Ecclesiastes 5:

What is the nature of

true worship?
Solomon has identified many of
the problems that we face in life
today – the meaninglessness of it
all – and he has shown that all of
our solutions don't bring real
meaning. He had visited the
courtroom, the marketplace, the
travellers' way and the palace.
Now, in Ecclesiastes 5: 1-7, he comes to the
temple, but instead of simply saying 'God is
the answer' he notes that worship is often
meaningless. He observes the religious and
notices that for all their religious ritual,
sacrifices and vows it does not appear to
make any real difference. Their acts of
worship were insincere and hypocritical. I
wonder if that is not the major problem in
today's church as well.
We are to guard our steps in the house of
God, which means 'watch how we worship'.
We are not used to this at all. The common
view is as long as we are worshipping God,
what does it matter how we do it? We tend
to think of worship as a matter of taste,
style and culture. But the Bible regards it as
the most important thing we can do and is
far more concerned about what God thinks
of our worship, than what we think.
1. The Worship of Fools

a. Fools rush in: Solomon speaks of those

who rush into the house of God. The whole
structure and architecture of the temple
spoke of God's inaccessibility except by
sacrifice. They forget that 'God is in heaven'
– that He is glorious and that there is a vast
difference between Him and human beings.
A casual approach to God, while it may
have the appearance of worship, in
fact does a great deal of harm. People
are called fools not because they are
deliberately coming and doing
something wicked, but because they
think they are doing good. They are
well-meaning, but that is not good
enough.
'These people honor me with their
lips, but their hearts are far from
me. They worship me in vain; their
teachings are but rules taught by
men' (Matthew 15: 8-9). 'The Lord
detests the sacrifice of the wicked,
but the prayer of the upright
pleases Him' (Proverbs 15:8).
 b. Fools don't listen: Here, there
is hastiness in prayer, when we do
not consider who we are praying
to.
• 'A dream comes when there are many cares,
and many words mark the speech of a fool'
(Ecclesiastes 5:3.

• Just as a human has dreams (sleepless

nights) when they have many
responsibilities – so these responsibilities
may also lead to careless words. Not just in
prayer but in promises – to God. The
dreaming refers to daydreaming, casualness,
thoughtlessness in approaching God.
“When you spread out your hands
in prayer, I will hide my eyes from
you; even if you offer many
prayers, I will not listen. Your hands
are full of blood; wash and make
yourselves clean. Take your evil
deeds out of my sight! Stop doing
wrong” (Isaiah 1:15-16).
So how do we worship God? How
do we approach God?
 2. True Worship

In John 4:23 Jesus tells us what

true worship is. God is spirit and
He seeks those who will worship
Him in spirit and in truth. This
includes heartfelt sincerity but it
also includes being thoughtful
and attentive.
• a. True worshippers use their minds:
What we think about God will determine
how we worship Him. This is what the
fear of God means. It is also a theme that
runs through the book. 'So what shall I
do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will
also pray with my mind; I will sing with
my spirit, but I will also sing with my
mind' (1 Corinthians 14:15).
• b. True worshippers listen to God: We
must be prepared to listen to the word of
God. How are you going to know, how or
who to worship? Through the word. 'But
Samuel replied: "Does the Lord delight in
burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as
in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey
is better than sacrifice, and to heed is
better than the fat of rams"' (1 Samuel
15:22).
• Our attitude must be ‘Speak,
Lord, for your servant is listening,'
not 'Listen, Lord, for your servant
is speaking.' I'll hear what God
the Lord will speak.
• We are to pray. It does not mean that we
are not to pray long prayers – but we are
not to do so for a show nor because we
think that the longer we pray the more
God is likely to reward us. 'And when you
pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans,
for they think they will be heard because
of their many words' (Matthew 6:7) . We
are to take prayer seriously. We are to ask
the Lord – teach us to pray'. We need
more collective and thoughtful prayer.
• We are to pray from the heart.
The author of A Pilgrim's
Progress, John Bunyan, wrote:
“In prayer, it is better to have a
heart without words, than
words without a heart.”
• We are to make vows – sometimes they
were made in desperation, some times
for great need. 'If you make a vow to the
Lord your God, do not be slow to pay it,
for the Lord your God will certainly
demand it of you and you will be guilty of
sin. But if you refrain from making a vow,
you will not be guilty. Whatever your lips
utter you must be sure to do, because
you made your vow freely to the Lord
your God with your own mouth'
(Deuteronomy 23:21-23).
• When we respond to the Word of God we
are making vows. We are to do so
thoughtfully, carefully, whole heartedly.
And we must fulfill them – do you have
unfulfilled vows? We are to take them as
seriously as we do our marriage vows.
'Make vows to the Lord your God and fulfill
them; let all the neighboring lands bring
gifts to the One to be feared' (Psalm 76:11).
How much of our worship is a lie to God?
• c. True worship is Christ-centered: Christ tells us
that the center of worship is longer in Jerusalem
at the temple. It is now Him. Through Jesus we
worship. He is our Great High Priest, our
Mediator, our Sacrifice, our Hope, our Joy, our
Peace, our Saviour. Listen to Jesus and about
Jesus. Everything has to be based on Him.
Christless worship is Godless worship. We are to
bring our sacrifices to God – We do not offer
animal sacrifices because Jesus is our sacrifice.
He is the one who was sacrificed for us. But we
are still to bring an offering. We offer:
Our Bodies and Minds
• 'Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of
God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living
sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is
your spiritual act of worship. Do not
conform any longer to the pattern of this
world, but be transformed by the renewing
of your mind. Then you will be able to test
and approve what God's will is – his good,
pleasing and perfect will' (Romans 12:1-2).
Praise
• 'Through Jesus, therefore, let us
continually offer to God a sacrifice
of praise – the fruit of lips that
confess his name. And do not
forget to do good and to share with
others, for with such sacrifices God
is pleased' (Hebrews 13:15-16).
Money
• 'I have received full payment and
even more; I am amply supplied, now
that I have received from
Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They
are a fragrant offering, an acceptable
sacrifice, pleasing to God' (Philippians
4:18) .
People won to the Saviour
• '...to be a minister of Christ Jesus to
the Gentiles with the priestly duty of
proclaiming the gospel of God, so that
the Gentiles might become an
offering acceptable to God, sanctified
by the Holy Spirit' (Romans 15:16.)
A broken heart
• 'The sacrifices of God are a
broken spirit; a broken and
contrite heart, O God, you will not
despise' (Psalm 51:17).
Dare we begin there and ask the Lord to
break us so that we might truly seek and
worship Him? Or are we unwilling to move
out of our comfort zone? Do we not trust
Him enough to know that He will forgive
because of who He is, not what we have
made him to be, or what we have done? It
is possible to worship God in this life. It is
possible for our worship to be meaningful.