Do you find life meaningful? Solomon’s opening and closing statements in Ecclesiastes, the book he is credited for writing, is a profoundly negative one: “Meaningless! Meaningless! … Everything is meaningless!” (1:2; 12:8). The word translated as “meaningless” could also be rendered as “emptiness”. Here’s a man who gets to the end of his life and says that all of life has been pointless and useless! Does that sum-up how you feel about your life?

Ecclesiastes is the world’s leading book of philosophical speculation… coming to us from an exceptional individual who at the end of his life was left disappointed, disillusioned and downcast. When Solomon’s three books have been read, it is easy to tell how old he was when he wrote them. The Song of Songs was written when he was a young man, deeply in love. Proverbs has Solomon as a middle-aged man trying to stop his son from falling into the same errors that he himself succumbed to. But in Ecclesiastes we have the writings of an older man. Indication of this is found in verse 6 of chapter 12… “Yes, remember your Creator now while you are young, before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is broken. Don’t wait until the water jar is smashed and the pulley is broken at the well” (NLT).

 As an old man, Solomon had reflected long and deeply upon life. He is fond of the phrase, ‘I saw…’ The insights in his book are the result of his observations.
 
In Ecclesiastes, Solomon asks some big questions: What is life about? Is life worth living? How can we make the most of life? He is asking the right questions, even if he hasn’t found the right answers. His concerns and answers oscillate throughout the book. His message is sometimes optimistic, sometimes pessimistic. His mood is at one time uplifting, then depressing. The book’s merit switches from the profound to the superficial and back again.
 
Friends, it’s important to note that Solomon was a king who had the power to do anything he wanted and the wealth to indulge every whim. The book mentions the huge range of activities in which Solomon engaged in an attempt to find the happiness that eluded him. He dabbled in science, agriculture, the arts and turned to entertainment. He was highly involved in business and amassed a great fortune. He tried pleasure – food, wine and women. Still dissatisfied, he turned to philosophy. All these things stimulated him but failed to satisfy his deepest needs. There was nothing wrong with these interests in themselves, but they failed to satisfy him. His life was filled but not fulfilled, and at times he wished he was an ordinary man. Solomon’s failure to make sense of life can be explained. His main problem can be summed up as… He observed so much but perceived so little.

 Ecclesiastes answers the question, ‘What is the meaning of life?’ The way Solomon argued was to show at length the failure of the answers offered by those who live life “under the sun,” that is, apart from revealed spiritual truth. Materialists find life’s object in the abundance of possessions or achievements. Sensualists discover meaning in physical pleasure. Scholars seek purpose through intellectual inquiry. However, such pursuits fail to answer the meaning of life that truly satisfies.
 
Now, here’s a profound truth worth remembering: Life’s meaning cannot be discovered; it is only revealed by God.
 
Friends, life is brief; judgment is coming; God is Sovereign. Solomon’s finding is that of divine revelation. He closed his book by saying, “Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing. Whether good or bad” (12:13-14).
 
I close this article by testifying that my life was once meaningless. It remained in this condition until I came to ‘know’ the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (through the Scriptures and 46 years of experienced faith). God has given meaning to my otherwise meaningless, meaningless… meaningless earthly existence. For me, without God, life is meaningless and is not worth living.
 
Best wishes
Bill