Solomon Was Wise, But Didn't Like Wisdom

Ecclesiastes is a sad tract, but a good example of the universal need for grace.  According to 1 Kings 3, Solomon asked for wisdom from the Lord and was rewarded handsomely for the request.  Unfortunately, in later years, he got involved in the worship of other gods, forbidden in Scripture.  His later years involved trouble and decline (1 Kings 11).  We believe that he wrote Ecclesiastes late in life, apparently realizing that for all the years of wonderful living with the Lord, he had wandered far away from his Creator and Sustainer and had regret.  He particularly seemed to regret wisdom (Ecclesiastes 2:13), but this was not the wisdom extolled in other parts of the Bible.  The wisdom criticized in Ecclesiastes is an exercise of careful, rational thought.  The wisdom of the Bible has reverence as its foundation.  The two are different, and apparently Saul had moved from the latter to the former, and later regretted it.  For all his wisdom and accomplishments, for all the piety of his early years, Solomon exemplified that humanity even at its best still needed grace, still needed the forgiveness gained by the blood of the Cross.  It also shows that even someone who has fallen away from the Lord, and stayed away for a long time, can still repent and still return.  For all its sadness, Ecclesiastes is still a book of wisdom as it gets the simple heart of a good life.