“Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come… Remember Him—before the silver cord is severed… and the spirit returns to God who gave it.”—Ecclesiastes 12:1, 6-7, NIV
King Solomon, the brilliant, wise, and wealthy king of Israel, struggled in spite of his many blessings. Josephus, the Jewish historian, summed up Solomon’s life saying, “And so, he died ingloriously.”
Josephus saw Solomon as a once brilliant and glorious life come to ruin, ending pathetically and tragically.
But the Solomon I met through the Scriptures is quite different. Surrounded by his success, he saw this “inglorious end” looming ahead. He tried to believe his riches were God’s blessings. But he knew his wealthy trappings had become a shabby symbol of his sorrow and emptiness.
As he began writing the personal confessions, poetry, and philosophy that became the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon was ready to deal with the truth.
Ecclesiastes is Solomon’s confession of failure—and his triumph over despair. He understood now that the earthly desires men cherish are mere shadows of reality and truth. Even the great chase for the prizes of life and the pursuit of happiness becomes an empty illusion.
Solomon portrays the endless cycle of futility that plagues humanity. We can rationalize, philosophize, and refine our pursuit of happiness, but the result is the same.
“Vanity of vanities,” Solomon cried. “All is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1:2).
All of it. Work, wisdom, righteousness, wealth, prestige, power, pleasure, even youth, and vigor. It’s all smoke and vapor, a passing wind.
Have you thought these thoughts? Have you feared that your life will produce nothing of lasting value or fulfillment?
If you imagine yourself approaching the end of your life, would you be doing what you’re doing now? Do you have regrets?
If you have ever felt this sense of futility, if your heart aches with spiritual sorrow, you are in the very place Solomon found himself. In spite of Ecclesiastes’ pessimistic and cynical tone, it’s an honest exploration of truth and reality. The truth Solomon presents is not always pretty, but it is tempered by love, and more importantly, inspired by the Holy Spirit.
I see a man who is seeing his life clearly, perhaps for the first time. From the vantage point of old age, he recognizes his failures and repents of his shortcomings. Drawing on a storehouse of wisdom, he directs us, then compels us to surrender to the only truth that will set us free.
“The conclusion of the whole matter,” he wrote, is to“fear God and keep His commandments.”
We don’t have to wait until old age.
Jesus promises us an abundant life (John 10:10). Solomon learned where true abundance lies.
He found hope, meaning, and faith once again by humbling himself and surrendering to his Creator.
