David Bahn – Reflections

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These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Ecclesiastes 2-4, Psalm 146.

Ecclesiastes 2:1-11

I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity. ² I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?” ³ I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life. ⁴ I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.⁵ I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. ⁶ I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. ⁷ I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. ⁸ I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the sons of man.

⁹ So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me.¹⁰ And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. ¹¹ 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.

There are those who like to brag about their wealth. And then there is The Millionaire Next Door. That is the title of a highly insightful personal finance book by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko. They put forth the idea that many wealthy people do not actually look wealthy. Most millionaires, they argue, live below their means, save consistently, avoid flashy spending, and quietly build wealth over time.

King Solomon would not have made a very good example for that book.

In Ecclesiastes 2, Solomon sounds more like The Billionaire in the Palace. He pursues pleasure, builds grand houses, plants vineyards and gardens, acquires servants, wealth, singers, and every luxury available to a king. If something looked like it might bring satisfaction, Solomon tried it. “Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them” (Ecclesiastes 2:10).

And he did not seem to feel any need to hide it. In fact, he almost sounds boastful:

“I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the sons of man” (Ecclesiastes 2:7–8).

Not exactly low-key!

If ever there were someone capable of finding satisfaction through wealth, pleasure, and every kind of earthly success, it was Solomon. Yet none of it filled the emptiness in his heart. So even after tasting every imaginable success and pleasure, Solomon delivers this sobering verdict: “all was vanity and a striving after wind.”

So you might think the lesson is that wealth, possessions, and pleasure are bad. But that is not Solomon’s point. Ecclesiastes is not anti-joy or anti-stuff. Solomon is warning us against seeking ultimate meaning in stuff.

Meaning, purpose, joy, and fulfillment are found in Jesus. He asked, “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” And even more, Jesus – who was rich in every way – became poor for our sake, so that through his poverty we might become rich. That is more than a lesson in wealth management. It is the riches of God’s grace in Christ: true riches, if ever there were any.

Click on the graphic below for the Bible Project overview of the book of Ecclesiastes.