Prosperity Never Looked So Bad

We are in Ecclesiastes Chapter 6 this morning. Ecclesiastes Chapter 6. The New York Post website recently had an article entitled Winners Beware as the fever pitch was rising for the latest big lottery winnings in this country a few weeks ago. Winners beware, meet the four who went from Jackpot to Jack Squad. And they describe four people who won huge lottery winnings. The first of which is the well known in our part of the world, Jack Whitaker. They told the story of Jack Whitaker winning $315 million in a power ball in December 2002. One of the saddest tales of all, they say is that of Jack Whitaker, the cowboy hat wearing West Virginia contractor who scored a $315 million power ball win in December 2002. Already a millionaire from his contracting business, he pledged to give 10% of his fortune to charity, which he did. And he did a lot of good things, by the way, establishing a foundation here in our state to help many different causes. He gave to three different churches, not ours, by the way, but three churches in our state. But then the story goes on, legal and personal problems took a heavy toll. And he started hitting the sauce and hanging out at sleazy nightclubs. Just eight months after his big score, he was robbed of nearly a half a million dollars at one of those nightclubs. A month later, his granddaughter died of a drug overdose from drugs bought with an allowance from him. A short time later, his daughter also died of a drug overdose. And when that happened, he sobbed to reporters at the time, I wish I'd torn that ticket up. He is probably the poster child, if you could call him that, for the bad side, the dark side of prosperity. This morning, I want to focus upon this theme from the book of Ecclesiastes that prosperity never looked so bad. That is not a comment on the fiscal cliff. It is simply a reality of life. Prosperity never looked so bad. Ecclesiastes chapter six describes for us in Solomon's own words, the dark side, the downside, the bad side of prosperity, if it is not handled properly. Let's get our bearings for a moment. We need to remember where we are in the book of Ecclesiastes because we are starting an entirely new section. And you should have on the back of your outline today, the outline of the book. And let's just remind ourselves of what Solomon is seeking to accomplish with the book of Ecclesiastes. He is basically describing what it means to find meaning and purpose in life. Satisfaction fulfillment, purpose in life. That meaning in life is sought after in so many different ways. And in the first two chapters, Solomon describes a number of different ways that people seek to find some meaning and purpose and fulfillment in life. Lots of different ways people try. Education, research for knowledge, pleasure, materialism, throwing themselves into work. And Solomon says none of those things will bring ultimate meaning in life. The only way to find that meaning, as we heard Jerry sing this morning, is through a relationship with God. Purpose and meaning in life come only through establishing a relationship with him through his son, Jesus Christ. And then based upon that, all of the good things that God gives us in life, we can see and use as good stewards of his and be enjoying them. But not without him, not without him. And then Solomon turns to the second major thrust of his book. And that is that we can only find meaning and fulfillment in life if we understand that God has a plan for life. God's plan and purpose for life is very clearly taught in Ecclesiastes 3. There's a time for, and he goes to those those 14 contrasts. A time for this, a time for that. Both the good and the bad extremes of life all find their part in place in God's plan. And God makes them beautiful in his time. He brings them all together in his purpose and plan. And if we don't understand that, we will have difficulty in life. We'll be disillusioned with life. And so he concludes that second section of the book in chapter 5 verses 18 through 20 by saying, this is what life is all about. Have a simple perspective on life, a positive perspective, a realistic perspective, a contented approach to life. And when you find your fullness of life in Christ alone, then you will be able to see how life all fits together in God's plan. Now we begin this morning, the third major section of the book, which you can see, is God's perspective on life. What Solomon will do is he will take several burning topics that we have our own perspectives on, and he will show us what God's perspective is on those critical issues of life. And then with God's perspective, we will move into the latter section of the book, which basically deals with, okay, now how do you live? How do you apply the perspective that God sees things from to life, to daily living? But we need to deal with these first, first, these five issues that God addresses that Solomon talks about, that he shows us God's perspective on. The first one is prosperity. Now we have our own perspective on that. Often pictured like it is on the screen, that's prosperity. The Hebrews, the Old Testament Jews, had their own view of prosperity, and Solomon is going to pick that apart piece by piece in this chapter. Prosperity never looked so bad. God's perspective on prosperity is that prosperity is not always good. Now I want to clarify something here, I am not saying this morning that to be rich is bad or to be poor is good. It's not that simplistic. That's not what Solomon is saying. What he is saying is that prosperity does not automatically equal happiness or fulfillment or meaning purpose in life. Prosperity does not automatically lead to that. In fact, Solomon describes in chapter 6, three situations in which prosperity will leave you empty. If this is the way you approach prosperity, Solomon tells us, then you will find no meaning purpose or fulfillment in life. The first situation where prosperity will leave you empty is when we do not enjoy life. Now we've seen that's a common theme of the book. In fact, I would say that's the overarching theme of the book. How to enjoy life? Remember, it's not just how to have a good time, how to be happy, but it's how to find real meaning and purpose and fulfillment in life, enjoyment of life in that sense. In the first six verses of this chapter, Solomon will describe the Hebrew perspective on prosperity. There are four parts to prosperity in the Hebrew mindset. And Solomon will describe those, but he will say three times in these six verses. If you have all of that, but you do not enjoy life, then prosperity will leave you empty. Let's begin where we need to begin. Verse 1, let's see how Solomon introduces this topic. He says, I have seen another evil under the sun and it weighs heavily on mankind. Another evil, the Hebrew word evil can be translated misfortune or something which is bad. It's not necessarily morally evil. It's just something that doesn't turn out like it should. It's a misfortune in life, in this case, something that doesn't turn out like you thought it would. And he says, this particular one that you think is going to satisfy you, but it doesn't turn out like you think it would, this one weighs heavily on mankind. The Hebrew expression literally is, it is great upon man. And some people think that that means and some translations actually say that it means this is a common occurrence. This happens frequently. But probably what Solomon is really getting at is that this frustration, thinking things are going to turn out a certain way and it doesn't, that weighs heavily on people. It's heavy on us. And what is going to then go on to describe is the Hebrew view of prosperity. But prosperity that brings no enjoyment. Three times again, he will say, people have this prosperity, but they do not enjoy it and he's going to get it the root of why that happens. Let's look at the four kinds of prosperity that are described in this passage. In the Jewish mind, this is what prosperity was all about. First of all, in verse two, the first two occur, possessions and honor. And they occur together. So look at the first one, they're possessions. Verse two says, God gives some people wealth, possessions and honor so that they lack nothing their hearts desire, but God does not grant them the ability to enjoy them and strangers enjoy them. Instead, this is meaningless, aggrievous evil. Now what is he describing here? The first two elements of prosperity in an Old Testament Jewish mind would be first of all possessions. That was a sign of God prospering you, but also honor. But this person is described as having the kind of wealth and possessions so that their heart lacked nothing, their heart lacks nothing. In other words, anything they want, they can get. They have the means of their disposal to have anything they want. Doesn't matter what it is, doesn't matter what kind of house it is or car or boat it may be, or entertainment system it may be, or whatever it may be, what the retirement plan, no matter what they've got the ability to have whatever they want, whatever their heart desires. They have the wealth and possessions to make it happen. But he says, God does not give them the ability to enjoy it. Now it's not that God is in heaven saying, okay, you got all this stuff? I don't want you to enjoy that. Remember we've seen just last time, a couple of weeks ago, we saw in chapter five that what that's talking about in the last part of the chapter is that when a person puts God first, when a person is rightly related to God, that's how God gives them the ability, the word means the power and dominion over their possessions, the ability to enjoy them. It's not that God is is keeping enjoyment from these people. It is they have not rightly aligned themselves with God and Christ and His purpose in their lives. And thus they do not have the ability to enjoy their wealth and possessions. So they have wealth and possessions, but they don't enjoy them. And notice he says, strangers enjoy them instead. The word stranger, the word alien or foreign or stranger, someone outside maybe even the family circle uses up those possessions. Now that could happen as we saw back in chapter five by the increased obligations that come with increased wealth, the increased number of bills, the increased number of people that it takes to help you manage all of that. And you got to hire an accountant, then a CPA, and a tax lawyer, and all these people that help you figure stuff out. And so your money's going out to all these folks. That may be one way that the stranger uses up what you have, but it can happen in many other ways as well. It can happen. The stranger may be a sickness that not only robs you of your health, but slowly, or maybe even quickly, drains away all your resources. The stranger may come in the form of sickness. The stranger that enjoys or uses up your possessions may come in the form of domestic conflict. And so there are problems at home, maybe because your whole life has been geared toward gaining those possessions and establishing your wealth. And thus you've neglected your family. And your family has no use for you, no love for you, no care for you. And so conflict, broken homes, alimony payments, child support, lawyers, courts, all of that begins to drain your resources. The stranger can be domestic conflict. The stranger might be natural calamity, which in a moment can take away everything you possess. That may be the stranger. There are any number of forms the stranger may take, but the picture here is of someone who has the capacity to have everything they want, but because their whole focus is on that and the attaining of that, they do not enjoy life. They don't even enjoy what they have. And that always will happen when your focus in life becomes getting wealthy, getting those possessions, getting more and more and more. You will find that does not satisfy. So possessions is the first thing. Then honor is the second thing. He mentions it just briefly in verse two. God gives some people wealth possessions and honor. So here's a person who not only has great wealth and possessions, they also have a good reputation. They also have honor to go with it. That's a wonderful thing. But here's someone who, although they may have honor, may have gotten it for the wrong reasons because of their wealth or possessions or how they use those. Or even though people respect them, they are not enjoying life because they are simply focused on all their stuff. So the honor really means nothing to them. Possessions and honor. Then notice the third mark of Hebrew prosperity. It's mentioned in verse three. Actually, verses three through six mentioned the last two, but three through five focus upon the third one. The third one is a large family. In the Jewish mindset, that was seen as a part of God's prosperity. God blessed you in giving you a large family. And so what Solomon is going to say is if you have a really large family, look at verse three, a man may have a hundred children. That's a really large family. A hundred children. Obviously, he's using hyperbole, he's using an exaggeration to get his point across. You know, you can have a large family. Okay, large family. You got a hundred children. Let's say you have a hundred children. You got a large family. You get as large a family as you can possibly get. And then he says, and you live many years, yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. Wow, very stark words, aren't they? Here's what he means. You can have a large family, but not receive a proper burial. You see, in Old Testament times, a proper burial was very important. It was kind of the ending of a proper life. And it was seen as something that was undignified and dishonorable if you were not properly buried. You'll recall stories in the Old Testament, like the men of Jbej Giliad who went and retrieved the bodies of Saul and his son Jonathan, because they had been hung up on a wall by the Philistines after Saul and Jonathan have been killed. And men risked their lives to get their bodies to give them a proper burial. That was very important in the Jewish mindset. But a proper burial was not just that you were you were buried, but it was that you could be buried with honor from your family. What Solomon is picturing is the kind of person who may have a hundred children, large family, and live a long time. But when he dies, nobody cares. Because your whole life has been poured into your stuff, and you've neglected that family. Nobody cares. The only thing they care about is the reading of the will to see how much of it they get. They don't care about burying you properly, don't care about honoring you at your death. Nobody loves you, nobody cares. That's the picture Solomon's painting here. And he says, a person who lives that way. Now this is a very stark contrast admittedly, but a person who lives that way and receives no honor from his family at death. A stillborn child is better than that. Now notice how he goes on to describe the difference. Verse 4, it speaking of the stillborn child, it comes without meaning. That simply means that a child that is born without ever seeing life is born dead. Child who is delivered stillborn does not have the purpose in life that a person who sees life and grows up to live life would have. That's all that that means. It doesn't mean there's nothing valuable about that child. That's not his point. His point is there is no purpose or meaning in life now to be pursued by one who is stillborn. And then he goes on to say it departs in darkness and it in darkness its name is shrouded in Old Testament times in a Jewish culture. Typically there was no name given to a stillborn child. And so that's what he's referring to. Nobody will ever know this child's name. And then verse 5 he says, though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man. Start contrast, gripping contrast. But a person who lives in such a way that everything is focused on the possessions and the wealth. And thus neglects his or her family has it worse off than someone who never really got to experience life. There is more rest for one who never got to see the light of day than one who has lived that way. Large family is no good if you never enjoy that family. If you do not focus on spend time with cultivate relationships with that family. Solomon's point you can have a large band hundred kids and not enjoy any of it. Okay, so life prosperity and the Hebrew mindset will leave you empty if you do not enjoy life. And then notice the fourth one the fourth concept in Hebrew prosperity that he mentions. And that is a long life you saw it there in verse 3. Yet no matter how long he lives if he cannot enjoy his prosperity does not receive proper burial. I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. Now look down at verse 6. The stillborn child has more rest than does that man verse 5 verse 6. Even if he lives a thousand years twice over. But fails to enjoy his prosperity do not all go to the same place. Again he's using an exaggeration to make his point long life that was considered a part of Hebrew prosperity long life. Okay, let's say you got long life you live to be 2000 years old. I mean that's more than twice as old as the oldest person listed in the Bible, Methuselah. So obviously it's great exaggerate you can live to be 2000 years old. But if you do not enjoy what God has given you your life is a waste it is empty. You see Solomon is saying both the stillborn child and the man who lives to 2000 ultimately go to the same place. Don't misunderstand that we've seen this before in Ecclesiastes. This kind of statement in Ecclesiastes is often criticized as coming from a humanistic mindset that does not believe in the afterlife. That's not true. We have seen and we will see again in this book that Solomon strongly believes in the afterlife. That he believes that once one dies his spirit goes back to God. He will say that very clearly in chapter 12. So he believes in the afterlife. He believes in being with the Lord after you die. What he's saying here is very common again in the Jewish mindset and that is strictly from an earthly perspective and that's the perspective in Ecclesiastes. Remember under the sun strictly from an earthly perspective both die both go to the grave both will end their lives and then what do you have if you've lived 2000 years but you've lived them all for self and for wealth and possessions for material things and you've neglected everything else including your family. What do you have at death? Your life has really amounted to nothing no matter what kind of things you've accomplished in life. So Solomon is saying prosperity will leave you empty when you do not enjoy life and remember a joint of life again is being rightly related to God so that we see everything as his good gift and we can then enjoy it thoroughly because that's not what life is really all about. If I have a lot of it I can enjoy it if I have very little of it I can enjoy that too because life really is about pleasing God and living for him and that's where I find ultimate fulfillment. That's what it means to enjoy life. I clipped out an article a number of years ago out of of all things that great publication readers digest but it's got some interesting thoughts to it. It's taken from a book called a Penny's Worth of Mints' Hand, a little section of that book entitled The Station by Robert Hastings. Tucked away in our subconscious is an idyllic vision. We see ourselves on a long train trip spanning the continent. Through the windows we drink in the passing scene of cars or on nearby highways of children waving at us from a crossing of cattle grazing on a hillside of smoke pouring from a power plant of row up on row of corn and wheat of mountains and valleys of city skylines and village halls but uppermost in our minds is our destination. On a certain day at a certain hour we will pull into the station. Then wonderful dreams will come true and the pieces of our lives will fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. How restlessly we pace the aisles, condemning the loitering minutes, waiting, waiting when I reach the station. That will be it we tell ourselves. When I'm 18, when I buy our Mercedes, when I put the last kid through college, when I've paid off the mortgage, when I get that big promotion, when I retire, I shall live happily ever after. Sooner or later we realize there is no station. No place to arrive at once in for all. Please understand from a biblical perspective we know there is a final destination heaven but talking about finding meaning and purpose in fulfillment here. The true joy of life Hastings says is the trip. The station is only a dream that constantly out distances us. Released the moment is a good motto especially when coupled with Psalm 118 verse 24. This is the day which the Lord hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Not in the future. Not in what's going to happen when I have finally accomplished this or attain this stage of life or this goal in life or can reach this milestone in life. No, no, this is the day which the Lord hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in it in this day. So he says stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, climb more mountains, eat more ice cream. I say amen to that. Go barefoot more often, swim more rivers, rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more, live life as you go along. You see, and I think that Solomon's point here, you can have everything that defines prosperity. If you don't enjoy the trip along the way, you've missed it. You have missed what life is all about. If you do not take each day as a gift from God to rejoice in and be glad in and soak every bit of purpose and meaning out of it, then you've missed it. You've missed it waiting for some magical time in your life to come. You've missed the true meaning of life. That's what Solomon's saying. Prosperity will leave you empty when we do not enjoy life along the way. Secondly, Solomon says, prosperity will leave you empty when we develop an appetite for things. When we develop an appetite for things. In verses 7 through 9, Solomon deals with this appetite for things. Again, it's the focus upon the things that wealth and possessions can provide. If that's your focus in life, you will develop an appetite. Now Solomon says three things about that appetite. The first one in verse 7 is this. An appetite for things is insatiable. It cannot be satisfied. It just keeps growing. An appetite for things is insatiable. Notice the way he says it in such a poetic way in verse 7. Everyone's toil is for their mouth, yet their appetite is never satisfied. Now he's talking very directly about working so that you can eat. He's talking very specifically about that. You work to put food on the table. But you know what? When you finish that food, you've got to work some more to get more food to put on the table. Because you never reach a point at which you've worked enough to where you'll never need any more work to provide more food. It's that routine of life. You've got to keep working to keep food on the table. All right? So in very real terms, he's saying we work for food, we eat, then we get hungry again. But obviously his point is much deeper than that. His point really is beyond just that humdrum daily routine of we eat, we get hungry, we provide more so that we can live another day. Beyond that, he's uncovering a natural flaw in man. And that is we pour our life into our work so that we can accumulate things. But if that's what we're living for, work another day so I can get more stuff, get more stuff to have in my life. If that's what we're living for, we will develop an appetite that never says enough, enough. It never will. Just like we can never completely, permanently satisfy literally our appetite, working only for the things that work will provide you possessions and wealth. Solomon says, we'll leave you just as unsatisfied. It will leave you craving for more. It's like a drug addiction. It's like an alcohol addiction. You think you're satisfied, but in the end you just want more. And you've got to have more and more and more. That's the kind of appetite that is developed by working only for the things that work can provide for you. If only I could have this, then I would be happy. If only I could have this person. If only I could have that job. If only I could have his salary. If only I could have her home and on and on the list may go. If that's the way you're living, you're developing an appetite that will never be satisfied. You get all of the things on that list and you know what? The next day you'll be looking at the horizon again for something a little bit better, a little bit bigger, a little newer. You will never, never be satisfied. If that's all you're living for. You see, when we develop an appetite for things, we buy into a mindset that ultimately will destroy us. We really do. One man tells the story of putting some poison around an ant hill with fire ants. If you've ever been in a place where you have fire ants, we had them in Florida when we lived there. They can sting the life out of you. I mean, they're really painful. So this guy had an ant hill in his yard of fire ants and he put some poison around it and he decided to see what would happen. And he would go back and check on it and sure enough. They were grabbing little bits of that and taking it down into the ant hill, thinking, the man is his food. This is a great treasure. And then he noticed something different. He noticed that there was a little pocket of that poison being moved away from the ant hill and he looked more carefully and he saw that it was a different kind of ant. It was another ant that had definitely found this treasure that the fire ants had and thought they were stealing the fire ants treasure, taking it back to their ant hill all the while poisoning themselves. And that's exactly what happens when we get our whole ambition and life focus. On things because it develops an appetite that will ultimately destroy us. That appetite for things is insatiable. It will not be satisfied. And then Solomon says something else about that appetite for things. He says in verse 8, this is universally true. I don't care who you are. Solomon says this is universally true. You may think you're the exception. But no, no, he says this is universally true. Look at what he says in verse 8. What advantage have the wise over fools? What do the poor gain by knowing how to conduct themselves before others? Again, sometimes this verse ripped out of context has been taken to mean that Solomon, this cynical old man who is cynical about all of life no longer sees any value in being wise or anything like that because everybody ends up saying, right? So who cares? No, that is not his point at all. In context, talking about developing this appetite for things, he's saying nobody is exempt from that principle. An appetite for things is insatiable and it doesn't matter whether you are wise or foolish, rich or poor. You have no advantage in that particular principle. It's universally true. No matter who you are, wise, full, rich, poor. You have no advantage when it comes to that principle. You will not escape that rule of God. That an appetite for things can never be satisfied. It doesn't matter who you are. This is universally true. And then Solomon makes a third point about this whole appetite for things. It's in verse 9. It's this. Contentment is the better way. Contentment is the better way. Notice what he says in verse 9, better what the I see is than the roving of the appetite. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. What is it that is so futile and meaningless that it means you're like chasing the wind, try to catch it. You can't get your hands on it. What is it? It's the opposite. It's the whole point that he's been making here. That if you live for things, you develop an appetite that cannot be satisfied. To live that way is absolutely meaningless. It's like trying to grasp the wind. You never get it. You will never get to where you want to be. So, his conclusion is it is better, better to have and enjoy and be satisfied with what the I see. What is right there in front of you? What you already have rather than he says the roving of the appetite, the appetite for things continuing to rove to see what you can get next. That's his point. It is better to make do with what we have than to continue to live life longing for what we don't have. A burden of hand is worth to in the bush, right? That old statement. That's his point. Oh, that we could learn that. Oh, that I could learn that. Oh, that we could all learn that in the Western world especially where we have so much. This is the kind of contentment that we need. To be content. Remember in chapter five, he calls it God's lot. The lot that God has given you in life, his portion that he has given you. To be content with that. Now, please don't misunderstand that either. It doesn't mean kind of a stagnation and complacency that you never move forward. You never have dreams in life. You never pursue goals in life. Doesn't mean that we need dreamers. We need people who push us to take hills that we might otherwise think we cannot take. Someone has said that the reason mountain climbers are tied together is to keep the sane ones from going home. There's some truth to that. You know, there's the guy at the front that's kind of pushing the whole group along and pulling them along and saying, hey, come on, we can take this hill. We can do this. And there's some people who if they weren't tied on, they would have turned and gone home a long time ago. And we need people like that. I understand that. We need people who say, come on, we need to dream a little bit. We need to push a little further. We need to do a little more. We can do this better. We need that. And that is not at all against what Solomon is saying. But there's a difference in being an innovator and a dreamer and a planner. There's a difference in that. And someone who just lives in a dream world of always wanting more. There's a great difference. And Solomon is talking about the latter. And when it comes to when it comes to prosperity, Solomon is saying contentment is the better way to live life. Be content with the lot, the portion, whatever God has given you. If he opens up a promotion or another job or something that increases your possession, that's fine. Doesn't mean you have so, oh, no, that's evil. No, that's not it. That's, that's fine. If he does that. But never get your heart set on that. Don't get your eyes on that. Your heart and your eyes need to be set on Christ. And if they are set on Christ, then whatever he gives you otherwise can be used for his glory. And you can be content with that, whether it's little or much, that's the biblical concept. That's what Paul was saying in Philippians 4. I've learned in whatever state I am to be content. If I have much, I've learned to be content. If I have little, I've learned to be content. The issue's not how much or how little I have. The issue's contentment, contentment is the better way. So when you develop an appetite for things, you will not enjoy life. Prosperity will be bad for you. And then thirdly, Solomon says, there is a third situation in which prosperity will leave you empty. It's this, when we leave God out of the picture. It draws a very interesting conclusion of verses 10 through 12 about God. And he is referring to God, I believe, in verses 10 through 12. So for the person who has much, for the person who has little, for the person who's somewhere in between, or for the person who has much and loses it, please listen, please listen to this. The right perspective is to understand who God is. That's the right perspective. When we leave God out of the picture, no matter, no matter what we have, then prosperity, whatever degree of that we have will leave us empty if we leave God out of the picture. And that's one of the common themes in the book of Ecclesiastes. We saw it again last week in the conclusion to the second section of the book, the end of chapter 5. Three things he says about God in these three verses. Look at the first one in verse 10. God is sovereign. God is sovereign. First in, whatever exists has already been named and what humanity is has been known. Now who is the only one that can name and know all of those things? Obviously, God, he's speaking of God. But the way he phrases it, the way he says it, emphasizes the sovereignty of God. That God is in control. You see what he says there? He says whatever exists has already been named, whatever situation, whatever occurrence or event in life has already been named. Now in the Old Testament concept, again, in the Jewish mind, to name something meant to have authority over it. Go back to Genesis 2. God gave Adam the authority over the animal kingdom. And one of the evidences of that was he brought the animals to Adam for him to what? Name them. The naming of something in the Jewish mindset meant that you had authority over that. There was a big deal in Jewish homes made of naming your children because it carried that that semblance of authority over the children now. And the proper respect of authority and submission is established even in the naming of the child. We don't really have that same concept today. But when something is named by someone, it means you have authority and control over it. And so the idea here is God has control over all things, whatever exists because he has it already named. And what humanity is, every person, humanity as a whole, whatever you want to make of that, what humanity is has been known. God knows all things. He knows every person and he knows the direction of humanity as a whole. God is in control. God is sovereign. He is in charge. Everything is planned exactly and is being carried out exactly as he has planned it to be carried out. You say, well, why do we have all these disasters and why is there all this evil? It's a subject we've addressed before, you know. If you understand your Bible, you know that that comes about not as a result of God's plan, but as a result of the curse upon this earth because of man's sin. And so God allows some things that he would not in his moral will desire to happen on this earth because of man's rebellion and sin and the curse upon this planet and this world. But even all of that will somehow in God's purpose and plan find its place. God will bring joy out of mourning, rejoicing out of sadness and it will all become clear when we get to heaven. When we understand from God's perspective how His plan all fit together. But mark it down. This is a solid biblical truth. God is sovereign. He is on His throne. He is in control. That's not blind fate or blind chance. God has a loving purpose that will ultimately be seen in the end when the story is complete. God is sovereign. He's in control. Second thing he says about God is it is futile to argue with His purpose. If He is in control, if He sovereign, it is futile to argue with His purpose. Look at the end of verse 10. No one can contend with someone who is stronger. The more the words, the less the meaning, and how does that profit anyone? Now the point here is that you cannot contend with the one who's already been mentioned in verse 10 as in authority over you, the one who has named all things, the one who knows all about all of humanity, you cannot contend with Him. You cannot argue with Him. And the more you try to do that, verse 11, the more words you use to try to straighten God out and tell Him how you should have done things, the more futile that is. What good does that do anybody? Obviously none. It's a rhetorical question. Obviously there's nobody any good to argue with God, to contend with God, to dispute Him, to question Him, to quarrel with God is a waste of your life. And sadly there are many people who do that very thing with their lives, spend the bulk of their energy contending with God, quarreling with Him over the way things have turned out in their lives. What a waste of a lifetime. What a waste of focus in life. Look at this verse, it'll be on the screen for you, Daniel chapter 4, verse 35, a great king, Nebuchadnezzar, learned that lesson through God's judgment. He said, and this is from a pagan king. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold his hand back his hand or say to him, what have you done? Now if a pagan king learned that about the sovereignty of God, it's useless, it's brutal, it's a waste of time to argue with this purpose. What we can't understand about his purpose, let's in faith leave with him until a day when we will see how it all fit together. Doesn't mean that we understand everything God does, but to argue with him, to contend with us, futile. That is absolutely futile. Isaiah, there are so many passages that teach this. Isaiah says the same thing in Isaiah 45 and verse 9, he says, woe to those who quarrel with their maker, those who are nothing but pot shards among the pot shards on the ground. He says, whoa, wait a second, I'm worth a little more than that, aren't I? Well listen to the analogy as it continues. Does the clay say to the potter? What are you making? Does your work say the potter has no hands? You see the analogy is the potter which is God and is sovereignty and control and the clay which represents us. Do we look at the potter and say what are you doing? What do you think you're doing? You really know what you're doing? That's absurd. It's absurd to do that and that's Isaiah's point. He goes on to say, woe to the one who says to a father, what have you begotten or to a mother, what have you brought to birth? This is what the Lord says, the holy one of Israel and its maker, concerning things to come, and this is in the context of a prophecy about Israel's future, concerning things to come, do you question me about my children or give me orders about the work of my hands? It is I who made the earth and created mankind on it. My own hands stretched out the heavens. I martyled their starry hosts and then he goes on to say, if I want to annoy Cyrus, a pagan king to bless my people, that's my choice. Don't argue with that. Okay, the point is this and this is what Solomon is saying. It is futile. It is a waste of your life to contend with God, to argue with God and yet we still find it so easy to lecture God on how he should have done things. How it would have been much better if my life had turned out this way, instead of facing the truth of the way things are and accepting his purpose and trusting in it, even when we can't understand it, even when it doesn't look right at the time. It is a waste of our lives to argue against God's purpose. That's what Solomon is saying. Sometimes we all need to just put issues to rest and quit contending with God and fusing with God and arguing with God and trust his purpose even when we can't see it, understand it. He is the one who's made all things. He is sovereign. One day we will stand before him, we will understand how it all fit together. Until that time we must trust him when we leave God out of the picture. Life becomes empty. Third thing he says about God, this God who is sovereign, who has all things in control, who we should not argue against, does that mean he's some a's figure that is threatening and unloving and unkind? No, no. Verse 12, God is all wise. God is all wise. Verse 12, for who knows what is good for a person in life? During the few and meaningless days they pass through like a shadow, who can tell them what will happen after the sun, under the sun, after they are gone. Again, rhetorical questions, the answer is obvious in the context. Who is it that knows really what's good for us in the life, for the entirety of our life? And who is it that can really tell what's going to happen after we're gone? The answer is obvious. God, that's the one. The one who is all wise, the one who does know all things and can tell us what is best for us and can tell us what will happen after we're gone. What the end result of our life will be, even the impact upon generations that come after us, only God knows that. He knows what is to our ultimate advantage. He knows what our future will be. We find purpose and meaning in life when we come to terms with that, that God knows best. He is all wise. And then we can rest from our endless striving to make it on our own. And to get ahead, we can cease from that and trust the one who in his wisdom and in his love knows what is best for us. That purpose he is working toward, I can assure you that the Bible is clear on that. But if you leave God out of the picture, do not accept with contentment his sovereign plan and control and purpose in your life, then you will spend your life fighting against God, lecturing him, telling him what he should have done, angry at God, and you will waste your life. You will waste your life. You will have faith. Prosperity never looks so bad. You can have everything that people think is prosperity. But if you do not enjoy life, take it a day at a time as a gift from God, whatever it may give you. If you develop an appetite for things, if you leave God out of the picture, then prosperity will look terrible in your life. Some years ago, these transmissions came over the radio waves at sea when a ship moving through the night saw another light coming its way. Voice number one, please divert your course 15 degrees to the north to avoid a collision. Voice number two, very calmly said, recommend you divert your course 15 degrees to the south to avoid a collision. Voice number one popped over the radio signal. This is the captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert your course. Voice number two replied again, very calmly. No, I say again, divert your course. Voice number one snapped back with obvious anger and frustration. This is the aircraft carrier enterprise. We are a large warship of the US Navy. Divert your course now to which voice number two replied once again, calmly. This is a lighthouse, your choice. God, like a lighthouse, is warning us today in the midst of all of our striving to make life work and to make it come out good for me. God is warning us. He's the lighthouse. He's saying, divert your course. You are on a collision course. You're going to destroy your life. If all you live for is the outward signs of prosperity, you will shipwreck your life. Divert your course on the lighthouse. That's what God's telling us today. It's bowing prayer. Father, we marvel at how relevant your word is written by the wisest man of his time, almost 3,000 years ago, and yet it speaks to where we are today so graphically. Father, I pray that you would speak to our hearts as we finish out one year, as we look forward to a new year as we may be overly concerned about things like fiscal cliffs. Help us to gain a biblical perspective on what a true meaning of life is and help us not to put our hopes in prosperity apart from you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.