Luke 12:19 Commentary and Bible Study

That word ‘merry’ means at ease, satisfied. Let your mind rest, as the Greek implies. ‘Merry’ perhaps conjures up pictures of music and jollity and so on, whereas the Greek more has in mind, be at rest, be content, be happy and at peace – completely selfish thoughts. His thoughts are not only selfish, but they are very possessive and conceited. ‘I will say to my soul, soul thou hast much goods laid up for many years, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.’ ‘Be happy, be at peace? Is that all you want? Are much goods going to do that for you? You cannot be that naïve, surely.’ Yes, his thoughts are very limited. He speaks to his soul, and, as he speaks, he shows us that as far as he is concerned, by ‘soul’ he means ‘well-being’. ‘I will speak to my inner desire for well-being and I will say, “Ah, now this is going to satisfy me. I am now going to reach a sort of pinnacle of wealth, and at that point I am really going to be satisfied and happy.”’ You see what he is doing, this poor man? He has shrunk down the requirements of his soul. He used his shrewdness and he stored his grain. You can see what he is doing. If he had a good harvest, then presumably other farmers also had good harvests. Well he doesn't want to sell his grain that year, because when there's a full harvest the price goes down. So he feels it is much wiser to invest in new barns, pulling down the old ones, and putting up bigger ones up. Within the next three or four years there would be a couple of very bad harvests, and then he could sell that grain out at a vast profit, so it was worth storing.