Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. 2 Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few. 3 For a dream comes with much business, and a fool's voice with many words.
4 When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. 5 It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. 6 Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? 7 For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity; but God is the one you must fear.
The Vanity of Wealth and Honor
8 If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness, do not be amazed at the matter, for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them. 9 But this is gain for a land in every way: a king committed to cultivated fields.
10 He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. 11 When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? 12 Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep.
13 There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, 14 and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand. 15 As he came from his mother's womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand. 16 This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and what gain is there to him who toils for the wind? 17 Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger.
18 Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. 19 Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God. 20 For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart. Ecclesiastes 5 ESV
Ecclesiastes 5
1-3 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God - Consider your way, Who is this God, what does He mean in all of this? Come prepared to hear, study the words of the One you approach. Do not offer sacrifice as a token; God must be worshiped in spirit and truth. When we read the law given to Moses, we are impressed with details. You could not offer a sacrifice with blemish, and so do not come merely of duty or on the outskirts of ritual, but sincerely, and with understanding. Be slow to speak, and do not offer up distracted, vain repetitions. I love the way my pastor reads through the songs before we sing, to know that we are not singing just to get through a ritual, but to help direct the heart to worship the living God.
…15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. 16 Wash and cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from My sight. Stop doing evil! 17 Learn to do right; seek justice and correct the oppressor. Defend the fatherless and plead the case of the widow.”… Isaiah 1: 15-17
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom.… James 4: 7-9
4-7 It is not the thought that counts, fulfill your vow. For when dreams increase, and words grow many, there is vanity. Many like to sound spiritual by making long prayers, calling attention to themselves. Look, I had a dream, see how deep and spiritual I am, or let me interpret that for you.
…24“Can a man hide in secret places where I cannot see him?” declares the LORD. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the LORD. 25“I have heard the sayings of the prophets who prophesy lies in My name: ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ 26 How long will this continue in the hearts of these prophets who prophesy falsehood, these prophets of the delusion of their own minds?… Jeremiah 23: 24-26
8-9 Do not be amazed at the matter - It is no shock that wicked men produce wickedness. You can trade one type of tyrant for another. It is best to be concerned with the production of the land which all rides on. Everyone has to eat, but the more bureaucracy, the heavier the weight, the more disconnected from the reality of what actually matters.
“Without the field he cannot have supplies for his own house; and, unless agriculture flourish, the necessary expenses of the state cannot be defrayed. Thus, God joins the head and feet together; for while the peasant is protected by the king as executor of the laws, the king himself is dependent on the peasant; as the wealth of the nation is the fruit of the labourer’s toil.”
ii. “Some read it thus: Rex agro servit, The king is a servant to the field.” (Trapp)
10-17 The honest laborer earns his sleep, but the lazy glutton tosses on his bed. He is not satisfied nor can be, for with his wealth comes anxiety, and with the knowledge of one who has more, comes the new bar of satisfaction.
18-20 Whatever your lot, under the sun, find enjoyment in your work, and in the fruit of your labor. Do not look upon riches as an entitlement but a blessing from God.
23 Whatever you do, work at it with your whole being, for the Lord and not for men, 24 because you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as your reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Colossians 3: 23-24
