• Download Video
• Download Audio
• Print
• Email
• Save As PDF

"There is nothing new under the sun"

Text: Ecclesiastes 1:9

FEELINGS OF LISTLESSNESS

Feelings are hard to understand and harder to control. Feelings of listlessness are even more complex to master.

“That which has been is what will be,
That which is done is what will be done,
And there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there anything of which it may be said,
‘See, this is new’?
It has already been in ancient times before us.”
Ecclesiastes 1:9-10

1. Feelings of Listlessness

a) One may feel unsettled in both heart and mind.

b) There is a sense of boredom.

c) Frustration threatens to set in.

d) There is no sense of wonder or excitement with reference to life.

2. Expressions of listlessness

a) “That which has been is what will be”

i) The past will become the future.

ii) It is almost a sense of fatalism.

iii) It seems as if one cannot change things at all.

b) “And there is nothing new under the sun”

i) A terrible sense of boredom sets in.

ii) There seems to be nothing new to “discover.”

c) “Is there anything of which it may be said, ‘See, this is new’?”

i) There is a terrible feeling of jadedness.

ii) There is nothing to look forward to.

d) “It has already been in ancient times before us”

i) For a moment, someone says, “This is new!”

ii) But on further checking, the thing that is supposed to be “new”, was already in existence in ancient days.

THE DANGER THAT LISTLESSNESS POSES

1. Some live in a very resigned manner.

2. Others may become thrill-seekers, even putting their life in danger.

3. Still others may conclude that life is not worth living.