‘Guarded Worship’ - 1 Tim. 3:14-16
“I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:
He was manifested in the flesh,
vindicated by the Spirit,
seen by angels,
proclaimed among the nations,
believed on in the world,
taken up in glory.” [1 Tim. 3:14-16]
There’s a line in this text that summarizes Paul’s reason for writing to the young Pastor Timothy - “...that….you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God,...”. After ministering for three years in Ephesus Paul has gone on to Macedonia leaving Timothy to oversee the church there, a church threatened by false teachers. There’s a question that needs to be addressed: how is the church best protected from false teachers that would distort its message and moral life? The broad answer to the question is a properly ordered church, a church with biblically qualified leadership, doctrinal clarity, and Christ-centered worship.
Solomon gives us some general instruction - “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. 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. For a dream comes with much business, and a fool's voice with many words. When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity; but God is the one you must fear (Eccl. 5:1-7).” The initial question that needs to be asked is, ‘why do we worship?’ What Solomon does is warn us, and turn our attention to the nature of God-honoring worship. Notice the opening statement: ‘guard your steps when you go to the house of God’. There’s a sense in which our worship is to be guarded. We’re to be careful how we approach a worship service. Solomon says don’t allow yourself to become careless and simply go through the motions of worship, disengaged, without giving serious thought to what’s being done and said. We need to remind ourselves when we gather for worship that we’re in the presence of God, and everything we do is designed to lift our attention to him. Corporate worship is designed to be a dialogue between God and the worshiper. God speaks through his Word and we listen and respond. As a result, our lives become properly centered again. We see and understand ourselves as we should; we’re humbled, convicted, comforted, and encouraged. When God and his glory, and not us and our needs, is the focus of our worship, then we’re changed as we worship together.
Solomon is very insightful; he gives us three keys to God-honoring worship. The first one is impossible to miss - “To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools (v.1).” It’s more beneficial to listen to what God has to say than to participate in worship services designed only to make us feel good. In a very real sense corporate worship is a dynamic conversation involving one who speaks and those who listen. God speaks through his Word and we respond with thoughtful listening and heartfelt praise. Do you attend the worship gatherings of the church with this as a primary goal, to listen well to the readings of Scripture, to give careful attention to the words of the hymns and songs we sing, and the prayer offered? This is what vital worship is all about; it’s a thoughtful, disciplined business. It’s not a time to just ‘hang out’ with Jesus.
Next, when we gather for worship we’re to quiet ourselves before God and put aside the distractions of daily life - “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 (God transcends you). Therefore let your words be few. For a dream comes with much business (many cares), and a fool's voice with many words”….”For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity; but God is the one you must fear (vv.2,3, & 7).” There’s a frantic feeling conveyed through these verses; stress and pressure causes inappropriate speech to be expressed before God. The dreams referred to in verses 3 and 7 are distracting dreams. Derek Kidner writes: “The dreams appear to be daydreams, reducing worship to verbal doodling.” [1] Have you ever doodled your way through a worship service? Preoccupied with what happened yesterday, thinking about the decision you have to make by Tuesday, pressed in on all sides by your problems. Solomon says, “calm down”, “be quiet”, and give your attention to the Lord of Glory. The Psalmist puts it this way - “Be still, and know that I am God (Ps.46:10).” The command is to let the strivings, anxieties, and cares of the world go. How do we do this? Do we just decide to stop worrying? Usually not. This settling down happens when we truly worship; when we think about God’s providence, grace, goodness, and faithfulness. This calms us and quiets our troubled souls. Solomon says the same thing, he just states it differently - “...for God is in heaven and you are on earth (Eccl. 5:2).” Everything is seen and understood differently from the vantage point of heaven. God is not boxed in by the limits we live with. He sees and understands fully. He’s in control. He can be trusted. So, calm down (‘be still’) and worship him with your whole heart.
The third thing to be noted is that God-honoring worship results in commitments kept; it produces Christian integrity - “When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it”...Pay what you vow”....”...do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake (Eccl. 5:4 & 6).” One thing that I’ve observed over the years is that many of the most important decisions one makes in life are often made in a worship service where God’s Spirit is working and the Word of God is confronting us. What Solomon is underscoring is that those commitments shouldn’t be taken lightly; commitments like serving Christ at all costs, or turning away from a private sin, or making a commitment to Christian service. In verse 4, Solomon simply says, ‘keep your word’. In verse 6, he says don’t rationalize away your promises to God, don’t say before the messenger of God that it was a mistake. Don’t say, ‘I didn’t think it through’, ‘it was a rash response in the emotion of the moment’. What we need to do is be more thoughtful and less hasty when it comes to making promises to God. And yet, we must make them if we’re going to be spiritually healthy and grow in grace and Christian faithfulness. Commitment making is an essential part of God-honoring worship and Christian sanctification.
This is how we’re to approach worship every Sunday; we’re to listen, calm down, focus on Christ, and make commitments. Solomon closes the discussion well with the final line of verse 7 - “...but God is the one we must fear.” We must take God seriously! Dr. David Hubbard writes some appropriate closing thoughts: “Babbling, rambling, wild words may be all right in dreams, but they do not belong in worship. Our relationship to God is one of sober, respectful, reverent awe….The full adorations of our spirit, the true obedience of our heart - these are his demands and his delights.” [2]
Footnotes:
Derek Kidner, The Message of Ecclesiastes: A Time to Mourn, and a Time to Dance, ed. J. Alec Motyer & Derek Tidball, The Bible Speaks Today, (England: Inter-Varsity Press, 1984), 53.
David Hubbard, Beyond Futility: Messages of Hope from the Book of Ecclesiastes, (Eerdmans, 1976).