December 22, 2025 • 29 mins
Meaning doesn’t arrive with speed, applause, or another adrenaline spike; it arrives when we finally face the One Shepherd and let His words both prod and secure us. We walk through Solomon’s closing pages in Ecclesiastes 12 and trace a simple, beautiful arc: worship God, keep His commands, and prepare for the moment when every hidden thing comes to light. Along the way, we unpack why fearing God is not terror but nearness, how gratitude dismantles the myth of self-made lives, and why Scripture’s “goads and nails” are the mercy we need to change direction and stay grounded.
You’ll hear how Solomon weighed, studied, and arranged sayings that still cut through modern noise, and why their power lies in their source—not clever phrasing but the voice of the Lord. We talk about reading widely without drifting, testing every idea against the truth that endures. Then we turn to the heart of obedience: not box-checking but love in motion, the kind of devotion Jesus describes when He ties affection to action. Finally, we look forward with sober joy, remembering that for those in Christ the debt is already nailed to the cross, and preparation becomes stewardship, not dread.
If you’re ready to move from drifting to direction—anchored by wisdom, animated by love, and aimed at eternity—this conversation will help you start now, not someday. Listen, share it with a friend who needs clarity, and tell us the one command you’re ready to nail down this week. Subscribe, leave a review to help others find the show, and visit wisdomonline.org for the full Ecclesiastes series and study resources.
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_01 (00:33):
To fear God is to trust him, especially when he
doesn't explain himself.
Keep in mind the distinguishingmark of the unbeliever is that
they do not thank God foranything.
Everything about their lives,they got on their own
initiative, their own pluck, adash of good luck, and their own
skills.
Look what I've done with mylife.
(00:54):
And the believer, what do we do?
What have we that we have notreceived?
That's what we say.
There's a great chasm betweenwhat I have and what I deserve.
SPEAKER_00 (01:20):
God's word forms and shapes the perspective that each
believer should have as wenavigate this life.
Today, we've come to the finalverses of Ecclesiastes, where
Solomon reflects on his journeyto find truth.
He describes where that truthcomes from, and then shares some
(01:41):
final wisdom for his son fromhis life experience.
Stephen Davy will open Solomon'sjournal for the final time and
share with you why these truthsare just as important today as
they were when Solomon sat onthe throne of Israel.
Today's message is called TheMeaning of Life.
SPEAKER_01 (02:06):
One of our church members sent me this email a
couple of weeks ago after Ipreached from Ecclesiastes 12 on
the effects of growing old.
I'm not sure why.
Actually, I thought you'd beinterested in it.
A massive passenger airplane,the Airbus 380, was crossing the
(02:29):
Pacific Ocean, cruising along onautopilot at 30,000 feet, when
suddenly a Eurofighter jetcapable of breaking the sound
barrier with Mach II speedappeared and flew alongside.
The young pilot of the fighterjet slowed down, and as he flew
(02:52):
alongside, he greeted by radiothe pilot of the passenger plane
and said, Airbus, your flightmust really be boring to have to
travel along in straight linesand so slowly.
Watch this.
And with that he rolled his jetover a few times, accelerated,
broke through the sound barrierwith a crashing boom, flew to a
(03:15):
dizzying height, only to swoopdown toward the ocean in a
breathtaking dive.
Eventually he looped back nextto the Airbus and asked, Now
what'd you think of that?
The Airbus pilot answered,That's impressive, but watch
this.
And the jet pilot watched theAirbus do nothing but continue
(03:37):
flying straight at the samespeed.
After about five minutes, theAirbus pilot radioed the jet
pilot, Well, what'd you thinkabout that?
And he responded, I didn't seeanything.
The other pilot laughed andsaid, Well, that's because,
well, I got up, stretched mylegs, walked back to the
kitchen, got a cup of coffee anda cinnamon roll.
(03:58):
And the moral of the story, whenyou're young, speed and
adrenaline is the best.
But when you get older, a cup ofcoffee and a cinnamon roll are
much better.
And if you like that, that'sprobably because you're old.
In fact, I had after the firstservice, one of our guys texted
me and said, When you said this,I'm watching online, I'd just
(04:19):
gotten a cinnamon roll and a cupof coffee, but I don't feel that
old.
Well, nothing wrong withenjoying either experience
wherever you are in life.
Now, based on his privatejournal, it's obvious that
Solomon is now flying along instraight lines.
(04:40):
He slowed down, no pizzazz, norollovers and breaking the sound
barrier.
For years, for him, if you areold enough in the faith to know
much about him, or you've beenwith us in our study, it was all
about speed and accomplishmentand adrenaline.
And frankly, rebellion.
(05:01):
Solomon had spent many years ofhis life deep in the ocean of
sin.
He had come up for air when hefinally realized he was
desperate for meaning and truth,purpose.
By the goodness of God, Solomonwas brought back to repentance.
(05:23):
And that's proven here in hisjournal entries.
He has returned to his earlierwalk with God and with the
wisdom of God in mind.
And as I've mentioned on anumber of occasions in our study
in this journal, he has writtenit primarily originally to his
son, Rehoboam, who will soonmount the throne as the king of
(05:46):
Israel.
And Solomon is, he's sort of ofsetting the record straight.
This is what he wants his son toremember about his life.
Not those early years, theseyears.
He doesn't want his son, nordoes God want any of us, which
is why we've been given thisinspired letter, to dive into
(06:08):
that same deep ocean of sin,where, by the way, you never
touch bottom.
You never get anchored.
If you've come to Christ laterin life, you know that's true.
You just drifted along withwhatever the current was without
stability, direction, orsatisfaction.
(06:32):
On the closing verses ofEcclesiastes chapter 12, which
is where I invite you to turnone last time as we complete our
study in this book, Solomon isgoing to spell out his final
thoughts on the meaning of life.
And he begins first byreminiscing on his search for
truth.
(06:53):
Go to verse 9, where we leftoff.
Besides being wise, the preacheralso taught the people
knowledge, weighing, studying,and arranging many proverbs with
great care.
It was common, by the way, inancient Near Eastern literature
(07:14):
for the writer to address or tospeak of himself in the third
person.
Moses did it.
David did it.
Even John the Apostle did it.
He didn't name himself.
He just talked about thedisciple whom Jesus loved.
Solomon again refers to himselfas he began at the outside of
(07:36):
the journal as a preacher.
That is, he has a message, avery important message to
deliver.
His collection and delivery ofthese wise sayings, by the way,
isn't just a little hobby.
It isn't like, oh, I think I'llcollect stamps or coins.
He's been digging for wisdom.
And he tells us here, notice hesays he's weighed these wise
(07:59):
words, which means he's ponderedthem.
He's carefully evaluated them,is what the Hebrew word means.
He studied them, he writes,which indicates deliberate
thoroughness.
Thirdly, he tells us he'sarranged them.
That is, he's wordsmithed them.
He's skillfully composed thetruth of God in phrases that are
(08:24):
memorable.
He writes here in verse 10,notice the preacher sought to
find words of delight, anduprightly he wrote words of
truth.
These weren't just a collectionof words.
These are words of delight.
You could render that, words ofjoyful purpose.
They're words of truth, hewrites.
(08:45):
That's important.
These are reliable words.
This is God's word when you getinto it.
You know, it's the truth.
You can anchor yourself to thesedependable words.
In fact, he goes on, notice inverse 11, to describe what they
do to us.
The words of the wise are likegoads.
They're like nails firmly fixed,are the collected sayings.
(09:10):
That old English word goad,which is sort of waning in
understanding, was a word for aspearhead or an arrowhead,
literally the tip of thespearhead, or the arrowhead, or
a stick that had been whittleddown to create a point used to
(09:30):
prod cattle along.
Solomon uses that expression totell us that God's word does
that.
It prods us.
It directs us.
It might hurt.
It might sting.
It humbles our pride when we getinto it.
(09:51):
It reverses our direction.
We're going that way, and ouch,the word says no, go that way.
It has a way of upsetting ourpriorities.
It has a way of offending ourbehavior.
Stop that.
He writes, also, did you noticethese are these are like nails
(10:11):
firmly fixed, like nails drivenin to hold things in place.
By the way, we use these sameexpressions to this day, don't
we?
We talk about that verse ofscripture that goads us into
action, that prods us along.
It won't leave us alone.
(10:33):
We read it and study it andimmediately know, man, we got to
nail that down.
That's the idea.
We've got to clamp it down inour mind and in our memory, in
our heart.
These wise sayings are craftedand arranged to sort of awaken
(10:54):
the imagination.
Let me give you an illustration.
It's one thing for me to say,you know, when you're reading
God's Word and studying God'sWord, if you live in God's word,
you'll resist temptation, justhas a way of impacting your
life.
Everything I just said was true.
Or you could say it as oneauthor did in a way that I wrote
(11:17):
down in my fly leaf, either thisbook will keep you from sin, or
sin will keep you from thisbook.
Oh, I want to write that onedown.
We might say, you know, Godwants to teach us to depend on
him and his sovereign power,especially during times when we
feel alone, when times aredifficult.
(11:38):
Now that's all true.
Or you could say, like one of myfavorite preachers, Charles
Spurgeon, who's a greatwordsmith, said it when he said
it this way, we are at ourspiritual best when we are
shipwrecked on the island ofGod's sovereignty.
Wise sayings, touched by thetruth of God's Spirit, have a
(12:00):
way of working their way pastour objections.
And we have to say, you know,that's true.
Now, Solomon gets to the factthat ultimately the power lies
not in word crafting, but in itssource, the source of inspired
truth, which happens to be God,and that's who he introduces
(12:23):
next to us.
Look at verse 11 again.
The words of the wise are likegoads and like nails firmly
fixed, are the collectedsayings.
They are given by one, capital Sshepherd.
One shepherd.
This is a reference to Yahweh,the personal God you know and
(12:43):
you walk with through life.
He's called the shepherd ofIsrael in Psalm 80, verse one.
This is the God, the personalGod that Solomon heard his dad
sing about and write about.
The Lord is my shepherd.
(13:05):
I don't lack anything.
So these wise sayings areultimately God's words.
He is the source of biblicalliterature.
Now, Solomon here is deliveringa warning in this to his son.
Notice verse 12, my son, bewareof anything beyond these.
(13:25):
In other words, be careful whenyou get beyond the words of God.
Of making many books, there isno end.
And much study is a weariness ofthe flesh.
And every student says, Amen andamen at that theme verse moving
forward.
This is the point.
He's warning his son about makesure you're saturating your mind
(13:48):
with the truth of God, which forRehoboam would of course been
the Torah, the law.
First five books of the OldTestament and the books of
history, the prophets who wereprophesying.
And for us today, it's certainlya reflection on our passion to
saturate ourselves with thewords of God.
(14:10):
You know, the average person Ihave read is reading two to
three hours a day from theirsmartphone.
Now there's a real source ofwisdom for you, right?
I also read, there are now, Ilooked it up just to see if I
had the right figure, and itwas, it had grown since I had
looked last.
Three thousand books arepublished every single day.
(14:35):
We're now up to a million newbooks every year.
By the way, Solomon is nottelling you not to read books
outside of inspired scripture.
He's just giving you a warningto be careful when you get
beyond these words.
I think of Paul in prison.
He's asking his young disciple,bring me my books.
(14:57):
He had a collection.
We know from his writings, heloved to read poetry.
He would quote it on occasion.
So he isn't telling us there'sthere's something inherently
wrong with other books.
Just be careful.
I I love this statement byMartin Luther, the reformer 500
years ago, who once said, I havea this clipping in my study.
(15:18):
He said, one book is good, but athousand are better.
So read.
Just be careful of how alignedit is and related to the truth
of God.
Now, with that, Solomon delivershis closing summary on the
meaning of life.
Before I dive in, before youlook, let me ask you a question.
(15:41):
If you could summarize thepurpose of your life or the
meaning of life, in twosentences or less.
In about 30 words or less, whatwould you write?
This is the purpose of my life.
(16:02):
This is my goal in life.
This is the meaning of my life.
That'd be a challenge, wouldn'tit, to try to contain it in two
sentences?
That's exactly what Solomon isabout to give us in two
sentences.
Less than 30 words.
In fact, what he gives us is athreefold plan of action, which
(16:22):
gives meaning to life.
The first action step is, in aword, worship.
Notice verse 13.
The end of the matter, all hasbeen heard.
In other words, here's the finalword.
That's what he means.
Here's the final word.
Fear God.
(16:42):
Now stop for a moment.
That doesn't mean you run andhide.
What does it mean to fear theLord?
Solomon has already told us thisseveral times in this journal.
What does it mean to fear theLord?
I created a little acrostic inmy study using the word fear,
F-E-A-R, that might help youclarify it.
(17:04):
The letter F could stand forthis, favor his presence.
To fear God means you want towalk with him.
It means you miss him when youdon't walk with him.
To fear God means you care moreabout his opinion and his
presence more than anyoneelse's.
The letter E could stand forexalt his glory.
(17:26):
You not only want to walk withhim, you want to talk about him.
You're as interested in talkingto people about God as you are,
you know, fantasy football oryour fishing trip or your latest
hobby.
The letter A could stand foracknowledge his sovereignty.
To fear God is to trust him,especially when he doesn't
(17:46):
explain himself.
Keep in mind the distinguishingmark of the unbeliever is that
they do not thank God foranything.
They can't bring themselves tothank God for anything.
Everything about their lives,they got on their own
initiative, their own pluck, adash of good luck, and their own
skills.
Look what I've done with mylife.
(18:06):
And the believer, what do we do?
What have we that we have notreceived?
That's what we say.
There's a great chasm betweenwhat I have and what I deserve.
That's the believer.
That's fearing God, favor hispresence, exalt his glory,
(18:28):
acknowledge his sovereignty, andremember his goodness.
The first action step in ameaningful life is worship.
The second action step is obey.
Notice verse 13 again.
Fear God and keep hiscommandments, for this is the
whole duty of man.
Now I want you to noticecarefully the progression.
(18:50):
It's worship first and thenobedience.
Conduct flows from worship andadoration.
That's the source.
The fountain that flows isconduct.
Jesus said it this way (19:05):
if you love me, you're gonna keep my
commandments.
We don't keep them perfectly.
Why?
Because we don't love themperfectly.
But that's our hope and ourdesire, and we're so frustrated
when we don't keep hiscommandments.
Why?
Because we we love them.
If you love him, you revere himand exalt him and want to walk
with him and love the things heloves, his word, his people, and
(19:29):
on and on and on.
And the last thing you'd everwant to do is live in defiance
of him.
Anybody who says, I don't reallywant to live for him, well,
don't focus on that.
The issue is he doesn't lovethem.
Obeying him flows out of lovinghim.
And he writes here, this is thewhole duty of man or mankind.
(19:49):
That word duty is supplied bythe translator.
It's rather rough to try totranslate it, but it this is the
wholeness of man.
This is the completeness.
This is the fulfilling life.
This is the true meaning oflife.
You could paraphrase this toread.
(20:09):
Then loving and obeying God iseverything that ultimately
matters completely in life.
Worship, obey.
The third action step is in aword, prepare.
Notice verse 14 for God willbring every deed into judgment.
With every secret thing, whethergood or evil.
(20:31):
And you can almost see Solomonjust sort of getting up, moving
his chair a little closer toRehoboam and saying, now look,
son, you're gonna be the king.
You're gonna have more powerthan you can imagine.
You're gonna have moreadvantages than you can imagine.
You're gonna be able to live anyway you want.
But let me just remind you, youare accountable to God.
(20:55):
Prepare to meet God.
And for the believer, by thegrace of God, every sin, past,
present, and future has alreadybeen nailed to the cross.
Peter writes that thatcertificate of debt, I envision
(21:15):
this long scroll with every sinI've ever done, thought,
contemplated, every thought,deed.
It's written on that scroll.
It's already been nailed to thecross, and so is yours.
Past, present, and future.
One author that I've enjoyedreading is I've studied his
(21:37):
commentary through the book ofEcclesiastes by the name of
Benjamin Shaw.
He writes this.
One of the authors, he writesthis about a pastor he was
reading.
He said that a man beganattending his church with his
wife.
They thought they'refive-year-old, it was time to
give her a little religiousinstruction.
So they started taking her tochurch.
(21:59):
And first time for him, and hesaid, uh, the time they started
attending, the pastor beganpreaching through the book of
Genesis.
And he would later testify, thisman, that all the pastor did was
get up and read a verse he'dnever heard before, Genesis 1:1.
(22:23):
In the beginning, God createdthe heavens and the earth.
And this man later testified,when he read it, the hair stood
up on the back of my neckbecause I knew it was true.
And since I knew it was true, Iknew I was in big trouble.
That's good, that's true.
(22:46):
When did you first hear?
When did that thought come toyou, which preceded your
regeneration?
I'm in trouble.
I'm a sinner.
I need a savior.
Solomon's journal is like a handon the shoulder that shakes us
up and says, wake up, take agood hard look, go to the very
(23:08):
end of your life and thatmoment, and then start living
backwards in light of it.
Prepare.
For the believer, it's not fear,a desire to please him and to
give our rewards to him for hiswork through us.
(23:28):
As Solomon has said, rememberyour creator in the days of your
youth.
And I mentioned when we dealtspecifically with that text that
you're younger, every one of youare younger today than you will
be tomorrow.
So all of us are in our youth.
Amen?
Is that a wonderful thing?
I'm speaking to young people.
Start now.
Start today.
(23:49):
This works for all of us.
Whether you're at that point inlife where life for you is
speeding along in that fighterjet, breaking the sound barrier
down Penny Road.
Or maybe for you, it's lookingforward to that next cup of
coffee and a cinnamon roll.
Solomon invites us all asbelievers to live this kind of
(24:12):
life.
Worship, obey, prepare.
This is life with meaning.
Remember who created your life.
Resolve to walk with God throughlife.
Follow the guidelines of God'sword for life.
Enjoy the gifts God has givenyou.
(24:37):
Solomon has written in life.
Trust him with what he haschosen not to give you in life.
And then prepare for that day ofglory when you see your shepherd
after leaving this life.
(24:57):
There's a little prayer thatI've memorized recently written
by a Puritan, and it reminds mea lot of Solomon's inspired
advice here in this lastchapter.
It goes like this.
Grant, O Lord, that we may livein thy fear, F-E-A-R, die in thy
(25:19):
favor.
Rise in thy power.
Reign in thy glory for the sakeof your beloved Son, Jesus
Christ, our Savior.
And that's life with meaning andpurpose.
(25:43):
That's it.
So let's go live it.
Let's start today for the gloryand honor of God.
SPEAKER_00 (26:03):
With that, we bring to a close this message and this
series from the Book ofEcclesiastes.
The series is called PursuingWisdom Under the Sun.
Today's message is entitled TheMeaning of Life.
Go to our website to listen toeach of the 13 messages in the
(26:23):
series.
You can read Stephen'smanuscript for each message, or
you can watch the video ofStephen if you prefer.
It's all free and readilyavailable online at
wisdomonline.org.
We have many listeners whoprefer to have the teaching on
CDs.
(26:43):
And this series is available asa set of CDs as well.
You'll find that in our onlinestore, or we can help you over
the phone if you call us todayat 866-48 Bible.
That's 866-48 Bible or866-482-4253.
(27:08):
So there's plenty of ways foryou to go back and access this
series again.
Or share it with someone thatyou believe would be blessed to
hear it.
I do want to mention that todayis the last day that the CD set
of this series is deeplydiscounted.
If this is a resource you'd liketo own on CD, today would be the
(27:32):
best day to do that.
Visit wisdomonline.org or call866-482-4253.
A listener named Peter sharesour messages with people that he
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He wrote to say this yourresources are truly a blessing,
(27:53):
not only for God's people, as atool to equip us to do the work
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My wife and I are thankful forSteven and the team at Wisdom
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Well, thanks, Peter.
If you'd like to send Steven anote, address your card or
(28:15):
letter to Wisdom International,P.O.
Box 37297, Raleigh, NorthCarolina 27627.
Thanks for listening.
Join us next time for aChristmas message on Wisdom for
the Heart.
To fear God is to trust him, especially when he
doesn't explain himself.
Keep in mind the distinguishingmark of the unbeliever is that
they do not thank God foranything.
Everything about their lives,they got on their own
initiative, their own pluck, adash of good luck, and their own
skills.
Look what I've done with mylife.
(00:54):
And the believer, what do we do?
What have we that we have notreceived?
That's what we say.
There's a great chasm betweenwhat I have and what I deserve.
SPEAKER_00 (01:20):
God's word forms and shapes the perspective that each
believer should have as wenavigate this life.
Today, we've come to the finalverses of Ecclesiastes, where
Solomon reflects on his journeyto find truth.
He describes where that truthcomes from, and then shares some
(01:41):
final wisdom for his son fromhis life experience.
Stephen Davy will open Solomon'sjournal for the final time and
share with you why these truthsare just as important today as
they were when Solomon sat onthe throne of Israel.
Today's message is called TheMeaning of Life.
SPEAKER_01 (02:06):
One of our church members sent me this email a
couple of weeks ago after Ipreached from Ecclesiastes 12 on
the effects of growing old.
I'm not sure why.
Actually, I thought you'd beinterested in it.
A massive passenger airplane,the Airbus 380, was crossing the
(02:29):
Pacific Ocean, cruising along onautopilot at 30,000 feet, when
suddenly a Eurofighter jetcapable of breaking the sound
barrier with Mach II speedappeared and flew alongside.
The young pilot of the fighterjet slowed down, and as he flew
(02:52):
alongside, he greeted by radiothe pilot of the passenger plane
and said, Airbus, your flightmust really be boring to have to
travel along in straight linesand so slowly.
Watch this.
And with that he rolled his jetover a few times, accelerated,
broke through the sound barrierwith a crashing boom, flew to a
(03:15):
dizzying height, only to swoopdown toward the ocean in a
breathtaking dive.
Eventually he looped back nextto the Airbus and asked, Now
what'd you think of that?
The Airbus pilot answered,That's impressive, but watch
this.
And the jet pilot watched theAirbus do nothing but continue
(03:37):
flying straight at the samespeed.
After about five minutes, theAirbus pilot radioed the jet
pilot, Well, what'd you thinkabout that?
And he responded, I didn't seeanything.
The other pilot laughed andsaid, Well, that's because,
well, I got up, stretched mylegs, walked back to the
kitchen, got a cup of coffee anda cinnamon roll.
(03:58):
And the moral of the story, whenyou're young, speed and
adrenaline is the best.
But when you get older, a cup ofcoffee and a cinnamon roll are
much better.
And if you like that, that'sprobably because you're old.
In fact, I had after the firstservice, one of our guys texted
me and said, When you said this,I'm watching online, I'd just
(04:19):
gotten a cinnamon roll and a cupof coffee, but I don't feel that
old.
Well, nothing wrong withenjoying either experience
wherever you are in life.
Now, based on his privatejournal, it's obvious that
Solomon is now flying along instraight lines.
(04:40):
He slowed down, no pizzazz, norollovers and breaking the sound
barrier.
For years, for him, if you areold enough in the faith to know
much about him, or you've beenwith us in our study, it was all
about speed and accomplishmentand adrenaline.
And frankly, rebellion.
(05:01):
Solomon had spent many years ofhis life deep in the ocean of
sin.
He had come up for air when hefinally realized he was
desperate for meaning and truth,purpose.
By the goodness of God, Solomonwas brought back to repentance.
(05:23):
And that's proven here in hisjournal entries.
He has returned to his earlierwalk with God and with the
wisdom of God in mind.
And as I've mentioned on anumber of occasions in our study
in this journal, he has writtenit primarily originally to his
son, Rehoboam, who will soonmount the throne as the king of
(05:46):
Israel.
And Solomon is, he's sort of ofsetting the record straight.
This is what he wants his son toremember about his life.
Not those early years, theseyears.
He doesn't want his son, nordoes God want any of us, which
is why we've been given thisinspired letter, to dive into
(06:08):
that same deep ocean of sin,where, by the way, you never
touch bottom.
You never get anchored.
If you've come to Christ laterin life, you know that's true.
You just drifted along withwhatever the current was without
stability, direction, orsatisfaction.
(06:32):
On the closing verses ofEcclesiastes chapter 12, which
is where I invite you to turnone last time as we complete our
study in this book, Solomon isgoing to spell out his final
thoughts on the meaning of life.
And he begins first byreminiscing on his search for
truth.
(06:53):
Go to verse 9, where we leftoff.
Besides being wise, the preacheralso taught the people
knowledge, weighing, studying,and arranging many proverbs with
great care.
It was common, by the way, inancient Near Eastern literature
(07:14):
for the writer to address or tospeak of himself in the third
person.
Moses did it.
David did it.
Even John the Apostle did it.
He didn't name himself.
He just talked about thedisciple whom Jesus loved.
Solomon again refers to himselfas he began at the outside of
(07:36):
the journal as a preacher.
That is, he has a message, avery important message to
deliver.
His collection and delivery ofthese wise sayings, by the way,
isn't just a little hobby.
It isn't like, oh, I think I'llcollect stamps or coins.
He's been digging for wisdom.
And he tells us here, notice hesays he's weighed these wise
(07:59):
words, which means he's ponderedthem.
He's carefully evaluated them,is what the Hebrew word means.
He studied them, he writes,which indicates deliberate
thoroughness.
Thirdly, he tells us he'sarranged them.
That is, he's wordsmithed them.
He's skillfully composed thetruth of God in phrases that are
(08:24):
memorable.
He writes here in verse 10,notice the preacher sought to
find words of delight, anduprightly he wrote words of
truth.
These weren't just a collectionof words.
These are words of delight.
You could render that, words ofjoyful purpose.
They're words of truth, hewrites.
(08:45):
That's important.
These are reliable words.
This is God's word when you getinto it.
You know, it's the truth.
You can anchor yourself to thesedependable words.
In fact, he goes on, notice inverse 11, to describe what they
do to us.
The words of the wise are likegoads.
They're like nails firmly fixed,are the collected sayings.
(09:10):
That old English word goad,which is sort of waning in
understanding, was a word for aspearhead or an arrowhead,
literally the tip of thespearhead, or the arrowhead, or
a stick that had been whittleddown to create a point used to
(09:30):
prod cattle along.
Solomon uses that expression totell us that God's word does
that.
It prods us.
It directs us.
It might hurt.
It might sting.
It humbles our pride when we getinto it.
(09:51):
It reverses our direction.
We're going that way, and ouch,the word says no, go that way.
It has a way of upsetting ourpriorities.
It has a way of offending ourbehavior.
Stop that.
He writes, also, did you noticethese are these are like nails
(10:11):
firmly fixed, like nails drivenin to hold things in place.
By the way, we use these sameexpressions to this day, don't
we?
We talk about that verse ofscripture that goads us into
action, that prods us along.
It won't leave us alone.
(10:33):
We read it and study it andimmediately know, man, we got to
nail that down.
That's the idea.
We've got to clamp it down inour mind and in our memory, in
our heart.
These wise sayings are craftedand arranged to sort of awaken
(10:54):
the imagination.
Let me give you an illustration.
It's one thing for me to say,you know, when you're reading
God's Word and studying God'sWord, if you live in God's word,
you'll resist temptation, justhas a way of impacting your
life.
Everything I just said was true.
Or you could say it as oneauthor did in a way that I wrote
(11:17):
down in my fly leaf, either thisbook will keep you from sin, or
sin will keep you from thisbook.
Oh, I want to write that onedown.
We might say, you know, Godwants to teach us to depend on
him and his sovereign power,especially during times when we
feel alone, when times aredifficult.
(11:38):
Now that's all true.
Or you could say, like one of myfavorite preachers, Charles
Spurgeon, who's a greatwordsmith, said it when he said
it this way, we are at ourspiritual best when we are
shipwrecked on the island ofGod's sovereignty.
Wise sayings, touched by thetruth of God's Spirit, have a
(12:00):
way of working their way pastour objections.
And we have to say, you know,that's true.
Now, Solomon gets to the factthat ultimately the power lies
not in word crafting, but in itssource, the source of inspired
truth, which happens to be God,and that's who he introduces
(12:23):
next to us.
Look at verse 11 again.
The words of the wise are likegoads and like nails firmly
fixed, are the collectedsayings.
They are given by one, capital Sshepherd.
One shepherd.
This is a reference to Yahweh,the personal God you know and
(12:43):
you walk with through life.
He's called the shepherd ofIsrael in Psalm 80, verse one.
This is the God, the personalGod that Solomon heard his dad
sing about and write about.
The Lord is my shepherd.
(13:05):
I don't lack anything.
So these wise sayings areultimately God's words.
He is the source of biblicalliterature.
Now, Solomon here is deliveringa warning in this to his son.
Notice verse 12, my son, bewareof anything beyond these.
(13:25):
In other words, be careful whenyou get beyond the words of God.
Of making many books, there isno end.
And much study is a weariness ofthe flesh.
And every student says, Amen andamen at that theme verse moving
forward.
This is the point.
He's warning his son about makesure you're saturating your mind
(13:48):
with the truth of God, which forRehoboam would of course been
the Torah, the law.
First five books of the OldTestament and the books of
history, the prophets who wereprophesying.
And for us today, it's certainlya reflection on our passion to
saturate ourselves with thewords of God.
(14:10):
You know, the average person Ihave read is reading two to
three hours a day from theirsmartphone.
Now there's a real source ofwisdom for you, right?
I also read, there are now, Ilooked it up just to see if I
had the right figure, and itwas, it had grown since I had
looked last.
Three thousand books arepublished every single day.
(14:35):
We're now up to a million newbooks every year.
By the way, Solomon is nottelling you not to read books
outside of inspired scripture.
He's just giving you a warningto be careful when you get
beyond these words.
I think of Paul in prison.
He's asking his young disciple,bring me my books.
(14:57):
He had a collection.
We know from his writings, heloved to read poetry.
He would quote it on occasion.
So he isn't telling us there'sthere's something inherently
wrong with other books.
Just be careful.
I I love this statement byMartin Luther, the reformer 500
years ago, who once said, I havea this clipping in my study.
(15:18):
He said, one book is good, but athousand are better.
So read.
Just be careful of how alignedit is and related to the truth
of God.
Now, with that, Solomon delivershis closing summary on the
meaning of life.
Before I dive in, before youlook, let me ask you a question.
(15:41):
If you could summarize thepurpose of your life or the
meaning of life, in twosentences or less.
In about 30 words or less, whatwould you write?
This is the purpose of my life.
(16:02):
This is my goal in life.
This is the meaning of my life.
That'd be a challenge, wouldn'tit, to try to contain it in two
sentences?
That's exactly what Solomon isabout to give us in two
sentences.
Less than 30 words.
In fact, what he gives us is athreefold plan of action, which
(16:22):
gives meaning to life.
The first action step is, in aword, worship.
Notice verse 13.
The end of the matter, all hasbeen heard.
In other words, here's the finalword.
That's what he means.
Here's the final word.
Fear God.
(16:42):
Now stop for a moment.
That doesn't mean you run andhide.
What does it mean to fear theLord?
Solomon has already told us thisseveral times in this journal.
What does it mean to fear theLord?
I created a little acrostic inmy study using the word fear,
F-E-A-R, that might help youclarify it.
(17:04):
The letter F could stand forthis, favor his presence.
To fear God means you want towalk with him.
It means you miss him when youdon't walk with him.
To fear God means you care moreabout his opinion and his
presence more than anyoneelse's.
The letter E could stand forexalt his glory.
(17:26):
You not only want to walk withhim, you want to talk about him.
You're as interested in talkingto people about God as you are,
you know, fantasy football oryour fishing trip or your latest
hobby.
The letter A could stand foracknowledge his sovereignty.
To fear God is to trust him,especially when he doesn't
(17:46):
explain himself.
Keep in mind the distinguishingmark of the unbeliever is that
they do not thank God foranything.
They can't bring themselves tothank God for anything.
Everything about their lives,they got on their own
initiative, their own pluck, adash of good luck, and their own
skills.
Look what I've done with mylife.
(18:06):
And the believer, what do we do?
What have we that we have notreceived?
That's what we say.
There's a great chasm betweenwhat I have and what I deserve.
That's the believer.
That's fearing God, favor hispresence, exalt his glory,
(18:28):
acknowledge his sovereignty, andremember his goodness.
The first action step in ameaningful life is worship.
The second action step is obey.
Notice verse 13 again.
Fear God and keep hiscommandments, for this is the
whole duty of man.
Now I want you to noticecarefully the progression.
(18:50):
It's worship first and thenobedience.
Conduct flows from worship andadoration.
That's the source.
The fountain that flows isconduct.
Jesus said it this way (19:05):
if you love me, you're gonna keep my
commandments.
We don't keep them perfectly.
Why?
Because we don't love themperfectly.
But that's our hope and ourdesire, and we're so frustrated
when we don't keep hiscommandments.
Why?
Because we we love them.
If you love him, you revere himand exalt him and want to walk
with him and love the things heloves, his word, his people, and
(19:29):
on and on and on.
And the last thing you'd everwant to do is live in defiance
of him.
Anybody who says, I don't reallywant to live for him, well,
don't focus on that.
The issue is he doesn't lovethem.
Obeying him flows out of lovinghim.
And he writes here, this is thewhole duty of man or mankind.
(19:49):
That word duty is supplied bythe translator.
It's rather rough to try totranslate it, but it this is the
wholeness of man.
This is the completeness.
This is the fulfilling life.
This is the true meaning oflife.
You could paraphrase this toread.
(20:09):
Then loving and obeying God iseverything that ultimately
matters completely in life.
Worship, obey.
The third action step is in aword, prepare.
Notice verse 14 for God willbring every deed into judgment.
With every secret thing, whethergood or evil.
(20:31):
And you can almost see Solomonjust sort of getting up, moving
his chair a little closer toRehoboam and saying, now look,
son, you're gonna be the king.
You're gonna have more powerthan you can imagine.
You're gonna have moreadvantages than you can imagine.
You're gonna be able to live anyway you want.
But let me just remind you, youare accountable to God.
(20:55):
Prepare to meet God.
And for the believer, by thegrace of God, every sin, past,
present, and future has alreadybeen nailed to the cross.
Peter writes that thatcertificate of debt, I envision
(21:15):
this long scroll with every sinI've ever done, thought,
contemplated, every thought,deed.
It's written on that scroll.
It's already been nailed to thecross, and so is yours.
Past, present, and future.
One author that I've enjoyedreading is I've studied his
(21:37):
commentary through the book ofEcclesiastes by the name of
Benjamin Shaw.
He writes this.
One of the authors, he writesthis about a pastor he was
reading.
He said that a man beganattending his church with his
wife.
They thought they'refive-year-old, it was time to
give her a little religiousinstruction.
So they started taking her tochurch.
(21:59):
And first time for him, and hesaid, uh, the time they started
attending, the pastor beganpreaching through the book of
Genesis.
And he would later testify, thisman, that all the pastor did was
get up and read a verse he'dnever heard before, Genesis 1:1.
(22:23):
In the beginning, God createdthe heavens and the earth.
And this man later testified,when he read it, the hair stood
up on the back of my neckbecause I knew it was true.
And since I knew it was true, Iknew I was in big trouble.
That's good, that's true.
(22:46):
When did you first hear?
When did that thought come toyou, which preceded your
regeneration?
I'm in trouble.
I'm a sinner.
I need a savior.
Solomon's journal is like a handon the shoulder that shakes us
up and says, wake up, take agood hard look, go to the very
(23:08):
end of your life and thatmoment, and then start living
backwards in light of it.
Prepare.
For the believer, it's not fear,a desire to please him and to
give our rewards to him for hiswork through us.
(23:28):
As Solomon has said, rememberyour creator in the days of your
youth.
And I mentioned when we dealtspecifically with that text that
you're younger, every one of youare younger today than you will
be tomorrow.
So all of us are in our youth.
Amen?
Is that a wonderful thing?
I'm speaking to young people.
Start now.
Start today.
(23:49):
This works for all of us.
Whether you're at that point inlife where life for you is
speeding along in that fighterjet, breaking the sound barrier
down Penny Road.
Or maybe for you, it's lookingforward to that next cup of
coffee and a cinnamon roll.
Solomon invites us all asbelievers to live this kind of
(24:12):
life.
Worship, obey, prepare.
This is life with meaning.
Remember who created your life.
Resolve to walk with God throughlife.
Follow the guidelines of God'sword for life.
Enjoy the gifts God has givenyou.
(24:37):
Solomon has written in life.
Trust him with what he haschosen not to give you in life.
And then prepare for that day ofglory when you see your shepherd
after leaving this life.
(24:57):
There's a little prayer thatI've memorized recently written
by a Puritan, and it reminds mea lot of Solomon's inspired
advice here in this lastchapter.
It goes like this.
Grant, O Lord, that we may livein thy fear, F-E-A-R, die in thy
(25:19):
favor.
Rise in thy power.
Reign in thy glory for the sakeof your beloved Son, Jesus
Christ, our Savior.
And that's life with meaning andpurpose.
(25:43):
That's it.
So let's go live it.
Let's start today for the gloryand honor of God.
SPEAKER_00 (26:03):
With that, we bring to a close this message and this
series from the Book ofEcclesiastes.
The series is called PursuingWisdom Under the Sun.
Today's message is entitled TheMeaning of Life.
Go to our website to listen toeach of the 13 messages in the
(26:23):
series.
You can read Stephen'smanuscript for each message, or
you can watch the video ofStephen if you prefer.
It's all free and readilyavailable online at
wisdomonline.org.
We have many listeners whoprefer to have the teaching on
CDs.
(26:43):
And this series is available asa set of CDs as well.
You'll find that in our onlinestore, or we can help you over
the phone if you call us todayat 866-48 Bible.
That's 866-48 Bible or866-482-4253.
(27:08):
So there's plenty of ways foryou to go back and access this
series again.
Or share it with someone thatyou believe would be blessed to
hear it.
I do want to mention that todayis the last day that the CD set
of this series is deeplydiscounted.
If this is a resource you'd liketo own on CD, today would be the
(27:32):
best day to do that.
Visit wisdomonline.org or call866-482-4253.
A listener named Peter sharesour messages with people that he
encounters.
He wrote to say this yourresources are truly a blessing,
(27:53):
not only for God's people, as atool to equip us to do the work
of ministry, but also a greattool for us to share various
episodes with others.
My wife and I are thankful forSteven and the team at Wisdom
International.
Well, thanks, Peter.
If you'd like to send Steven anote, address your card or
(28:15):
letter to Wisdom International,P.O.
Box 37297, Raleigh, NorthCarolina 27627.
Thanks for listening.
Join us next time for aChristmas message on Wisdom for
the Heart.
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