Articles and Sermons :: Was Solomon a Pessimist and a Hedonist?

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1 Was Solomon a Pessimist and a Hedonist? - posted by TMK (), on: 2016/9/1 10:50 This was written by a former pastor of mine: As a boy, I thought Ecclesiastes was weird As a college student, I thought it was just too deep for anyone to really und erstand Now, I think I might sorta-kinda be able to maybe-somewhat understand what the wisest man in the world was saying For the longest time it just felt to me like Solomon was being so pessimistic â â œvanity of vanities! All is vanity What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?â (1:3) â â œi have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after the windâ (1:14) â Pleasure, wine, great works, gardens, pools, possessions, wealth, wisdom â it is all vanity â Chapter 2 The world is just full of oppression, tears, misuse of power, discontentment, evil â and ultimately just death â Chapte r 4, 6, 9 Since Solomon had such a dark and pessimistic view of life it appeared to me his life motto was just â œlive it up becau se itâ s all pointlessâ â â œgo, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has alrea dy approved what you do â enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you u nder the sunâ (9:7,9) But is this really Solomonâ s philosophy of life? Or was I missing something? After close to 25 years in ministry, and close to 25 years of marriage, with kids now heading off to college, I think I may u nderstand the wisdom of Solomon It wasnâ t about hopelessness that leads to hedonistic pleasure, but rather about a hopeful dependance that leads to a joyful freedom Let me try to explain: Solomon knew he wasnâ t God, so he was free to be human Solomon gave himself, quite passionately I might add, to flipping over every possible human invention to see if he could find some purpose and delight in life His conclusion was that there was nothing on earth that could provide for him wha t only God could All these human pursuits would never amount to anything disconnected from the heart of a worshipper to the only One worthy of worship â œfor apart from Him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? (2:25) We toil so h ard to be in control or to feel like we have accomplished something that will make us feel important A wise pastor-ment or of mine used to describe how young men are trying to convince those around them that they have something significa nt to contribute, and older men are trying to convince those around them that they made some significant contribution in their life I think Solomon would say that both are vanity! The wise Preacher knew that he was no savior, and for as mu ch wisdom and wealth and power as he had, he was simply a created being whose â œalmond tree blossomsâ (gray hair comes â 12:5), and one day his â œgolden bowl is brokenâ (the head goes â dementia, alzheimers?? â 1 2:6) It takes living some years to come to the realization that the next great spiritual awakening in America probably isn â t going to happen through a sermon you preach But in that there is immense freedom Freedom to trust the only wise God who has given you gifts to use and enjoy during the days of your life You and I are free to be weak and need y, frail and faltering, so we can be trusting and true to the God who always gives out of the abundance of His grace Solomon knew life was hard, so he didnâ t have to make excuses Solomon had both experienced and witnessed enough evil and pain in the world to know that there was no human reme dy to such suffering Young people often havenâ t suffered enough, nor have a firm enough grasp on the sovereignty of God to confidently hold pain and the goodness of God together I know I struggled to know how to do that I think Sol omon had come to understand that you donâ t have to conclude that God doesnâ t care when you see heartache and trauma around you I think Solomon had come to recognize that there is another answer to pain in the world other t han God must not exist or isnâ t a God of love I think Solomon in all his searching finally removed himself from the t hrone and chose to trust a God He would never fully understand He didnâ t feel the need to feverishly try to prop Go d up so He looked better to the fools and folly around him (that never works) Nor did he give in to the arrogance of hum Page 1/5

2 an wisdom in being the pot who challenges the Potter What freedom there is knowing life is hard, God is God, and He doesnâ t need you to come to His aid You and I can be honest in tears, joyful in pleasure, and resist being the fool w ho lives to counsel the LORD Solomon knew God was King, so he could enjoy being in the Kingdom The lore of King Solomon is great in the Bible He sought God for wisdom and got it in spades We might say â He w as the man! Therefore, one might think after Solomon concluded his quest for the meaning of life and discovered he act ually wasnâ t the man that heâ d be fatalistic and depressed Quite the opposite was true of Solomon His diligent pursuit of â œeverything that is done under the sunâ (1:14) led him to conclude he wasnâ t God His honest reflect ion on â œthe oppressions that are done under the sunâ (4:1) made him realize life is simply hard and full of pain on t his fallen planet But those conclusions didnâ t sink him, but rather gave him greater focus and freedom in life He sa w â œall the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sunâ (8:17) and rather than waste his time focused on trying to do Godâ s job, he could focus on delighting in Godâ s work That meant worship thro ugh hard work, obedient living, and delighting in the God who gives good gifts to His children Our friend Tim Keller and others have elevated the emphasis on â œidols of the heartâ Solomon would certainly res onate with that concept Ecclesiastes ought to be an â œidol-smashing toolâ in our lives to the idol of control, the idol of comfort, and the idol of influence Those pesky little idols rob you of job, they steal your freedom, and they make you a slave to vain living When you and I, like Solomon, finally gain enough Godly wisdom, we too can simply enjoy being a servant in the household of the King It is a really great place to be! Re: Was Solomon a Pessimist and a Hedonist?, on: 2016/9/3 10:09 Dear Brother Todd, This is a little jewel! "The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious" My tendency is to skip over Ecclesiastes, but now I will read with grace Thank you so much for posting Your pastor was very wise for plummeting below the surface The Holy Spirit gave him a snorkel :-) Sis Leslie Re: - posted by TMK (), on: 2016/9/3 10:21 Yes he was a great guy- very smart but with a very soft and gentle heart When we first started at his church he preach ed through the book of John- it took over a year! I loved that because so many pastors would be worried that the congre gation would get "bored" with taking so long to teach through a book I thought it was awesome Leaving his church when we moved was very difficult Re: Was Solomon a Pessimist and a Hedonist? - posted by InTheLight (), on: 2016/9/3 12:30 On the subject of Solomon, Carter Conlon gives some terrific insight into the mystery of how such a wise man could fall i nto darkness; In Christ, Page 2/5

3 Solomon as a "type" and shadow, Christians have the reality, on: 2016/9/3 13:19 Solomon, a picture of the flesh fighting against the Spirit and vice-versa And yet, Solomon represents a "Type" of Christ as "The Wisdom of God" His book, the Song of Solomon represents a t ype of Christ as the "Lover of our Soul" Solomon and the Shulamite are a picture of Christ and His Bride The Temple of Solomon is a picture of "Christ and His Church" Amazing, what God can do in and through mere men! Christ lives in us,,,how are we representing and manifesting Him? We are much more than a "type", as Christ dwells in u s by faith We ARE His Temple Thoughts, on: 2016/9/3 15:10 Solomon was a real man, and one God had chosen, anointed and given wisdom and smarts that surpassed everyone el se in his time and maybe ours So even though we may want to analyze him to distraction, maybe this pastor of Todd 's hit the nail on the head Solomon, after years of experience and observation, obeying AND disobeying God, wondering why people and he could n't change, even though they had the tools, (the law) "Rather than focusing on trying to do God's job, he could focus on delighting in God's work,obedient living and delightin g in the God who gives good gifts to his children" Sounds like freedom in Christ :-) The "idol smashing tool" Christ Jesus, finally gave Solomon the power to give up the idea of being in control, of needing comfort and influence, of doing, doing, doing And In the end he, as we all must, become dead to self and alive in Christ Even then! I think Frank's post on the difference between our own vain thinking the freedom of living by the Spirit is apropo here als o I've spent years being religious and spinning my wheels I am refreshed in the Lord by many of you here and appreciate that Jesus had given us a place to be challenged in our thinking Just my ruminatings this day, May we delight in the Lord this day L Re: Thoughts, on: 2016/9/4 7:27 Uncheck, Overly Self-Indulgent Hedonism (which Solomon had access to)naturally leads to Pessimism (or worse) I think that was Solomon's point in Ecclesiastes ("The Inspired Book of Error"), no? Whereby all that partying, potion ingesting, sinning and sexing, led Solomon to the final conclusion: Ecclesiastes 1:1-3, The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem: "Meaningless! Meaningless!" sa ys the Teacher "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless" What does man gain from all his labor at which he toil s under the sun? Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the who le duty of man For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil Amen Solomon was in an unusual position to undertake the experiments and investigations reflected in this book, because duri Page 3/5

4 ng the forty years of his reign there was utter peace in the kingdom of Judah and Israel There were no tribes around stir ring up warfare or strife Since he did not have to bother himself with military life, he had all the time he needed to pursu e his investigations into the meaning of life Furthermore, he had all the wealth he needed, and he had a keen, logical, di scerning mind which had gained for him the reputation as the wisest man in the world He had all that he needed, and h e set himself to discover what life is all about Therefore, the value of Ecclesiastes is that it sets forth life from the standp oint of the natural man, apart from divine revelation His experimentation in Hedonism led his, again to a view of the natural man's life without God: "Vanity of vanities, says the Debater, vanity of vanities! All is vanity (Ecclesiastes 1:2 RSV) And here, the word "vanity" does mean conceit, but rather "vanity" here in Ecclesiastes means emptiness, futility, meaninglessness The debater has completed his survey of life, a nd he gives this conclusion at the beginning of the book He says everything is futile, empty, meaningless -- there is no s ense to anything more to come Re: Hedonism or Pessimism, on: 2016/9/4 7:34 See Ecclesiastes Chapter 2 In chapter 2 Solomon examines the philosophy of hedonism -- the pursuit of pleasure as the chief end of life What gives life meaning? Well, millions today say, "Just enjoy yourself! Have a good time, live it up, do as you like, seek pleasure That's the purpose of living That's why we are here!" But Solomon, the Debater says: "I said to myself, "Come now, I will make a test of pleasure; enjoy yourself" But behold, this also was vanity" (Ecclesiastes 2:1 RSV) And remember, "vanity" is synonymous with "futility" Then he proceeds to itemize pleasure He says that first he tried pleasure in the form of laughter, or mirth Maybe this is what is needed to make life thoroughly enjoyable So he sought out opportunities to give himself to genial, gracious, laughing, happy company But he says that after a time, even this yielded a weariness of spirit Then he says he tried the acquisition of possessions; perhaps meaning comes from wealth: "So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem; also my wisdom remained with me And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them;" (Ecclesiastes 2:9-10a RSV) And he gave himself to the accumulation of wealth and possessions (How many are living on that level today!) He says it too was emptiness of spirit and didn't satisfy his longing And then he says: "I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly; for what can the man do who comes after the king?" (Ecclesiastes 2:12a RSV) "Then I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness" (Ecclesiastes 2:13a RSV) He says, "This is better, at least Here is something that is interesting: pursuing all these various ideas about life Ah, but," he says "I found that it comes out at the same place" The fool and the wise man alike die And as far as their lives ar e concerned, one is as utterly insignificant as the other It doesn't make any difference After Solomon's experimentation Hedonistic exploits, he comes to this terrible (Pessimistic) conclusion: "So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a striving after wind" (Eccl esiastes 2:17 RSV) Page 4/5

5 Here is a man who has given himself to pleasure, to possessions, and to the pursuit of wisdom in the realm of ideas, an d he says, "I hated life I hated all my toil I turned about and gave my heart up to despair" That is what he came to, isn't it? Just as it is what anyone will come to: only despair" QED: HEDONISM BREEDS PESSIMISM, AND THAT IS THE EXPERIENTIAL LESSON TAUGHT BY THE WIS E SOLOMON IN ECCLESIASTES Re: Easy Answer, on: 2016/9/4 16:40 How does a wise man fall into darknesswoman1300 of themin Solomon's case Re: Was Solomon a Pessimist and a Hedonist? - posted by ginnyrose (), on: 2016/9/4 23:39 I just love the book of Ecclesiastes When you tell people they will look at you weird The bottom line is - and some other expressed this idea as well - is that we are tempted to think that if I had this or that o r accomplished this or that then I would be happy or satisfied Solomon says it doesn't work, "it is vanity" It is futile And he is right When the pressure gets too great I love to read Ecclesiastes and Revelation to help me regain a proper perspective of lif e How liberating that is! Thanks for sharing Sandra edited Re:, on: 2016/9/11 16:37 "The bottom line is - and some other expressed this idea as well - is that we are tempted to think that if I had this or that or accomplished this or that then I would be happy or satisfied Solomon says it doesn't work, "it is vanity" It is futile An d he is right" Thank you for summing it up completely, Sister ginnyrose! Love-in-Christ, kyp Page 5/5