Ecclesiastes 5
BSB
Approaching God with Awe
1Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. 2Do not be quick to speak, and do not be hasty in your heart to utter a word before God. After all, God is in heaven and you are on earth. So let your words be few.
3As a dream comes through many cares,
so the speech of a fool comes with many words.
4When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, because He takes no pleasure in fools. Fulfill your vow. 5It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it.
6Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, and do not tell the messenger that your vow was a mistake. Why should God be angry with your words and destroy the work of your hands? 7For as many dreams bring futility, so do many words. Therefore, fear God.
The Futility of Wealth
(Psalms 49:1–20)
8If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be astonished at the matter; for one official is watched by a superior, and others higher still are over them. 9The produce of the earth is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.
10He who loves money is never satisfied by money, and he who loves wealth is never satisfied by income. This too is futile. 11When good things increase, so do those who consume them; what then is the profit to the owner, except to behold them with his eyes?
12The sleep of the worker is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich man permits him no sleep.
13There is a grievous evil I have seen under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner, 14or wealth lost in a failed venture, so when that man has a son there is nothing to pass on.
15As a man came from his mother’s womb, so he will depart again, naked as he arrived. He takes nothing for his labor to carry in his hands. 16This too is a grievous evil: Exactly as a man is born, so he will depart. What does he gain as he toils for the wind? 17Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness, with much sorrow, sickness, and anger.
18Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of life that God has given him—for this is his lot.
19Furthermore, God has given riches and wealth to every man, and He has enabled him to enjoy them, to accept his lot, and to rejoice in his labor. This is a gift from God. 20For a man seldom considers the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with the joy of his heart.
Introduction
Ecclesiastes 5
Solomon, in this chapter, discourses, I. Concerning the worship of God, prescribing that as a remedy against all those vanities which he had already observed to be in wisdom, learning, pleasure, honour, power, and business. That we may not be deceived by those things, nor have our spirits vexed with the disappointments we meet with in them, let us make conscience of our duty to God and keep up our communion with him; but, withal, he gives a necessary caution against the vanities which are to often found in religious exercises, which deprive them of their excellency and render them unable to help against other vanities. If our religion be a vain religion, how great is that vanity! Let us therefore take heed of vanity, 1. In hearing the word, and offering sacrifice (Ecc 5:1). 2. In prayer (Ecc 5:2, Ecc 5:3). 3. In making vows (Ecc 5:4-6). 4. In pretending to divine dreams (Ecc 5:7). Now, (1.) For a remedy against those vanities, he prescribes the fear of God (Ecc 5:7). (2.) To prevent the offence that might arise from the present sufferings of good people, he directs us to look up to God (Ecc 5:8). II. Concerning the wealth of this world and the vanity and vexation that attend it. The fruits of the earth indeed are necessary to the support of life (Ecc 5:9), but as for silver, and gold, and riches, 1. They are unsatisfying (Ecc 5:10). 2. They are unprofitable (Ecc 5:11). 3. They are disquieting (Ecc 5:12). 4. They often prove hurtful and destroying (Ecc 5:13). 5. They are perishing (Ecc 5:14). 6. They must be left behind when we die (Ecc 5:15, Ecc 5:16). 7. If we have not a heart to make use of them, they occasion a great deal of uneasiness (Ecc 5:17). And therefore he recommends to us the comfortable use of that which God has given us, with an eye to him that is the giver, as the best way both to answer the end of our having it and to obviate the mischiefs that commonly attend great estates (Ecc 5:18-20). So that if we can but learn out of this chapter how to manage the business of religion, and the business of this world (which two take up most of our time), so that both may turn to a good account, and neither our sabbath days nor our week-days may be lost, we shall have reason to say, We have learned two good lessons.
Cross-references: Eccl 5:1 · Eccl 5:2 · Eccl 5:3 · Eccl 5:4 · Eccl 5:7 · Eccl 5:8 · Eccl 5:9 · Eccl 5:10 · Eccl 5:11 · Eccl 5:12 · Eccl 5:13 · Eccl 5:14 · Eccl 5:15 · Eccl 5:16 · Eccl 5:17 · Eccl 5:18