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In Psalm 39:4-6 David realized the nothingness and vanity of his life:
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In this psalm David was brought by God to realize that he was nothing and vanity; he learned that every man at his best is altogether vanity—v. 5.
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Our realizing that our condition is sinful (Psa. 38) and that our situation is one of vanity opens the way for Christ to crucify us and enter into us to replace us by living Himself through us and causing us to live together with Him in an organic union, as expressed by Paul in Galatians 2:20.
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Man was created by God with the highest and most noble purpose, that is, to express God in His image with His divine life and nature—Gen. 1:26:
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God’s enemy, Satan, the devil, came in to inject himself as sin into the man created by God for His purpose—3:1-6; Rom. 5:18; 3:23; 1 John 3:4.
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Through this fall of man, man and all the created things that had been committed by God to his dominion were made subject to vanity (Rom. 8:20-21); thus, human life in the corrupted world also became vanity.
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The way for us to escape this vanity is to come back to God and take God in Christ as redemption, life, wealth, enjoyment, pleasure, and satisfaction so that we may still be used by God to fulfill His original purpose in creating man for the fulfillment of His eternal economy—Eccl. 12:13-14.
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Although the human life in the corrupted world is a vanity, a chasing after wind, we need to realize that God has put eternity in man’s heart—3:11:
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“Eternity” in Ecclesiastes 3:11 is “a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy” (The Amplified Bible).
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God created man in His image and formed in him a spirit so that man may receive and contain Him and have a heart that seeks God Himself so that God can be man’s satisfaction—Gen. 1:26; 2:7; Zech. 12:1.
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Although man fell away from God, and sin through Satan came in to frustrate man from receiving God for his satisfaction, the desire for God, the seeking for God, still remains in man’s heart—Eccl. 3:11.
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Temporal things can never satisfy man; only the eternal God, who is Christ, can satisfy the deep sense of purpose in man’s heart—cf. 2 Cor. 4:18.
Morning Nourishment
Eccl. 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its own time; also He has put eternity in their heart…2 Cor. 4:18 Because we do not regard the things which are seen but the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
God…has put eternity (an aspiration for the things in eternity) in man’s heart…(Eccl. 3:11). In His creation of man, God put something into man which Solomon called “eternity.” This means that in man there is a kind of aspiration for God, an aspiration for something eternal. Physical things may be enjoyable, but they are temporal.
Many successful people can testify that when they were endeavoring to advance in their career, they sensed that there was an emptiness within them. They began to realize that they were seeking something eternal. After they gained something they wanted, they felt that it was nothing. This feeling comes from the aspiration in man’s heart for something eternal.
According to our own experience, we know that whenever we have a success in our human life, we also have an empty feeling. This indicates that within man there is an aspiration for eternal things. God has put such an aspiration, such a seeking, in man’s heart so that he will seek God. Every person, especially every thoughtful person, has within him this longing and seeking for eternity. (Life-study of Ecclesiastes, pp. 5-6)
Today’s Reading
God created man in His image and with a human spirit for man to receive and contain Him. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God put eternity in man’s heart. The things in this universe are mainly of two categories: temporal things and eternal things. In 2 Corinthians 4:18 Paul says, “We do not regard the things which are seen but the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” This verse is the proper explanation of Solomon’s word in Ecclesiastes 3:11. The wise king said that God created everything beautiful in its own time and also put eternity in man’s heart. This matches our human experience. Regardless of how rich or successful a person becomes, he still feels empty. Man has a deep desire for permanent things, and the only things that are permanent are the eternal things. The Amplified Bible says that eternity in man’s heart is “a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun, but only God, can satisfy.” We have a sense of a purpose, which nothing can satisfy but God. Only God can satisfy the sense of purpose in our heart.In God’s creation of man there are three striking things: His image, our human spirit to receive Him, and a divinely implanted sense of a purpose in our hearts working through the ages, which nothing under the sun, but only God, can satisfy. The romance depicted in Song of Songs does not start from the Lord but from the seeker. A person becomes such a seeker because within him there is a sense of purpose to seek something eternal. Nothing can fulfill or satisfy this sense of purpose but God Himself, who is Christ. Many people would think that we are wasting our time, but actually, we are redeeming the time. Those who pursue temporary things are wasting their time. They are busy for nothing. Anything they are busy for is temporary, not eternal. Only One in the whole universe is eternal—the eternal God. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 3, “The God-man Living,” pp. 444-445)
David said that man goes about as a semblance, an empty show, and that people are bustling about in vain [Psa. 39:6].
God wants us to be nothing. God wants us to be replaced by Christ…. I have an organic union with Him. He lives and works, and I live and work with Him. Christ replaces me to live Himself through me. (Life-study of the Psalms, pp. 218-219)
Further Reading: Life-study of the Psalms, msg. 17; CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 3, “The God-man Living,” ch. 1