Ecclesiastes 1:3-11

"What profit hath a man of all his labor which he taketh under the sun?
One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth forever.
The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.
The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.
All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.
All things are full of labor; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.
There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after" (Ecclesiastes 1:3-11).

If you have not read the previous two post on Ecclesiastes may I suggest you do so now?

All of creation testifies to the Glory of the Lord. Solomon would have knowen this. I'm sure his dad David would have explained to him the importance of natural revelation in Psalm 19:1-6. (Got your bible?) At the very least Solomon would have read his fathers writings. Creation testifies to God's glory continuously, verse 1. Creation testifies to God's glory completely, verses 3 and 4. Creation testifies to God's glory clearly, verses 4 thru 6.

It seems that Solomon lost sight of what creation was telling him. I find this remarkable seeing he clearly understood the wonder of God's creation when he wrote a song about him and his lover we know as the Song of Solomon. I would guess that Solomon wrote this early in his reign as king. Probably within the first couple years after he took Pharaoh's daughter for his wife. This would have been his first wife. I can't imagine him writing this song for any other. They would have been young and powerful. Solomon was under God's blessing. It would have been first love unlike the thousand other women he collected. Read the Song of Solomon. Is it not a song of first love? Do you really think Solomon could have written that for his second, hundredth, five hundredth, a thousandth woman? I think not. Solomon used the wonders of creation as figures to write about love. He clearly knew the glory of God's creation.

When Solomon broke fellowship with God he lost sight of the wonders of God's creation. When we loss sight of Jesus we will inevitably find everything ordinary. When everything becomes ordinary we will fall into the next trap Solomon got caught in. The trap of thinking things are better somewhere else. That the grass is greener over there. That person must have it better. That there is nothing new and nothing left. Everything is the same and it's ordinary and boring at best.

Do you think Solomon really thought he was writing for all time when he wrote Ecclesiastes? I doubt it. "There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after" (Ecclesiastes 1:11). Solomon was depressed. He lost fellowship with God. He lost sight of the miracles that had happened in his life. He couldn't see the might of God's hand around him. I think Ecclesiastes in many ways is Solomon's Psalm 51 except Solomon's "heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father" (1 King 11:4) and thus Solomon comes to the conclusion, "Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man" (Ecclesiastes 12:13) and David comes to the conclusion, "For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." (Psalm 51:16-17).

I wonder if Solomon was trying to manufacture a broken and contrite heart. I have tried to manufacture a broken and contrite heart. It doesn't work. God will break us if need be and there is nothing that will stop it and there is nothing we can do to break ourselves. Have you ever noticed only broken people cry for God? It's never like people wake up and go, "Oh what a beautiful day! All the bills are paid. I'm in perfect health. I'm just so very happy. I think I'll go get saved!". Nope, that just don't happen and that is why bad things happen. It's only in bad times people call on God. When their hearts are broken and contrite. When there is nowhere else to turn. When there is nothing left. That is when we find God.