Sermon Tone Analysis

Scripture Reading

Introduction

As Solomon considers the theme that he has already presented in his opening, he now proceeds to outline various aspects of life that were investigated in his search for meaning.

In verse 12, the teacher again identifies himself as the king over Israel.

We are reminded that this was Solomon, the king that had much wisdom as he ruled over the nation of Israel.

The reiteration of who he is gives credibility to what he will say.

And this morning, what we will consider through the Teacher, Solomon, is the fact that “Earthly Wisdom is Meaningless.

We will look at this under three main headings:

Studying with wisdom (v.13a)

Conclusions Through Wisdom (vv.13b-15)

Reflections on Wisdom (vv.16-18)

1. Studying With Wisdom (v.13a)

The first point of consideration from our text this morning is “Studying with Wisdom,” and we’ll see that in verse 13a.

Solomon writes:

I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven.

Solomon set out on a mission.

If you like, you could call this a life goal, or a life ambition.

We know these things as bucket list items...

Some of you may know Desre Bates - she fellowshipped here for many years… She has embarked on a walking trip on foot across the land of Israel - a 1000km journey, usually over 6 weeks...

Think of Peter... training for the Ironman 70.3...

Other examples.... Josh McDowell; Nabeel Qureshi...

Well, Solomon also had his ambitions, and one of those, as recorded here, was that he devoted himself to study and to explore all that is done under the heaven.

This was something that he DEVOTED himself to.

He channeled all or most of his energy over a period of time to this very task - finding that which is meaningful.

Look closely at the words he uses to describe what he is doing.

Firstly, he devotes himself to Study...

In our own day, we find many people airing their own opinions about any number of subjects.

I saw a picture of a sign up at a doctors office (and I see you can buy a mug with the same wording) saying: “Please Do Not Confuse your Google Search with my Medical Degree”

If we want to know anything in our day, we head to Google, browse a couple of articles, and believe we’ve found the answers to just about any of life’s problems.

Solomon didn’t use Google.

Not only that, but he didn’t merely do some introspection, have a look at his feelings, and declare his own opinions.

Here was a man who devoted himself to a depth of understanding of the things of this world.

He committed himself to not only observing his own situation, but to looking around at the lives of men, women and children, and seeing how they lived their lives, and then drawing conclusions based on the facts.

He was in no way satisfied with a mere superficial understanding and knowledge.

He wanted depth!!

And so he devoted himself to study....

But secondly, he devoted himself to Exploring.

If study speaks of going deep into a subject, and plumbing the depths of what there is to know, then exploring speaks of the breadth of the studies in which he engaged.

Solomon wasn’t content to limit his study to one or two particular matters.

When we prepare ourselves for the working world today, we decide on a particular field that we’re going to go into, and we study everything there is in that field.

Botanist; veterinarian; accountant; mechanical engineer; electrical engineer....

Then very often, we’ll do that but also go further to specialise.

And so we often study with a very limited field of knowledge in view.

This was not the case with Solomon... he applied himself to all manner of fields of study.

He searched far and wide, and various and diverse fields of study, and he then applied himself to know those and study them with depth of understanding.

At the close of the verse it says he studied and explored “concerning ALL that is done”

He devoted himself to this searching and exploring about ALL that is done under the sun.

In short, he wanted to know everything about everything under the sun.

But then finally, we note that he did all of this “by WISDOM...”

Solomon engaged in all his depth and breadth of study through a profound wisdom that was bestowed on him by God.

He had asked God for wisdom to rule and reign, and God had said that He would bless him with wisdom.

How successful was he?

2. Conclusions Through Wisdom (vv.13b-15)

Well, this was the “Studying with Wisdom” that Solomon engaged in.

But secondly, we must consider the “Conclusions Through Wisdom”.

With all this study that Solomon engaged in as he watched the world around him, what were the conclusions that were drawn?

3 conclusions are demonstrated through the text here.

Conclusion 1 (v.13b)

The first is found in verse 13b...

Solomon writes: “What a heavy burden God has placed on men.”

NASB: "It is a grievous task which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with."

Right out of the blocks, as Solomon looks at all that is going on in the world, he recognizes that there is indeed a grievous task that has been placed on man by God.

Literally, the word that is translated “heavy” or “Grievous” or “Unhappy” (depending on translation) speaks of something that is it is "an evil"...

Many times in this very book, it is translated into English as “Evil”

There is a connotation in the word that is negative - it speaks of that which is evil, wrong, or should not be.

Something that is hurtful and harmful.

The business of man, which he engages himself, is heavy...

In a few other occassions, Solomon is going to reiterate this very same fact.

Leonard Woolf, the British publisher and political theorist who helped begin the Bloomsbury Group (a group of associated English writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists in the first half of the 20th century) had this to say about his life and work:

I see clearly that I have achieved practically nothing.

The world today and the history of the human anthill during the past five to seven years would be exactly the same as it is if I had played Ping-Pong instead of sitting on committees and writing books and memoranda.

I have therefore to make a rather ignominious confession that I must have, in a long life, ground through between 150,000 and 200,000 hours of perfectly useless work.

These are the words of someone who wrote more than twenty books on literature, politics, and economics.

Yet in the end it all seemed useless to him, a complete waste of time.

Philip Ryken comments on this in these words:

"Sooner or later most people end up feeling the same way.

Many things make us feel unhappy.

The bad relationship that our parents have, unkind comments that people make about us, things we do not have but wish we did, the recognition we think we deserve but never get, even the ordinary frustrations of daily life — all of these circumstances make us feel unhappy."

(Ryken)

We, like Solomon, may begin to think to ourselves, “What a heavy burden God has placed on man.

What a heavy burden God has placed on me!”

But we must note the way Solomon phrases this here.

"What a heavy burden "God" has placed on "men".

Is this a fair perspective by Solomon?

Is it truly that God has placed this burden on men?

In one sense, not directly.

Man sinned against God in Eden, and ever since, the world has been under a curse.

Everything, all that takes place in the world, is under this curse of sin.

In that sense, man is entirely responsible for the world under a curse, and for the current burden that we face in the world.

In another sense, however, God in His sovereign rule and reign over all the created order, has decreed what would take place in this world.

And I think we need to keep this in our minds in all of this.

Solomon understands the sovereignty of God, and knows that everything unfolding in the world is under the direct control of God.

And thus he concludes, God has allowed this burden upon man in this world.

As a consequence of sin, yes, but allowed by God and decreed by Him nonetheless.

And friends, as we go through this world in our own lives, we would do well to keep this in mind.

Consider the Israelites in the wilderness, and their exceedingly difficult circumstances without food and water.

Consider the grumbling that they engaged in because of their suffering.

And as they grumbled, their grumbling was against God.

And so as we feel, at times, this heavy burden that God has placed perhaps upon our lives, we should remember that ought not to grumble in those circumstances, but to continue praising God in the valleys.

Conclusion 2 (v.14)