Fear God by Keeping Your Promises

Ecclesiastes 5:1-7

1 Walk prudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil.

2 Do not be rash with your mouth,
And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God.
For God is in heaven, and you on earth;
Therefore let your words be few.

3 For a dream comes through much activity,
And a fool's voice is known by his many words.

4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it;
For He has no pleasure in fools.
Pay what you have vowed—

5 Better not to vow than to vow and not pay.

6 Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy the work of your hands? 7 For in the multitude of dreams and many words there is also vanity. But fear God.

Here is wisdom, to not make rash promises to God.  We should listen to the word of the Lord through Solomon the preacher and walk with prudence of understanding and wisdom according to God’s grace and mercy and not in arrogance as if our sacrifices are great enough to earn our Master’s favor.  Our aim should be to listen to God in our worship as we present ourselves as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1, 1 Peter 2:5) instead of other things we do in place of our hearts, minds, and strength of our lives (Luke 10:27).  If we offer all we are instead of our good works, then there is nothing in the way of our listening to Him that we may respond in willing obedience to His word in prayerful worship.  Fools ignore offering themselves and suppose their efforts in their strength and imagined wisdom earn grace and a place at the altar which Christ alone has made an acceptable sacrifice of us.  This is evil to work to gain God and His grace.  Because of these things we are warned not to make rash and empty promises to God which we cannot ever fulfill.  We are admonished not to be so hasty in our vows which we are not completely certain we can uphold for our understanding is not heavenly, that is according to God’s thoughts and intent.  Our words should be yes and no (Matthew 5:37, James 5:12) and not elaborate justifications to back our inability to deliver what we promise to God like foxhole prayers.  The example is given of how a dream which is not real will come out of our daily actions and activities or how our many words are spoken to cover our true desires and direction of living.  We must be real and true to our word to our Lord.  If we do promise a sincere vow to God then we must follow it through to completion as soon as possible to avoid defaulting on our promise and commitment.  Foolish and empty words are of no value to the Lord.  It is far better to simply not make any promises but simply do as we are told according to His word (2 Corinthians 1:18-20) in the grace and enabling ability of Christ accordingly to His providence and provision.  We are further warned not to try to cover our reach promises especially to God’s ministers with a cove story of how we were misunderstood by error.  Our excuses only negate our truly good works done in humble sincerity for the kingdom of God.  Yes, we can dream many dreams and speak many words to sound good to impress others (as if that impresses God), but that is empty pride.  We are to truly fear God in reverence and awe in pleasing Him according to His word of grace and mercy.  We have the mind of Christ and His word to guide our footsteps (Isaiah 30:21, 1 Corinthians 2:12-13, 15-16).  We fear and serve God by keeping His word and leaning in trust upon His working in us (Philippians 1:6) until the day He returns, so we do not require empty promises but steadfast commitment instead.