Pessimism Olympics - Ecclesiastes #3

Ecclesiastes 1:8-11

8 All things are full of labor; Man cannot express it.

The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor the ear filled with hearing.

9 That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which it may be said, “See, this is new”?
It has already been in ancient times before us.
11 There is no remembrance of former things,

Nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come

By those who will come after.

Sometimes I appreciate pessimists. If there was an all-time pessimism Olympics, Solomon might win it with these words and others in Ecclesiastes! The Debbie Downers of our world can be helpful though, for from pessimism often comes realism. These few verses make an excellent summary for our mundane lives, especially the phrase in this passage, “there is nothing new under the sun.” Quite a poetic way of simply saying, “History repeats itself!”

In this passage, as well as the rest of the chapter and the next, Solomon speaks of frustrations he has experienced. He was considered one of the wisest men who ever lived and among the richest, yet a seemingly limitless supply of wisdom and wealth cannot change one speck of God’s plan, power, or unchanging nature. As the Bible indicates, Solomon pursued pleasure and love above and beyond what many others could even imagine; yet everything he and we could possibly desire, seek, or attain fails to satisfy the heart. We are, as Solomon puts it, “grasping for the wind” (Ecc. 1:14, etc.).

There are a lot of things we can seek to possess and accomplish, and some of them are important. To truly satisfy the heart, though, we need to seek what has eternal value. Nothing has eternal value outside of the grace of God found in Jesus Christ, so trust in His desires for you. As Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

In Christ Alone,

Dan

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