Untitled Sermon (3)

One commentator summarizes the first 7 verses in this way:

Positive: 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. (v. 1). To listen and have God pierce your heart and draw out a life of worship is more valuable than an altar filled with sacrifices. Matthew 9:13 “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Compassion does not translate the full weight of this Word. This Word communicates a loving and loyal relationship. A relationship built upon experience. God has been after a true and authentic relationship with His people from the beginning. OT or NT. Same God, same desire of relationship.

Negative: 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. (v. 2). Matthew 6:7-8 “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. “So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” I like how one commentator put it, “For the Teacher the supreme act of impiety is the presumption that one can be in a position of control when dealing with God. He does not reject or even criticize prayer, but he does contend that we have nothing to offer God and thus are in no position to bargain with or impress him.” Have you ever found yourself praying and in such a way we believe we might sway God in how passionate we are? That we might force His hand by our words?

Proverb: For a dream comes with much business, and a fool's voice with many words. (v. 3). This is clarified by Heim who said, “It is better for worshippers to listen to God’s word, to simply present their requests in the sure knowledge that God is already favourably disposed towards their desires; there is no need for extravagant promises in the form of oaths to motivate divine reward.” Our prayers are not worthless words sent before the throne. Our words are also a testament of faith. We bring our prayers before God and we know He hears them and His will, will be done.

Positive: When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow.(v. 4).When people made public vows in the temple, the Levites recorded the value of what had been pledged Leviticus 27:14–15 “‘Now if a man consecrates his house as holy to the Lord, then the priest shall value it as either good or bad; as the priest values it, so it shall stand. ‘Yet if the one who consecrates it should wish to redeem his house, then he shall add one-fifth of your valuation price to it, so that it may be his.”

Negative: It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. 6 Let not your mouth lead you[c] into sin, and do not say before the messenger[d] that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? (vv. 5–6). Sounds like Deuteronomy 23:21–23 “When you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for it would be sin in you, and the Lord your God will surely require it of you. “However, if you refrain from vowing, it would not be sin in you. “You shall be careful to perform what goes out from your lips, just as you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God, what you have promised.” Solomon is not teaching anything contrary to what has already been taught. But to have it repeated brings to it more weight.

Proverb: For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity; (v. 7a). It can also be translated, “In excess dreaming there is an abundance of both vanities and words. In context these proverbs mean that fools seek to advance themselves before God with great vows and promises.”

Conclusion: Fear God (v. 7b).1 Proverbs 9:10, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

Ecclesiastes 5:10-6:6

Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs (16. On Wealth (5:10–6:6))

D.A Garrett writes (and I would like to discuss) , The Teacher gives a series of reasons for not falling into the trap of making the pursuit of wealth life’s goal. These include:

(1) wealth is both addictive and unsatisfactory (v. 10);

(2) wealth attracts human leeches, who give the rich man no peace (v. 11a);

(3) wealth does not give peace or rest but only promotes insomnia because of worries over how the wealth is to be maintained but The sleep of the working man is pleasant

(4) love of wealth often causes a person to hoard even to the point causing suffering to himself (v. 13);

(5) wealth is an insecure basis for happiness since it may be easily lost in a bad business venture (v. 14); and (6) wealth is certain to disappear at death (v. 15). The Teacher typically looks upon death as the final negation of misplaced human values.5:16–6:6 The mention of death as the ultimate proof of the folly of a life spent trying to amass wealth (5:15) leads to another call for the reader to enjoy the few days he has under the sun.

1) Life is wasted when it is spent in a quest for more money; worse than that, it is filled with anger and gloom (5:16–17). The “darkness” in which the miser eats (v. 17) is metaphorical for isolation and joylessness. (2) To be able rightly and fully to enjoy the things of this world is a gift of God’s grace; those who receive this gift are free from preoccupation with the pain of mortality (5:18–20).

(3) no amount of prosperity can make up for a life without joy (6:1–6). To have a hundred children (v. 3) or live two thousand years (v. 6) are exaggerations; the three traditional conditions for happiness were wealth, long life, and many children. But this cannot be the joy of life under the sun when one of those conditions haunts you.