GRAND EXPERIMENT ABOUT LIFE (1)

In Ecclesiastes 1 and 2, Solomon has been reporting on his “grand experiment” with life, how he had tried virtually everything in his frantic search for meaning—and had come up empty. He had tried human wisdom, pleasure, money, possessions, alcohol, sex—all that people still try today in an effort to fill the emptiness in their lives. At the beginning of chapter 3, a change occurs. Solomon stops reporting and starts reflectingon what he has learned about life.

From a positive standpoint, Ecclesiastes seems to be about the orderliness of life. There is a time and a place for everything. God has made it so, and we should rejoice in it. While there is much truth in that observation, it does not seem to be Solomon’s point here. Notice what he says, at the conclusion of this chapter: “What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?” (3:9). Solomon does not conclude with words of appreciation but of frustration. The “oppositeness” of life seems to leave him despairing, not rejoicing.

In light of verse 9, then, this chapter seems to not be about the orderliness of life, but about the futility of life. Life is ambiguous, constantly changing, and not always fair, the wise man observes. And no one can ever say, “Now this is what life is all about!” Life is not that simple, and it defies simplistic analysis. Within it, there is room for both tears and laughter, building and destroying, killing and healing, loving and hating. Life does not yield its answers easily, and those who look for simplistic answers are bound to face frustration and despair—just as Solomon did. Therefore, Solomon’s observation about life is that it can be frustrating and often confusing—and seldom, if ever, easy.

The great change is that Solomon brings God into the picture, and that alters the way he interpretswhat he sees. Now he can make sense out of the confusion which life has thrown at him. Solomon’s main point is that God is the sovereign ruler of all of life. He is in control of it all; He “gives” men their tasks to be busy with (3:10). Everything, in light of God’s purposes, has a place, a function: “He has made everything appropriate in its time.” We are not always able to see what the appropriateness of a given situation is, but God sees and knows it.

To help us realize this truth, Solomon says, God “has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end” (3:11). Somehow we cannot get away from the idea that there is more to life than what we can see. Yet we are unable to see beyond the present! This is part of our nature; God has built it into us. This recognition that there is more than what we can see (“eternity”) leads us naturally to our need for God.

Word Affirmation: “Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God." – Psalm 43:4 (Don't just say it, mean it!)

“ Somehow we cannot get away from the idea that there is more to life than what we can see. "

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