Pray

Read

Ecc 2:1-11.

Meditation

Do you listen to much music? I feel like I have a soundtrack for every season of my life, and the right music at the right time can touch the soul in profound ways. Some people live for music. Some devote the lives entirely to it. In verse 8 of our passage, Solomon calls us forward, because there are more dead ends he wants us to see in this labyrinth. There was no answer in alcohol. Industry and achievements did not work. All our money will be blown away in the wind. What else is there? What else can we try?

How about arts and culture? Again, we can hear the critics saying that Solomon is still thinking too small, he needs to sample the finer things of life. The real answer to lasting happiness is in pursuing and appreciating the higher pleasures of the arts and music! And so, in verse 8 he tests this pleasure as well. He says he got singers, choirs, professionals, the finest musicians money could buy.

Music can be a kind of drug to many people. Next time you are on a train, take notice of how many people have headphones on. And there is no doubt about it, music is a wonderful gift and something to be enjoyed. But of itself it, can it fill the longing of the human heart.

We always need more, don’t we? A new song might get stuck in our heads for a few days, but then it wears off. It doesn’t have the same effect any more. Yesterday’s favourite eventually becomes tiring to hear. We need new songs and new artists. You could pour a lifetime into music, both doing it and appreciating it. And then at last, as arthritis takes our fingers and our ears grow dull, the music would cease. No answers there.

Music is a carrier for a higher glory. A heavenly glory. We must tune our hearts to the delights found in God alone. Perhaps the psalms will help us, they are heavenly songs after all! We ought to pay attention when the Lord gives us a book of songs in his Word! Which other songs can boast divine inspiration? Here, then, is an application for us: start looking for ways to bring the psalms into your life. SDG.

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