Old Testament | Ecclesiastes 1:12-2:11 (with Nick Locke)

About this Episode

Opening Song:
All Is Vanity (Ecclesiastes) by Caroline Cobb

Lyrics:

Wisdom is good, it puts eyes in your head
But it's foolish to think it'll save you from death
Both the fool and the wise man are numbering their breaths
And in the end, all this wisdom is just meaningless

Pleasure is nice, the taste and touch
But with all your indulgence, you can't get enough
You can chase every pleasure around every bend
But in the end all this chasin' is just chasin' wind

Oooh all is vanity, oooh all is vanity
You feel eternity and it's beating in your chest
So you know in your soul it's not all meaningless

Beauty is sweet to the beholder's eye
And you know it when you see it 'cause it echoes the Light
But age and opinion bid beauty goodbye
And in the end the beholder just changes his mind

Oooh all is vanity, oooh all is vanity
You feel eternity and it's beating in your chest
So you know in your soul it's not all meaningless

If there is restlessness, could there be rest?
If there is hunger, could there be fullness?
If there is restlessness, there must be rest
If there is hunger, there must be fullness!

You feel eternity and it's beating in your chest
So you know in your soul it's not all… meaningless
Passage:
12 I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 14 I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.

15 What is crooked cannot be made straight,
and what is lacking cannot be counted.

16 I said in my heart, “I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.

18 For in much wisdom is much vexation,
and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

1 I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity. 2 I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?” 3 I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life. 4 I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. 5 I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. 6 I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. 8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the sons of man.
9 So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. 10 And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. 11 Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
(Ecclesiastes 1:12–2:11 ESV)

Musical Reflection:
O Lord, Hear My Prayer by Jacques Berthier

Reflection Notes:
This song from the Taizé community contains a series of pleas: “O Lord, hear my prayer, O Lord, hear my prayer; when I call, answer me.” The repeated notes emphasize the insistence of the sung prayer, while the descending lines indicate a deep, almost despairing desire to connect.

Prayer:
Father, what we know not, teach us; what we have not, give us; what we are not, make us; for the sake of your Son our Savior. Amen.
-Old Anglican Prayer