nothing gained

Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 2:11

We like to tell ourselves that hard work is its own reward. But that is not entirely true. Work cannot be an ends in itself. Neither can money, or things, or pleasures. All of these are just temporary moments of fulfillment at best. They all must focus us to a greater purpose.

Solomon vents his frustrations at the pursuits of wisdom, pleasure, leisure, accomplishment, and treasure. All those kinds of things would not really bring a full joy. In the end they left the big questions unanswered and the needs of his heart unmet. They all led to the same frustrating chasing of the wind that plagued Solomon's soul.

This is the way of the world. We were made for more and we know it. This knowledge is why we pursue almst anything with the rabid devotion of a starving person, hoping for those answers to settle. And it is what should lead us to pursue our pleasure in God Who is the Source of those things. We mistake the signs for the destination every time.

There is nothing to be gained under the sun if we ignore the call to live under the Son. When we begin to live with an eternal viewpoint, things change. There is still the vanity of earthly things. But there is a deeper purpose that lifts us out of the blowing, worthless wind and into the joy of our Father's love.

chasing down the wind

I said in my heart, "I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge." And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.

Ecclesiastes 1:16-17

Solomon's intimate personal journal details are found in this book. It is a record of his personal quest to figure out his world. It is a philosophical masterpiece of human reflection. But it is not a slappy-happy feel-good kind of diary that would sell well in a modern Christian bookstore! You  can't really market coffee mugs, wall paintings, and T-shirts from Ecclesiastes. Don't try it. It is a darkly written notebook stinging with the cynicisms of a man who burned out on everything but finally found Something in the ashes. It is worth sorting through the tougher, bitter observations to get at the kernels of life truth Solomon found.

Solomon had it all. He did it all. He had the wealth of a nation in his palace treasuries and he utilized it to gain the finest education on every possible subject. He pursued wisdom and pleasure equally lustily, wringing them out for every last drop of personal experience possible for him to have. And ultimately they did not satisfy. His final verdict on all of that endeavor over his lifetime: chasing the wind.

There is a human perspective in Ecclesiastes that is just as real today as in Solomon's troubled soul. Only most westerners can be like Solomon in the pursuit of the wisdom of this world. We often have access to a university of human thought in the palm of our hands... literally. But there is an error at the beginning of this search that leaves us trying to catch wind in our jars. It is the mistake of assuming that the cosmos is all there is and has all the answers within itself. (Sorry, Carl Sagan and Neil deGrasse Tyson) The physical universe is the source of a big wind chasing race. And like Solomon, hearts today burn out in the passionate run after the breeze. We were made for a deeper purpose focused on a strong center. Knowledge is good and the universe is worth exploring. But to make that pursuit the center is to miss out. And Ecclesiastes will eventually show this later as we read Solomon's reflections at the finish line. 

God is always the same.

For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. 

Psalm 100:5

God is good. God is faithful. His love will last forever. He will always be faithful to each new generation. These are facts that were true in ancient Israel. They were true when Jesus taught in Galilee and brought them to life. They have been true for countless generations. They are certainly true now. And the future will be defined by these truths as well.

God is timeless and His actions toward humanity prove this. What He was when Israel worshiped Him is Who He is now and Who He will be for succeeding generations and forevermore. 

Trusting God is an action and a lifestyle that generations past have lived and they were not disappointed. And God will not fail that trust now, even in our generation's challenges. He will carry each generation in His faithful love. These assurances transcend culture and time. They encourage us as we remain faithful to a faithful God.

Exalt

Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy mountain; for the LORD our God is holy! 

Psalm 99:9

I can't make You greater

than You already are.

So when You call me to

exalt You, I don't raise the bar.

I add nothing to You.

I don't increase Your glory

or make You more worthy

or even complete Your story.

You are higher than the

universe, unknowable in full.

My life has chased Your presence

grasping at the edges of the whole.

Nothing compares to You.

Magnificent in power,

filling up ambition's flower,

in my every breathing hour.

I am a meager, finite man

with an infinite God before me.

I drop down to my knees,

the only place I can adore Thee.

Worship just seems right.

It's the only explanation

for my heart's avocation,

loving You in adoration.

worship worldwide

The LORD has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations. He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. 

Psalm 98:2-3

And what was true for Israel so many thousands of years ago is true for me as well. Through Christ's work and the visible evidence of His redemptive love the world can see the salvation of our God. It is the heart of God that His love be known in His people in the sight of all the nations. There is a mandate then that we who are God's people will share His heart for the people of the world. We are called to demonstrate His salvation and God's righteousness to all the earth.

God is steadfast and faithful to His people so that we in turn would be faithful to His desire to make His glory known in all the earth. Worship is not just a cloistered cluster of Christians on Sunday. It is a proclamation of God's glory and the great power of the gospel to meet the need of all the world! Worship has God's glory in mind with a desire to make it known to all the world. And if I have not considered my part in that picture, then I may not have ever really worshiped God.

Lord,

In Jesus Your salvation is made known. Your righteousness is revealed. And I am called, like all believers, to make that righteousness known so that the world may rejoice in it. Use me in Your way so that the ends of the earth may see Your salvation.

Amen

Loving God and the promises He makes

O you who love the LORD, hate evil! He preserves the lives of his saints; he delivers them from the hand of the wicked. Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart. 

Psalm 97:10-11

When we love God, it is a necessary result that we also love what is right, for God is holy and righteous. And when we love what is right, we must hate what is wrong. We hate evil. We don't hate evil PEOPLE who are wrong, but rather the evil that is done. And when we do so, there are certain blessings that attend a love for God and what He is in all His holiness and goodness. That is displayed to us by God. We are blessed by loving God.

We are promised deliverance from the hand of the wicked. But...this promise has a dark warning in it. Wicked people oppose God and if we represent Him well, we will probably be opposed. But God will deliver us. We will face a struggle because good and evil are in opposition. But God will preserve the lives of His saints since He uses them for His good purposes. They cannot lose. Even in death, good will be known by God's graces.

God is doing something bigger than just any one life. I see that in the language of light being "sown". The seed is sown with the promise of future harvest. And loving God and hating evil work that way. Sometimes the promise is sown to be enjoyed in another season. It may not be immediate, but God will be glorified and His saints blessed by our worship of Him... our love and obedience to God right now will yield blessings. I trust that truth.

Exclusivity is a necessity for worship.

For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens. 

Psalm 96:4-5

It seems to me that one element of worship is the celebration of the exclusivity of God. It is what His people have always praised about God. And this psalm unashamedly does so. It compares the mighty power of God to the worthlessness of idols. It calls the beliefs of others worthless. Yep. That's pretty intolerant, wouldn't you say?

The purpose of pointing out the worthless pursuit of idolatry is twofold: 1) it praises the God Who is Maker of all things and 2) it protects our hearts from temptations to idolatry. What we are most prone to do when we are not worshiping God is to worship something else. We were created to wroship. We are finite. And our hearts crave the "greater" since inately we know we are made for eternity. And we will foolishly worship the works of our hands, ascribing value beyond ourselves to them. That is exactly what an idol is.

Exclusivity protects us from sinful idolatry. The minute we stray from an exclusive worship of The Lord, we take away from our understanding of His majesty. And we make created things and man made things false gods. Worship The Lord. Worship Him alone. Only God is worthy. Only God is God. There is no other.