Next Solomon sets out to the describe attitudes and actions that will hinder our joy in living out the truth under heaven.
Ecclesiastes 5:1 Guard your steps when you go to God’s house; for to draw near to listen is better than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they don’t know that they do evil. 2 Don’t be rash with your mouth, and don’t let your heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and you on earth. Therefore let your words be few. 3 For as a dream comes with a multitude of cares, so a fool’s speech with a multitude of words. 4 When you vow a vow to God, don’t defer to pay it; for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay that which you vow. 5 It is better that you should not vow, than that you should vow and not pay. 6 Don’t allow your mouth to lead you into sin. Don’t protest before the messenger that this was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice, and destroy the work of your hands? 7 For in the multitude of dreams there are vanities, as well as in many words; but you must fear God.
Christ also spoke about guarding your steps when you go to God’s house. He warned against using religion to gain social standing saying when you come before God, draw near to listen.
“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Luke 18:10-14
The Pharisee did not acknowledge his sin. Instead he used his prayer to let others know how much better he was than lowly sinners. In contrast, the tax collector, knowing his sin was great, for as an agent of the occupying government he had cheated many, in humility, begged God for mercy. The Pharisee loved the praise of men, while the tax collector sought the praise from God. John 12:43 The Pharisee practiced his righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. Matthew 6:1 The tax collector humbled himself before God.
When you go to church to worship do you approach God acceptably with reverence and awe? Hebrews 12:28 Do you guard your steps? Or do you go to God’s house casually like the fool, distracted by your friends and unable to put your phone down? Superficial, self-centered worship is evil in God’s sight.
Because God is who he is, worship must be God-centered. We worship God because he supremely deserves it, and because he desires it. We go to worship to please him, not ourselves. In that sense, worship is vertical, focused on God. We should not go to worship to be entertained, or to increase our self-esteem, but to honor our Lord who made and redeemed us.
John M. Frame, Contemporary Worship Music, Puritan & Reformed Publishing
To the wicked person, God says: “What right have you to recite my laws or take my covenant on your lips? “Consider this, you who forget God,
I will tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you. Psalm 50:16,22
Worship is a sacred meeting between God and his people. We are never to come before God thoughtlessly. Like the tax collector in Christ’s parable, we are to come into God’s presence humbly confessing our sins.
Rehoboam will soon stand before God and swear a vow to represent God as the king of Israel. Solomon reminds his son that God takes all vows seriously. Our God is a consuming fire, Hebrews 12:29. He is to be respected, honored, and feared. Do we fear God, knowing that he takes our words seriously when we make vows such as church membership, leadership, marriage, or even business agreements?
Ecclesiastes 5:8 If you see the oppression of the poor, and the violent taking away of justice and righteousness in a district, don’t marvel at the matter, for one official is eyed by a higher one, and there are officials over them. 9 Moreover the profit of the earth is for all. The king profits from the field.
As king, Rehoboam should not be surprised to see oppression and injustice, don’t marvel at the matter. Officials are often corrupt, looking for ways to increase their wealth. As Solomon taught earlier, A wicked man receives a bribe from the bosom to pervert the ways of justice. Proverbs 17:23
But does increased wealth bring lasting satisfaction?
Ecclesiastes 5:10 He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase: this also is vanity. 11 When goods increase, those who eat them are increased; and what advantage is there to its owner, except to feast on them with his eyes?
Silver cannot really satisfy. It is vanity. Trying to gain lasting peace from riches is like trying to grasp a vapor. It slips through your fingers.
Ecclesiastes 5:12 The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the abundance of the rich will not allow him to sleep.
Remember, under heaven, we are to rejoice in [our] works; for that is [our] portion. Ecclesiastes 3:22 By contrast, under the sun, living without acknowledging God, the abundance of the rich brings with it anxiety. Do you stay awake worrying about inflation, your savings, and theft? Remember you are always in God’s hands.
Ecclesiastes 5:13 There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner to his harm. 14 Those riches perish by misfortune, and if he has fathered a son, there is nothing in his hand. 15 As he came out of his mother’s womb, naked shall he go again as he came, and shall take nothing for his labor, which he may carry away in his hand. 16 This also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go. And what profit does he have who labors for the wind? 17 All his days he also eats in darkness, he is frustrated, and has sickness and wrath.
Hoarding wealth cannot protect you from misfortune, nor can it bring happiness, nor can it save your immortal soul. Solomon is saying that while it is true that life is short, life is only meaningless if it is lived in a self-centered manner without considering God. But for those who accept Christ’s free gift of life, Romans 6:23, practice righteousness, and give glory to the Creator, though life is short, it is not meaningless. Those who honor God can enjoy the fruits of their labor, because God occupies [them] with the joy of [their] hearts.