The Grief of Wisdom

Ecclesiastes 1:12  I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
Ecclesiastes 1:13  And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.
Ecclesiastes 1:14  I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
Ecclesiastes 1:15  That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.
Ecclesiastes 1:16  I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.
Ecclesiastes 1:17  And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.
Ecclesiastes 1:18  For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.

Verse 12 identifies whom the speaker of this passage is, it is King Solomon.  The wisest man to ever live according to God's Word.  King Solomon had given his heart to seek and search out by wisdom, the things done under heaven.  He understood how hard and grievous the task was before him.  The king declares that he had seen all of the works done under the sun and he had.  There was nothing withheld from King Solomon, not only was he the wisest man in the world, but also the richest.  He could buy anything that he wanted with his vast wealth.  He recognized some important truths about life.  No matter how much wisdom or wealth he possessed, he couldn't straighten out the crooked.  The needs that he saw around him were without number.  The king knew wisdom, but he also allowed himself to experience madness and folly.  He discovered that madness and folly were vexation of spirit.  They did nothing to fulfill his spirit, but they vexed his spirit through their futility.  King Solomon learned that in much wisdom their is grief.  God had blessed him with great wisdom, but with the wisdom had come great sorrow as he could see needs all round him that he couldn't fulfill.

When we look around us today, we may be tempted to simply give up.  On every hand we see hearts growing cold toward the things of God.  We see people flaunting their sin and living unrepentant lifestyles.  To be perfectly honest, we can't help everyone, the task is truly impossible, but we can pray for everyone.  We can help those that we can by sharing the glorious Gospel of Christ with them.  The ones we simply can't reach, we can pray for.  We can pray that God will send someone along their path to meet their need.  When we get frustrated at our inability, then it's time to rely wholly on God's ability.