Ecclesiastes is the record of a man’s search for meaning in life, and although he fails to find it you can learn to find deep joy as you reflect on what he learned. The fundamental truth that we’ve kept coming back to is that life doesn’t only exist “under the sun” – things you can see, and touch, and do. There’s a supernatural reality, an eternity in your heart, an awareness of God and ‘something else’ beyond what we can see. Something you can know.
And although that can sound a bit abstract, a bit airy-fairy, in truth when you find deep joy you are more likely to enjoy the simple things in life – and be prepared to face the very toughest, darkest days this life has to throw at you.
There’s a couple of things to think through before we come to it…
These notes accompany a sermon on YouTube delivered at Bromborough Evangelical Church in January 2026. You can find more in the series in our sermon index.
Trust God’s righteousness (8:12-14)
Remember that the bulk of the book is written by someone called The Teacher, with a Narrator giving us the opening and closing verses. The Narrator tells us that the Teacher thought that life was meaningless. But the Narrator also closes the book out with a message of hope and meaning (we’ll come to that next time).
The Teacher is still a wise man, and he begins our reading with some traditional wisdom: Read Ecc 8:12-13.
It was generally accepted that blessing from God would result in a long life, good crops, and many children. There are plenty of sayings in the book of Proverbs that encourage a good life so that you will enjoy God’s blessings of a long life, good crops, many children. Equally, there are sayings that wicked people won’t enjoy those things, but will suffer a shortened life, poverty, and family breakdowns.
And, generally speaking, it’s not hard to see how these things are true, by and large. As you look at the lives of those who live lives of crime, with family members in and out of prison, with theft and mistrust in every family – then the proverb rings true.
Proverbs and laws
But the thing with proverbs is that they’re only generally true. They’re principles, not fixed laws of human behaviour. And so the Teacher speaks out: Read Ecc 8:14.
Our problem is that we expect the general principle (the proverb) to be a fixed law. We ask, “What have I don’t to deserve this?”
Some religions build it into their thinking and call it Karma. Job’s friends certainly thought so. They thought that if good things come to good people, and bad things come to bad people, then Job must be bad. But God himself rejoiced that Job was someone who feared the LORD and turned away from evil. It’s true that sometimes good people don’t deserve what they get, while bad people don’t get what they do!
Death under the sun
All this stems from “under the sun” thinking:
- A sinner has an easy life, then dies.
- A righteous person has a hard life, then dies.
- It’s not fair, it seems to us.
But here’s the thing: Death is not the end of the story. Jesus’ resurrection proved that beyond all doubt. He died, he rose. He lives.
When you take into account all that Jesus did and taught, the situation changes:
- A sinner has an easy life, dies, and faces punishment.
- A righteous person has a hard life, dies, and goes to glory.
- That’s the truth that Jesus’ resurrection opens up for you.
So who are the righteous people? In truth, there aren’t any. So then how could God admit anyone to heaven if no-one deserves it? Could it be that he is unjust to allow sinners to heaven?
Romans 3:25 says God presented [Jesus] as the mercy seat by his blood, through faith, to demonstrate his [God’s] righteousness, because in his restraint God passed over the sins previously committed.
No-one gets what they deserve at the cross
No sin goes unpunished. God’s justice is satisfied by Jesus, Son of God, being punished in place of sinners like you. In truth, Ecc 8:14 is a good description of the cross. No-one gets what they deserve at the cross. Righteous Jesus deserved no punishment, being innocent. Sinner you deserve no forgiveness or grace, being guilty.
But that’s why Jesus came: To become sin, to be punished, so that you can be declared righteous before God. You might well ask, “What have I done to deserve that?!”
Nothing. He chose to love you. Turn from your sin, turn to him for forgiveness, and live.
Here’s why you can (and must):
Trust God’s revelation (8:15-17)
Read Ecc 8:15. Twice in one sentence he uses the phrase “under the sun.”
He can’t find meaning under the sun, so you might as well take what pleasure you can find under the sun. In fact, he says that nothing is better than to “eat, drink, and enjoy himself”. That means that that’s better than searching for meaning, he says – because that can’t be found anyway!
In fact, he thinks that searching for meaning is ultimately fruitless because God won’t speak up and tell you. Verses 16 & 17 record the Teacher’s failure to discern wisdom and meaning. Read Ecc 8:16-17.
He says he “observed all the work of God”. But did he?
God’s invisible qualities
What can you learn about God from looking at things under the sun?
Romans 1:20 speaks of God’s “invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature”. Creation does display God’s invisible qualities. His “eternal power” speaks of God as Creator, outside of time itself (because time is part of Creation). God’s “divine nature” is about his existence independent of his Creation; we depend on him, but he doesn’t depend on anything in Creation itself. He simply exists.
But that’s a good point to ask the Teacher to step back a bit. Since God is like that, isn’t it actually futile and arrogant to try to find meaning while limiting yourself to all you can see, touch, and do under the sun? Of course there is far more reality around us than you can see. You can’t see infra-red or ultraviolet light, there’s more dark matter in the universe than matter we can see, and there’s a supernatural reality beyond all that you can measure with scientific instruments or even imagine.
God speaks
But God is a God who speaks! He has given you supernatural revelations of himself. Here in the Bible, written by men carried along by the Holy Spirit of God – not making stuff up out of their own heads. And the centrepiece of it all is Jesus, the radiance of the Father’s glory and the exact representation of his being. If you know Jesus, you know the Father.
Why do some people read the Bible and know that it’s true, while others think it’s a fairy tale? The Holy Spirit who moved men to write it also opens up minds to understand it and to take it to heart.
The Teacher ignored Scripture and any form of revelation from God. It’s a fatal mistake.
God has spoken words of truth and light. Words that point you to Jesus, away from sin.
He has given you words to live by.
- When Jesus entered the desert to be tempted by Satan, he could have just rebuked him.
- But Jesus quoted Scripture – the Old Testament word of God – and shot Satan down with it.
- Satan even tried coming back by twisting the words of Scripture to suit his own ends, but Jesus again spoke truth back to him.
- The Word of God (the Bible) is a lamp to your feet to guide you. It’s a sword in your hand to help you resist evil and temptation.
Unforgivable sin
Beware the unforgivable sin that Jesus speaks of in Matthew 12:31-32. To know that all this is true, but then still to reject it, is a sin against the Holy Spirit – the one who has revealed it to you. How can you then be saved, if you reject the only truth that can save you?
Today, if you have never done so before, turn from your sin and pray to God for his forgiveness.
Trust God’s righteousness; trust his revelation, his promises: Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Even you. And then:
Find deep joy in Christ alone (9:7-12)
The Teacher says you’re to enjoy life because it’s better than the fruitless search for meaning.
So he spells a few things out on what to enjoy!
- Read Ecc 9:7. Don’t just eat and drink, but enjoy what you eat and drink. Since they’re gifts from God, God will find your pleasure acceptable.
- Read Ecc 9:8. In that hot climate, this is a description of someone dressed to get up, go out, and get on with the business of life (not sitting around at home).
- Read Ecc 9:9. Your life is meaningless (he says), but enjoy it anyway with the wife you love.
- These are all good things, clearly.
- So he concludes: Read Ecc 9:10.
- Seize the day! You only live once! You’re a long time dead!
And the bookshelves of Waterstones will have plenty of titles to help you do just these things. They are pleasures on the ‘surface’ of life.
The idea is simple: If you have enough surface pleasures in life, you can feel that you have a deep joy in life, a sound contentment, a perfect peace.
It’s worth noticing how all the Teacher’s examples are essentially selfish: You’re to enjoy yourself. Life is for taking. And yet the jobs that rank most highly for satisfaction are always, always those who invest in other people: Teachers, Clergy, Firefighters, Nurses, Counsellors, Paramedics.
But still society will tell you that life is for taking.
What you deserve?
You deserve the good life (whatever you think that is): It’s the life you deserve, or have worked for. The retirement you saved for, or hope for.
So again, the idea is simple: If you have enough surface pleasures in life, you can feel like you have a deep joy in life, a sound contentment, a perfect peace.
But the Teacher knows there’s a problem, and that’s why he’s under so much frustration and pain. Read Ecc 9:11-12.
That feeling of deep joy and contentment actually depends on those surface pleasures being there. But you can lose them. And then you lose your joy. All you’ve got then is the Teacher’s sense of injustice.
But what if you start with a joy so deep in your heart that removal of surface pleasures can’t touch it? What if you had a joy given to you, implanted deep in your heart by God himself, kept save by his unchanging promises? And what if that joy was secured by the Holy Spirit within you as a down-payment of glory to come? And all this wrapped up in your union with Christ the Son of God.
God puts joy in your heart
As you turn from sin and ask God to forgive, he will set that joy in you.
- The joy that you’re released from religious burden. Your salvation isn’t about your efforts or works – ever.
- He will give you the deep joy that all your sins are forgiven. Secret ones and known, deliberate and unintentional.
- In God’s own righteousness, you can have the joy of assurance and all your sins have been atoned for. There’s no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Can’t be.
- You have the joy of knowing that you’re not only saved from hell’s destruction, but you’re a cherished child of God. You’ll never be cast out, but will be loved forever.
- Today, you have the joy of knowing that Jesus himself has gone ahead to prepare a way for you, and a place for you.
And this joy has practical benefits:
- There’s a joy in serving and loving others, knowing that Jesus himself works through you to bless them.
- There’s a joy in obedience to Christ’s will, knowing that you’re doing the works he has prepared in advance for you to do.
- All that stems from the fact that you serve a living Saviour: As 1 Cor 15:58 reminds you, his resurrection means that your labour is never in vain, never futile or meaningless.
Find deep joy in everything
To come back to the Teacher’s pleasures:
- As a Christian you have joy that your food, home, family, job, skills and delights are all gifts from above, from your heavenly Father who loves you. That means that the ‘surface pleasures’ are all the more rich because they’re rooted in the joy of God in your heart (not the other way round).
- And this is important: You also have a joy that God is good and wise and knows what he’s doing when he takes some of those surface pleasures away, or allows evil to overtake you. You have a joy that doesn’t depend on surface pleasures; it nourishes those pleasures you do have.
And finally, when the threat of death for you or someone you love robs you of every surface pleasure, and all your world shrinks or halts, the joy of the Lord is your strength.
Be sure of this: You can find deep joy in Christ alone.