Ecclesiastes Chapter 5 - Read Ecclesiastes Chapter 5
Verses 1-3. Commit yourself to the worship of God. It takes time, but anything worthwhile takes time and effort. Keep your thoughts from roving and wandering: keep your affections from running out toward wrong objects. We should avoid vain repetitions; extravagant prayers are not here condemned, but those that are unmeaning. Godly rituals like prayer, worship and fasting are not bad, but if they become empty rituals then they become worthless. An empty ritual robs the action of meaning.
Somebody once said, "We should focus on the Father not the facility."
Verses 4-5. Solomon warns us about making foolish promises to God. In Israelite culture, making vows was a serious matter. Vows were voluntary, but once made, unbreakable (Deuteronomy 23:21-23). It is foolish to make a vow you cannot keep or to play games with God by only partially fulfilling your vow. Proverb 20:25 reads, "It is foolish and rash to make a promise to the Lord before counting the cost." It's better not to vow than to make a promise to God and break it. But it's better still to make a good promise and keep it.
God takes vows seriously and requires that they be carried out. We often have good intentions when making a vow we want to show God that we are determined to please Him. If you think it is necessary to make a vow to God, make sure you weigh the consequences of breaking that vow.
Jephthah, in Judges chapter 11, made a rash promise to sacrifice the first thing he saw when he came home. As it happened, he saw his daughter first.
It is best to count the cost beforehand, make a promise, then fulfill it.
Here is a list of some vows that were recorded in the Bible:
Person - Vow - Result - Reference
1. Esau - To give his birthright to Jacob for a meal -
He lost his birthright - Genesis 25:33
2. Jacob - To choose the one true God and give Him a tenth of everything - God protected Jacob and give back to Him who kept his vow - Genesis 28:20
3. Jephthah - To offer to the Lord whoever came out to meet him after the battle - He lost his daughter - Judges 11:30, 31
4. Hannah - To give her son back to God, if God would give her a son - When Samuel was born, she dedicated him to God - 1 Samuel 1:11
5. David - To be kind to Jonathan's son (Mephibosheth) - Jonathan's son was treated royally - 2 Samuel 9:7
6. Ittai - To remain loyal to David - He became one of the great men in David's army - 2 Samuel 15:21
7. Job - That he was not rebelling against God - His fortunes were restored - Job 27:2
8. Herod Antipas - To give Herodias' daughter anything she wanted - Herod was forced to order John the Baptist's death - Mark 6:22
9. Paul - To offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving in Jerusalem - despite the danger, he made the sacrifice - Acts 18:18
When we see something we want, our first impulse is to get it. At first we feel intensely satisfied and sometimes even powerful because we have obtained what we set out to get. But immediate pleasure often loses sight of the future. We should compare the short term satisfaction with the long term consequences--before we act.
An exaggeration of a need can often make us want to get it quicker than we need it and take extreme measures to get it.
Verses 4-8. When a person made engagements rashly, his mouth caused his flesh to sin. The case supposes a man coming to the priest, and pretending that his vow was made rashly, and that it would be wrong to fulfil it. Such mockery of God would bring displeasure.
Verses 9-17. The goodness of Providence is more equally distributed than appears to a careless observer. The king needs the common things of life, and the poor share them; they relish their morsel better than he does his luxuries. There are bodily desires which silver itself will not satisfy, much less will worldly abundance satisfy spiritual desires. The more men have, the better house they must keep, the more servants they must employ, the more guests they must entertain, and the more they will have hanging on them. The sleep of the laborer is sweet, not only because he is tired, but because he has little care to break his sleep. The sleep of the diligent Christian, and his long sleep, are sweet; having spent himself and his time in the service of God, he can cheerfully repose in God as his Rest. But those who have every thing else, often fail to secure a good night's sleep; their abundance breaks their rest. Riches can hurt, and draw away the heart from God and duty. Men do hurt with their riches, not only gratifying their own lusts, but oppressing others, and dealing hardly with them. They will see that they have labored for the wind, when, at death, they find the profit of their labor is all gone like the wind.
Verses 10-11. We always want more than we have. "The grass is always greener on the other side." Solomon observed that those who love money and seek it obsessively never find the happiness it promises. Wealth also attracts freeloaders and thieves who want it, causes sleeplessness and fear, and ultimately ends in loss because it must be left behind. No matter how much you earn, if you try to create happiness by accumulating wealth, you will never have enough. Money in itself is not wrong, but loving money leads to all sorts of sin. Whatever financial situation you are in, don't depend on money to make you happy. Instead, use what you have for the Lord and He will give you the intangible things that are needed.
Many people can handle life without a lot of money. But successfully living, with a lot of money, is a difficult task.
Verses 18-20. Life is God's gift. We must not view our calling as a drudgery, but take pleasure in the calling where God puts us. We cannot always control our circumstances, but we can always control our attitudes and responses to each circumstance. We cannot always control the cards that we are dealt, but we can control what we do with them. A cheerful spirit is a great blessing; it makes employments easy, and afflictions light. Having made a proper use of riches, a man will remember the days of his past life with pleasure. The manner in which Solomon refers to God as the Giver, both of life and its enjoyments, shows they ought to be received and to be used, consistently with His will, and to His glory. Let this passage recommend to all the kind words of the merciful Redeemer, "Labor not for the meat that perishes, but for that meat which endures unto everlasting life." Christ is the Bread of life, the only food for the soul. All are invited to partake of this heavenly provision.
Verses 19-20. God wants us to view what we have (be it much or little) with the right perspective---our possessions are a gift of God. They are a reason to rejoice, but not the source of joy, since every good thing comes from God. We should focus more on the giver than the gift. We can be content with what we have when we realize that with God we have everything we need.