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"I turned my heart and despaired"

Text: Ecclesiastes 2:20

A NEGATIVE HEART

Solomon struggled with the negative feelings that seemed to threaten to engulf him.

“Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all
the labour in which I had toiled under the sun.
For there is a man whose labour is with wisdom, knowledge, and skill;
yet he must leave his heritage to a man who has not laboured for it.
This also is vanity and a great evil.”
Ecclesiastes 2:20-21

1. “Therefore I turned my heart”

a) Where once he felt full of hope and life.

b) His heart was now turned.

c) Different negative feelings sought to overwhelm him.

2. The feeling of despair

a) Solomon confessed this openly

b) His labour brought on a sense of despair

c) All the labour and toil put in may be in vain

3. The feeling of vanity

a) This was what he felt at the beginning Ecclesiastes 1:2

b) He could not shrug it off

c) In fact, the feeling that all is vanity became even more pronounced

4. The feeling of “great evil”

a) This was worse than a feeling of vanity

b) The sense of “a great evil” just made his negative feelings even more intense

i) This sense of “evil” is hard to clearly describe

ii) It was more than a feeling of despair

iii) It just felt “evil” but it could not be defined more precisely

5. Reviewing a successful life-long work

a) This was not just Solomon’s work

b) Any successful person would agree with what Solomon had noted

6. Success has three important features

a) It is done with wisdom

b) It is accomplished with knowledge

c) Skill was involved

7. Leaving it all behind

a) To a person who has not laboured as hard

b) To an heir who may not possess the things that would ensure good success

This thought brought in a great sense of sorrowful despair.