4 ¶ When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to
pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.
5 Better is it that thou shouldest not
vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. 6 Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to
sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should
God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands? 7 For in the multitude of dreams and many words
there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God. 8 If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and
violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the
matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher
than they.
Here, Solomon is recommending that a Jew not make a vow to
the Lord as, he pointed out in the previous passage, those are often rash and
not well-considered. Jephthah made a rash vow in a moment of excitement when he
offered the first thing that came out of his house, which unknown to him was to
be his daughter, to be a burnt offering (Judges 11:31). His daughter could have
suffered that fate or have been dedicated to the Lord like Samuel (Judges
11:37), depending on which commentator you read, although it would seem
doubtful that God would have approved of Jephthah in Hebrews 11:32 if he had
committed such an egregious sin that God said such a thing never came into His
mind for man to do in Jeremiah 19:5 and 32:35. It seems absurd that one would
vow something for God that the fulfilling of results in a great and horrible
sin against God. “Lord, if you let me get this job I promise I’ll go out and
rob the first bank I come to.” Most likely, as their animals shared their
living space as evidenced by passages in the Bible, he was thinking of a goat
or a sheep, not a human.
For verse 7 we are reminded of the lament of Jeremiah;
Jeremiah 23:25 I have heard what the prophets said, that
prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. 26 How long shall this be in the heart of the
prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own
heart; 27 Which think to cause my people
to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour,
as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.
Solomon then asserts that we should not be too dismayed over
the injustices we see because God sees it all and will judge it. So, here, he
says do not promise rashly to God, do not listen to people who include God as a
co-conspirator in their lying agenda by saying He spoke to them in a dream, and
understand that God does see all wrongs committed and will call into account.
We must remember, though, that this is in reference to the kingdom of Israel,
not to the lost heathen of the world around them. If we narrow the focus to
God’s people we might be able to speak of the church by saying don’t make
promises to God you either cannot keep or do not have the will to keep to get
some mercy or benefit or impress others, don’t listen to people who say God
told them to do something or laid something on their heart without comparing it
to scriptural principles, and don’t worry when you see an injustice in the
church organization as God is concerned about it. I’m sure anyone can think of several things that
would fall in line with that.
A person comes to church and has messed up at his job and is
about to get fired over it. He promises God that if he can keep his job he’ll
give half his income to the church. That’s not likely to happen, is it?
Remember the old joke about the man who promises God that if God lets him win
the lottery he’ll give 50% of it to God and God says to him, “Really? You don’t
give me 10% now. Why would I believe that you would give me 50% of the lottery?”
Then, there is the man who tells his pastor that God has
laid it on his heart to have a Bible study in a bar. Really? You think so?
Sometimes what people say God has laid on their heart is just the result of
their own carnal imagination.
On the last point, maybe you know someone in the
congregation who has been falsely accused of some impropriety by someone in the
congregation with influence who you know doesn’t like the person. Don’t worry
or fret. God sees that and will deal with it. He is concerned about injustice
among His people. I know you can think of better analogies to make this verse
apply to today. Solomon is directly speaking of his own kingdom and God’s hand
in its affairs.
9 ¶
Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field. 10 He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied
with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.
11 When goods increase, they are
increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving
the beholding of them with their eyes? 12
The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much:
but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep. 13 There is a sore evil which I have seen under
the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt. 14 But those riches perish by evil travail: and
he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand. 15 As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked
shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which
he may carry away in his hand. 16 And
this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and
what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind? 17 All his days also he eateth in darkness, and
he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.
Solomon says that the bounty of the earth is for all people
and beasts, capable of serving everyone. The king himself needs the produce of
the earth to survive and prosper. But, men who are greedy are never satisfied
with what they have and always want more. Men get more than they need and as it
no longer satisfies the need it becomes just something to look at as the
proverbial miser admires his pile of gold. Paul told a young preacher;
1Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all
evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and
pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
But, a man who works for his living and has just enough to
get by, trusting in God, can sleep well. The material possessions of the rich
man do not give him that peace. The rich man piles up his goods and it is a
harm to him, particularly spiritually.
The rich man can lose everything and pass nothing on to his
offspring and what has the value been of all his efforts? He’ll leave the earth
just as he came to it, naked and helpless. As Paul warned Timothy;
1Timothy 6:7 For we brought nothing into this world, and
it is certain we can carry nothing out.
The man who seeks to be wealthy, then, is laboring for the
wind, and he will struggle to gain and hold onto wealth his whole life only to
leave it behind when he leaves the earth.
Proverbs 23:4 ¶ Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own
wisdom. 5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon
that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as
an eagle toward heaven.
What the carnal man wants is more. What the Christian should want is enough.
18 ¶
Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and
to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun
all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion. 19 Every man also to whom God hath given riches
and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion,
and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God. 20 For he shall not much remember the days of
his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart.
We are right to enjoy what God has given us. It is from God
and is His gift to us, as we rejoice in the fruit of our labor. The Christian
is called to give of what he has been given.
Ephesians 4:28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather
let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may
have to give to him that needeth.
Lest someone say, though, that to have wealth is evil in and
of itself, to create a sort of mental class warfare where you resent everyone
who has more than you do, we are told clearly that if a man is given riches and
wealth, by the hand of God, acknowledging the source of his abundance, then he,
too, like the man who labors physically, should enjoy the gift God has given
him. If both men understand that God is the source of their sustenance then the
sorrows and pains of their labors will be forgotten. The laborer will not
remember his aches and pains and the rich man will not suffer from the anxiety
and care so often associated with wealth.
The key is to give liberally of your abundance, no matter
how scant or how plenty, to those truly in need, and remember, all things come
from the hand of God and your efforts, without his blessings, are merely
laboring for the wind.
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