Remember God and Trust Him

(Ecclesiastes 12:1-14)

Yearly Theme:  “Peace is…”

Series Title:  “The Wisdom of Peace”

June 13^th, 2021

Something to think about:

The author of Ecclesiastes, known as the “Teacher,” talks about the meaninglessness of life.  Throughout the whole of his writing, he explains that the pursuit of (and acquiring of) those things that the world tells us are important, are actually fleeting, thus, they are in vain.  After all of this, he concludes his letter with words of wisdom and encouragement to “Remember GOD and trust Him.”  Let’s take a look…

Ecclesiastes 12:1-14 (NLT)

¹Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old and say, “Life is not pleasant anymore.” ² Remember him before the light of the sun, moon, and stars is dim to your old eyes, and rain clouds continually darken your sky. ³ Remember him before your legs—the guards of your house—start to tremble; and before your shoulders—the strong men—stoop. Remember him before your teeth—your few remaining servants—stop grinding; and before your eyes—the women looking through the windows—see dimly.

⁴ Remember him before the door to life’s opportunities is closed and the sound of work fades. Now you rise at the first chirping of the birds, but then all their sounds will grow faint.

⁵ Remember him before you become fearful of falling and worry about danger in the streets; before your hair turns white like an almond tree in bloom, and you drag along without energy like a dying grasshopper, and the caperberry no longer inspires sexual desire. Remember him before you near the grave, your everlasting home, when the mourners will weep at your funeral.

⁶ Yes, remember your Creator now while you are young, before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is broken. Don’t wait until the water jar is smashed at the spring and the pulley is broken at the well. ⁷ For then the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.

⁸ “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless.”

⁹ Keep this in mind: The Teacher was considered wise, and he taught the people everything he knew. He listened carefully to many proverbs, studying and classifying them. ¹⁰ The Teacher sought to find just the right words to express truths clearly.

¹¹ The words of the wise are like cattle prods—painful but helpful. Their collected sayings are like a nail-studded stick with which a shepherd drives the sheep.

¹² But, my child, let me give you some further advice: Be careful, for writing books is endless, and much study wears you out.

¹³ That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. ¹⁴ God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.

Throughout the whole book of Ecclesiastes, the “Teacher” (Solomon), offers a long treatise on the meaninglessness of everything.  There are five themes that he mentions specifically that are meaningless in these 12 chapters:  Success, Work, Pleasure, Riches, and Wisdom.

Now I know that we talked about the contrast between wisdom and ignorance last week, and the benefit of living a life in pursuit of wisdom, but what Solomon is saying here is that no matter what we accomplish, no matter what we achieve in this life, our plight is death; we cannot take anything with us to the grave, thus, everything is “meaningless.”

One final not before we break this passage down today needs to be made about the word “meaningless” that is often used as the translation in this passage.  Other versions translate this Hebrew word as “vanity.”  The word that the author uses here is “Hevel,” and it means “vapor, or smoke.”  So, the reader gets this picture of someone grabbing at vapor or smoke, but then realizing that it’s not something they can hold on to.  This is what Solomon means that the things that I mentioned above are “meaningless;” it’s like grabbing at vapor and thinking that we can keep it in our grasp.

So, after pleading his case that everything is “vapor/smoke,” the Teacher/Solomon comes to the conclusion that the only thing that matters is GOD, and our pursuit of Him.  Why?  Because unlike all the other things we can attain in this life, GOD is the most real and everlasting thing that we can cling to.  He is not like vapor or smoke; He is a Rock; He alone is salvation.  This leads me to our key point today…

Key Point:  “In the end, all that matters is if we trust in GOD.”

Let’s explore Solomon’s conclusion of Ecclesiastes in more depth today…

•  GOD and  

Ecclesiastes 12:1b (NLT), Honor God…

Ecclesiastes 12:2-6 (NLT), Remember God…

The “Teacher” (Solomon) of Ecclesiastes declares that all of life can be boiled down to the most important pursuit, the pursuit of GOD;  this is the only thing that matters in life.

•  GOD and  

Ecclesiastes 12:13b (NLT), Fear God and obey His commands, for this is everyone’s duty.

A person is rarely obedient to those that they do not trust or fear.

Something to take home:

We can search all of our lives for things that we think will fulfill us and bring us a sense of purpose, but we search in vain if that pursuit doesn’t lead us ultimately into the presence of GOD.  What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and yet loses his soul?  Is anything worth more than the soul? (Matthew 16:26)

Key Point:  “In the end, all that matters is if we trust in GOD.”