23 For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.
This is the testimony of a backslidden king who is laboring for the wrong things. Solomon was an empty man whose experience was centered around the fleeting and temporal. He did not make it his mission in life to serve the Lord with his whole heart. He was not being faithful to the light given him (the light which he manifested so brightly in Proverbs). The verses that best sum up Solomon's condition and why he was so depressed are: Matt 6:21 “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” and Luke 6:45 “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh”. These verses lay the issue bare; Solomon made earthly treasures his focus and was not rich towards God. This meant that he would speak from his lips not of the greatness of the Almighty but of the vanity of the earthly treasures. Solomon would never rise above the temporal; the tragedy here is that once he was a spiritual man with an eternal focus but since he would not deal with his own foxes...they spoiled his vine. A condition from which he would never recover.
24 There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.
This verse as well as Eccl 5:19 tells us what is the gift of God; it is to be able to enjoy the fruits of our labor. It should be understood though that no one has the power to enjoy the fruits of their labor more abundantly than the child of God who is sold out to the purposes of God. Ecclesiastes gives us the opportunity to ask ourselves this question; what are our goals in life, what are we striving for? Where one's treasure is there their heart will be also; and so we should ask ourselves is our treasure temporal or eternal. Certain men in the Word of God were completely sold out to the Fathers will. David for instance, he said “One thing have I desired of the Lord and that will I seek after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord and inquire in His temple” (Ps 27:4). The tangible result of desire is seeking after what we desire; David said one thing I desire and that one thing I seek after, it was to dwell in Gods house. Christ, the greatest example of all said, “My mete is to do the will of Him who sent me...” (John 4:34). Make Gods will your mission in life so you may have joy of all your labors and fill your appointed lot in eternity (Dan 12:13).
No comments:
Post a Comment