In Ecclesiastes, chapter two, verses eighteen through twenty-three, human labor, if not dedicated to God, has no permanent value. Even what’s left of one’s possessions after death may be squandered foolishly by someone else. Solomon begins in the opening theme verse, “Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me.” Proverbs twenty-three, verse four, declares, “Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.” Those who are godly or ungodly and do not seek direction from the Lord may lead themselves down the wrong path of living, instead of the right one, without God.
“I hated all my labour” is the theme title. Why did Solomon say this? Later in his life, his actions caused him to do wrong in the sight of God. The accumulation of wealth tempted Solomon to encounter all kinds of women whom he married and sacrificed to other gods in his latter years. “But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition, as in First Timothy six, verse nine. At the beginning of verse nineteen, “And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool?” Solomon asks this question.
Look what the wealth did to Solomon? Before this occurrence, he asked the Lord for wisdom and received and depended on Him in all his decision-making. The wealth and wisdom he received caused him not to continue in dependence upon God, but to rely on himself. In Colossians three, verse twenty-three, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men. All believers must regard labour as service to God, as our employer.