Ecclesiastes 1:1-3:22 , 2 Corinthians 6:1-13 , Psalms 46:1-11 , Proverbs 22:15
Today is the 2nd day of September. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it is a pleasure and an honor to be here with you today as we step through the threshold of a brand-new, sparkly, shiny week. We had a great time here in the rolling hills of Tennessee last night, beginning our first ever family reunion. And everybody should be off doing something fun. And we’ll come back together again tonight but we’ll talk about that a little bit. We not only have a brand-new week we’re also beginning a brand-new book. So, when we finished the book of Esther a bit ago we moved into Job and I said we’re kind of moving into some more deeper territory for the next little bit. And we did. We moved through Job, which brings us to the book of Ecclesiastes.
Introduction to the Ecclesiastes:
Both Job and Ecclesiastes, as well as Proverbs and song of Solomon and some of the Psalms are part of a grouping of books that we call the wisdom literature. So, Ecclesiastes falls into this grouping and Solomon has traditionally been named as the author of Ecclesiastes. So, Solomon largely wrote the wisdom of Proverbs and the wisdom that we’ll find in Ecclesiastes, but they are very different. And there’s been debate among scholars about whether Solomon was the author. Some scholars have concluded it was written much later, but the book likely originated with Solomon and was translated and updated, just like translations of the Bible are modernized even today. Solomon as we know, was known to be the wisest man in the world. He was the most powerful and wealthy man of his time and that gave him the ability to do whatever he wanted. I mean, he could pursue whatever his heart desired. Like, no matter what he dreamed up, nothing was off-limits to him. His father had been the great King David, a highly revered and respected man. And, so, Solomon is his successor and he comes into enormous resources. He also had a thousand of the most beautiful women in all of the world as wives and concubines. He was royalty. He had mighty power. And God had given him wisdom. And, so, basically we look at Solomon and say, that probably is as close of a picture as you can get to a person who has it all. So, that said, for a man who has it all, Ecclesiastes can seem completely out of character. Like, we might expect a memoir of greatness, of great feats of accomplishment, when Ecclesiastes at face value can read like a depressing and hopeless rant. But we look below the surface and we do it’s actually a stark and deeply penetrating look into the human heart, which is the deep territory that we began to wander into in Job. So, we all have some sorts of dreams and goals in our lives but very few of us ever get to do whatever we want whenever we want, right? We’re always able to say, if I only had that then life will be better. If I could just do this or get this done or accomplish this then life would be better. There’s always something new to chase. But what if we did get it all, right? And you can think, if I got it all I would have no shortage of things to figure out to do, believe me, but Ecclesiastes actually exposes the reality of that idea. Solomon had pursued and achieved everything he ever set his hand to do but later in his life he had been seduced into idolatry by his beautiful harem of women. Ecclesiastes contains the musings of an older man looking back over all that he had done and finding it all meaningless without God. So we moved through the book of Job and now we enter the book of Ecclesiastes to move even deeper into our motives and our aspirations and our hopes. And, so, we begin. We’ll red from the Modern English Version this week. Ecclesiastes chapter 1 verse 1 through 3 verse 22.
Prayer:
Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for this brand-new week. We thank You for this brand-new month. This reminds us that we are on a journey to all things being new. And Father, we understand that part of that journey is to go into the depths of our own souls, our own motivations, our own aspirations, what it is we are trying to get out of life. And You have given us the book of Ecclesiastes as a book of wisdom. It begins to peel back the layers and show us, no matter what we pursue, and no matter what we accomplish and will always be lacking when it is done out of our own ingenuity and strength. So, we invite Your Holy Spirit. We want to enjoy life with You. So come comforter, Holy Spirit. Lead us into all truth we ask in the name of Jesus’. Amen.
Announcements:
dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, its where you find out what’s going on around here.
And what’s going on around here right now is the Daily Audio Bible family reunion. We had a wonderful time last night and we’re gonna have a wonderful time this evening together. It’s is a beautiful thing to see people come from all points and come into community and feel as if we belong, feel as if his we’ve known each other for a very, very long time. I mean, I love see that the relationships that go deeper, reunions from all kinds of different events over the years, people coming back together, and people coming for the first time. And all we all belong. So, it’s a great experience to say the least, and it’s a joy to behold, and it’s a joy to participate in. So, thank you for your continued prayers.
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And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.
And that is it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
Hi Daily Audio Bible family. My name is Don. I called about a month or two ago asking for prayer for my marriage and my family. My wife and I have been in ministry as pastors for over 15 years and we just went through a hard time this last four or five years. And we’ve been in…God’s been just working some great things through all of your prayers and there is healing that’s happening and I’m very thankful. And today’s message where Brian was talking about that I’m hard-pressed…it just touched me and I just wanted to share that. Thank you for all that have been praying for my marriage. My wife and I have gone through a miscarriage and then some really hard times in ministry and I just wanted to say thank you for those that have been praying. And God is doing a work. He’s doing great and marvelous things and God is even blessing our congregation as well. So, thank you again. God bless and have a good day.
Hello Daily Audio Bible. This is Jeff from __ northern Virginia calling in today.. I would like ask that you would all pray with me. So, let’s pray. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Heavenly Father, we come to You with heavy hearts for our church Lord. I ask that You would help raise up the Catholic Church, help to renew, restore, refresh the body of Christ, the church. Please help us to…to overcome our grief with priests who have forsaken their vows and have abused. Lord, help…please help all of us who are suffering because of ours distress with the Catholic Church and its leadership. Family, Daily Audio Bible family, I would ask that you would help by praying. Please pray for our priests, our clergy, our bishops, our pope. And I would just thank you very much for all of this. This is Jeff. Praying for you all as well. Goodbye.
Hi this is Victoria Soldier just calling to pray. I wanted to pray for the family reunion this weekend, that the Lord blesses it and that it would be a great and wonderful time. I also want to pay for Shannon in Texas on her choice in the marriage whether it’s forward or back. Lord, I would just ask You to Have Your Way in Shannon’s decision. Lord it’s so good that she wants to…that she’s dependent on You and…and asking You to guide her. Lord, we just ask You to touch in that marriage Lord. We ask You to touch in that decision and everything be in Your perfect time. And Lord You bless and anoint her Lord in the mighty name of Jesus. Lord, You have Your way. In the name of Jesus You bless that family reunion Lord. You bring us together as a family Lord in the name of Jesus. I want to also talk to her Robert Clark and pray for him and his ministry that God directs him. Also wanted to say hi to Ned and pray for Terry the truck driver, that he continues to go forward in his healing and that God continues to bless him. And I went up pay for Sally from Canada. Gracious Father, we just lift You up and we praise Your name. We just thank You Lord for Your people. We just ask You to touch Robert Clark Lord and I thank God for the way You use him and I know You have a plan for his life. It’s for our future and our hope. Oh Lord, help him to be what You would have him to be. Guide him Lord and have him do Your will in the name of Jesus. Continue to bless Nettie with her…with her vivacious…her sparkly attitude…very sparkly…I love her spirit. Lord continue to bless her. Continue to touch Terry the truck driver Lord. Continue to heal him and thank You Lord for protecting him. Oh Lord in the name of Jesus continue to have Your way in his life. Lord, touch Sally in Canada, continue…
Good morning Daily Audio Bible. It is a Friday and everybody is getting’ ready to go and everybody’s getting’ ready to get on a plane, get on a train, get in a car, and I am also, too. Today, I am leaving. It’s Laura Lee in Boynton Beach, a 12 year listener. And I have met the Hardin family, God bless you all, many times and I’m really looking forward to seeing every one of my family members that I have heard their voices for 12 years and never met them. Annette I’m going to see you again. Viola from Maryland, I think Jay’s gonna be there. I don’t know. I’m just so excited. And I want to thank the lady today called in and said that some of our prayers seem insignificant. Well, I’ve had a knee injury for a couple of months now, have been out of work, and it hurts and I’m going through processes to find out what it is but I’m coming up limpin’ and leanin‘ on Jesus. And I’d like to pray an extra blessing…and…for the people taking care of our pets and our kids. And a special blessing over Betty Lawrence, Betty Henry Lawrence in Brentwood who put me up for the night. And I’ve never met her. She’s in her 80s but that’s how the body of Christ roles. We know each other and this just gives us a foreshadowing of what is going to be like we see each other in heaven. We’re just going to all go be there and we’re all gonna exhalt the Lord and praise Him and worship Him and eat and drink and just enjoy each other. Thank you heavenly Father for all you’ve done, all you’re going to do, and all the family of…