Written by Justin S. Holcomb |
Wednesday, July 26, 2023
Ecclesiastes describes the meaninglessness of living without God. We see that God created the world and called it “good.” But despite this original goodness, humanity fell into sin, and all creation was subjected to the curse of God. This brought into the world meaninglessness, violence, and frustration. Graciously, God did not leave his creation to an endless round of meaninglessness.

Vanities of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.Ecclesiastes 1:2
All is Vanity
Ecclesiastes begins with “All is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1:2) and ends with the same declaration (Ecclesiastes 12:8). The book states powerfully and repeatedly that everything is meaningless (“vanity”) without a proper focus on God. Ecclesiastes reveals the necessity of fearing God in a fallen and frequently confusing and frustrating world.
People seek lasting significance, but no matter how great their accomplishments, they are unable to achieve the significance they desire. What spoils life, according to Ecclesiastes, is the attempt to get more out of life—out of work, pleasure, money, food, or knowledge—than life itself can provide. This is not fulfilling and leads to weariness, which is why the book begins and ends with the exclamation “All is vanity.” This refrain is repeated throughout the entire book.
No matter how wise or rich or successful one may be, one cannot find meaning in life apart from God. In Ecclesiastes, the fact that “all is vanity” should drive all to fear God, whose work endures forever. God does what he will, and all beings and all of creation stand subject to him. Rather than striving in futile attempts to gain meaning on our own terms, what truly is significant is taking pleasure in God and his gifts and being content with what little life has to offer and what God gives.
Meaningless without God
The Preacher says that everything is meaningless without a proper focus on God. This theme is established and explained in Ecclesiastes 1:4–11, with verse 4 providing the thesis: “A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.” People are temporary, but the earth is lasting. Ecclesiastes 1:5–7 gives examples of systems or aspects of the earth that demonstrate this truth. Verses 5 and 6 establish two central metaphors that run through the rest of the book: the wind and the sun. They appear throughout the book in the phrases “striving after wind” and “under the sun.” These metaphors emphasize two things: the lasting significance of the earth, and humanity’s ephemeral nature by comparison.
People would like to do something new, to be remembered for making a significant contribution to the world; they long and strive for lasting significance but cannot attain it (Ecclesiastes 1:8–10). Our efforts are like striving after the wind—attempts for immortality that inevitably fail. One cannot catch the wind—it is here one minute and gone the next, just as fleeting as a human lifespan. All that is done “under the sun” suffers the same fate. We labor under the sun, but will never have the significance or impact that it has. No matter how great their accomplishments, humans will not achieve the lasting significance they desire. Ecclesiastes 1:11 drives home this conclusion when it says that few people make any significant impact on the course of world history, as most live and die in obscurity. Verse 11 drives home the point introduced in verse 4.
In Ecclesiastes 1:3 the Preacher asks, “What gain is toil?” This question is repeated throughout Ecclesiastes (Ecclesiastes 3:9; Ecclesiastes 5:15; Ecclesiastes 6:11; Ecclesiastes 10:11). The Preacher questions the significance of people’s work and asserts the pointlessness of life and creation. His pronouncements are not meant to leave us in despair, unless, of course, we are try to finding meaning in life apart from God. Rather, these pronouncements are meant to jolt us out of futility and to long for grace and to enjoy an ultimate and lasting significance.
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But if God is sovereign, we can be confident in our salvation, confident that there is meaning in our suffering, confident that our evangelism will be effective, confident that we will remain in the faith, confident that Christ will return, confident in all God is, in all he does, in all he says, in all he has promised. 

Christians speak often of God’s sovereignty. Reformed Christians speak very often of God’s sovereignty. God’s sovereignty refers to his presence in this world, his authority over this world, and his control within this world. God owns and oversees his creation to such a degree that nothing happens apart from his knowledge, apart from his will, apart from his wisdom. There is nothing we are given that does not in some way pass through his hands.
As we speak of God’s sovereignty we have to ensure that we do not speak of it only theoretically, that we do not relegate it purely to the realm of the intellectual, for it is no mere abstract doctrine but one that is sweet and precious and ought to be close to the heart of every Christian. This is a doctrine that gives us hope in every sorrow, that lends meaning to every pain, that gives confidence in every circumstance.
Perhaps it is good to consider some of what would be true if God is not sovereign.
If God is not sovereign we cannot be confident in our salvation. We cannot trust that his gospel is the only true gospel, that his salvation is effective, that his way is the right way. For if he is not sovereign, the will of another being may supersede his, the plan of another may outrival his, the word of another may take precedence over his. Unless God is sovereign, our very salvation is in doubt.
If God is not sovereign we cannot be confident that there is meaning in our suffering.
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God undermines the arrogant ignorance of man.  God does not desire His servants at their best with hearts and minds filled with strength and skill.  No, it is the broken heart that God accepts as His fragrant sacrifice.  He exalts the humble and humbles the proud.  Men desire full hearts, but God requires emptiness.  He who inhales his own air will asphyxiate.  God alone can administer the breath of life. 

There are some passages in the Scriptures that demand special solemnity. The confession of David in Psalm 51 is so deeply personal that reading it can feel like eavesdropping. One must either join in contrition or stop reading. The weightiness of David’s confession is partly due to the egregiousness of the sin and partly due to the position of the sinner. Not only was the affair with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah a grotesque abuse of power, but David was God’s anointed king over His people! He was supposed to be a man “after God’s own heart.” It is tragic to see one fall from such heights to such depths. This passage provides a unique look behind the curtain into the broken heart of mighty David, king, a man of God, conqueror, psalmist, adulterer, murderer.
Commentators tread lightly around Psalm 51 to maintain reverence. This was true of Spurgeon, a great pontificator of the Scriptures. See here his thoughts on the Psalm:
I postponed expounding it week after week, feeling more and more my inability for the work.  Often I sat down to it, and rose up again without having penned a line.  It is a bush burning with fire yet not consumed, and out of it a voice seemed to cry to me, “Draw not nigh hither, put off thy shoes from off thy feet.”  The Psalm is very human, its cries and sobs are of the one born of woman; but it is freighted with an inspiration all divine, as if the Great Father were putting words into his child’s mouth.  Such a Psalm may be wept over, absorbed into the soul, and exhaled again in devotion; but, commented on—ah! Where is he who having attempted it can do other than blush at his defeat? [2]
Spurgeon’s humility is, of course, appropriate.  Nevertheless, this passage is ripe with lessons—particularly about repentance.  This article, guided by Psalm 51 and drawing from Spurgeon’s own thoughts, will briefly consider the nature and necessity of Christian repentance and the kindness of God that makes it possible.
The Nature of Repentance – “Sweet Sorrow”
Few confessions express contrition as candidly as David’s in this Psalm.  For many, the fear of consequences poses as pious regret—a particularly cunning wolf in sheep’s clothing.  The despair may be genuine, but the source is all too human.  Often it is only after being caught that the smirk falls from our faces.  It is easy to underestimate man’s proclivity for self-deception.  David only beheld his wickedness after the prophet Nathan spat in his blind eyes.  The truly repentant heart is broken, there is no room for self-preservation.  Indeed, “the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”[3]
Though it is fitting to feel brokenness over our sin, we do not grieve as those who do not have hope.  It is not for the strange pleasure of self-abasement that we reject our sinful tendencies.  We repent toward restoration.  We sorrow in sin so that we may rejoice in righteousness. Because Christ suffered for sinners, our repentance is an act of faith in the power of God to make us whole again.  Praise be to God who will not despise our contrition but lifts those who fall before Him.[4]
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