What the Teacher Found
Open Your Bible
Ecclesiastes 7:23-29, 1 Kings 11:1-10, Isaiah 53:6, Romans 11:33-35
BY Erin Davis
I thought I knew him. We spent our whole childhoods in the same one-stoplight town. I recognized his momma, knew what sports he played and what kind of music he listened to, but as I glance back in life’s rearview mirror it’s clear to me: I didn’t know a thing.
It’s taken twenty years of marriage to discover all I didn’t know; things like how he likes his eggs cooked, how his lips turn when he’s sad, and what keeps him awake with worry in the wee hours of the morning. Time and commitment have pressed our knowing past the surface, down into the deepest crevices of our hearts.
Solomon’s quest for knowledge about God was unmatched. With his jaw set and fists clenched, it seems he resolved to be wise. He stacked one fact about God on top of the next, yet a heart of wisdom seemed just out of reach (Ecclesiastes 7:27–28).
In the end, Solomon’s quest to know about God ended in cynicism (v.29) and sin (1 Kings 11:4). In contrast, history remembers Solomon’s father King David as a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22). While Solomon sought to understand the ways of God, David sought to know the heart of God. The difference in their lives couldn’t have been more stark.
Solomon considered knowing God and bemoaned, “What exists is beyond reach and very deep. Who can discover it?” (Ecclesiastes 7:24). His father, however, marveled, “LORD, you have searched me and known me… Your works are wondrous, I know this very well ” (Psalm 139:1,14). Solomon’s wisdom, it seems, stayed on the surface, while David’s was pressed down into the deepest crevices of his heart.
For all the hours he spent searching and all the ink he spilled teaching, Solomon isn’t the poster child for wisdom. Not really. Instead, he shows us clearly that there’s a difference between knowing about God and actually experiencing Him in relationship, for Solomon’s head knowledge didn’t lead to lasting heart transformation.
How do we avoid Solomon’s mistake, accumulating facts about God like dusty books unread on the shelf? How can we guard against studying wisdom while acting like a fool? We remember this: Wisdom isn’t an item to collect but a Person to be cherished.
86 thoughts on "What the Teacher Found"
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I need to remember the last line of the devotional: wisdom isn’t something to know & collect, it is a Person to be cherished, loved, talked to, listened to, spend time with.
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Amen, God is the only one who satisfies the longing heart. We can try to fill our hearts with other things, but truly nothing will ever satisfy. We need to be close to Him, continually depending upon Him all throughout our day.
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I’m on this devotional a couple of days late, but the timing is still perfect… Today’s sermon talked a bit about John 15 and the concept of abiding and “living” with God versus visiting God. When we live somewhere and then travel somewhere else, and stay at a hotel for instance, we don’t tell people we live at the hotel. In the same way, where do we abide and live? Do our hearts, minds and spirits constantly rest and abide in Him or do we simply visit Him while in crisis, need prayers, or on Sundays at church? This is what our church talked about today and I found it so profound. And it syncs well with today’s teaching.
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Amen. Knowing God is by living for Him, communicating with Him (not just having a form of godliness 2 Tim. 3:5) and talking “about” Him. We need to know Him in His fullness. And it takes faith and prayer.
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Dearest KIRSTYN: I pray for strength and wisdom as you confront the sad news of Colton’s Trisomy 18. I pray the Lord give you comfort and help you break thus news to your 6 other kids. God is in the miracle business still, and he will do a work in all of your hearts with Colton’s life! Know we are all praying for you!
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Solomon couldn’t find comfort no matter how many arms he lay in. He couldn’t find omniscience no matter how hard he searched. There is only one Comforter, one who is omniscient. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Covering you all in prayer today. -
What an incredible reflection ❤️
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Wow!!! Was really struggling to pull nuggets out of this days reading in Ecclesiastes but then I read the devotion-So powerful and eye opening . What a blessing
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