Some Warnings About Worship

But this is a house dedicated to the glory of God, where we collectively come in here to worship Him and to praise Him and to honor the Lord.

It's so much deeper than a three-story slide with lights. It's so much better than just a cup of coffee. We're not asking people to get interested in things. We're asking people to get interested in Him. When you gather with your brothers and sisters in Christ on Sunday morning, what's the main purpose of coming together?

Of course, it's great to enjoy the fellowship and catch up with friends. But we gather for a purpose—to shine the spotlight on God rather than ourselves. As Stephen Davey continues his series in King Solomon's journal, the book of Ecclesiastes, he shares some guidelines for effective worship. He also provides some warnings to those who choose to make worship about themselves, not God. This is wisdom for the heart, and today's lesson is called Some Warnings About Worship. Well, is it possible somewhere in the world to go to church and have nothing to do with God? Is it possible to enter a house dedicated to worship and do everything but worship God?

I think the answer might be a little more obvious than we would want it to be. In fact, the clues of our own church culture can be found in what we hope to do when we arrive then, why we'd like somebody to come along with us. I don't know about you, but I get advertisements from churches all the time in my mailbox. One church recently announced that it didn't judge or try to change anybody, so come one and all, evidently ignoring the fact that God is actually deeply committed to changing us and transforming us into the image of His Son.

Another advertisement boasted that you can be anything you want, you can be anybody you want, we're not going to pressure you to change, you don't need to feel any pressure, just come and go as you like. Evidently ignoring the fact that as a disciple of the Lord, we've given our lives to the claims of the Gospel and to this glorious Savior. We reveal our motives and our attitudes toward worship by how and why we arrived today, and what we want God to do in us today, and what we want God to do through us in the assembly and in ministry to the body, and what we're going to say when we leave here, as to why we thought it was good, if we thought it was good. What does God say about genuine worship? Well, without any advance warning, which is typical in wisdom literature, Salomon changes his focus rather suddenly from the world of business to the world of worship, and he makes some inspired observations, and I want to work through this paragraph with you. We're in Ecclesiastes, we're now at chapter 5, and as we work our way through this paragraph, he presents what I want to shape as three warnings to what to do and what not to do when we ultimately define true worship. Warning number one, worship will not take place when you treat God's presence with casual disregard. Notice, as the chapter opens at verse 1 of chapter 5, guard your steps when you go to the house of God.

Now, stop for a moment. For Salomon's original readers, the house of God would have been a reference to the temple in Jerusalem. It was stunning. Josephus, the first century Jewish historian, said of the past that the gilded golden doors, the reflection of the sun, all those doors could be seen for miles. But it's interesting when you think about Salomon making this comment. He's observed the digression of genuine worship.

It's just become a building, it's just become a formality. There's no heart, right there in Jerusalem. In spite of the glorious temple that David, his father, designed and Salomon himself had overseen in the building of it, and then as he just sort of covered it all with gold. But Salomon has played a role in the digression of worship, hadn't he? He's compromised his own moral character. He's disobeyed God's word and multiplying wives and ultimately accommodating their false gods and building false temples for them. But now, and again in this journal, he's returned back in his old age to the truth.

As I've said in repentance, that becomes clear at differing times in this journal. He sort of pounds the pulpit here, so to speak. He's going to remind his son Rehoboam, who's going to read this, and the nation Israel, and us to this day, what true worship means. And he begins with this warning.

And you can broadly expand this directive to us today. Anybody approaching God, any assembly saying, we're a church and we belong by the grace of God to demonstrating and obeying the glory of God, we've come to worship. Here's a timeless principle. Look, if you want to worship God, the true and living God, you'd better approach him with the right heart attitude. You'd better come the right way. Guard your steps. In other words, enter his presence thoughtfully, appropriately, respectfully. Don't be dull-minded.

Don't be insensitive. We are approaching boldly the throne, the very presence of God, Hebrews 4, 16, and this dispensation. We experience such liberty the Old Testament saint knew nothing of. We go directly to him. Our mediator is now Jesus, our Redeemer, the God-man, 1 Timothy 2, verse 5. But even though we can go immediately, in fact, in a unique way as an assembly, we're in the presence of God, he is our audience. We are not the audience.

We have to keep in mind to check our attitude. This doesn't mean that you've got to enter the assembly with a hushed voice and a somber appearance. Some would be quick to quote, yeah, but Habakkuk 2.20 says, the Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before him. And others would say, yeah, but David made it clear, you know, when you gather, shout aloud to the Lord, burst into jubilant song, praise him in the congregation. That doesn't sound somber to me.

Well, both in the balance of them all is to guard our steps, come with the right heart. In fact, when he writes, guard your steps, what he means is sort of like what your parents meant and my parents, maybe you heard the same thing, but my parents meant to me, when I would sort of get close to that territory labeled disrespectful, they would say something like, you'd better watch your step, young man. Did you ever hear that growing up?

I heard it two or three times growing up. You better watch your step, young man. I knew that didn't mean I need to look down at my feet. I knew that meant I'd better watch my attitude. And that's what Solomon is talking about here. That's how you approach God. When we approach God in genuine worship, we approach with an attitude of reverence and joy and anticipation and expectation and ultimately resignation to his will. Warning number two, a worship will not take place when you attempt to use words to pull the wool over God's eyes.

Notice the last part of verse one. To draw near, to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. In other words, they don't realize because of their hypocrisy that even though they're going through the formalism, the appearance of worship, they're actually evil, they have nothing to do with God.

They're just adding to their condemnation. A fool, remember in the Bible, isn't somebody who's slow at math or science. It's somebody who's disobedient.

It's somebody who's defiant. Solomon is describing a fool who comes into the presence of God and he's not ready to listen to God. He's ready to lecture God. If I had an audience with God, I would lecture him.

That's the idea. A true worshiper comes into the house of worship ready to listen. In Solomon's day, there was a lot of listening to do. The priest would explain the sacrifices brought by the worshippers, the festivals, the observances, the responsibilities of the law and all of its tangential expressions and responsibilities. The scriptures would be read and explained.

There would be a lot to see and there would be a lot to hear. The Hebrew verb here for listening carries the idea of paying careful attention so that you can obey what you hear. It isn't just, well, I listened today. We covered a few verses.

I know now where Ecclesiastes is in the Bible. No, it's listening with an intention of obeying. But a foolish person goes through the motions and sings the songs without any heart, without any hearkening or heeding.

They might be able to sing. We exalt thee, O God. What is God hearing us actually say?

I love the little girl who illustrated that point fairly well. They were singing in the audience, the congregation. We exalt thee. She's four years old. Her mother looked down and realizes she's just singing at the top of her little lungs. She got the lyrics mixed up and she's singing, we exhaust thee, O God.

And I wonder, I wonder. One author commenting on this passage said that God is not listening to us through spiritual headphones. He is listening to us with a spiritual stethoscope.

Warning number three. Worship will not take place when you talk to God and others like you've arrived. Notice verse two. Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, or that is in the presence of God. For God is in heaven. He's giving a little sarcasm here.

For God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore, let your words be few. For a dream comes with much business and a fool's voice with many words. He makes an analogy there at the end of this text. Let me deal with that last phrase because it's confusing.

It did to me. Confuse me is might confuse you. The Hebrew text is giving us really a context of trouble or anxiety. In fact, that word business is translated earlier in chapter two and verse 23 and it's a little clearer there that the context is one of dreaming out of or because of anxiety or pain or sorrow or stress. In chapter two and verse 23, he writes, for all his days are full of sorrow and his work is a vexation.

Same word. Even at night, his heart does not rest. Then he uses that same word over here in chapter five. In other words, because of his stressful, anxious life, he's restless. His dreams just bring all those stresses and maybe some strange memory from the past and makes this convoluted, unhelpful, unnecessary dream. Solomon isn't suggesting that dreams are some kind of mystical word from God.

Be careful with that. He's not giving some kind of exposition on nightly visions. He's simply making an analogy that sometimes your dreams, which might be more like nightmares, that trouble you and end up robbing you because they're unhelpful. Just like the words produced by a fool are unhelpful.

They're unnecessary. Solomon evidently had the same experience. Let's go back to the earlier warning there in the text. He says, don't be rash with your words. Don't be hasty with your heart.

I love the way Moffat translated it a hundred years ago. He said, don't let your heart hurry into your words. Be careful.

Life is hard enough. When you come into the presence of God and around one another, don't just run off your mouth. He's describing someone who thinks they know all the answers.

He adds this sarcastic phrase to serve as the punch line. Don't forget God's the one in heaven. That is, he can see life from beginning to end. And you're still on earth. And by the way, even when you get to heaven, you're still not God. So you haven't arrived. And since God is always wise whenever he speaks, and we're not God, there is the possibility that when we speak, we will not be wise.

Here's his point. So make your words few. Don't be quick to speak. When you come in the presence of God, be ready, be quicker to listen. Worshipers never, by the way, take on God's role. In fact, the best we can ever do for others in the assembly, the best we can ever do for those around us who've come also to worship God, the best comfort and advice we could ever offer is to simply give them, through our own experience of vocabulary, essentially give them what God has already said.

That's when we're at our best. Warning number four. Worship will not take place when you make promises you don't attempt to keep. Verse four. When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it. That is, if you've said to the Lord, I'm going to give you some money or I'm going to bring you an offering, an animal or some fruit or whatever it might have been in this Old Testament context, don't delay paying it. For he has no pleasure in fools, that is the defiant, the disobedient, so pay what you vow. It's better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. Now, this text needs a little commentary, but keep in mind vows were not commanded in the Old Testament. They came from hearts that were overflowing in gratitude or commitment or confession to the Lord. They are familiar in Old Testament practice. The Lord seems to mitigate it when he says, hey, look for you guys, just let your yes be yes and your no be no. But vows do appear.

You can do the word study as I did and find the number of instances. They appear in Numbers 21 as part of a prayer. Jonah 2 is an expression of gratitude, though short-lived. Leviticus 22 is an offering and for Samuel is a dedicatory prayer to God, should God give her, Hannah, a child. Not commanded. Solomon is saying it is best not to make them at all if you plan on deferring or delaying or maybe even denying you ever said it. Notice the next phrase, verse 6, let not your mouth lead you into sin. Do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake.

A messenger is more than likely a reference to the temple associate, the priestly associate who has now arrived at your house to collect what you promised you would give. And when he arrives, notice you say it was a mistake. You misunderstood. I wasn't really that serious or I didn't mean that literally or, you know, maybe next month.

Come back. It's the idea. When you and I make a promise or a commitment to the Lord, we're not able to fulfill them consistently. You've lived with the Lord long enough or perfectly, but God knows that it's your heart's desire to keep your promises, whatever it might be, in a prayer or commitment or dedication or whatever it is. Just be careful when you make them, you are not knowingly playing games with God or trying to bribe them. Lord, if you'll do this, I'll give you that.

If you come through here, I'll do that. That's just religious bribery. Don't play games with God. Don't toy with God.

Remember, it's an open heart. And the truth is we make promises much more easily and much more readily than I think we understand. And we're not against making promises.

Just don't be like a fool who has no intention of following through. And let me just use as an illustration, as we sang together as a congregation, we together sang at least 20 promises to God. I counted them as I read the lyrics on the screen.

At least 20 of them we made together. We promised to tell others the Gospel. We promised to forsake the follies of sin. We promised to await his coming with anticipation. We promised we would love him in life and we would love him right up to the moment of our death. Lord, we promise.

That's how much we love you. And for a genuine believer, it's true. We have that desire and longing and plan and intention and prayer and commitment to fulfill those kinds of promises. And when we fail, we run in repentance and grief and sorrow to the cross of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, and a fresh confess to him because we want fellowship restored. But an imitation worshiper, the fool, makes promises and then they're going to sin before the sun sets on the Lord's day when they leave their assembly wherever they may go and not think a thing of it and enjoy every bit of it.

Yeah, I sang that, but I didn't mean it that literally. I mean, don't be so serious, forsake the follies of sin. God understands. I mean, we're human beings. Don't be such a stuffed shirt trying to hold us to some kind of commitment here.

Have a little fun. By the way, we can always go back to church the next Sunday and pay our respects. It's not worship. And did you notice in the text here that God is actually angry with that kind of person?

Angry with that kind of verbal commitment? In fact, the word angry is the word for wrath and fury. This is a word ultimately reserved for the unbeliever's future condemnation, who never intended to begin with, to keep his word or follow the word of God. And God will bring discipline to those of us who belong to him, but to the unbeliever, the fool, the defiant one, it will be lasting judgment and eternal destruction. And that's what Solomon is hinting at here at verse 6 for the hypocrite who had no real interest in God but loved playing the game of religion. They came in and you know what? It really was just about coffee and business connections and it makes me feel good to show up with those kind of people and maybe even around a putt-putt.

I mean, how good is that? One more warning. Number 5, worship will not take place when you demand your dreams instead of surrendering to God's desires. Verse 7, for when dreams, you could understand that to mean daydreams or fantasies, when they increase. What am I going to do if I buy that lottery ticket and nobody finds out about it and I win it? You start following your own self-centered daydreams, your own will, your own wishes. Solomon essentially says here, you're going to waste your life. You're going to chase after vanity. Let words multiply and you're just going to chase after the wind. You won't catch life worth meaning. Worship isn't demanding your dreams be fulfilled but God's glory to be revealed on earth.

So here's the solution. Solomon just sort of bookends this section. He begins with guarding your steps and he ends with God is the one you must fear. That is the idea of trembling trust is the best way, I think, to translate it. Reverence, awe, as you come into the assembly today, the timeless principles apply but do keep in mind this place is not the temple. In this dispensation, your body is the temple of the living God. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, this isn't the house of God. You are living stones making up the house of God.

1 Peter 2. But this is a house dedicated to the glory of God and the worship of God on the Lord's day as we gather where we collectively come in here to honor the Lord, to worship him and to praise him and to pray to him and to learn from his word and to confess to him and to surrender to him and, yes, to make 20 promises, good promises. It's so much deeper and richer than a three-story slide with lights.

It's so much better than just a cup of coffee. We're not asking people to get interested in things. We're asking people to get interested in him, to enjoy with us the gospel and the glory and the grace of God. So worship, if I could summarize it, is not gathering to remind God of everything we want.

And I'm going to go over there to that one, that church, because I've got everything I want. Worship, genuine worship, is where we gather together to remind ourselves that God is everything we truly need. What an important reminder today from God's word. We need to be reminded that worship is about God. The next time you gather with your church family, do so with the mindset that God and God alone takes center stage. Today's lesson is called Some Warnings About Worship.

It comes from Steven Davies' series out of Ecclesiastes called Surviving Evil Under the Sun. This was lesson three in that series. If you missed the first two and want to get caught up, we've posted them to our website, wisdomonline.org.

Follow the link that says today's broadcast and you'll find this lesson as well as all the others in the series. Our Bible teacher, Steven Davies, is the founding and senior pastor of the Shepherd's Church located in Cary, North Carolina. If you'd like to receive occasional updates about our ministry, we'd love to include you. There's a link on our website where you can sign up to receive the next three issues of our monthly magazine, Heart to Heart. There's also a link under the contact tab to sign up for occasional email updates. Our website is wisdomonline.org. Thanks so much for listening. Join us next time for more wisdom for the heart. We'll see you next time.