I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. 5 I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. 8 I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem[a] as well—the delights of a man’s heart. 9 I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.
I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my labor,
and this was the reward for all my toil.
11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun.
Solomon, possibly the richest man to ever live with an estimated net worth of 200 billion US dollars. He had the largest influence in his time, with vast amounts of prosperity and wealth. He was the person God chose to be the wisest in existence, and yet you read here that he proclaims everything in his life to be meaningless, even his wisdom. There seems to be a lesson to be learned here. Though it is commonly said in the New Testament to not pursue worldly dreams and goals, which includes sex, career, money, fame, and even knowledge or wisdom, Solomon’s life is the best concrete example the Bible gives to us of what happens to a life when you chase after such things. I personally don’t think wisdom is a bad thing, or else Proverbs would be useless to read, and even though in the next passage Solomon basically equates wisdom and folly as similarly meaningless, what he is trying to show that in his entire life, he went after other things that took away his heart from the most important thing in his life. And he did this while having the wisest mind. Basically he’s saying that though he had a wonderful gift God gave him to use, and he squandered it, along with the rest of his life, and only at the end of his life (presumably) he looks back and realizes he should have been more humble and more devoted to God. You don’t see it said in the scripture that Solomon was a man after God’s own heart, like his father David. That goes to show that the title of being the wisest, wealthiest, and most powerful man on earth is worth nothing if you do not have God.
Now we have outlined the meaning behind this passage, we should look at the applications to our lives. The Bible is usually blunt and harsh in its attacks against living a life of sin and of the world. There are many Christians who still live such a life and stubbornly defend their lifestyles of pursuing a high end career. I saw this in college a lot. I am not saying that God wouldn’t want someone to be successful and have a good paying job like being a doctor, but if their pursuit in their studies directly conflicts with their spiritual growth and/or hinders the growth of the community they are in, then there is definitely something wrong. Yet, there seems to be a relaxed mindset within the college christian community that it is okay to put God second or third or even last if their life trying to be the best and most skilled student they can be. They just don’t realize that the reason they are at college, or wherever they are, they are there because God needs them to promote His kingdom there, and not to waste their time and energy on other less important responsibilities.
I myself have fallen into this sinful trap too. I worried about grades. I worry now about not getting into graduate schools, or finding enough money to pay. I worry I am not smart enough at work to the point that I start believing all the belittling and false accusations of being useless. I forget that I have a role to play in community, and instead waste my time playing catan or dota or just sit around doing nothing. I forget to pray, write my devotions, meditate on the word, and keep my friends accountable. I try to pursue a life like Solomons, when I should really be pursuing a life like David. I need more faith and I need to set my priorities right. But it is so very hard to not want to dream big, and have it all.
"I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection"
...
Pure coincidence that I read this in Tim Keller's book The Reason for a God right after: "...the path of wisdom was to learn to live in conformity with this unyielding reality. That wisdom rested largely in developing qualities of character, such as humility, compassion, courage, discretion, and loyalty. Modernity reversed this. Ultimate reality was seen not so much as a supernatural order but as the natural world, and that was malleable. Instead of trying to shape our desires to fit reality, we now seek to control and shape reality to fit our desires. The ancients looked at an anxious person and prescribed spiritual character change. Modernity talks instead about stress-management techniques."
I am sure I do not need to go into how a lot of us use the Bible to fit our own reality, and not vice versa. Same with our boy Solomon.
