These verses are the musings of a man who has seen and done much. He sounds just a little jaded, as if he'd been studying existentialism. You have to look long and hard to find the wisdom in what he's saying, sometimes. But there is wisdom there, none the less.
Most telling is the verse that says: "What more can the king's successor do than what has already been done?" I wonder if this isn't the point where he got off base with the Lord.
Solomon had been everywhere and done everything. He had every material possession that a person could want.
It reminds me of a Dennis the Menace cartoon. Christmas Day. Toys are piled all around a room that is drowning in wrapping paper. And Dennis, with that open, innocent, wide-eyed look says: "Is this all?"
When we have all the world can offer, we wonder. Is this all? Happily, the answer is no. There is an eternal plane where things are different.
If man were just an animal, this life is all there is. Man was created a little lower than the angels, in the image of God. There is more. There is an eternal destiny for all of us.
The good news and the bad news is this. God gave man a free will and the right to choose. We are in charge of that destiny. Our decisions determine our future. Can we choose wisely?
Father, God,
Grant us the wisdom to choose wisely for our lives. Help us to see the consequences of our actions before we commit to them.
In Jesus' most precious name.
Amen.
Amen.
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