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“I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.” Solomon is speaking here about the pursuit of wisdom: “I applied my heart to know wisdom.” Now, this is perplexing enough in and of itself. Why would Solomon say that applying your heart to know wisdom is like striving after the wind? He’s not suggesting that wisdom is worthless or that pursuing it is a waste of time. What he’s saying is that the search for wisdom and understanding is like trying to take hold of the wind. No matter how much wisdom you gain, there is always more to be found, and the more you gain, the more you realise how little you truly have.

Let’s consider this from another angle: How deep is the wisdom of God? It is seen in every movement of time, every turn of providence, every particular in the natural world. The wisdom of God is everywhere. Now ask yourself: Is it possible for a human mind to fully fathom that kind of wisdom? Is it possible for us to understand everything there is to understand? Of course not, and that’s Solomon’s point.

You could spend your whole life chasing after wisdom, seeking to understand both the pure and the crooked, but you cannot take hold of it. The more you gain, the smaller you see that you are. In that sense, to apply your heart to know wisdom is to try and catch the wind. It can’t be done. There is always more to be gained, and there is always more that lies beyond your grasp. This leads us into Solomon’s closing proverb in verse 18:

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

Here is a warning. As Solomon sets out to understand all that happens under the sun, he exposes the brokenness of the world, and our own inability to fix it. He also reveals our limits. We will not find complete answers to many of the questions that trouble us. We can no more grasp all wisdom than we can catch the wind. Again, he’s not saying that the pursuit of wisdom is meaningless, but he is warning us that it comes at a cost.

If you want to go deeper, Solomon says, if you want to see beyond the surface of life and truly understand, then be prepared for sorrow. With much wisdom comes much vexation and sorrow. That’s the meaning of his second proverb.

As you begin to understand this life more deeply, as you begin to see its meaning, you will also come face to face with uncomfortable truths. Wisdom opens your eyes to sorrow, to sadness, to grief.

That’s not an easy pill to swallow. And yet, even as Solomon warns us, he invites us. Because following Jesus is, in one sense, an invitation to a life of sorrow. A life where we take up our cross daily and follow him. Yes, there is joy, hope, and encouragement in the Christian life, and we will see plenty of that as we continue through this book. But to follow Christ is also to become acquainted with grief, for that was the path that our Lord himself walked (Is 53:3).

As you begin to understand and see sin for what it truly is, it will grieve you. As you begin to see what evil things have been done in this world, and how fallen humanity lives in rebellion against God, you will feel the burden of it. We see this throughout scripture, as the saints wrestle with life in a fallen world. The psalmist says: “My eyes shed streams of tears, because people do not keep your law.” Jeremiah teaches that it is good for a man to bear the yoke of affliction in his youth. Solomon will later say in Ecclesiastes 7:4, “The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.” And Isaiah foretells that our Saviour himself would be “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.”

Do not be deceived, to follow Christ is to walk the path of the cross. Wisdom will not lead us to a life free from trouble. And yet, as you consider this, remember: Our Saviour has walked this path before us. So let me offer this as a final point of application for life:

“Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.” - 2 Timothy 2:3-4

Do not expect an easy life.

Do not expect a path free from sorrow and suffering.

Expect to walk through a world full of crookedness.

Expect to experience vexation of soul.

And yet, take heart. Life will be hard. Perplexing. Troubling. But it will also be short, and there is glory waiting just beyond the finishing line. Arm yourself with the same mind as Christ our Saviour who, for the joy set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame. This life is crooked. It is broken. And yet, for a time, we are called to live in it. But Scripture tells us that “this light and momentary affliction is not worth comparing to the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

Ecclesiastes is a book that stares reality in the face, but it is also a book that fills us with hope and reminds us of how precious each moment truly is. It will not be long before you see your Saviour, perhaps sooner than you think. None of us is guaranteed tomorrow. So as we walk through this broken, crooked world, resist the temptation to despair. Look by faith, and see things as they really are: See the temporary nature of this world. See that you cannot hold on to it. And see what lies at the end of the path of your suffering in Christ. SDG.

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