The Wise Choice of Silence - Ecclesiastes 5:1-7

The Wise Choice of Silence

Ecclesiastes 5:1-7

©Copyright May 31, 2020 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche

The Bible talks a great deal about our words. It tells us with our mouth we can do great good or great damage. We can wound in anger, we can encourage, and even administer healing with sympathetic words. Jesus told us the words we speak (or don't speak) give a glimpse into our true heart.

In Proverbs we read,

21The tongue can bring death or life;

those who love to talk will reap the consequences. (Pr. 18.21)

We have all been wounded by the words of another, and you probably remember someone whose words lifted your spirits and altered your life in a positive way. We likely have all gotten in trouble because of something we said.

The book of James has a long section on the importance of controlling our speech. It likens the tongue to a rudder on a ship or a spark in a dry forest. Jesus said, we will give an account for every idle word.

This morning, Solomon counsels us about our words when it comes to our worship and our relationship with God.

As you enter the house of God, keep your ears open and your mouth shut. It is evil to make mindless offerings to God. 2 Don’t make rash promises, and don’t be hasty in bringing matters before God. After all, God is in heaven, and you are here on earth. So let your words be few. 3Too much activity gives you restless dreams; too many words make you a fool.

How We Worship Matters

The first thing we see from this text is: God cares about the way we worship. He cares about what engages us in that worship. Think about some of the factors that often loom large in our decision of where or when to worship.

The “feel” of the buildingThe kind of music that is played (i.e. you may like or dislike organ music; great hymns or fresh contemporary songs)The people who attendThe personality of the staff or the friendliness of the people.Refreshments.How welcome you feelThe youth programs available

Do you see that none of these things really have anything to do with the Lord and His Word? Listen to what someone says about their church. Are they pointing to things other than a true encounter with the Living Lord? If so, it borders on idolatry.

How much better to be drawn to worship because you get the chance to be quiet and seek the Lord in prayer and listen as the Word of God is taught. Or you are reminded of God’s grace, or because of the opportunity you have to serve the Lord in meaningful ways.

God cares how we approach Him. There are all kind of protocols for meeting the Queen of England or the President of the United States. Violate a protocol, and you will be removed and never invited back! HOW MUCH MORE significant should be the way we approach the Lord!

We Should Come Near Attentively

The first actual command is: "As you enter the house of God, keep your ears open and your mouth shut. It is evil to make mindless offerings to God."

Don't miss this: Reverence sometimes needs quiet. This is contrary to contemporary thinking. We tend to view worship with what we say or what we sing. In fact, many people when they say we need to spend "more time in worship" really mean they want to spend more time singing. I am all in favor of singing. I love Christian music, and Christian music many times has pointed me in the direction of the Lord. But so much of our singing is mindless. We don't think about the words . . . we just sing what is on the screen or what's on the page. We enjoy a melody. Yet here we see God would rather we stand quietly in awe. The Bible says, "Be STILL and know that I am God."

Have you ever gone to a place of exquisite beauty? Maybe it was the Rocky Mountains, the Grand Canyon, looking down from Pike's Peak, or watching the sun rise or set over the ocean. Your words were likely few because the grandeur of the view made words an intrusion.

This is what worship should be: a heart that is quietly reflecting on the greatness of God. It is that gasp that comes from recognizing something (in this case someone) who is so beautiful and majestic that it takes your breath away. Unfortunately, silence does not come naturally. One commentator wrote,

Silence is undervalued in the noisy, intrusive world that most of us inhabit. Constant traffic and chatter surround us in our public spaces, and where these are mercifully quieted for a time, their place is taken by endless radio music. We retreat to our homes, but then we voluntarily recreate the noisy world there as well. The TV provides constant background noise, whether it presses on us the fantasies of shows and movies or the horrors of the endless daily chat shows, with their multitudes who want their chance to speak but in truth have little to say. [1]

Sadly, we bring this same characteristic into the church. We are bored and uncomfortable with silence. Rick pointed out the reason we so often have our greatest insights while in the shower, is because it is the one quiet place in our life. And that gives us room to think.

Solomon has more to say. Second, Reverence is Attentive. God is great and the powerful creator and ruler over all there is. We should listen rather than speak.

The Lord is King and therefore we should be attentive to Him. This is what concerns me about some of today's worship: It seems churches are cutting out times of silence, they have removed longer Scripture readings (or all of them) and prayers are short and infrequent. This is so we can keep things "moving." We are catering to the media mentality of quick commercials and complex issues resolved in a 30-minute show. People are uncomfortable with silence. We want pithy “twitterisms” rather than the digging deep into the Word of God. Here's my concern: if we cut out listening to God (through the Scriptures) and talking to God (through prayer) what we are left with is a worship time where we don't really need God to be present at all!

Verse 3 sums up the first half of the passage: "Too much activity gives you restless dreams; too many words make you a fool." Sometimes you need to slow down and just listen. Too much activity is not good for us. Too many words and we will alienate those around us and sound foolish. We generally don't have as much to say as we seem to think we do.

In the second half of the passage there is another reason to speak less.

God Takes Our Words Seriously

4When you make a promise to God, don’t delay in following through, for God takes no pleasure in fools. Keep all the promises you make to him. 5It is better to say nothing than to make a promise and not keep it. 6Don’t let your mouth make you sin. And don’t defend yourself by telling the Temple messenger that the promise you made was a mistake. That would make God angry, and he might wipe out everything you have achieved.

This is a sober warning: take your promises to God seriously; because He does. Back in the book of Deuteronomy we read,

21“When you make a vow to the Lord your God, be prompt in fulfilling whatever you promised him. For the Lord your God demands that you promptly fulfill all your vows, or you will be guilty of sin. 22However, it is not a sin to refrain from making a vow. 23But once you have voluntarily made a vow, be careful to fulfill your promise to the Lord your God. (Deuteronomy 23:21-23)

In the book of James 5:12-13, we read,

But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

When we vow to God, we are promising to give Him something. We are adding an extra solemnness to what we are saying. We are asking Him to witness to the truthfulness of what is being said. It is not an accident that in courtrooms you used to be asked, "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?" There is no one who cares more about truth and justice than God does. We are not to take words lightly!

There are times we make vows and promises to God

when we get marriedwhen we join a churchwhen we get baptizedwhen we are in a tight spot . . . we may say, "Lord, if you get me through this, I promise I will. . ." and then when the crisis passes we forget the promise but God does not. We say, "God understands." He does, you lied. To Him.A time when you swear on a document (like on a tax form) that the information was true.

We make these promises without thinking about what we are saying. We use God's name without thinking about it. God deserves more respect than this! The Lord takes our words seriously. We should tell the truth to each other. But we should especially tell the truth to the Lord. When we lie to God, we dishonor Him. We treat Him as if He is merely a servant to us. If you lie to a police officer, you should not be surprised to be fined or arrested. When you lie in court you know you can be thrown in jail for perjury. When you lie to your parents you should not be surprised at losing some privileges. When you lie to your spouse you should not be surprised at the loss of respect and trust. So . . . why would we think we can lie to God and not face God's displeasure and wrath?

We would be better off to ask God to help us do something rather than promise and not fulfill that promise.

God wants our Words to be followed with Action

7Talk is cheap, like daydreams and other useless activities. Fear God instead. [2]

Anybody can say anything. Too many people claim to be followers of Christ but they don't actually follow. It is easy to talk like a believer . . . it is much more difficult to live like one.

Many people don't like the command to "fear God." They feel this is a distasteful picture of the Lord. I think they are mistaken. Do children fear their parents? They should, because their parents can take away privileges, take the keys to car, shut off the cellphone and block internet access. Parents do have power. What is the result? Children will learn to listen to their parents, and, if the parent is consistent, will learn to obey their parents.

In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, when Mr. and Mrs. Beaver tell the four children that Aslan (the Christ-figure) is a lion, Susan replies:

“Ooh!… Is he—quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”

“That you will, dearie, and make no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver; “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”

“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.

“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver.… “Who said anything about safe? ’Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”[3]

These same things can be said about police officers, employers, teachers, the I.R.S., coaches and more. Fear is a healthy respect. That healthy respect impacts the things you say and the actions you take.

Think about it. We fear disapproval from others, so much so, that we feel the need to conform to their expectations . . . much to our own personal harm. Many people fear others so much, they feel terrible about themselves. They are tied up in knots, concerned that they will not measure up.

Willilam Gurnall said, "We fear men so much because we fear God so little." We have it backwards. If we feared God, we would listen to what He says. We would recognize that we are sinful people loved by a Holy God. If we respected God more, we would care much less about what other people think and we would take to heart what God says:

That we are fearfully and wonderfully madeThat His way is the best way to liveThat sin destroys our life and drives a wedge between us and HimThat those who come to Him are forgiven and made newThat He will NEVER cast off His children

Dwight Moody said,

I firmly believe that the church of God will have to confess her own sins before there can be any great work of grace. There must be a deeper work among God’s believing people. I sometimes think it is about time to give up preaching to the ungodly, and preach to those who profess to be Christians. If we had a higher standard of life in the church of God, there would be thousands more flocking into the kingdom. It was the same in the past. When God’s believing children turned away from their sins and their idols, the fear of God fell upon the people around them.

How can you tell if someone fears God? You can tell by their behavior! They not only talk about holiness . . . they strive to live a Holy Life, set apart for God. The person who truly worships is changed by their encounter with God

Conclusions

Solomon reminds us that above all else, God is to be honored and respected. To that end,

We should prepare ourselves for worship just as we would a date or a business meeting. Meeting with Him is significant. It involves preparing our heart and mind. We should not run into worship without preparation any more than you would rush into a job interview or business meeting without preparation.We should come to worship expectantly. God is unlike the lifeless gods of this world. We should come into His presence knowing God speaks to us through His Word and through His Spirit. We should come to worship anticipating God speaking and eager to hear what He has to say to us. We are not listening merely to the Pastor . . . we are listening for the whispers of God's Spirit.It is good to remind yourself of the purpose of worship. It is great to look forward to seeing people and greeting friends. HOWEVER, we must never forget that our PREEMINENT reason for our time of worship, is to honor God. Take some time during the prelude to worship to quietly stand in awe of God. Pay attention to the words of the songs being sung (some of the lyrics of some of today's songs may cause you to cringe. Many are about us rather than drawing our hearts to Him.) Listen attentively to the Word of God. Ask yourself what action steps you should be taking, what sin you should be confessing, what wrongs you need to be making right. Keep your focus on HIM rather than the other worshippers.

If we learn to worship reverently, we will look for different things in worship. We will crave times of quiet. We will want to sing only what exalts the Lord rather than men. We will hunger for God's Word. And we will find that the style of worship is not that important. The OBJECT of our worship and the POSTURE of our heart are the only things that really matter. These are thing things that determine whether we are truly worshipping or merely entertaining ourselves.

[1] Iain Provan, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2001), 120–121.

[2] Tyndale House Publishers, Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2015), Ec 5:1–7.

[3] Douglas Sean O’Donnell, Ecclesiastes, ed. Richard D. Phillips, Philip Graham Ryken, and Iain M. Duguid, Reformed Expository Commentary (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2014), 111.