I Can’t Get No Satisfaction

by Rick Lanning

Ecclesiastes: Solomon’s Masterpiece

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones fame, both turned 80 years old this year. They have been singing rock-n-roll hits for 60 years. Back in 1972 Dick Cavett interviewed them on his TV show and asked them when they were 29 years old, “Do you think you can still be singing with that energy when you are 60?” Jagger replied instantly, “Yeah, easily!” Well, he not only kept rocking and rolling until he was 60, but is still going at 80. And what are they still singing? “I can’t no satisfaction… cause I try, and I try, and I try, and I try, I can’t get no satisfaction!”

While they might have acquired worldwide fame and incredible fortune, that song’s lyrics perfectly describe man’s pursuit of finding satisfaction in this “life under the sun.” Of course, those of you who know your Bible will recognize that I just described life on earth using Solomon’s description in Ecclesiastes. What seems at first glance a very pessimistic and gloomy portrait of life, is actually a powerful sermon from a powerful preacher (he calls himself “preacher” in the very first verse). You have to read it through (it’s only 12 short chapters) several times to see the light bulb come on as you discover the meaning of life. It’s one of my favorite books to teach sinners about the good news of Jesus Christ! Why? Without His resurrection, life has no purpose. It is all “vanity and vexation of spirit.” It was Bob Dylan who plagiarized Solomon when he sang, “Ah, but you might as well try and catch the wind.”

As you read Ecclesiastes, consider these words from C. S. Lewis in his classic book Mere Christianity.

“The longings which arise in us when we first fall in love, or first think of some foreign country, or first take up some subject that excites us, are longings which no marriage, no travel, no learning, can really satisfy. I am not now speaking of what would be ordinarily called unsuccessful marriages, or holidays, or learned careers. I am speaking of the best possible ones. There was something we grasped at, in that first moment of longing, which just fades away in the reality…”

Lewis then commented on two wrong ways of dealing with this truth. You can blame the things themselves for disappointing you, or you can become cynical and jaded and call the very desire itself foolish. But the Christian has a third way. This is how Lewis presents the Christian way of wrestling with these unfulfilled desires:

“Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire: well, there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing.”

With those words echoing in your mind, pick up Ecclesiastes and read it with chapter three, verse eleven, in mind: “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.”

Looking at life from the view of eternity you will come to see the astonishing beauty of a life given in pursuit of God and His glory. Solomon’s conclusion (Ecclesiastes 12:13) says it all:

“Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (ESV)
“… for this is man’s all” (NKJV);
“… for this applies to every person” (NASB);
“… for this is what life is all about” (CEV);
“… for this is all that we were created for” (GNT)

If God did indeed “put eternity in their hearts” – then it only makes sense that He created us to figure out by observation, then by application, that heaven-on-earth is a myth. Walt Disney’s “they-lived-happily-ever-after” is a fantasy; a child’s fairy tale. While it certainly fires the imagination, in the end, it only disappoints.

If octogenarian Mick Jagger could live to Methuselah’s 969 years he would still be singing “I can’t get no satisfaction.” Why? Because he’s still living the worn-out definition of insanity – “doing the same thing and expecting different results.”

• Just like his fellow musician, guitarist Eric Clapton said, “I was a millionaire. I had beautiful women in my life. I had cars, houses, etc. – and on a daily basis I wanted to commit suicide!”
• Just like actress Cameron Diaz said, “If you are looking for fame to define you, then you will never be happy. You will always be searching for happiness. You will never find it in fame.”
• Just like beautiful Halle Barry said, “Beauty? Let me tell you something. Being thought of as beautiful has spared me nothing in life. No heartache. No trouble. Love has been difficult. Beauty is essentially meaningless and transitory. I can’t believe what people do to themselves to look beautiful. They still have that hole in their soul.”
• Just like the famous Jim Carey said, “I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of, so they can see that it’s not the answer.”
• Just like handsome Brad Pitt said, “The emphasis now is on success and personal gain. I’m sitting in it and I’m telling you, that’s not it! I’m the guy who’s got everything, but once you’ve got everything, then you’re just left with yourself.”

On and on we could go, interviewing all of history’s rich and famous, only to sing along with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, “I can’t get no, satisfaction.”

Which directs us back to Solomon’s masterpiece, Ecclesiastes. I plead with you to take a mere half-hour of your time to find a solitary retreat and read aloud his life-changing Magnum Opus on where to find satisfaction. I’ve made it my go-to book to teach sinners their need for “the abundant life” found only in Jesus (John 10:10), and my go-to book to show prodigal sons their need to return to the Father (Luke 15:11-30).

God created us to find satisfaction (i.e. peace that passes understanding – Philippians 4:7). It is only in Him that I found it. I so badly want you to find it too.