FEB 7

Ecclesiastes 5:4-7
Memorise Deuteronomy 23:21
"Pay that which though hast vowed"

CAN WE VOW VOWS? (I)

Specifically with regards to being rash with one’s mouth, Solomon broaches the topic of making vows. The OT law concerning vows are very clearly spelt out in Numbers 30, and also Deuteronomy 23:21: ‘When thou shalt vow a vow unto the LORD thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it: for the LORD thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee.’ Solomon gives similar advice here, saying that if one vows a vow, he must certainly fulfil it. Otherwise, it is better to not vow in the first place, for if one vows a vow and does not pay it, it is the mouth causing the flesh to sin, you show yourself to be a fool, and it invokes the wrath of God.

Perhaps Solomon was again speaking from his personal experience. When God appeared to Solomon in 1 Kings 9:2-9 right after he led his nation in a prayer of supplication and dedication, a covenant was made by the Lord to Solomon. God told him that he if he would ‘walk before me as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and will keep my statutes and my judgments: then will I establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel forever…’ but if he did not, and would go into idolatry, ‘then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people…’ Though it is true that it was a covenant made by God to Solomon, yet it can also be construed as a vow, for Solomon did indeed in the previous chapter exhort his people to ‘let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God, to walk in his statues, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.’ (1 Kings 8:61).

This is a covenant or promise which Solomon broke, and he had to suffer the consequences, for it was prophesied to him that his kingdom will be rent into two, and his son will rule over only one tribe, whereas Jeroboam his servant would be given the reign of the greater part of his kingdom.

Dear teen, have there been similar promises of consecration and commitment that you have made to the Lord? It is not wrong to make vows out of a true heart of desire to please to Lord. Yet be warned, that we are expected to keep every covenant we make.

Thought: Have I ever broken a promise before?
Prayer: Lord, help me to be a person of my word.