This article was first published on the 14th of April, 2020 by Patrick Carpen.
Last updated: April 15, 2020 at 15:21 pm
Solomon, the biblical King of Jerusalem was successor to the throne after his father King David. When Solomon was born, it was said of him, “The Lord loved the boy.”
In a dream, God asked Solomon what he wanted, and he asked for wisdom to rule the people. God gave him wisdom more than any man that came before him, and many other gifts. But ironically, Solomon wrote, “as wisdom increases, so does sorrow.” – Ecclesiastes 1: 18.
Studying the book of Essecliastes, one might wonder whether King Solomon had, toward the end of his days, suffered from some form of depression. He wrote, “vanity of vanities, all is vanity, and a chasing after the wind.” This starkly contrasted with the prayers of David, his father, who continually praised God for all His good works on the face of earth.
Towards the end of his days, Solomon strayed from the ways of God, and went after foreign gods which caused the fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
In soaring, piercing, fiery prose, David and his son Solomon seems to wage spiritual warfare.
David
Then people go out to their work, to their labor until evening. How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; (Psalms 104: 23, 24)
Solomon
What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind! I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind. (Ecclesiastes 1: 13 – 14)