Pleasures Are Meaningless
Pleasures Are Meaningless
(Ecclesiastes 2:1-11)
2:1 I thought in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. 2 “Laughter,” I said, “is foolish. And what does pleasure accomplish?” 3 I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives. 4 I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. 5 I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. 8 I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a harem as well—the delights of the heart of man. 9 I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me. 10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. 11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.
About as far back as we can remember there have been philosophers and psychologists and religious thinkers who have who have reduced the human will and decision-making down to one directive: the maximization pleasure and the avoidance of pain. Generally speaking, we can verify there is truth in this analysis with any number of “would you rather” questions. Would you rather eat a nice ripe apple, or chew on a Carolina reaper pepper? Would you rather sit sea-side under a palm tree with a gentle breeze and a piña colada in your hand, or dig holes beneath a blazing desert sun? Our flesh naturally prefers the easy and pleasant way where the best things in life are handed to us free of charge and all our senses have their preferences dialed in and satisfied. If we had our way, we would want to behold only pleasant, beautiful, and breathtaking things, to taste nothing but the finest of food and drink, to hear our favorite music, in climate-controlled conditions, nothing would be off limits for us. But then we awaken from our daydreaming and reality sets in. No one is going to give us anything. We need to work. We have bills to pay and mouths to feed. We operate on a budget and must live within our means. We have to compromise our preferences to avoid conflict with those around us. In short, our ability to pursue pleasure and escape pain is inherently limited.
As the supreme ruler of Israel and perhaps one of the richest men to have ever lived, King Solomon had no such limitations. He was free to satisfy his every whim, and no one could tell him, “No!” This position put him in the perfect spot to discover if pleasure is truly the purpose of life, but even as Solomon embarked on this experiment, he says he did so with his God-given wisdom guiding him all the while (v. 3,9). In the book of Proverbs Solomon reveals that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Prov. 1:7). In other words, Solomon did not and would not give himself up to unbridled licentiousness. His faith was ever in control of just how far this would go, but with the virtually unlimited means at his disposal, the capacity to which he could push his pleasures was comparably vast.
In the middle verses of this section Solomon details his methodology and experience. He allowed himself free access to the finest wines available. He lived in a luxury villa called “the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon” that was built on cedar beams and paneled with cedar from floor to ceiling and took 13 years to complete. Some of us may have our own backyard oasis with a patio, a garden, a water fountain, and a swimming pool. A cool, quiet, beautiful place for us to relax and unwind. Well in the hot and arid land of Israel, Solomon had his own personal vineyards and whole parks full of flowers and fruit trees irrigated by sparking pools. He even describes them using the Persian loan-word for “paradise.” But Solomon was not necessarily by himself in such secluded spots. He had a small army of household servants to do his bidding. He had amassed such quantities of gold and silver that all his tableware was pure gold. He had male and female singers to whisper soothing melodies into his ears. As the greatest king then living, every country wanted to be among his allies by marriage, and so he had a harem of some 700 royal wives and 300 concubines. He sums up his circumstances, “I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. ...I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure” (v. 9,10). Solomon took the sensations of sight, touch, sound, taste, and mind as far as they could go, and while he found delight in all that was happening, he concludes, “everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun” (v. 11). All the pleasures he experienced were equally momentary—as empty as trying to grasp the wind. He gained nothing good that endured. It was all meaningless.
Would that you and I could only learn from Solomon's assessment of the emptiness of pleasure. How often our flesh deceives us into running here and there only to be left unsatisfied and empty in the end. To be sure, we have access to technological wonders that Solomon only dreamed of: air conditioning, ice cream, and live-streamed entertainment, but whatever masks pleasure wears, whether ancient or modern, they are all alike passing away and cannot fill us up, give us enduring joy, or promise us any future. Though we stuff ourselves full of them, they will never be enough. We will always want more. The only thing and the only one who can satisfy our wanting and give us real peace of heart and complete contentment is the One who himself is infinite. The LORD of infinite grace, forgiveness, and love. The God who created us and holds us all together. Our Savior, who has gone ahead into heaven to prepare an endless paradise for us.
For your self-reflection:
1.) Think back to a time when you experienced much pleasure and fun. How does that past pleasure impact your current happiness and contentment?
2.) As children of God, we live in the perpetual certainty that the best is yet to come. How does that change how we view worldly pleasures?
3.) Our devotion did not even begin to explore how there can be purpose in pain. How can God use pain for our good?
Prayer: Gracious Father in heaven, thank you for so fully and faithfully supplying all my needs and enabling me to enjoy so many pleasant experiences. Give me heaven-sent wisdom that finds my deepest, lasting pleasure in you and the fortitude to resist finding my purpose in the passing delights of this world. Amen.