Podcast 90 Ecclesiastes, “Pt 5, Ch 5”

Consider verse 1 of Chapter 5 of Ecclesiastes.

Ecclesiastes 5:1

Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.

The ‘house of God’ refers to the temple, the long awaited sanctuary which Solomon built from the materials collected by his father David. To understand the temple, it is helpful to look at the dedicatory prayer by Solomon upon its completion. It is rather lengthy, so I shall only use part of it.

1 Kings 8:13

I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever.

David said,

Psalm 93:5

Holiness becometh thine house, O Lord, for ever.

The Holy Temple is a place of covenants.

1 Kings 8:21

And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

The Holy Temple is filled with the ‘glory of the Lord.’

1 Kings 8:11

So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord, who is ever watchful.

It is truly the House of the Lord and contains his name.

1 Kings 8:29

That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place.

It is a house of prayer.

1 Kings 8:30

And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive.

1 Kings 8:38-39

What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house: Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;)

It is a house of learning, a house of miracles and a house of direct communication with the Lord.

1 Kings 8:35-36

When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them: Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.

Solomon teaches us how to pray.

Ecclesiastes 5:2-3

Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few. For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words.

In the Sermon on the Mount Christ clarifies what Solomon said. It is not the length of prayer, which in private. A prayer may be as long or as short as one desires. It is the sincerity of the prayer that matters,

Matthew 6:7

But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.