It is a road that many have gone down only to find disappointment and sadness and frustration and even tragedy. Many have had a look up this avenue and have not found what they were expecting.
In that Old Testament book, Ecclesiastes, at Chapter 2 and verses 1 to 9 - King Solomon begins to think in his heart, that he will test pleasure and try - that he will pursue pleasure - that he will experiment with various forms of pleasure.
Surely Solomon would find satisfaction by going down this road.
Pleasure and laughter and mirth and wine - he planned a rather wonderfully debauched experiment. He had wisdom, but that does not mean that man will always act wisely.
He found fun and games to be folly - madness - and he discovered that laughter only deals with the peripheries of life.
He does not say this is wrong - just that it is empty - and does not satisfy.
And wine - keeps everything superficial.
You only need to attend some of these receptions - to discover this to be true - and soon you need more and more to have the same affect.
In his pursuit of pleasure he had quite a club going - we read of what he used daily to feed his retinue - those attending these parties and laughter nights - I Kings Chapter 4 verses 22 and 23 - and it would feed some 10,000 people. He would have the best foods and finest wines.
Solomon was not lazy. He begins to build - but not homes for his people - or orphanages for needy children - but for himself. Many have found this to happen in the Church - when there was no living word - and no ministry and service - people become involved in a building programme.
He was interested and became involved in environmental issues - and built reservoirs. But while the gardeners were tending to his plants Solomon’s heart was being overrun with weeds of confusion and self-serving unsatisfying pleasures.
He had slaves aplenty - he wanted to be king, boss, leader, commander - desiring to be waited on hand and foot.
Solomon knew nothing of being short of money - he was financially rich - and he enjoyed being able to spend - and yet there was no satisfaction deep down within. It reminds me of that slogan - “For everything else there is Mastercard”. Whatever he needed he just had to present his gold and silver.
He needed more - choirs and women - wine, women and song saturated the court in Jerusalem - with untrammeled sexuality.
There is a playboy mentality with Solomon at this time in his life.
Music - beautiful or otherwise - does not solve the ugly issues of injustice, suffering and cruelty. These need matters need something much more - the very blood of Jesus to deal with the SIN which causes the problems.
Many today climb the corporate ladder to reach the boardroom - only to find it boring, and the need some means of escape - alcohol, drugs, or extreme sports among certain age groups.
Solomon knew he was great - the notoriety of his parties would have travelled fast -but that was when comparing himself with others - and perhaps what others were telling him as they jumped onto his band wagon.
It was all ME! We see that in verses 1, 4, 9 and 10. Jesus spoke about a man who wanted to build bigger barns - as he thought of only himself. Luke Chapter 12 verses 16 following, and this poor rich man did not have even 24 more hours to live!
King Solomon certainly was into experimenting - just as many are today - but when he looked back on it all he saw it to be so empty.
Solomon does report the situation he was in with much honesty. Of course God is behind all this.
With the help of our gracious God we can learn from the failures of others, as we pay attention to the wisdom in the Word. If only Solomon had paid attention to the words of some of the Psalms which his father David had written. Or what Moses had written in Deuteronomy Chapter 17 verses 14 to 20.
Sin has so spoiled all that was potentially possible - that is why Jesus came - to deal with the SIN problem - to take away the sin and its consequences - and to give us peace of mind - and a degree of satisfaction.
Solomon was like a candle being lit at both ends, and he was near to being burned out in every way. He felt jaded and surfeited. He knew what was happening.
Did he find following his father David a hard act to follow? And so he went to excesses, just as many in society are doing today.
Jesus said - John Chapter 10 - The thief comes only to steal kill and destroy - and Solomon had experienced that as he experimented. I have come that they might have life and have it abundantly or generously.
Seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness and these things will be added unto you. It is possible to avoid deep disappointment, constant frustration and that sense of always thinking that the grass is greener somewhere else.
Sandy Shaw
Sandy Shaw is Pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship, Chaplain at Inverness Prison, and Nairn Academy, and serves on The Children’s Panel in Scotland, and has travelled extensively over these past years teaching, speaking, in America, Canada, South Africa, Australia, making 12 visits to Israel conducting Tours and Pilgrimages, and most recently in Uganda and Kenya, ministering at Pastors and Leaders Seminars, in the poor areas surrounding Kampala, Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.
He broadcasts regularly on WSHO radio out of New Orleans, and writes a weekly commentary at http://www.studylight.org entitled “Word from Scotland” on various biblical themes, as well as a weekly newspaper column.
His M.A. and B.D. degrees are from The University of Edinburgh, and he continues to run and exercise regularly to maintain a level of physical fitness.
Sandy Shaw
sandyshaw63@yahoo.com
Tags: Bible, coaching, Emotion, Fact, Inspiration, Parties, Philosophy, Psychology, Sin, Leadership