Yet the Sea is not Full

The proposition of Solomon’s sermon is that a man cannot be truly happy if he only pursues worldly interests and pleasures and investments. He calls this, “life under the sun”. It is trying to find the meaning of life apart from God and His commandments. Solomon calls himself the Preacher because he himself has learned some lessons in life the hard way, and now that he is old, he would like to preach the truth of his own repentance of living a lifestyle of “life under the sun.” He begins the sermon by declaring his negative conclusion first. “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”