or a lot, but if you fear God, you understand that these are but gifts to be enjoyed in moderation as from his hand and before his eyes. And we've said before that it's really impossible to have too much wealth and riches and honor if you understand those as gifts from God's hand and you enjoy them before God's eyes. So this person has a lot of the possessions, but he doesn't have, or he lacks the ability to really enjoy them or to receive them from the hand of God. Because as Ryken said, both the gifts and the ability to enjoy them as gifts come from God. And so whoever the foreigner is, quite frankly, in verse two, Notice that it says, God does not give him power to enjoy them. So again, God not only gives his people gifts, temporal gifts, riches, wealth, and honor, but with them he always gives the ability to rightly enjoy them. So we know that the Bible says over again, riches come from God. Every good gift comes down from heaven, from our father in heaven. Well, not only does the good gift come down, but the ability to rightly enjoy the gift, it too comes from heaven. All right, verse three, if a man begets a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many. Okay, so in verse two, this man wasn't able to enjoy them because they were taken from him. I don't know how and why. They were temporary, they are temporary. They can grow wings, our possessions, our riches, and fly away, Solomon says elsewhere. But okay, the objection might come. Well, what if a man could live thousands of years? Well, that's what he turns to now. He turns to the person who, he says in verse three, Verse six, even if he lives a thousand years twice, he's not saying that people live to be 2000 years. Remember the oldest person in the Bible died shy of a thousand. He's exaggerating it. He's saying, even if you could, even if you could bear hundreds of children and live thousands of years outside of God's blessing, you'll never enjoy the temporal good gifts of this life. This is what he's saying. If a man begets a hundred children and lives many years, verse three, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul isn't satisfied with goodness, or indeed he has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better than he, okay? So we're gonna take those parts kind of in turn. There's two reasons he gives, but his soul is not satisfied with goodness, or he hasn't a burial. And then he talks about how it'd be better not to have been born. So we'll kind of come to those. in turn. His soul isn't satisfied with goodness. Now again, by goodness is meant the good things of this life, temporal blessings. And the reason why he isn't satisfied with them, regardless of how many he has, and regardless how long he lives, because again, according to verse two, God hasn't given him the ability to rightly enjoy them. All the things mentioned in verse two and especially in verse three are good things. Verse three talks about children and the inference being grandchildren and great-grandchildren, because if you lived 2,000 years, I suspect you'd have a whole lot of grandkids. You'd see your children's children's children's children's children's children. That would be a rich man. But you know what? You could have all that. And if you don't understand rightly the place of temporal blessings, even perhaps the best of them in family and long and a healthy life, they're going to be meaningless. This is the whole point. You can have all of the things of verse two. and the children and the grandchildren and good health and long life of verse three. But if God doesn't open your eyes to see the temporal nature of them or where the place they play in the scheme of things, you'll never be satisfied with them. That's what Solomon says. His soul isn't satisfied with these good things. That's a terrible thing. That's an evil. That's a tragedy. And also, Indeed, he has no burial. I think this likely refers to the fact that he has no honorable burial, even though he has a bunch of children and has lived a long life. Even though he had hundreds of children, let's just say, lived 2,000 years, let's just say, nevertheless, he died and is forgotten. If all you have is just that, it's all in itself meaningless. Charles Bridges said, the picture doesn't describe a literal lack of burial, but the absence of all suitable and affectionate honor paid to his remains. Brethren, again, it's much better to have a little. No children, and none of the stuff mentioned in verse two. To be sick and die young. In our church history class, we're looking at these Puritans, and so many of them died young. We're gonna quote much from Christopher Gray this coming Sunday, who died at 22, and was never married. Christopher Gray didn't have any of these five things. He didn't have riches, wealth, He didn't have honor, he didn't have children, and he didn't have long life. But we're talking about him tonight, aren't we? 400 years later. And the little that he had, he enjoyed. He was satisfied with the little that he had, because ultimately we're gonna see he prioritized spiritual things, and that cast a shadow over temporal things and He was buried with honor He was a Scotsman so we ever make our way to Scotland he probably along with Thomas Boston and the Erskine's brothers Okay, and the Bonar brothers Those five or six would be the tombstones that I would like to find For all of his children, a long life, a stillborn child that died at birth, had no children, nor lived a full day, would be better off. You've heard the phrase, better not to have been born. Well, we get it from here and some places in the Psalms, Solomon's daddy, and we also find it in Job. Matthew Henry said, better is the fruit that drops from the tree before it's ripe than that which is left to hang till it's rotten. Verse four, for it, a stillborn child, comes in vanity and departs in darkness and its name is covered with darkness. Verse five, though it hasn't seen the sun or known anything, This has more rest than that man. That is the one mentioned back in verse three, even if he lives a thousand years twice, but it has not seen goodness. Okay, so he's described in verse three as not being satisfied with goodness. Verse six is saying the same thing differently. He's never seen it. That is, he's never seen it in such a way to enjoy it rightly. I mean, he had the goodness, He wasn't satisfied with them, and he had, this is obviously, I think it's a make-believe person, I don't think, again, he's actually in any way indicating that you can have this many children or that you can live 1,000 or 2,000 years. But even if you could have hundreds of children and live thousands of years, you have all of that goodness, that's the goodness that he's referring to. And yet, in verse three, it won't satisfy you, In verse six, you will never see it, that is, so as to enjoy it. And he's gonna pick back up on that sight in verse nine. Better is the sight of the eyes that is seeing something rightly so, so as to enjoy it for what it is. Brethren, there's fewer things I enjoy more under the heavens than my children and their children. But if that's all you have, then it's never being satisfied with the goodness, verse three, or seeing the goodness, verse six. You'll never see it so as to enjoy it properly as we see in verse nine. Regardless how much wealth, honor, or children a person has, verses two and three, and regardless how long they live, verse six, If they've never come to enjoy such things in verse two and three rightly By the blessing of God because remember he gives the good thing and the ability to enjoy it According to Solomon here. They are worse off than a stillborn, baby Our stillborn baby experiences none of the pain and affliction that the man described in verse three and particularly in verse three, but we could throw in the man of verse two, experiences. Another commentator said the point being, a long life without enjoyment, enjoyment, that is true enjoyment, enjoying the good, seeing the good as gifts from God, as Christian people were thinking rightly. The point being, a long life without enjoyment is far worse than no life at all. And a hundred heirs with a thousand cares is a miscarriage of life. So basically he's saying better to have a miscarriage in birth than a miscarriage in life. That's really what Solomon is saying. I think I got that from Philip Riken. Let me see. So the preacher considers the strange blessedness of a stillborn child. The child comes in vanity because its delivery is fruitless, because it dies in the birth. It goes in darkness because it dies before ever seeing the light of day. Even its name is covered in darkness. Not because the child is never named by his or her parents, but because death shrouds his or her identity and personality. No one ever gets to know the child's character and abilities. So there's a sense in which he's saying it would have been better to have been born dead than to live thousands of years with all of these things and never come to enjoy them rightfully. All right, now that kind of brings us to the reason of verse seven and eight. And these verses provide the basic rationale behind the evil described in the previous six verses. Physical, here it is in a nutshell. Physical things can never satisfy the soul. We can say, it's a little cheesy, but all men by nature have a hole in their heart that's God-sized. You know, when we were little, you had those little toys, and you had to put the round thing in the round hole, and the square thing in the square hole, or the little kids always trying to put the round thing in the square hole, or vice versa, and it doesn't fit. And this is true, too, with regards to God. There's a hole in our heart that only God can fill, or to put it more accurately, according to the text. Physical things never satisfy the soul Verse 7 all the labor of man is is for his mouth yet. The soul isn't satisfied Physical things satisfy physical needs but not spiritual Okay, or I can put this way physical things can never satisfy spiritual needs Do we have spiritual needs and physical needs? Yes, I Well, we can labor for food that in some sense satisfies the latter, that is physical, but no physical food can satisfy the spirit. Think of what he said elsewhere, Proverbs 16, 26. The person who labors, labors for himself, for his hungry mouth drives him on. He's hungry, so he works to satisfy his body, that he might, what, wake up tomorrow and work so that he might what? Buy food to satisfy his body. But that's all he can do. He can satisfy the body, physical things can satisfy the body because it's physical and thus has physical needs, but can never satisfy the soul because it's spiritual and it has spiritual needs. Let me show you two from a text and then another commentator. Listen to what Jesus, look at John six. Let me show you just a few verses. John 6 and 27 Do not labor for the food which perishes But for the food which endures the everlasting life Which the Son of Man will give you because God the Father has set a ceiling Okay, so we are to labor for food, but he means don't for mostly fixate yourself on the physical because the physical Will leave you hungry again tomorrow but he speaks of food which endures to everlasting life. That's spiritual food, right? So there's physical food and spiritual food. Physical food is for the body and you can satisfy your belly with a big old fat T-bone steak and a nice potato with sour cream and butter, a little salt and pepper, a bunch of cheese, and maybe a couple of pieces of broccoli on top. You can tell I didn't eat any supper. That would satisfy, but it's not gonna satisfy to tomorrow, then you have to eat again. But there's something that you can eat that satisfies the soul and it endures forever. Listen to verse 35. I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunker, and he who believes in me shall never thirst. So there's a food and a drink for the soul, and then there's food and drink for the body. And they have their place. But the point of Solomon here is this, all the food and all the drink for the body, all the food of the world and all the drink of the world can never satisfy one soul. That's the point. Let me give you Achan, yeah, Achan quotation here. All the work a man does is for his mouth, but his appetite isn't satisfied. Life is a treadmill. We work so that we can eat, so that we can have the strength to work so that we can eat. We have uncontrolled appetites to consume food, money, technology, and so much more. But the problem is the more we get is never enough because the human heart was made to be satisfied only in God alone. Thus, no amount of money or things will ever fill our void. Frankly put, brethren, there's not enough T-bone steaks or potatoes and cheese in the world to fill the soul. There's enough to fill the body, but not the soul. Verse eight. For what more has the wise man than the fool? Verse eight is a difficult verse. There are some verses, as you know, are difficult. Let me just put the, let me read it. For what more has the wise man than the fool, what does the poor man have who knows how to walk before the living? It's simply saying that the fact of verse seven applies to all classes of men, that's the Bible. Wise, foolish, rich, and poor, it makes no difference. Nobody can satisfy the soul with physical things. Belcher said the wise are not satisfied with the material wealth that may accompany wise living, and the poor are not satisfied when the basic needs of life are met. Whether one is wealthy or poor, the basic thesis remains, and it's really the thesis of verse seven, the appetite never satisfied The appetite is never satisfied Nothing can satisfy the soul say spiritual things period and That's the conclusion verse 9 better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire This too is vanity and grasping for the wind I've said that Solomon uses were better at least 20 times 21 22 times in the book and it's ever and always in positive ways. Thus, verse nine is a positive statement or conclusion. The phrase, this also is vanity and grasping for the wind, refers to the fact that the conclusion is a rarity. It's the conclusion of verses seven and eight and nine. Nothing can satisfy the soul save spiritual things. That's true of everybody. Verse nine, thus is best, or right, or good, to be satisfied with what you have and not what you want, that's verse nine, A. And then he concludes the section, this too is vanity, and grasping for the wind. Nobody will ever satisfy their souls with physical things, and that's true, I don't care of your class. The only thing that can satisfy is if you're content with what you have and not what you want. But alas, this is what's so infrequent and so rare. Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire. That is, it's better to be truly satisfied with what you see, i.e. have, than to desire what you cannot see, i.e. wish you had. How's the saying go? A bird in the hand is better than two in the bush. Basically the same thing. Be satisfied with that which you have. Is that in the Bible, Charles, is that in the Bible? Quick answer. No. But the principle is. And the principle is in this text. This is what he's saying. Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire. That is, it's better to be truly satisfied with what you have than to desire after that which you haven't. Luther said, It is better to enjoy the things that are in sight right before your eyes than to have a wandering desire. Rather than think about this, your wealth that you see, the honor that you see, the children that you see, the health that you see or the sickness, the husband that you see, the wife that you see, be satisfied with that. That's what he said. And stop wandering off into the neighbor's yard thinking that the green is grass or over there. It's not. What you have is that which God has given you. Be satisfied with it and stop wandering. Stop roaming. The imagery is rather graphic if you think about it. It's almost like our desires are harlots roaming about, wandering. Be content and satisfied with your own wife, man, or your own husband, or your own children, or your own grandchildren, or the lack of all that. and your house and your car and your this and your that. This is what he's saying. This is what Luther's saying. He goes on to say, that is, use the things that are present and do not wander in your desires. What the Lord has given you here within your sight, that you should use and be content with. Be content with your present condition. Doesn't mean you can't work to improve it, but be content with it. And stop wishing you had something you don't have. Brother, if you think about how practical that is, I think most people do that, right? They wish they had this, or if I only had his, this or that, or her, this or that. If I only looked like her, if I only had these things or those things. No, he says, Solomon says, be content with that which you see, and that includes in the mirror. All right, I wanna suggest that it means these two things in closing. Be content with what you have first. That is, view all temporal blessings as what they are, temporal gifts given by God. Now listen to how the apostle put it in Hebrews 13, five. I think it's a commentary on this concept. Let your conduct be without covetousness, that is, don't let your desires roam, And then he says, be content with such things as you have, that is what you can see. And then he gives the reason, for he himself has said, I'll never leave nor forsake you. Be content with what you have, knowing that regardless of what you do have or don't have, but I don't have this, I don't have that, be content with what you do have, Because think about it, you have all that which you really need. Because that which you have is Christ, who will never leave you nor forsake you, like all of these temporal things will. Everything in verse two and three is gonna leave us. Now our children and our spouses, obviously, if they're converted, they go to heaven with us, that's true. But we die, and remember what we learned a couple weeks ago, as we came forth from the womb naked, so we return to the dust naked. We don't take it with us. So be content with what you have. And then secondly, fill your eyes with eternal things. Let us be foremostly concerned with spiritual and eternal blessings. It's only when our souls are full of spiritual things that we will be truly content with physical things. I think this is again implied in that text, Hebrews 13, five. Let your conduct be without covetousness, be content with what you have because you have Jesus. And if you understand rightly that in Jesus you have true riches, true wealth, true honor, true children, that is the brethren, and life that lasts more than 2,000 years, but forever, when you understand you have those things, then the other things will seem very small in comparison. In fact, if you stop and think about it, what Solomon is doing is this. He's giving us a little lesson in Covenanto theology. Remember the old covenant was made with physical Israel, and it was temporal and typical. It foreshadowed the new covenant made with God's people, made of every nation. And remember that the old covenant, it promised temporal blessings based upon their obedience. So God said, I'm gonna put you in the land, and if you obey me, you're gonna have riches, wealth, honor, a lot of children, and you're gonna live long in the land. oftentimes didn't, and thus most of the time those blessings were stayed or not given and cursings fell instead. But all of those were actual, literal, physical blessings, good things, that were dependent upon their obedience. My point here is this. Remember that all of the temporal blessings promised Israel have a spiritual, superior, and eternal counterpart. So we could go, couldn't we, to, we've done it before so we won't, to Proverbs 3 and Proverbs 8, where we find that in wisdom, that is in Christ, we have true riches, true wealth, true honor, a true family that lasts forever, and life that's without end. So it's only to the extent that you understand that these things are your biggest treasure, Will all the other ones be enjoyed in proportion? So Solomon speaks of two types of people. One has an abundance of wealth and honor, and yet no satisfaction. The other has children and long life, but again, no satisfaction because they fail to put the things that matter most as the primary things. because he'll never leave you nor forsake you. And when you understand that, what are these? But temporal blessings to be enjoyed as gifts from his hand and before his eyes. The wealth and honor that we have in Christ and our true family we'll enjoy for all eternity. And only these can satisfy the heart. Let me close with two quick quotations. One from William Bridge and then the other from Augustine. Bridget says, everything is unreal when placed beside Christ as our glorious treasure. Our position is not so much looking up to heaven from earth as looking down from heaven to earth. And it is when we thus realize our rightful standing in heaven, we rise above the dying vanities of earth. Augustine, very straightforwardly in the first book of his confessions, thou hast made us for thyself, and our heart is restless until it finds rest in thee. Amen.