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We’re in a new series together on the book of Ecclesiastes. It’s all about finding satisfaction. Just a real quick tool for you if you’re interested in finding the book of Ecclesiastes, it’s a it’s a good book to read. It’s also a glass half empty book. Here’s the trick in finding it. You take your Bible and you just let it pop open right to the middle, and it should put you right in the book of Psalms. And you flip two books over and you’ll be in the book of Ecclesiastes. You know that. But if you want to find the Psalms quickly in the Bible, in most Bibles, if you don’t have any study notes, Psalms lies right in the middle of of your Bible. And so Ecclesiastes is just a couple books after that, and we’re on this series together in the book of Ecclesiastes, finding Satisfaction. We’re in the book of Ecclesiastes and chapter five. And I got to tell you this morning, I really need this content of this passage of Scripture. Uh, the last 24 hours for me have been extremely hectic, and finding satisfaction in the Lord in the midst of, of just complications, uh, is an important thing to learn in our lives. And that’s exactly what Solomon’s talking about. In chapter five and chapter six of the book of Ecclesiastes, he talks a lot about how life is this half empty. All these pleasures that we’re seeking after in the world don’t really fulfill ourselves.
And in the end, much of it leads to emptiness. And the present reality is whatever circumstance you’re going through, Christian or not, at some point in your life you will experience joy, and at some point in your life you’re going to experience emptiness. But for those who know the Lord because you know Jesus. Doesn’t mean. You’re going to have periods where you’re not going to lack lack that emptiness. But because you know Jesus, you know the root of where joy originates. And I can tell you, when we talk about joy in the Lord, I feel like sometimes when people begin to express a joy in the Lord, sometimes they read about it in the Bible, but they don’t know how it really connects to the heart. And a lot of times you’ll see a superficial joy with it. Like, you know, I’m just so happy, happy, happy, happy. It’s something bad can happen. Oh, I’m just happy. You know, the Bible says, just be happy, right? And the reality is, if it’s a superficial happiness, it’s not going to sustain the Lord. If you really haven’t found a reason to be joyful in the Lord, and if you’re just honest with with your soul and who you are as a person, and you just kind of come to church because you feel like you should. But but Jesus really isn’t your joy. The sustaining of that relationship. It just doesn’t last.
And I love how Solomon takes this chapter five and six, and he just slows down the moment of of recognizing for us that that life can be pointless unless you find satisfaction and joy in the Lord, you’re not going to find fulfillment. And he just pauses within these chapters and he says, so let’s seek joy in the Lord’s matter of fact, he says in, in. Excuse me, chapter five and verse 18. This is what I have seen. It is good and fair for a man to take meat and drink. I agree with that completely, especially if its bacon. Take meat and drink and to have joy. Some translations translate that in joy. And all his work under the sun all the days of his life. And this is what’s important about the joy which God has given him. That is his reward. Every man to whom God has given money and wealth and the power to have pleasure in it, and to do his part and have joy in his work. This is given by God. This morning. That’s exactly what we’re going to talk about. What it means to have joy, but not just the superficial joy or the joy dealing with circumstances, what it means to have joy in the Lord, and to enjoy the life for which God has given you. The interesting thing when you study or the idea of joy within Scripture, one of the first things you’ll discover is, believe it or not, joy is commanded in the Bible.
How can you command an emotion? Right? Nevertheless, we’ll get to that. But but joy is commanded in Scripture. Listen to this first Chronicles 1610 glory in his holy name. Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Seek the Lord and his strength. Seek his presence continually in the New Testament. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. He gives you a reason for the joy that you’re experiencing. First Thessalonians five. Rejoice always. Philippians four. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say, rejoice. These are given in the imperative statement, meaning, this is a command from the Lord that we rejoice in him. And Solomon notices that when we go through the journey of life, the things for which we find our joy and satisfaction and happen to come, rather than from the Lord, but but from all the wrong places. And rather than seeking God, the originator of joy, we seek after pleasure and joy first, and then we find that there is no satisfaction in this. And what Solomon’s going to begin to open up for us is that rather than just seek after joy and rather than just seek after pleasure, seek after the Lord because he is the originator of the joy in seeking after him. You experience joy in your life. And so the Bible commands us. To discover and seek after joy in the Lord.
You were created to have joy. And to experience joy. You were created to find that joy in the Lord. It’s a tragedy sometimes when you see the relationship that some people have with God. Wake up on Sunday morning. They tell you, where are you going? I’m on church. What church do you go to? Man, I mean, what? When you read about the Lord and why he’s created you and and what he wants you to understand your relationship and the pleasures that he has forevermore. God has designed you to experience joy for him in eternity. You’re going to church. Where do you go? Whatever it is, it’s not working. You know what God has called you to is to experience everlasting joy in him. And what? What does that look like in Solomon begins to describe it. But before Solomon talks about our experience and the joy of the Lord, he first begins to describe all the places that we seek for joy. First the desire becomes pleasure, and then we seek those things that make us happy and in the end find no satisfaction. And Solomon just describes a few of these things throughout chapter five and chapter six. He says in chapter five and verse ten talking about money. He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity. Talking about even having kids in a family because you think that will make you happy, he says.
If a man fathers 100 children wow and lives many years. Poor woman right? Mother’s day for him is expensive, however many they be. But his soul is not satisfied with good things and he does not even have a proper burial. Then I say better the miscarriage than he. In verse seven. Talking about a guy who finds satisfaction in Just Work. All a man’s labors for his mouth. And yet the appetite is not satisfied. What advantage does the wise man have over the fool? I’m not saying this morning that money you can’t find happiness and money. Actually, Solomon even goes on and says in chapter ten, money is the problem solver for everything. That’s a biblical term. I’m not saying that money won’t make us happy. I’m not saying that family can’t make us happy. I’m not saying that work at times can’t make us happy. Those things are all enjoyable. But what I’m saying is, in the end, if you seek the source of your joy and satisfaction in that, rather than the one who produces the joy to begin with in the end. You’ll find no satisfaction. And Solomon talks about all of the ways in which we’ve sought after joy. As a matter of fact, you think of all in human history. There is no one better to write a book and a topic on such a discussion as Solomon. Historians who have studied the history of Solomon have said that Solomon’s wealth has accumulated well over $100 billion.
You look at his position in the time of history. He is of political importance. He is of economic importance. He is of the King of Israel. It tells us in the Bible, in First Kings chapter four and chapter ten, that all of the world is coming to Solomon like he is the rock star. Solomon has climbed the heights of everything in this world through which he could find satisfaction. He’s he’s done it in the Lord, and he’s done it apart from the Lord. And seeking after those things to its fullest. He tells us in Ecclesiastes anything that looked like it would please him. He did not. He did not turn away from his life. And the results, he tells us. Having climbed every mountain that life offers. There is no satisfaction. There is no joy in these things because in in these things of themselves, they aren’t joy producers. They aren’t. They may bring temporal happiness for us, but not eternal satisfaction. We need to discover the way to find joy. And in that joy, find it the right way. I got to tell you this morning that the reason I can say very clearly that God desires for you to experience joy and your life is because this experience of joy reflects the very character through which God possesses. God’s character maintains joy to the fullest. Bible even tells us in Nehemiah chapter eight.
Let me read in John chapter 15 these things I have spoken to you. This is Jesus saying, I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. The very nature and character of God is reflected in the attribute of joy. You being created in God’s image. God desires for you to experience that joy. It’s interesting the reason that we can even begin to say that God desires for us to experience this joy, and that God has the capability of meeting our need in this joy is because of the very way for which God has created you. So when God has designed us as human beings, he didn’t sit in eternity past and say, you know what? I’m bored. I’m lonely. What should I do? I know what I’ll do. I’ll create people to meet my need. That wasn’t the way that God designed you. When God created you, God in the completeness of his attributes and love and grace and patience and kindness and joy expressed within himself, desire to lavish that joy upon you, and from the fullness of everything that he was, he created you, that you may experience his joy in you for now and eternity. And that’s what Jesus is saying in John 15. That my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. And the Westminster Catechism. The very first description they give this is the catechisms.
Are these, uh, faith based statements for which you can recite and learning about the faith of Christianity and the very first Catechism of the Westminster Confession of Faith. It says this the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. Finding joy in God. Leads to a life of joy for eternity. The Book of Nehemiah describes the joy of the people in this passage of Scripture. Tells us in chapter eight and verse 15. Verse ten, excuse me, and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. I love the portion of which this is shared in the book of Nehemiah. And the story of Nehemiah. You’ll know that it’s about rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Jerusalem has been utterly destroyed. The nation of Israel wiped out. The people had been taken captive for 70 years out of the nation of Israel. And here they come back into Israel, and they’re rebuilding their land and their identity and their worship of their God that they had lost as they were taken into Babylonian captivity. And they build this wall around Jerusalem to protect the people that they could gather together in their temple and continue in worshiping of God. And when they completed this building of the walls, the Bible tells us that the people then moved into the city of Jerusalem to begin to engage in the living of life as Jerusalem used to know it.
And as they get ready to engage in this life, the Bible tells us in Nehemiah chapter eight that all the people gathered together. And there it tells us that they’re not just seeking after joy in and of themselves. They didn’t just finish this wall in Jerusalem and decide, you know what? Good for us. Look how great we are. Upon completion of the wall, they recognized that it was of the goodness of God that they were able to do this and do it so quickly. And so it tells us in chapter eight. With the people of Israel gathered together, and Ezra begins to read the law. The law had been lost among the Jewish people. And for the first time in a long time, they really began to hear it in their hearts. The Bible tells us that the response and recognizing the beauty of God and their own sinfulness was one of grieving and mourning. And as Rick gets to the end of the reading of the law, and it tells us in verse ten that he reflects to the people, listen, do not be grieved, because the joy of the Lord is your strength. Ezra and Nehemiah are reflecting to the people that one. Your joy originates in God. The reason that you were created is that you may find joy in him and through him. And not only do you find that joy in him and through him, as you partake of life with him, you get to experience the joy through which he desires.
If you enjoy the things that God enjoys, you receive the joy of the Lord in your life and the joy of the Lord becomes your strength. Nehemiah reflects the people. That our past was sinful, but our past is in the past. And what God desires is for you to experience your joy in him. And just noting this morning that God’s heart and desire for us is that his joy may be reflected in our lives. The question then becomes, how do we find joy in the Lord? When my heart is in despair and I’m going through adverse circumstances. I want to be honest in saying this morning when you’re going through a difficult time. It’s okay to say I’m going through a difficult time. It’s okay. To be honest, I’m not asking anyone this morning to be superficial. With the pain of their heart and the lack of joy they might be experiencing in their lives. What I’m saying is, what God gives you is something far beyond just a temporal happiness, but it’s a joy that passes all understanding. It’s a peace that comes through, that joy that passes all understanding. It’s a joy that that is more sustained than just in the moment, but can last for eternity. I think God knows when we go through difficult times and he wants us to be honest with that. I mean, if you feel like your life is falling apart, your life is falling apart.
But what God desires for you to do is to experience the joy. Through which he desires for you to understand through an eternal perspective. The Bible tells us that the joy of the Lord is our strength, that the the peace that passes all understanding lasts more than just this moment. How do we find that joy in the Lord? Solomon begins to describe for us in chapter five. No matter what you’re going through, no matter how difficult your circumstance is. This is where the joy of the Lord begins. Guard your steps, he says. When you go to the house of God. To draw near. To listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools. So they do not know that they are doing evil. Solomon begins simply with this. You can’t begin to find joy and satisfaction apart from the one who created you, to find that joy and satisfaction. Solomon has taken in the first five chapters of his book. He’s journeyed all over the world. He’s talked about his palace. He’s talked about his highways. He’s talked about the marketplace. He’s talked about the courtroom. And finally, when he begins to talk about the joy through which God gives us, he talks about the temple. He talks about the place of worship. He recognizes the attitude of the people as they gather in the temple to worship. It’s an attitude that doesn’t carry reverence.
It’s an attitude that doesn’t carry a sacredness. Really, it’s an attitude that comes on a Sunday morning and it’s not even interested in connecting with God. Come on a Sunday morning just to do the routine. Solomon’s looked at all of this life, all of this unsatisfaction through which it brings. And he just gives one simple answer if if you want to find satisfaction. Take your heart wherever it is, whatever situation you’re going through, and bring it to the Lord. And the good thing is, is God never asked that you bring a full heart. God never asked that you bring a working heart. God just asked that you bring your heart. I think the emptier and broken it is, the more beautiful it is before God. Just bring your heart to the Lord when you gather on Sunday morning when they’re gathering in the temple, just come for the sole purpose of seeking and reverence the honor of God. Bible describes these sacrifices. As we know in the Old Testament, they used to slaughter animals. We don’t have to do that anymore. The Bible tells us in Hebrews chapter ten that the sacrifice that Jesus gave was a fulfilled sacrifice that surpassed all sacrifices and accomplished the need for sacrifice. When the Bible talks about sacrifice in the New Testament, it takes a totally different approach than just bringing objects before God. It deals much more with the attitude of the heart.
Says, give your lives to the Lord in Romans chapter 12. Share your faith in the Lord with others in Romans 15, do good for the Lord and Hebrews chapter 13 out of a loving heart, bring your broken heart before God in Psalm 51, give of your wealth before the Lord and Philippians chapter four. Bring your prayer before him in Psalm 141. Solomon’s thought for us is really just slow down. It’s to stop. It’s to be honest with where you are. It’s to understand that God’s expectation of you is really. It’s nothing. There’s nothing you’re going to do for God that he can’t do for himself. And what God is interested in is your heart. God isn’t interested that you go out and supernaturally produce joy in your life. Jesus said that my joy may be placed in you. And the idea is, the way that we experience that joy with the Lord is give the Lord and the sacredness of our heart, the opportunity and time just to manifest himself in our lives and reverence. Come before him and allow him to fill our cup. Solomon goes on in verse two, be not rash with your mouth. Or let your hearts be hasty to utter a word before God. For God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few, for a dream comes with much busyness and a fool’s voice with many words. I think Solomon even talks about our prayer life in this verse.
Doesn’t necessarily mention prayer, but what he’s mentioning is dialogue with God, which we call prayer. Don’t just come to God and just pour everything on him, just just set before his presence. And don’t just express these rash words. Think about the very one you’re setting before in this world. His desires for your life. Just speak words of fewness. That’s a new word of fewness. But let your words be few. Allow the the presence of the God of God just to manifest himself over. And he goes on and describes in verse four, when you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. It is better that you should not vow, than that you should vow and not pay. What he’s telling us in this passage of Scripture is God’s not looking for you to do unreasonable things. That you don’t have to make a deal with God to find joy. And you’ll have to make a deal with God to find happiness. God desires to have his joy in you and his joy made full in you. There’s no deals needing to be made to experience that. It’s coming before his presence, and no unnecessary vows have to be done. God, if if you do this for me, then I’ll do this for you. It’s just coming before his presence. We talk about finding joy in the Lord.
It starts with a reverence for the Lord. And Christian joy isn’t superficial. Bible tells us if I if I just shared a thought for a moment. One of one of my favorite stories in the life of Moses, all the crazy things that Moses did in his lifetime. Turning water, excuse me, the rivers into blood or turning the the the staff into a snake, or watching all these frogs go everywhere, all over Egypt or parting the Red sea. All these miraculous things that you could pick that Moses has done. My favorite stories about Moses come in Exodus chapter three and Exodus 24. In Exodus 20 or excuse me? In Exodus three, Moses comes before the burning bush. You know the story, right? Bush. Bush is burning. Moses talks to it. It’s a miraculous moment. But the thing that I love about the story of Moses is that Moses hasn’t even begun his ministry yet. He hasn’t even begun serving the Lord. He has his faith, and the Lord is very weak. He doesn’t even want to do what God’s called him to do. But the thing that God does for Moses is that when he comes before the burning bush, God tells him, take off your shoes, Moses, because you’re standing on holy ground. You know, for years, my Christian life. I looked at that and thought, that is just weird. Should we do that in church on Sunday? Does that make it better? You know, do we take our shoes off? What? What is it about taking your shoes off that makes holy things when you go home? Practice that, I guess.
But what Moses is being taught before the Lord is that God is saying to Moses, listen, your creature, and I’m creator. You’re not above me, Moses, and I want you to take your shoes off, and I want you to touch the very dirt through which you were created from, to remind you that I am reigning above you because I am God. He is the source. Before Moses began anything for the Lord. The thing that Moses learned from the Lord as God is God, and there is a need for reverence for him in my life. As Moses continued in his ministry in Exodus 24. God did this a few times in the life of Moses. But in chapter 24 he said unto Moses, come unto me. Come up to me, Moses, I’m on this mountain. Come up to me. When you study that in Hebrew, it literally means come, sit in my presence. God’s desire for Moses as he’s leading the nation of Israel. As to give God the opportunity for God to lead Moses. So he tells Moses, Moses, come unto me. Come up on this mountain. And the Hebrew literally says, and just be present. Just be here. Set with me. The excuse me, the joy of the Lord becomes our strength. And it begins when we start with a reverence for who God is.
Bible tells us like this the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, and peace. So the reason for us that it’s it’s important to come before the Lord in order to find joy in him is because joy isn’t a natural thing. Joy is a supernatural thing. It tells us in Galatians five, the fruit of the spirit is joy. And Thessalonians chapter one received the word and much affliction, and with the joy of the Holy Spirit in Romans 14, the kingdom of God is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, without giving God the opportunity to work in our lives to bring his joy into us, you can expect to experience the joy of the Lord. Joy isn’t a natural thing. It is supernatural. God has given us victory. And so the Bible expresses it this way. Peter in chapter one and verse eight of First Peter. He says, rejoicing with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory. I like to think about the life of Peter when he wrote this passage of Scripture. You ever look at the perplexing thought of the joy that people express within the Bible at the period of time they they’re writing about joy? The book of Philippians is all about joy. Paul wrote this in jail. Peters just within a year of losing his life. And he’s writing about joy and first Peter. I mean, what is it about these these men that they’re saying in this point, rejoice with joy that is inexpressible? You think about so happy, so joy filled.
And what God is doing that, that you don’t have words to express it. And Peter sang. In the midst of all that he has endured, he’s experienced this deep, unsettling joy that’s just exploding out of his life. I mean, where did this come from? I look at the early church in the first three centuries, laying down their lives for God, knowing that they’re there, about to be slaughtered for the sake of the Lord, and promoting his name throughout the Roman Empire. And they repeatedly talk in history of Joy. How do they do that? Can I tell you this? The joy. Isn’t rooted in the elementary things of the world. The joy isn’t found in things that pass. Their joy isn’t found in temporary happiness. Their joyous famine things which last. So you can look at a circumstance when you’re with Jesus. Knowing that it’s tragic. And saying. And Jesus wins. You can look at adversity through which you’re going through and look to the Lord and say. And Jesus is with me. And in those moments understand that with the Holy Spirit. That the fruit of the Holy Spirit in the midst of trials is love, joy and peace and patience and kindness you want. The tendency is in our life when we go through adversity, as sometimes we we tend to isolate ourselves and and take it upon our own shoulders and, and just depend upon ourselves to get ourselves through it rather than just in brokenness.
Come before God and lay ourselves down and say, God, it’s not by my power. You are the source of joy. God, it’s by your spirit, the spirit that produces joy. God, I’m not looking at this temporal situation that’s brought adversity, but I’m thinking in the end, we still win. We still rejoice. There still is victory, though for a little while, Lord, you will come back and you will make all things new and all things good in you. And in that, though the circumstance is hard, in that I can rejoice. Think about the idea of Mother’s Day. And for the most part, lots of people enjoy Mother’s Day. But there’s a part of me that always hesitates to want to make a big deal about Mother’s Day, because I understand for some people, Mother’s Day is hard day. Life doesn’t always hand you what you expected. I mean, what if your mom was was a was a bad mom? Or what if? Worse yet, what if what if you were expecting a child and and the Lord took it before you were able to, to hold it in your arms and and to love it and to experience that joy of knowing that baby that you carried that child in your womb and it was lost. I mean, where is the joy in that, right? If you’re being honest.
That is that is not happy. That’s horrible. That’s a loss that just rips at the heart of a mother carrying a child in her life, which I can’t even relate to. And you just see the pain of that. What do you do with that? I mean, what does God give you to make you happy about that? You think about the promises of Jesus. So we know that sin came into the world because of everything apart from God. And the tragedy of sin is realized in our lives. But here’s what Jesus does. He comes to this world and he says, I have overcome. I have overcome, and my joy that I have that’s in me. I desire for it to be in you and the kingdom that’s supposed to be right in the world, that there is not any death. And the promises through which I desire to bring into your life, you will have, I will return. There will be victory in this temporal thing. It will pass. But find joy in me, because I have overcome and I win. You think about the the innocent children that that were slaughtered when Jesus came into this world? And the King came looking for Christ to kill him, and he couldn’t find him. And he killed all of those children in search of Jesus. The pain that those mothers feel on Christmas, they don’t want to celebrate Christmas.
Jesus. Get some this promise. My joy will be in you. Spend time with me. I’ve got it under control. It’s in my hands. Mothers who go through such pain live with a promise that your child is safe in the arms of God, that God loves them, that God is bringing his joy with them, that you will be reunited with them in the Lord for eternity. Jesus will heal you. It’s an important promise to us in this passage. What are you find enjoying? The things that you hope in apart from the Lord will in the end suck you dry, rob you, not fulfill you. They they don’t last. You’ll find yourself wondering, looking for an oasis your entire life, rather than turn to the one who created you to find joy in him, that your joy may be made full. Whatever heart you carry, come to him. And brokenness or in fullness come to him. In the early church said crazy things like this. When you see the goodness of God in the midst of of your sufferings. Romans five. We rejoice in our sufferings. In first Thessalonians one, you receive the word and much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit. Second Corinthians eight. In a severe test of affliction there’s abundance of joy, and there in extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of liberality. Second Corinthians six. We are sorrowful. Yet always rejoicing as poor, yet making many rich, having nothing, yet possessing everything.
God’s desires for you to route your joy in him. And second thought that Solomon carries for us this morning. Ecclesiastes 518. Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun, the few days of his life that God has given him. For this is his lot. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil. This is the gift of God, for he will not much remember the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with the joy of his heart. The idea is this. Never say you see it underlined there that God gives every one of us a lot. Meaning the picture is kind of like this. We all get sort of get an acre of land. You don’t really get to pick where you’re born, but we all sort of get this acre of land through which we get to live our lives and to toil and to do things for the Lord. And the thought that Solomon carries with his acre of land is that we cultivate it. God and giving this acre this place of raining. It’s it becomes your opportunity and what you decide to do with it. And Solomon takes chapter five and verse one, and he recognizes for our lives the importance of cultivating our own relationship before God and the reverence that we carry for him, that he may fill our cups with joy.
And then Solomon says to us in these verses, and then don’t separate the sacred from the secular. Meaning God sees no variation between the sacred and the secular. What you do on Sunday, God desires for you to do on Monday. Don’t fake who you are today. Allow the Lord to work in your heart and change you for the better for tomorrow. It’s not. Sunday belongs to Jesus, and Monday to Saturday belongs to me. There is no difference between sacred and secular in the eyes of God. It’s all sacred to him. And what he’s saying to us is, take your reverence and come before the Lord. And then God gives you this lot to toil. And as you grow in that relationship with the Lord, see how it fits into your life with him through day to day. Toi’ll that lot. Cultivated. You think of the beautiful things you can do for the Lord as he toil what God has given you. People do this every day with their giftedness. A painter does this with a canvas, right? He masters his skill. If you hand it to me, I would give you a stick figure. You hand it to him, and it’s just beautiful. He. He cultivates it into something glorious. A singer can do this with the voice.
A cook can do this. I don’t I don’t even understand cooking. I’m. I’m great at baloney sandwiches. As a matter of fact, I’m happy with a baloney sandwich as I am with anything but. But to see someone go into to a kitchen and to cultivate and toil with what God has given them and the masterpieces that can come out of that. And God has given you something more in life than to just punch a clock and walk out the door to just go home and be there. God desires for you to cultivate. To cultivate your heart in him. To cultivate your spouse’s heart in him. To cultivate your children’s heart in him. To toil with the light that he’s given you. And he says in verse 19, get this, everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them. I think money gets a bad rap in Christianity, right? Money’s bad. And then you read Ecclesiastes and it just blows you away. Money’s good. Right? It’s what we do with money that makes it bad. And God’s desire for you is not to live in poverty. I know some Christians just want to want to think when they come to the Lord. You got to live in a grass hut to really know Jesus. You don’t have to do that. I think the reason we live in this American nation, and it’s so blessed, is because the people before us, the generations before us, have loved the Lord.
And God has blessed our country because of it. And these are the things that we can appreciate because of God. For instance, we came to church this morning and an air conditioned car probably yelling at kids to get out the door, right? But God gave you that car to get here, and God gave you that air conditioner to enjoy. And God gave you your family to gather together and worship this morning. And just pausing in that moment and not separating the the sacred from the secular, but just appreciating what God has done. God, thank you for this. You’ve blessed our nation beyond comparison with some other nations, Lord, and I believe it’s because people have desired to know you. Lord, thank you for that. Enjoy what God has given you. But to understand, with great wealth comes responsibility. God has given you the opportunity to enjoy it and through that become a blessing to this world. You think some of the wealthiest people in the Bible are also some of the godliest? David was a king. He’s a godly man. Abraham was rich beyond belief and and he was a godly man. You don’t have to be poor to be godly. You just take the things that God has given you and you learn to cultivate. And the thought that Solomon carries in this passage of Scripture is this. When you take a heart. And you bring it before the Lord in reverence, and you allow him to work in your life, and you make him your joy and satisfaction, and you learn to cultivate the life around you in God, and you allow the secular to become the sacred for him.
And you learn to praise his name and all things he says in verse 20, for he will not much remember the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with the joy in his heart. You’re not worried about the past because you’ve been walking with the Lord. You’re not worried about the future. You’ve been walking with the Lord. You’re just enjoying the moment. You’re just enjoying everything that God has given you because his joy has been made known in your life. You think about the idea of joy and and we can ask this question this morning. We want to always do everything to the gospel. I’m not saying this morning, go be happy because God made you happy to be happy. What I’m saying is, seek after the Lord, and in seeking after the Lord you find joy. So what does this even have to do with the gospel? What does this have to do with Jesus? And I would say this this morning, everything. The joy of the Lord has everything to do with the gospel. You think about God creating you from the joy of his life, and desiring for you to experience that joy in you.
And you look at the cross of Christ, and it’s the declaration of God to you that you may experience his joy. Jesus has done everything in this world for him to bring his life before you and bring forgiveness to you, that you can be reconciled to God and experience his joy forever. It has everything to do with the cross. It has everything to do with Jesus. It’s not just about church. People go be happy because your church people are just. Be joyful because you should be joyful. It’s because Jesus has done everything that your joy may be in him, and your joy may be made full because Christ has brought it all to your life and to your world. The joy of the Lord has everything to do with him. So here’s what you lose. When you neglect the wonder of God’s goodness over you. You lose. When you neglect the wonder of God’s goodness in your life, you you lose satisfaction in him. You lose focus from the one who created you to find joy in him. You lose gratitude. In him. You lose meaning and purpose because it’s found in him. You lose God, you lose you and you lose. Solomon’s desire this morning. And so as you see the significance for what you were created for. God’s heart this morning is that you find joy, and that joy isn’t about just going into this world and being happy. It’s about coming to the Lord and allowing him to fill your cup.
And I got to tell you, in a life that may not have walked with the Lord every day, or a life that may not have walked with the Lord at all, it may take a little while for you to just set before the God, and begin to allow him to to fill your cup, as you let go of the things for which you have found satisfaction in apart from him. So let me give you one final verse this morning. This is the Psalms recipe for what Solomon has said. Psalm 37 four delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. I like the translation. This is for all our mothers this morning. Already you study this in Hebrew. This is what it means. Be pampered. I hope you have that today, ladies. And guys, I guess if you like it, it says in Psalm 37. You think about the picture that is being created here? Be pampered in the Lord. I love that thought. Some mornings, like today, where I feel like I’m just running around trying to keep up with stuff and my mind’s jumbled everywhere. Turn to Psalm 37. And I think when it time, when the time comes just to satisfy my heart and to set myself apart from the Lord, it’s not about me bringing anything. It’s not about me trying to superficially create some sort of joy in my life. It’s about me just turning to him and allowing him to pamper my life. Should be pampered in the Lord.