MAY 6

Ecclesiastes 5:1
Memorise 1 Samuel 15:22
“Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God”

In this chapter, Solomon will put together the observations that he had made in the previous two chapters (of the sovereignty of God and of the wickedness of man) and then lay out some guidelines as to how we ought to worship God. In response to all that he had seen and experienced, Solomon now directs his readers to understand that since God is sovereign over all things, and man is wicked in all his ways, it is only right that man must come before God in proper worship. But even in this aspect, man is unworthy and often does many things wrong. The house of God that Solomon refers to here is, of course, the temple that he had built for God. It was the only place in which the children of Israel were to worship God. The house of God was a place of great sanctity, and the people had to be very careful in their conduct when they entered it. There were many rules and laws with regards to who could enter which part of the temple, and exactly what they were to do. Thus they had to carefully guard their footsteps as they entered, and to be ready to hear and be instructed by God’s Word, rather than to rashly present an unworthy offering without any prior thought or meditation, for that is the evil sacrifice of fools. 

For us, the application is clear. We no longer have the physical temple but now we worship the Lord in churches. It is true that the physical restrictions and laws no longer apply to us but we must remember that our conduct before the Lord in worship is just as important. We must be very careful when we go into the house of God. We must guard our steps as we stand before the presence of the Almighty God. We must prepare ourselves properly and be ready to hear the instructions from God, rather than give the sacrifice of fools. We must learn to watch our conduct, to search our hearts and know how to worship the Lord correctly. What God requires of us is not so much our sacrifices and offerings, but a heart that desires to listen and then to obey. This is the exact advice of Samuel to Saul when he tried to give a sacrifice to God which he was not commanded to do: ‘Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams’ (1 Samuel 15:22). 

Thought: How can I prepare myself before going to church?
Prayer: Lord, may You give me a sincere heart to worship Thee.