The sun also rises, and the sun goes down,
And hastens to the place where it arose.

  - Ecclesiastes 1.5

For the sun is that which we see rising daily at His command, but it will never reign, nor will its splendour last forever. And all those who worship it will be subject to grievous punishment. We, however, worship the true sun, Christ, who will never perish. Nor will those who do His bidding.

  - Patrick, Confession, Irish, 5^th century

Solomon’s quest for wisdom was a “burdensome task” (Eccl. 1.13). To gain the wisdom God had promised, he applied himself diligently to careful observation of the creation around him. Read his Proverbs to see how many situations, people, and creatures he observed, and what he learned from them of wisdom.

But self-interest led him to turn away from God, and as he did, the patterns of creation no longer yielded wisdom. He turned from seeing life “under the heavens” to indulging it “under the sun.” Thus Solomon sought the things of creation as ends in themselves; and they yielded, rather than wisdom, only vanity, as he wrote in Ecclesiastes.

Modern, secular people don’t worship the sun like the Celts of ancient Ireland. They do, however, trust wholeheartedly in what it represents – order, predictability, and life for another day. They set their watches by the sun, manage their lives by the sun, rejoice when the sun shines on Sunday so they can hurry off to their several diversions, and are happy at the tan the sun obligingly provides.

Under the sun’s reliable course, people indulge all manner of material possessions and sensual experiences, which they hope to enjoy for as long as the sun will shine. A day is coming, as Robert Jastrow supposes, when our sun will die, and everything will become cold and dead. But until then, the people of our day pursue their lives under the sun with all the gusto they can muster, to gain whatever benefits and advantages they can.

The earth’s course around the sun, and its revolutions in relation to it, are symbolic of everything our modern generation holds dear – a stable world that gives pleasure, predictably. In a song from The Sound of Music, which was omitted from the film version, a friend of the captain celebrates his narcissistic approaph to life by seeing himself as the center of the universe and the object of the sun’s existence:

Thus every star and every whirling planet
And every constellation in the sky
Revovles around the center of the universe,
That lovely thing called “I.”

And that’s a pretty good summation of how many in our contemporary “under the sun” generation understand their own lives.

But truly a day is coming when He Who rules the sun will cast it from the sky, and it will be no more. What then for all those who have trusted in materialistic, mechanical, impersonal processes rather than the God of grace?

“Vanity of vanities” won’t cover the depths of fear and terror that will grip them when they are confronted with the face of Him Whose blessings they enjoyed without gratitude, Whose invitations they scorned, Whose sacrifice they despised, and from Whose ways and wisdom they picked and chose as they liked, without a shred of thankfulness.

And what of us on that day? Will those condemned by the Son of God look to us in horror, wondering why we never warned them, never urged them to seek higher aspirations, never showed or told them about the Son of Love?

Each day we remain silent before our modern sun-worshipers, failing to show and speak to them of the true Son on high, we add to their misery and wrap ourselves in wood, hay, and stubble.

We need revival, friends. We need God to quicken our hearts and open our eyes to the sad lives and vain pursuits of our lost neighbors. For only as we are revived like Patrick was, will we bask in the true Light of the Son of God, and, filled with His radiant love, beam grace and hope to the sun-worshipers of our day.

Pray that God will revive His Church and renew our mission to this materialistic and narcissistic age, that awakening may result all over the world.

Psalm 149 (Toulon: I Greet Thee Who My Sure Redeemer Art)
Sing to the Lord a glorious song and new!
Praise Him you people, to Whom praise is due!
Let us rejoice, let us be glad in Him
Who has created us and cleansed our sin.

Praise Him with dance, with tambourine and lyre!
To be so praised is God’s one great desire.
Lord, beautify Your holy ones with grace;
Show us the mercy of Your saving face.

Sing to the Lord, exult with great delight!
Sing on your beds with joy to God by night!
Sing praise and take His Word into your hand;
Publish His grace and wrath in every land!

Lord, give me boldness to speak of the true S0n to those who know Him not.

Pray for Revival!
Our book, Restore Us!, explains the importance of praying daily for revival, and shows you how to begin praying daily, and then to enlist others to join you. Also included are 12 psalms you can use to seek the Lord for revival using His own words. Order your copy by clicking here.

Your gifts help to support this ministry. God supplies our needs, and He may be pleased to do so, at least in part, through you. Please seek Him in prayer concerning this matter. You can use the Contribute button at the website to give with a credit card or through PayPal, or you can send your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 19 Tyler Drive, Essex Junction VT 05452.          

T. M. Moore
Principal
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

All psalms for singing from The Ailbe Psalter. Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.