"I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.
I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.
I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.
And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.
For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow." ( Ecclesiastes 1:12-18).
When do you suppose Solomon decided that the wisdom of the Lord wasn't enough?
"Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.
And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore" (1 Kings 3:13, 4:29).
If I understand the first verse above correctly there has never been and never will be a person granted the wisdom that Solomon had. God blessed him exceeding much! That wasn't enough for Solomon though.Notice what he says in Ecclesiastes 1:12, "I gave my heart". I think that this is a very telling statement early in Ecclesiastes. He once gave his heart to the Lord. He wrote, "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5). He knew, "A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps. The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will" (Proverbs 16:9, 21:1).
Solomon knew these things and yet he says "I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven". Notice that at some point he started seeking things out UNDER HEAVEN. That is the earth. That is wordly things. That is he stopped seeking the Lord and started seeking the world. He further makes this clear when he says, "I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly". Madness and folly have nothing to do with the Lord. Solomon knew this too.
"Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.
For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.
She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.
Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honor.
Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace" (Proverbs 3:13-17).
How does one find wisdom and have this pleasantness, peace, and be happy?
"For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.
The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; and before honor is humility." (Proverbs 1:7, 9:10, 15:33).
It comes from the Lord. When Solomon gave his heart to the world he took it from the Lord and lost His ways of pleasantess and peace.
I would like to ask you today as I ask myself..... Where is your focus? Who has your heart? Who are you trusting? Mr. Wordly Wise Man cannot bring peace. Everything done under the sun, in the world, cannot bring peace.
Peace is a gift from God's Grace to us. "Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 1:3). Search your bible and you will find this thought is repeated over and over, that grace and peace come from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27).
Who are you going to trust with you heart? Who and what do you give your heart too? Solomon took his heart from the Lord and gave it to the world. We are studying the results of that decision in this series.
8 comments:
Good work Michael. Solomon is a great example to all human beings the futility of pride.
Solomon had it all, wisdom, riches, power, women (although I question the wisdom of any man who has 700 wives ;p).
And then enter pride, he began to focus on the wisdom and not the source. When he turned his heart from God and gave it to wisdom and learning he was in trouble. Great work Michael.
MDM
Cool post,
sorry to say that, I'm an Indian giver, I gave him my heart, but took it back, and gave it to the world, bad move on my part, all broken and used, he took me back, and so very glad he did!
I like the look of your blog,
take care
I agree with this ...
"Mr. Wordly Wise Man cannot bring peace."
... he can't bring joy either. It is really true that the best things in life are free ... free to us anyway ... grace was costly to Jesus.
Well, you might not have the wisdom of Solomon, but you have to admit you're pretty close!
Good post!
Ahhh the modern man in a nutshell....who ever said "knowledge is power" had the same mind as Solomon. It is so easy to become distracted with gaining man's wisdom and knowledge and get that confused with God's wisdom and knowledge...an hang over from the fall.
Thanks Everyone!
Joe,
Your comment falls right in place with my next post.
Good post, Michael. Trying to replace God's presence in our life with anything else is an exercise in futility.
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