Vanity
King Solomon wrote the Book of Ecclesiastes as a testament to the emptiness of worldly satisfaction. He sought it in wealth, sex, partying, entertainment, and intellectual pursuits. None of these things brought him the peace and rest of soul he was looking for. In the end, he called it all “vanity.” Vanity is emptiness. It is that which is void of ultimate meaning and purpose.
In Psalm 24 David uses the word “vanity” as well. The English Standard Version translates it as “what is false.” Other versions use the word “vanity.” It is a part of the list of traits that disqualify a person from ascending the holy hill. The person who ascends, who draws close to God, and, therefore, receives a blessing from the Lord, does not “lift up his soul to vanity.”
What does it mean to lift up your soul to vanity? Lifting up your soul is speaking of putting your mind and affections on something. It is an internal attitude that a person forms that then directs their outward actions. It is speaking about desires or longings of the heart.
The surest way to keep yourself distant from the Lord and absent his blessings is to set your affections on things of this earth. This idea carries over into the teachings of Jesus. He said that we are to “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness,” and then, “all these things would be added unto us.” We are to “set our affections on things above, not on things on earth.”
