Ecclesiastes 2:4 I made me great works; I built me houses; I planted me vineyards. 5 I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits. 6 I made me pools of water. 11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.
The joy of life comes not in the abundance of material things, but in the service of God and of our fellowmen. What is of great interest is that Abraham was also a very prosperous man, but he never experienced the lack of fullfillment that Solomon suffered. So, what’s the difference? Solomon used wealth to please and build up self, but Abraham used wealth to build up God’s kingdom.
And that is what will make the huge difference between the two schools of thought. Solomon used God’s riches to foster the principle of pleasure, while Abraham used wealth to foster the principle of service, and anyone who God prospers, who follows in Abraham’s footsteps will never come to that lowest point in life where they become suicidal because of prosperity.
Solomon in contrast, started to gradually trust to his own wisdom, and every departure from God’s word and His instructions, caused him to become more entangled in the snare of self-indulgence. God had given written instructions on how any king of Israel should comport himself, so that the prosperity and wealth incident to power would not ensnare him.
Jeremiah 17:5 Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. 6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
May God add His blessing to the study of His word. “Good night” and God bless!