Draw Near To Hear, Not To Offer the Sacrifice of Fools

Recently God stopped me in my tracks with Ecclesiastes 5:1-2: “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God, and draw near to listen, rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools; for they do not know they are doing evil. Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven, and you are on the earth; therefore, let your words be few.”

We know we should rejoice when we go to God’s house (Psalm 122:1). But here God says, “Guard your steps,” so you don’t offer the sacrifice of a fool. The sacrifice of a fool in this context is when we foolishly don’t realize what we are saying. Today, as New Testament believers, we offer the sacrifice of praise (Heb. 13:15), or the living sacrifice of dedication (Rom. 12:1-2). But how often do we mouth the words of praise when our heart is secretly complaining against God on the inside? How often do we sing “Take my life and let it be consecrated” without true consecration? Or how often do we sing “I Surrender All” when it is not true?

This is sinfully foolish. God takes worship more seriously than we do. God says when we do this, we don’t realize we are doing evil (5:1). We might excuse this as negligible absent-mindedness. “I just wasn’t thinking.” Exactly the point!

God says we will give an account one day for every “idle” word (Mt. 12:36). The sacrifice of a fool is evil, whether it is in ritual, in song, or in normal speaking. Singing is the most likely area in which we say things we don’t mean. “Do not be hasty in word.” “Guard your steps.” God is listening and taking you seriously. Let your words be few. In a multitude of words there is no lack of sin (Prov. 10:19)!