The Vanity of Worldly Things

Where it surfaces

• Book I: On Select Texts of Scripture

  Worldly comforts and achievements are depicted as fleeting and ultimately unsatisfying, while the Lord is the eternal portion.

• Walking with God

  The speaker acknowledges that the world cannot fill the spiritual void left by the loss of God's presence, highlighting the emptiness of worldly pursuits.

• 5: Lot in Sodom

  Lot's choice of a fruitful spot led to loss and distress, illustrating the emptiness of worldly prosperity.

• Esau

  The world's pleasures are compared to a morsel of meat, fleeting and unable to profit the soul at death.

• Manna

  The attempt to store manna results in corruption, showing the futility of hoarding earthly provisions.

• Balaam's Wish

  Balaam's love for unrighteous gain and his attempt to serve both God and Mammon illustrate the emptiness of worldly pursuits.

• None Upon Earth I Desire Besides Thee

  The poem contrasts the fleeting pleasures of nature and earthly comforts with the enduring joy of Christ's presence.

• Vanity of Life

  The poem explicitly laments the emptiness of earthly pleasures and the inevitable loss of health, wealth, and wisdom, echoing the biblical declaration that all is vanity.

• Vanity of the World

  The poem directly addresses the fleeting and deceptive nature of worldly wealth, esteem, and amusements, warning that they lead to ruin.

• Vanity of the Creature Sanctified

  The poem emphasizes that all earthly comforts are entwined with vanity and grief, and that sin has caused this condition.

• The Trust of the Wicked and the Righteous Compared

  The wicked trust in the world, which is described as vanity and dust, leading to a cursed and fruitless existence.

• The Gourd

  The gourd, a symbol of earthly comfort, is shown to be transient and capable of becoming an idol that hides God.

• Martha and Mary

  Martha's preoccupation with many tasks is contrasted with the single needful thing, suggesting that worldly cares are ultimately trivial.

• The Worldling

  The poem exposes the folly of trusting in earthly wealth and ease, which are fleeting and cannot secure the soul.

• The Rich Man and Lazarus

  The rich man's wealth and luxury are shown to be fleeting and ultimately worthless, as he ends in torment while the beggar finds bliss.

• I: Seasons

  The hymns emphasize the fleeting nature of earthly life, comparing it to grass, a dream, and a rapid stream, and warn against trusting in temporal comforts.

• New Year's Hymns

  The hymns emphasize that earthly life is fleeting and that worldly pursuits are ultimately meaningless, as seen in lines like 'All below is but a dream' and 'Earthly comforts lose their power.'

• Time How Swift

  Life is described as a dream and all below is fleeting.

• Time How Short

  The poem contrasts earthly comforts—honour, riches, kindred, friends—with their inability to support a dying hour.

• Uncertainty of Life

  Life is depicted as a battlefield where many fall, emphasizing the fleeting nature of earthly existence.

• Earthly Prospects Deceitful

  The chapter emphasizes that earthly prospects are deceitful and that all human plans and joys are fleeting, like dreams that leave no trace.

• After Sermons to Young People on New-Year’s Evenings, Suited to the Subjects

  The poems repeatedly stress the fleeting nature of life, comparing humans to grass and flowers that quickly fade, urging readers not to trust in earthly things.

• Hay-Time

  The grass and flowers, though green and gay, are cut down and fade, illustrating the fleeting nature of earthly life and the folly of trusting in it.

• II: Ordinances

  The chapter contrasts the enduring value of spiritual blessings with the fleeting and insufficient nature of worldly wealth and pleasures.

• A Famine of the Word

  The poem contrasts material wealth with spiritual nourishment, asserting that gold cannot compensate for the loss of the gospel.

• It Is Good to Be Here

  The speaker bids farewell to the world, declaring its gold to be dross in light of the cross.

• The Word More Precious Than Gold

  The poem contrasts the believer's contentment in Scripture with the miser's futile love of gold, declaring the believer truly rich.

• The Day of the Lord

  The hymn declares that all human pomp, arts, and treasures will perish in the common fire, emphasizing the fleeting nature of earthly achievements.

• IV: Creation

  The world is a painted cheat, and worldly pleasures are like a shipwreck; only trust in Jesus saves.

• The Book of Creation

  Human wisdom and philosophical inquiry are shown as vain, unable to attain the true knowledge that God reveals to the humble.

• The Spider and Bee

  The spider's cobweb represents vain refuges of lies, contrasting with the true honey of spiritual nourishment.

• For a Garden-Seat or Summer-House

  The garden seat offers only temporary shelter, but true peace is found in Christ, contrasting earthly comforts with eternal security.

• On Dreaming

  Life is compared to a dream, emphasizing its transient and insubstantial nature.

• The World

  The world is depicted as a painted cheat and a faithless sea, leading to ruin for those who trust it.

• The Enchantment Dissolved

  The world's promises are shown to be a fleeting illusion, a wilderness once the charm is broken.

• We Were Once as You Are

  The chapter argues that worldly treasure and pleasure cannot provide true peace, comparing the attempt to find contentment in sin to trying to quench a fire with fuel.

• V: Dedication and Surrender

  Earthly pleasures and fame are dismissed as trifles and a waking dream compared to knowing Christ.

• Old Things Are Passed Away

  The poem contrasts the fleeting pleasures of the world with the enduring satisfaction found in Christ.

• The Power of Grace

  The speaker explicitly rejects worldly fame and wealth as 'a waking dream' in light of Christ.

• My Soul Thirsteth for God

  The speaker renounces earthly delights and worldly pleasures, having been weaned from them by the cross.

• True Happiness

  The poem contrasts the worthlessness of earthly objects and kingdoms with the surpassing value of Christ's love.

• Cautions

  The narrow way contrasts with the world's broad path, and earthly joys are fleeting compared to eternal glory.

• The Narrow Way

  The speaker rejects fading joys and earthly delights, seeing them as thorns and thistles.

• Are There Few That Shall Be Saved?

  The poem contrasts the broad, popular way of sin with the narrow, difficult way to God, showing that worldly approval is no guarantee of salvation.

• Habakkuk 3:17–18

  Earthly comforts and crops are transient, but the Lord remains the same.