Episode Details

Pray

Read: Ecc 5:1-7.

Meditation

When we come to worship God, we come to listen, therefore our words must be few. That’s what we learned in our last meditation. But part of worship is about bringing our own offering as well. We must come and speak. Or, to be more accurate, Solomon instructs us to come and speak a little. He makes this very clear: the words of our mouths, even if they aren’t many, are not to be treated lightly. Reading again in verse 1, “To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil.” Solomon’s main thrust in this passage is to call us to guard our own tongues in worship.

Fast forward to a modern day worship service. When you think about these words in that context, right away you may be thinking: How is this relevant to me? Maybe you think of worship services as largely passive. You sit back and receive. That is faulty thinking for two reasons. First, even listening is a proactive activity. We must come prepared to listen. If we come tired, lazy, distracted, or preoccupied, we will not be able to obey that instruction. We must come prepared to listen. But second, worship also requires engagement. As we meet to worship, this is a conversation. We pray. We amen the corporate prayers. We sing. We speak. We profess our faith, we affirm and receive new baptisms. Even the meditations of our hearts are visible before God in worship. Worship includes speaking on our part, even if you don’t think of it like that very much.

Solomon’s warning here is sobering. He speaks of offering the sacrifice of fools, and then says they do not even realise that what they are doing is evil. That is a strong warning. It is possible to turn up to a worship service and do evil. More than that, it is possible not even to realise it. It is possible that we offer the sacrifice of fools. To help us guard against that, Solomon opens it up further in verse two:“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.”

First, there is the obvious instruction: let your words be few. In the first place, be sure to pray for your pastor. “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” This is why it is a fearful thing to become a preaching elder. It is best to be quiet in the worship of God. It is best to come to listen. And yet those who are to teach are required to speak more, and God will judge them more strictly for this reason. Please pray for your pastor. Please pray that God would spare pastors in our churches from leaking their own foolishness into the preaching of his word. Please pray that he would make the truths of the sermons living realities in the life of your pastor and in the lives of the people in your church.

Second, consider a modern idea we see in the church today. In most churches something highly valued is greater involvement by the members. People come up to give testimonies, share a word, lead the singing, do this, do that. I attended a High Anglican service once where more than half the congregation stood up at different points to do or say something. Yet what we see in these verses shows that this mindset gets it wrong. You do not need to give everyone airtime. It is the opposite. We need to come with our lips sealed, our tongues guarded, and our ears open. That is what you do when you meet with God. It is not about “getting involved” in the sense that everyone needs to have a turn at being the leading visible figure-head. It is about falling at the feet of God to worship, sitting attentive and ready to listen.

When Isaiah met with the Most High God, he did not begin by speaking about what part he could play. As he saw the Lord high and lifted up