All of us have heard these clichés and others like them at one point or another. We may even have them on our refrigerator, or framed on our wall at home. They are wise words. However, if we are being honest, sometimes they can just feel like words.

For King Solomon, the author of Ecclesiastes, these are more than just words, but truths that he has lived, and failed to live. Solomon looks back on a life of failed experiments. He has tried it all, and fallen short at his attempts to find meaning and happiness. Solomon’s wealth allotted him the opportunity to drink the finest wines, eat the choicest of foods, wear the rarest of jewels, and experience the heights of culture in his day. In the winter years of his life, King Solomon looks back on his life and declares all his accomplishments and acquisitions meaningless.