIND SATISFACTION WITH THIS LIFE.

To best understand the book of Ecclesiastes
ONE MUST FIRST TURN TO THE BEGINNING OF THE BIBLE.

• If you’ll remember, God created man in a paradise of a garden.
• He gave man everything he could ever ask for or desire.
• But when that man sinned against God we found that God, from that day forward, would refuse to allow this world to ever satisfy man again.

Genesis 3:17-19 “Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”

God decreed that this world would be the adversary of man,
Not the helper of man.

If man was going to get any benefit from this earth,
It would be only by sheer force, labor, and determination.
• This world would not easily yield up satisfaction and fulfillment.
• This world would fight him.

AND THAT HAS BEEN SO TRUE.

But not only did God curse this world, He also condemned it.
• In Genesis 6 God flooded it.
• Next time God will burn it.

2 Peter 3:7 “But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.”

And this world, which man so desperately seeks will one day be totally destroyed.
Revelation 21:1 “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.”

That is the same thing Isaiah told us:
Isaiah 24:20 “The earth reels to and fro like a drunkard And it totters like a shack, For its transgression is heavy upon it, And it will fall, never to rise again.”

That is the same thing John told us:
1 John 2:15-17 “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”

This world will not last.
This world is passing away.
And so God has determined that man
Will never get the satisfaction he craves from this world.

And the Preacher in Ecclesiastes knows that.
And he redundantly preaches it at you.

This book seems depressing,
But it is only depressing if you are holding out hope
That this life will give you the fulfillment and satisfaction you seek.

The Preacher is out to crust that futile hope.

And that also then makes the book of Ecclesiastes
THE PERFECT PRIMER FOR THE GOSPEL.

There is no life to be found in the distractions of this world.

However, there was One who came into this broken world,
And He came with the promise of satisfaction and fulfillment.

John 1:1-4 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.”

When Jesus stepped into this world “life” came with Him.

And the promises of Jesus are extremely clear.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

John 4:13-14 “Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”

John 5:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.”

John 6:35 “Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.”

John 7:37-38 “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'”

John 8:12 “Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

John 11:25-26 “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

It was the continual cry.
Life; true life; fulfilling life; satisfying life; eternal life;
Is NOT found in this world,
IT IS ONLY FOUND IN CHRIST.

If you will accept the message of the Preacher in Ecclesiastes
Then you’ll be ready to run to Christ.
• As a lost man you’ll see that only Jesus offers eternal life.
• And even as a saved man you’ll see that it is time to let go of this world.

But if you ignore the Preacher here
And are bent on squeezing joy and satisfaction out of this life
Then Jesus has nothing for you.

For it is only when you lose this life that you gain the next one.
• It is only when you forsake this world that you gain the next.
• It is only when you give all that you have that you obtain the treasure.

And so with that in mind, I can’t think of a more relevant and appropriate book for study than this book of Ecclesiastes.

It is written to open your eyes and crush your worldliness.
• Because it is something that must be crushed.
• Because until your love of the world is crushed you’ll never have love for God.

Jesus was very clear.
Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

This world must go.
The Preacher in Ecclesiastes will help you with that.

Now, that DOESN’T MEAN it’s all doom and gloom.
It’s not all about misery and despair.

The preacher is quite honest about what things you should find joy in.
• Things like a hard days work…
• Things like a good meal…
• Things like the company of your wife…

God has given us pleasures to enjoy and you should enjoy them,
But you should also know that
While those simple pleasure are a gift from God
THEY ARE NOT the goal of your life.

Your goal is for eternity.
That is what you are working for.

And ultimately that is where this book ends.
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”

That is the point, and the Preacher is going to drive it home for us.

Well, there’s your LENGTHY introduction to the book.
There’s your “Bird’s Eye View”

With the little time we have left let’s start taking a look
At this message of “the Preacher” which the author has recorded for us.

These first 11 verses which we look at this morning
We have basically the summary of the author.

If he were to summarize for you the message of the Preacher,
It would be found in these first 11 verses.

And it all centers around this question:
(3) “What advantage does man have in all his work which he does under the sun?”

The word “advantage” there is YITH-RONE in the Hebrew.
It is a word only used in the book of Ecclesiastes
And it is used in this book 10 times.

Sometimes translated “advantage”
Sometimes translated “profit”
Sometimes translated “excel”

It is the foundational question of life.
• What are you really gaining for all your labor?
• What are you really gaining from all your effort?

• You get up in the morning…
• You go to work…
• You come home from work, you clean the house…
• You cook a meal…
• You mow the grass…

What are you gaining in all of that?
What advantage is there to all the work you do in this life?

Well the eye-opening answer to the question is actually stated in verse 2.
“Vanity of vanities,” Says the Preacher, “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.”

• It’s breath!
• It’s a vapor!
• It’s smoke!

There is no advantage; there is no profit.

And of course the perspective here is an eternal one.
• Surely we might find an advantage to cleaning your house.
• The benefit is you get to live in a clean house.

But if you spend your whole life cleaning house,
And your only achievement is a “clean house award”
And then someday you die, and here is what you learn.

A clean house had no bearing on whether or not you go to heaven.

You see there the frustration of the older brother in that Prodigal story.
Luke 15:29-30 “But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’

You see the frustration of those who worked longest in the vineyard only to see those who were hired late get the same pay.
Matthew 20:10-12 “When those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. “When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner, saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.’

So what’s the point of all my labor?
There is some temporal benefit,
But what a miserable thing to make your life’s purpose.

BUT THAT IS THE WORLD IN WHICH WE LIVE.

Look at verses 4-11.
(4) “A generation goes and a generation comes, But the earth remains forever.”

I’ve been reading a book called “The Empire Of The Summer Moon”
• It’s all about the Comanche Nation.
• It’s really interesting because their battles happened all over right here where
we live.

Do you understand that?
• There was a time when the Comanche was virtually unchallenged.
• This was his land and he did whatever he wanted here.

If you go to the theme park in Arlington
• You’ll see the “Six Flags over Texas”
• And remember that there was a time when the land where you sit today
• Was Spain, or France, or Mexico, or just Texas, or the Confederacy, or the
United States.

There was a person who lived on your land before you lived there.
There will be a person who lives on your land after you are gone.

All that work you put into it, someday it will be for someone else.

Psalms 49:10-12 “For he sees that even wise men die; The stupid and the senseless alike perish And leave their wealth to others. Their inner thought is that their houses are forever And their dwelling places to all generations; They have called their lands after their own names. But man in his pomp will not endure; He is like the beasts that perish.”

Do you see the foolishness in making that the purpose of your life?

(5-7) “Also, the sun rises and the sun sets; And hastening to its place it rises there again. Blowing toward the south, Then turning toward the north, The wind continues swirling along; And on its circular courses the wind returns. All the rivers flow into the sea, Yet the sea is not full. To the place where the rivers flow, There they flow again.”

Do you see the futile circle of creation?
It just keeps going on and nothing ever changes.
• The sun never gets to quit rising…
• The rivers never get to quit flowing…
• The wind never gets to quit blowing…
• Their job is never finished.

They are the old “Dunkin Donuts” guy
Saying, “Time to make the donuts”

IT NEVER ENDS AND NEVER RESTS.

(8a) “All things are wearisome; Man is not able to tell it.”

That is to say that life is exhausting.
Man can’t even express how exhausting.

There is a CERTAIN DISCONTENTMENT that goes along with it.
(8b)“The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor is the ear filled with hearing.”

• You may reach a time where circumstances force you to be content without
seeing or hearing,
• But no one ever reaches a point where they just say, “Well, I am satisfied. I
don’t need to see anything else.”

The simple point is that there is a “Never Enough” mentality
That permeates our thinking and our world.

Humanity is always searching for more.

And the problem is that in their search,
They never find what they are looking for.

They just can’t get no satisfaction.

(9-11) “That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one might say, “See this, it is new”? Already it has existed for ages Which were before us. There is no remembrance of earlier things; And also of the later things which will occur, There will be for them no remembrance Among those who will come later still.”

What a passage!
It pictures a man who is ON A QUEST
To find that new thing that will finally satisfy his life.

And we think about the industrial revolution that occurred here,
And all the inventions that were supposed to make life so much better.

And the question is, “Did they?”

Think about all the innovation and technology and advances…

Now I know, there have been some good inventions.
• I like indoor plumbing…
• I like air conditioning…
• Automatic windshield wipers are great…

But think about it, has any of it brought fulfillment to life?
Has any of those things caused you to say,
“Well now I don’t need or want anything else.”

NO, NOT AT ALL.

And many of the advancements one could argue have only made things worse.
Many of these new technologies are only destroying society, not satisfying it.

AND THAT IS THE PREACHER’S POINT.

You have man on this massive quest to find satisfaction in this life, BUT HE CAN’T. There is no satisfaction.

It’s all just one big circle.

Can I put it to you like this?

You are on a hamster wheel.
• And there are people who are just running and running and running;
• Turning that wheel nonstop, until one day they die,
• They fall out of the wheel,
• And without missing a beat another hamster jumps right in and takes over.

And someone might approach that hamster and say,
“Hey, come over here to the edge of the cage for a second.”

But that hamster yells, “Can’t, gotta keep this wheel moving!”

Can you see, that is life?

• What is your hamster wheel?
• What is it that you are seeking and pursuing?
• What is it that will finally bring you satisfaction?

YOU’LL NEVER FIND IT IN THIS WORLD.
“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.”

You were not created to find satisfaction here.
• This world is cursed.
• This world is fallen.
• This world is passing away.

And what a tragedy to spend this whole life
Seeking what you will never find.

• So that at the end you can show God your shell collection…
• Or at the end you can leave a spotless house…
• Or at the end you can say you ran a successful little league…

Do you see it?
Do you understand?

How frustrated and angry people become
Because they work their whole lives for that which doesn’t satisfy.

I’ve seen it and you’ve seen it.
• That retirement party for the man or woman who gave 50 years to the
company.
• The entire celebration can be completed in about an hour
• With one store bought cake and maybe an engraved watch.
• And tomorrow the business will go on without them.

If your life is wrapped up in that,
What a lonely and frustrating thing you have to look forward to.

And that goes for everything.
What award is ever enough?
What recognition will ever make all the hours truly worth it?

• Cook the meal, they’ll be hungry in a few hours.
• Clean the floor, they’ll mess it right up again.
• Wash the clothes, the hamper will be full in 2 days.
• Mow the grass, it will be uneven in the morning.
• Prepare the baseball field and the t-ballers will absolutely tear it to pieces!

I’m not saying you shouldn’t serve or work or volunteer.

But the point is that in all your labor this life
Will never produce for you the satisfaction you long for.

AND if you are bent on running this race for some piece of earthly satisfaction then you are going to end up gravely disappointed.

But there is One who called you to forsake this life.
• One who told fishermen to start fishing for men.
• One who told an adulteress to be a true worshiper.
• One who told a tax collector to leave his wealth and find true life.
• One who tells you to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him.

There is life available.
True, fulfilling, satisfying, abundant, eternal life…

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

But you won’t have it until you quit trying to find it in this world.

Our goal during this study is
• To get you to take off your rose colored glasses
• And see how futile this world really is,
• And then it is to get you to forsake this world
• And find life in Jesus Christ alone.

There’s so much more to say, but we’ll have to go there next time.