Clarke's Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 5:2
Verse 2. Be not rash with thy mouth - Do not hasten with thy mouth; weigh thy words, feel deeply, think much, speak little. "When ye approach his altar, on your lips Set strictest guard; and let your thoughts be pure, Fervent, and recollected. Thus prepared, Send up the silent breathings of your souls, Submissive to his will." C.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 2. Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter [any] thing before God , etc.] In private conversation care should be taken that no rash and unadvised words be spoken in haste, as were by Moses and David; and that no evil, nor even any idle word he uttered, since from, the abundance of the heart the mouth is apt to speak, and all is before, the Lord; not a word in the tongue but is altogether known by him, and must be accounted for to him, ( <19A633> Psalm 106:33 116:11 139:4 Matthew 12:34-37). Jerom interprets this of words spoken concerning God; and careful men should be of what they say of him, of his nature and perfections, of his persons, and of his works; and it may be applied to a public profession of his name, and of faith in him; though this should be done with the heart, yet the heart and tongue should not be rash and hasty in making it; men should consider what they profess and confess, and upon what foot they take up and make a profession of religion; whether they have the true grace of God or no: and it will hold true of the public ministry of the word, in which everything that comes uppermost in the mind, or what is crude and undigested, should not be, uttered; but what ministers have thought of, meditated on, well weighed in their minds, and properly digested. Some understand this of rash vows, such as Jephthah’s, is supposed to be, which are later repented of; but rather speaking unto God in prayer is intended. So the Targum, “thy, heart shall not hasten to bring out speech at the time thou prayest before the Lord;” anything and everything that comes up into the mind should not be, uttered before God; not anything rashly and hastily; men should consider before they speak to the King of kings; for though set precomposed forms of prayer are not to be used, yet the matter of prayer should be thought of beforehand; what our wants are, and what we should ask for; whether for ourselves or others; this rule I fear we often offend against: the reasons follow; for God [is] in heaven, and thou upon earth ; his throne is in the heavens, he dwells in the highest heavens, though they cannot contain him; this is expressive of his majesty, sovereignty, and supremacy, and of his omniscience and omnipotence; he is the high and lofty One, that dwells in the high and holy place; he is above all, and sees and knows all persons and things; and he sits in the heavens, and does whatever he pleases; and therefore all should stand in awe of him, and consider what they say unto him. Our Lord seems to have respect to this passage when he directed his disciples to pray, saying, “Our Father, which art in heaven”, ( Matthew 6:9 Luke 11:2); and when we pray to him we should think what we ourselves are, that we are on the earth, the footstool of God; that we are of the earth, earthly; dwell in houses of clay, which have their foundation in the dust; crawling worms on earth, unworthy of his notice; are but dust and ashes, who take upon us to speak unto him; therefore let, by words be few ; of which prayer consists; such was the prayer of the publican, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner”, ( Luke 18:13); and such the prayer which Christ has given as a pattern and directory to his people; who has forbid vain repetitions and much speaking in prayer, ( Matthew 6:7,8); not that all lengthy prayers are to be condemned, or all repetitions in them; our Lord was all night in prayer himself; and Nehemiah, Daniel, and others, have used repetitions in prayer, which may be done with fresh affection, zeal, and fervency; but such are forbidden as are done for the sake of being heard for much speaking, as the Heathens; and who thought they were not understood unless they said a thing a hundred times over f114 ; or when done to gain a character of being more holy and religious than others, as the Pharisees.
Matthew Henry Commentary
What renders devotion vain. (Eccl. 5:1-3) Of vows, and oppression (Eccl. 5:4-8) the vanity of riches shown. (Eccl. 5:9-7) The right us of riches. (Eccl. 5:18-20)
Eccl. 5:1-3 Address thyself to the worship of God, and take time to compose thyself for it. Keep thy thoughts from roving and wandering keep thy affections from running out toward wrong objects. We shoul avoid vain repetitions; copious prayers are not here condemned, but those that are unmeaning. How often our wandering thoughts rende attendance on Divine ordinances little better than the sacrifice of fools! Many words and hasty ones, used in prayer, show folly in the heart, low thoughts of God, and careless thoughts of our own souls.
Eccl. 5:4-8 When a person made engagements rashly, he suffered his mouth to cause his flesh to sin. The case supposes a man coming to the priest, and pretending that his vow was made rashly, and that it woul be wrong to fulfil it. Such mockery of God would bring the Divin displeasure, which might blast what was thus unduly kept. We are to keep down the fear of man. Set God before thee; then, if thou seest the oppression of the poor, thou wilt not find fault with Divin Providence; nor think the worse of the institution of magistracy, when thou seest the ends of it thus perverted; nor of religion, when tho seest it will not secure men from suffering wrong. But thoug oppressors may be secure, God will reckon for all.
Eccl. 5:9-17 The goodness of Providence is more equally distribute than appears to a careless observer. The king needs the common thing of life, and the poor share them; they relish their morsel better tha he does his luxuries. There are bodily desires which silver itself wil not satisfy, much less will worldly abundance satisfy spiritual desires. The more men have, the better house they must keep, the mor servants they must employ, the more guests they must entertain, and the more they will have hanging on them. The sleep of the labourer i sweet, not only because he is tired, but because he has little care to break his sleep. The sleep of the diligent Christian, and his lon sleep, are sweet; having spent himself and his time in the service of God, he can cheerfully repose in God as his Rest. But those who have every thing else, often fail to secure a good night's sleep; their abundance breaks their rest. Riches do hurt, and draw away the hear from God and duty. Men do hurt with their riches, not only gratifyin their own lusts, but oppressing others, and dealing hardly with them They will see that they have laboured for the wind, when, at death they find the profit of their labour is all gone like the wind, the know not whither. How ill the covetous worldling bears the calamitie of human life! He does not sorrow to repentance, but is angry at the providence of God, angry at all about him; which doubles his affliction.
Eccl. 5:18-20 Life is God's gift. We must not view our calling as drudgery, but take pleasure in the calling where God puts us. cheerful spirit is a great blessing; it makes employments easy, an afflictions light. Having made a proper use of riches, a man wil remember the days of his past life with pleasure. The manner in whic Solomon refers to God as the Giver, both of life and its enjoyments shows they ought to be received and to be used, consistently with his will, and to his glory. Let this passage recommend to all the kin words of the merciful Redeemer, "Labour not for the meat tha perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life. Christ is the Bread of life, the only food of the soul. All are invite to partake of this heavenly provision __________________________________________________________________
Original Hebrew
אל 408 תבהל 926 על 5921 פיך 6310 ולבך 3820 אל 408 ימהר 4116 להוציא 3318 דבר 1697 לפני 6440 האלהים 430 כי 3588 האלהים 430 בשׁמים 8064 ואתה 859 על 5921 הארץ 776 על 5921 כן 3651 יהיו 1961 דבריך 1697 מעטים׃ 4592
