Participating in Worship (Ecclesiastes 5:1-5)

In the preceding passages, Solomon comments on various unfair aspects of life that he had observed including injustice, oppression, greed and achievements. Yet he also realised that one dark shadow lurked over all people and that was death. Therefore it was not surprising that life seemed meaningless because no matter what one did it would end. In the verses we are going to consider he turns his penetrating eye on to another common activity – religion.

I suppose from one point of view his comments here are connected to something he had done for the benefit of the people. After all, he had built the house of God for the purpose of them gathering there to worship him. Did the fact that some people used it wrongly cause him to have a sense of pointlessness? Of course, he could hardly point the finger at others since he had later build places of worship for false gods.

Solomon would have seen large crowds gather in the temple in Jerusalem to worship God. He himself would have participated in many of the special occasions because he was the monarch of the nation. From personal experience and from observation he had discovered that there are appropriate and inappropriate ways of taking part. The focus that he has here is on what happens before one gets to the temple because that is as crucial as what one does at the temple.

I suppose we often look at descriptions of buildings and don’t pay much heed to what they say. Tourists visit stately homes and observe the plaques indicating who once lived there and what they did. But the details are soon forgotten. In fact, we can say that most visitors to such places know very little about them. It does not matter much when all one is doing is visiting the house of a dead person as a tourist. But it does matter if a person visited the house of God with such an attitude.

Why was the temple called the house of God? For the same reasons why any building is identified by its owner. It was the place where he was to respected, where his friends could be invited, where he could meet with them and share his assets with them. It would have been an insult to visit Solomon’s palace and treat him as if he were unimportant. Much more so when visiting the house of God!

Of course, today there are not any houses of God on earth. We have moved away from having physical locations that can be so identified. Today the house of God is wherever he gathers with his people and where worship takes place. But the principles that Solomon mentions here are also applicable to us although we don’t meet in such a grand building as he did. What made the temple solemn and our makes our gathering solemn is the presence of God.

Approaching

Solomon imagines the crowd making their way to public worship. Given the number who would be together it is likely that the last place they would think of looking is at their feet. So they could trip over an object that had been left there and cause themselves pain or even make others stumble. Or, more seriously, they could touch something forbidden by the Levitical law and find themselves ceremoniously unfit for joining in the worship of God. That would be very disappointing, but the causes of not taking part were avoidable, says Solomon.

The only way to avoid a problem would be to watch every single step. In other words, Solomon is reminding his pupils that they have to be very careful as they make their way to the worship of God. They could not take their eyes off their feet for a moment. So if they had to walk a long way, they would have to keep reminding themselves to be observant.

How do we apply this warning to ourselves? One application is to consider which aspect of our situation could bring us into a situation that would affect our worship of the Lord. I recall individuals who used to get upset by what they observed on their way to church. When I had heard that complaint for the umpteenth time I wondered why they persisted in travelling on the same route to church. It was not their fault that people were engaging in sinful practices, but it was their choice that they drove past such people on the way to church. It would have been easy for them to travel another way. If they had done so, they would not have had their inner feelings disturbed. They were not guiding their feet as they made their way to worship.

More importantly, we have to watch out for certain sins that would trip us up and prevent us worshipping God as we should. These sins don’t have to be what we often call big sins. Instead they can be little sins, such as having a minor disagreement over a trivial matter that could easily be left until the following day. Yet we can persist in talking about it on the way to church and discover sadly that such behaviour is an example of not guarding our feet as we make our way to worship.

One thing that the Israelite worshipper could have done was to ask God to give him clear vision. It would be a very simple, straightforward and strategic prayer, one that would please God and which would receive an answer from him. Obviously we should be praying as we anticipate joining with those who want to worship the Lord. We can be praying about many things, depending on where we are in life.

Psalm 122 seems to have been composed to help people as they travelled to the house of God. In that psalm, there are several details that the worshipper could think about as he drew near to God. For example, he could focus on the wonder of being allowed to worship, the reality of God having a kingdom in this world, and the importance of peace. If anything, we who did not belong to Israel should have a greater appreciation of those three aspects. It is amazing that sinners like us can be invited to worship, it is amazing that we belong to the kingdom over which Jesus rules in a special sense, and the peace that can be experienced there is from heaven itself.

Listening

In the temple, the priests and the Levites would instruct the people. What would they have spoken about? I assume they would remind the worshippers of the details of the sacrifices, of the benefits they would receive because of the sacrifices, and the lives they should live in response. What those religious leaders spoke about illustrates for us what should be said in the location of worship.

We gather to hear about the sacrifice that God has provided, his own Son, who was the perfect Lamb of God who suffered God’s wrath in place of sinners. Every sermon should have several details about him and his saving activity. To listen to such realities is far better than acting unwisely in the presence of God by offering what he does not wish to receive.

The worshippers would also have received instruction about the great benefits that came their way as God’s special people. So also should we, and there are many great blessings for us to think about. We can receive instruction about forgiveness of sin, about fellowship with God and one another and about the future home that has been prepared for us. Those are only a few of the many that are available.

And the worshippers would have been informed about the demands their redeeming God required of them. He himself had specified them in the Ten Commandments and while they were easy to memorise it was important that they would be stressed by the teachers.  Similarly we need to be reminded of the commands God has given to us and of the help he will give us to obey them.

What else would they listen to in the temple? They would hear the praises offered to God by the temple choir and by the assembled worshippers. Great volume of song would pour from their lips. Yet the theme that we sing about is greater than what they could know about. We can take their words and use them in higher ways. For example, we sing Psalm 23 with a greater understanding than they had because we know so much more about the Shepherd.

And they would have listened to the prayers that were offered by the temple officials as they asked their great God for his blessings. This is what we do as well when we gather together to worship. We add our amens to the petitions made in public by others for God to work on our behalf and for his entire kingdom.

It is interesting that the response that Solomon stresses is that of listening. I have been to many Christian gatherings where it was very hard to listen. I have also been to situations where I enjoyed the message, but I am not sure I actually listened to what was said. After all, the proof that I have listened is that I can recall what was said to me. Of course, the speaker should be clear and interesting, but I still have to listen carefully. 

Jesus spoke about the need for good listening. This is what he said in Luke 8:17-19: ‘For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.” True worshippers are good listeners.

Speaking

One of the dangers facing many people in an electric atmosphere is that they will open their mouths and say anything. A worship service should have a special atmosphere because of the fact that we are in the presence of God. There should be a sense of awe and reverence. In such a time Solomon says that we should watch what we say. I wonder how many a person has been distracted in worship because their neighbour told them that his seat was uncomfortable.

It may be that Solomon here is rebuking those who made empty prayers. Jesus also rebuked those who spoke to God with merely religious language and who had not considered what they would say. They spoke with the aim of impressing people about their competence in religious activity and were not concerned about making contact with God. Empty prayers don’t bring people close to God.

We can all think of statements that we have heard or made in a time of worship that were not connected to worship. Solomon says that such speaking is done by a person who has taken his eyes of the greatness of God.

Fearing

The next detail that Solomon mentions concerns voluntary givings. Usually such responses were connected to vows that a person made after experiencing deliverance from a situation of trouble or danger. At the time of the deliverance they said that they would give a certain amount to God. But they had made the promise without thinking whether it was realistic and when the time came they gave a lesser amount. Solomon says that such a response is wrong because the amount has been promised to God and he took the promise seriously. If the person did not give what he had promised, the Lord would be displeased and bring judgement on the individual.

The practice that Solomon is confronting here is not that of giving a tithe. The Lord commanded them to give it, so it was not a voluntary, spontaneous offering. Instead Solomon is describing a situation in which a person made an announcement about giving something extra to God and when the messenger came to get it discovered that the donor had changed his mind, perhaps because he now discovered he could not afford it, although it is more likely that he now wanted to keep it and spend it on his own interests.

Perhaps we have put ourselves in such a situation by promising the Lord we would give him a special gift, perhaps out of gratitude for something good that happened in providence. Solomon says that we should pay it immediately and exactly. After all, if a person had promised it to Solomon he as king would have expected the person to keep his word and fulfil it immediately and exactly. How much more with regard to the great and awesome God!