King Solomon scaled the heights of human existence and Job plumbed its depths. Solomon had everything – fame and fortune, wisdom and knowledge, pleasure and mirth. Poor old Job lost everything – his wealth, his family, his health.
Time flies when you’re having fun and, fittingly, the Book of Ecclesiastes, which details Solomon’s fast life, is rather short. In contrast, suffering and depression feel never-ending and, fittingly, the Book of Job is very long. Solomon and Job questioned the meaning of life from opposite poles of existence yet both came to the same conclusion – “Fear God and keep His commandments” for everything else is “vanity and grasping for the wind”. By the way, “fear” in this context refers to the reverent awe that we hold for something or someone that is above and beyond our experience or our full understanding.
“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes chapter 12)