Ecclesiastes 1:16-18

¹⁸ For in much wisdom is much grief, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

1 Kings 4:29-31 says that King Solomon was the wisest of all men. He also had all the power and material resources to pursue his quest for answers to the dilemma of life “under the sun.” No person, humanly speaking, has ever been more qualified for this pursuit. Therefore, we should take his conclusion to heart, “Fear God, and keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Yet while we man not have Solomon’s wisdom, we do have an advantage that he lacked. Believers today, unlike Solomon, have the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, which enables us to live in the fear of God, keeping His commandments (Romans 8:3-11; 2 Corinthians 1:22). — Grace, page 1168.

I communed with my heart (v.16) — I said to myself …

wisdom (v.16) = applying knowledge to life

knowledge (v.16) = the acquisition of facts

The fledgling student is apt to think that the gaining of earthly wisdom and knowledge will lead to a true sense of inner satisfaction. The Preacher says not. The heart here represents the seat of the intellectual faculties. Knowledge in the mind of a man cannot make the crooked world straight. In fact, great knowledge, when placed against the background of this world’s crookedness, becomes a source of great sorrow and pain. the more we know the more we realize we need to know. — KJV Commentary, page 738.

I set my heart (v.17) — I applied myself, I determined

to know madness and folly (v.17) — I think what Solomon was saying here is that he determined to understand madness and folly so as to be able to distinguish them from wisdom—to be able to identify whether something was wisdom or folly. But even that is grasping at the wind.

madness (v.17) = confusion of thought, the opposite of wisdom

folly (v.17) = vice and wickedness, the opposite of godliness

grief (v.18) = unhappiness about the present conditions/circumstances, vexation, even anger

Wisdom leads to the knowledge of how much we still don’t know and also to the knowledge of how much foolishness there is in ourselves and in the world.