Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Psalter Hymnal # 486

Come, thou Fount of every blessing,Tune my heart to sing thy grace;Streams of mercy, never ceasing,Call for songs of loudest praise.Teach me some melodious sonnet,Sung by flaming tongues above.Praise the mount – I'm fixed upon it – Mount of God's redeeming love.

Oh, to grace how great a debtorDaily I'm constrained to be!Let thy grace Lord, like a fetter,Bind my wandering heart to Thee:Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,Prone to leave the God I love;Here's my heart, O take and seal it;Seal it for thy courts above.

God’s Greetings!

The Ten Commandments

Greetings of Friendship!

Opening PrayerConfession

Ecclesiastes 1:12 – 2:11

12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men! 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 15 What is twisted cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.

16 I thought to myself, "Look, I have grown

and increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge." 17 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind. 18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.

1 I thought in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good." But that also proved to be meaningless. 2 "Laughter," I said, "is foolish. And what does pleasure accomplish?" 3 I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.

4 I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. 5 I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. 8 I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces.

I acquired men and women singers, and a harem as well—the delights of the heart of man. 9 I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me. 10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure.

My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. 11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.

Where’s the beef?

“The words of the Teacher (Scholar or Philosopher), son of David, king in Jerusalem....I, the Teacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem”

I. THE UNIVERSITY.

Boston University

“I thought to myself, ‘Look, I have grown and increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.’ Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind. For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief” [1:16-18].

“Son there is something else to watch out for. There is no end to the writing of books, and too much study will wear you out” [Good News Bible Ecclesiastes 12:12]. “Study is a weariness of the flesh” [KJV 12:12].

Thomas Edison “at the time of his death had 2,500 notebooks filled with facts about the problems he was facing”

“We know 1/10th of 1% about nothing.”

II. ENTERTAINMENT.

“I thought in my heart, ‘Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good’” [2:1]

“’Laughter,’ I said, ‘is foolish. And what does pleasure accomplish’” [2:2]

“All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.”

III. HOUSE OF WINE.

“I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly--my mind still guiding me with wisdom.”

Charlie Sheenthe “proverbial toboggan ride to hell.”

IV. MID-EAST HAREM.

“Men and women sang to me, and I had all the women a man could want.”

“I found something more bitter than death, woman” [7:26]

Mick Jagger“I can’t get no, satisfaction!”

V. THE PLEASURE PALACE.

Oprah’s Home

“I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house.

I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces....I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. I denied myself nothing my eyes desired...My heart took delight in all my work....”

“Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun” [2:11]

Life “under the sun” [10x] refers to horizontal, earthbound, secular life without God.

It’s like “chasing after the wind” [29x] i.e., making a mad dash to grab for the gusto and ending up with a fistful of nothingness.

Life becomes Hebel [Ecclesiastes’motto, 35x] i.e., meaningless, empty,totally futile [1:2; 12:8]

Hebel (=Meaningless) is a puff of air.

“You are a puff of air that appears for a little while and then vanishes” [James 4:14]

“We hang very heavy weights on very thin wires.”

“The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy” Jesus said, “I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly” [John 10:10]

Benediction

Better Is One DayWords & Music by Matt RedmanUsed by permission CCLI 242991

How lovely is Your dwelling placeO Lord AlmightyFor my soul longs and even faints for YouFor here my heart is satisfiedWithin Your presenceI sing beneath the shadow of Your wings

Better is one day in Your courtsBetter is one day in Your houseBetter is one day in Your courtsThan thousands elsewhereBetter is one day in Your courtsBetter is one day in Your houseBetter is one day in Your courtsThan thousands elsewhereThan thousands elsewhere

One thing I ask and I would seekTo see Your beautyTo find You in the placeYour glory dwellsOne thing I ask and I would seekTo see Your beautyTo find You in the placeYour glory dwells

Better is one day in Your courtsBetter is one day in Your houseBetter is one day in Your courtsThan thousands elsewhereBetter is one day in Your courtsBetter is one day in Your houseBetter is one day in Your courtsThan thousands elsewhereThan thousands elsewhere

Have a Great Week!