Turning Point

Announcer (Male): How do you react in the trials of life? Do you blame God for your situation? Have you ever made a deal with him for rescuing you? Today on Turning Point, Dr. David Jeremiah returns to Ecclesiastes, where Solomon shares his wisdom on how to best approach God when life is hard. From the series "Searching for Heaven on Earth," here is David to introduce "Taking Your Troubles to Church."

Dr. David Jeremiah: The best way for me to introduce today's program is to just give you the four points that we're going to talk about. Don't blame God for your situation. Don't bribe God with a vow. Don't be surprised at the government's response, and don't believe the lie about riches.

All these things in the lesson that we're going to talk about just today. Don't forget to be a part of all of this. Don't turn away. Don't go somewhere else. Don't forget to listen. The last part of this is one of the most incredible passages in the Bible about money that you will ever read. And it will make sense to you because it's God's word.

We'll get to that in just a moment. But before we do that, Turning Point's magazine and devotional comes into your home every month. Many thousands of people read it now. Over 300,000 people get this magazine each month, and they read the articles, and they go through the devotional plan that's there. And it keeps them up to date on what's happening at Turning Point.

If you don't get this magazine, we'd love to send it to you, and all you have to do is ask for it. When you get in touch with us here at Turning Point, just say, "Please send me the magazine," and it'll be on its way. The next one that comes off the press, you'll be on the list. And I know that you'll be blessed by it because it's a great encouragement, even to me as I get it every month and read what we've discussed together and what we've put together in that magazine. It just blesses me, and I know it will be for you too. Here's the lesson with the interesting title, "Taking Your Troubles to Church."

In Ecclesiastes chapter five, God gives us several things that we need to know when we face the incongruities and imponderables of life. And I want to go through these with you as we go through this chapter. The first thing he says to us is, don't blame God for your situation.

Don't blame God for your situation. Notice what he says to us in verses one through three. 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. Be not rash with your mouth, and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you are on earth. Therefore, let your words be few, for a dream comes through much activity, and a fool's voice is known by his many words.

Literally, in verse one, Solomon tells us that we are to walk carefully before God. When we go through tragedy and difficulty, our first inclination, even if we are believers, is to point our fingers heavenward and to begin to blame God for everything that is wrong in our lives. Solomon warns us that we are to walk carefully in the presence of God. It says here, walk prudently when you go to the house of God. Literally, the text says, keep your foot. We get our expression, watch your step.

Solomon says, watch your step when you go before God with any accusations about what he may have done that you don't agree with. When he talks about going to the house of God, he's talking about the marvelous temple which he built, the temple of Solomon. And he is telling those who are confused about life and frustrated about their situation, he is telling them, be careful when you go to the house of God how you deal with your problems before the Almighty.

Don't be glib. Don't be flippant. Don't speak quickly. He is telling us that when we come to the house of God, we are to draw near to hear and to understand and to learn. We are not to come with our own agenda, with our own issues. We're to come to God's place, which today is the place where he meets with his people, and we are to have an attitude of reverence and worship and expectation.

In God's priority system, our obedience and our reverence is more important than our outward expression. He tells us plainly that if we come with sacrifices and they do not represent an obedient heart, we are fools going through the motions of worship and actually sinning against God instead. This is often a difficult lesson for us to learn, and many have thought that outward worship could cover sin and replace obedience.

That was the problem that Saul ran into. Remember the story in the Old Testament when God told him to go and destroy the Amalekites and to leave nothing standing either of beast or of humans. Saul went, and they destroyed the Amalekites except Saul brought the king back as a trophy. And his people went out and they collected all of the best of the animals that belonged to the enemy, and they brought them back.

And there's an interesting, little humorous interchange between God and Saul. When God says to Saul, "What have you done?" and Saul says, "I've done everything you've asked me to do, God." And God said to Saul, "What then is the bleating of the sheep in my ears?" And then Saul said, "Well, you know, I did edit your instructions just a little bit. I brought back the king, and our people went and they found the best of all the animals that belonged to the enemy, and we brought them back so that we could sacrifice them to you."

In First Samuel 15:22, God said to him, "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than to sacrifice and to heed than the fat of rams." We are to walk carefully before God when we come to church. We are to be careful that we don't accuse him of that which we don't understand in our own life, and we're to be very careful that when we worship him, we do it in spirit and in truth, not in outward expression that is not related to inward reality.

In the "Pilgrim's Progress," John Bunyan wrote years ago, "In prayer, it is better to have a heart without words than to have words without a heart." God is teaching us that when it comes to worship. But he not only tells us we're to walk carefully before him, he tells us we're to talk cautiously to him. Verses two and three, he says, "Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you are on earth. Therefore, let your words be few, for a dream comes through much activity, and a fool's voice is known by his many words."

Now Solomon tells us that we are to be careful how we accuse God. We are to approach him carefully and not be rash in what we say. We are not to have knee-jerk responses to Almighty God because of what's going on in our life. Why is it that every time something happens, we always want to blame God? Don't stand and point your finger and get your fist in God's face and say, "How could you do this?"

Solomon says we are not to say anything in haste. Here the searcher is talking about our tendency to complain and to murmur about what has been handed to us in life. When we gripe and grouse about our circumstances, we're complaining against God. When we are reminded that God is in heaven and we are on earth, this is not to tell us that God is up there and we're down here and we can't touch him, or that he's so high above us, we already know that. What Solomon is saying here is, remember, God is in heaven and he sees everything.

You are on earth and your vision is very limited. If you could see what God sees, you wouldn't be saying what you're saying. That's what Solomon is teaching us. He's reminding us that God is in the realm of the invisible, where he sees everything that goes on and he knows what we cannot know because of our limited humanity. In other words, if you knew what God knew, you would respond in a different way.

And he then reminds us of something that's good for all of us, no matter what we're going through or what time of life or season of life we may be in. He says, let your words be few instead of many, filled with integrity instead of pretense, marked by reality instead of superficiality. In verse three, which is a difficult verse to translate, he seems to be saying that a fool babbles on relentlessly like a man who has had a busy day and experiences dream after dream all night long.

It would be easy in our situation as we look out at all of the devastation and destruction and hurt to point our finger at God and blame him for what's wrong in our life, and Solomon warns us against doing that. You say, "Pastor, that's pretty harsh for you to be saying when there are so many people hurting." No, it's the best thing I can say to you because it's in the Bible, and number two, it will save you from further hurt if you hear what Solomon is saying.

Blaming God for what's wrong in your life is a dead-end street. It will take you nowhere except it will increase the spirit of despair and bitterness in your heart. So the first thing Solomon says to us is, don't blame God. Say that out loud. Don't blame God. All right, here's number two. Don't bribe God with a vow. Verses four through seven.

"When you make a vow to God," Solomon says, "do not delay to pay it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed. Better not to vow than to vow and not to pay." Solomon gives us a little bit of commentary on that in the next verse. He says, "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? For in the multitude of dreams and many words there is also vanity, but fear God.

What are we to do in the midst of all the things we can't understand? Have we not learned this? In the midst of what we can't understand, we fear God. We reverence God. We say, "God is greater than we can comprehend. His ways are higher than our ways, his thoughts than our thoughts." Rather than accuse God or blame God or bargain with God or bribe God, we believe God, and we fear him. When you don't know what else to do and you can't make two and two add up to four, you step back and you believe God, and you reverence him and you fear him.

Now Solomon challenges us to think clearly and not allow our mouths to get us into trouble. When you're going through trouble, let me encourage you: watch your mouth. You can get in trouble with your mouth. How many can say I know that's true? How many would say amen to that? Your mouth gets you in trouble. Whoa, it gets you in so much trouble. And you know what? What comes out of your mouth, you can't stuff back in. You can't go catch those words and rephrase them and say them in a different way.

So when you're going through difficulty and going through trouble, watch your mouth. He says don't go to the messenger of God. Now this is great for me. He says don't go to the messenger of God. Who is that? That's the priest, the pastor, or the counselor. Don't go to the messenger of God and say, "But you don't understand, I know what I told God, but I didn't really mean it." The fact is you're not dealing with God's messenger; you're dealing with God himself, and God takes you at your word, so don't play games with God.

I love what David said in the Psalms as he thought about a vow he had made. Psalm 66:13 and 14: "I will go into your house with burnt offerings. I will pay you my vows, which my lips have uttered and my mouth has spoken when I was in trouble." Isn't that an interesting thought? David said, "When I was in trouble, I made a vow to you, but I want you to know I'm going to go into your house, and I'm going to keep that vow that I made when I was in difficulty."

All right, now we've learned two things: don't blame God, don't bribe God. Don't go to God and say, "Well God, if you'll straighten my situation out, I'll do this." If you do it, really mean it and follow through on it, or you're going to be in a worse mess than you're in right now. All right? Now I'm going to have to really ask you and ask the Lord to help me have restraint as I talk about this third thing. The third thing Solomon tells us is, don't be surprised at the government's response.

You say, "Pastor Jeremiah, you're making this up." No, I'm not. It's right here in the Bible. Notice what Solomon says in verses eight and nine. "If you see the oppression of the poor and the violent perversion of justice and righteousness in a province, do not marvel at the matter. For high official watches over high official, and higher officials are over them. Moreover, the profit of the land is for all, even the king is served in the field."

Can you believe that's in the Bible? He is saying, when you see injustice and inequity in government, don't be astonished. Solomon says, don't marvel at this. A sign on the desk in a Pentagon office reads: "The secrecy of my job does not permit me to know what I am doing." Have you ever felt like that when you're dealing with the government?

Solomon, thousands of years ago, wrote these words in the word of God and he says, when the government messes up, don't be surprised. The government's the government. It's human. What is the government? It's not an institution, it's not a building, it's flawed human beings who make good decisions sometimes and bad decisions sometimes. It's always been like that. It will always be like that. When they make good decisions, we cheer them on.

When they make bad decisions, we go on the news and on the radio and we vent our spleen about their stupidity. And you know what? It doesn't do any good. And Solomon says it's not going to make any difference. What Solomon is saying here is the officials you're angry with report to the other officials who are over them, who report to officials over them. And as bad as government is, his point is, it's still better than not having any.

And if you don't believe that, go to some of the places where anarchy reigns. Bad government's better than no government. You say that can't be true. Oh, yes it is true. And we as believers ought to do everything we can to take the government that we have and upgrade it through the power of the Holy Spirit in Jesus Christ. But don't get stuck with false impressions about what government can do. It is a flawed human device that will ultimately disappoint you if not today, it'll be tomorrow.

Don't blame God for your situation. Don't bribe God with a vow. Don't be surprised at the government's response. And number four, don't believe the lie about riches. We are prone to reason like this: if I just had more money, if I were better off financially, these things wouldn't happen to me. And if they did, I would be so much better able to handle them.

Solomon warns us against such illogical thinking, and he pulls together several reasons why this is not a good way to think. Listen to me, friends: money is not the answer. Now what Solomon's going to do here, and I'm going to go through this really quickly because I really don't need to make much commentary on it, the word of God is its own commentary. He's going to give us five things we should know about money.

Five things. This may be one of the best passages on financial integrity that you'll find in the Bible and most of you have never read it before because it's locked up in this Old Testament book that most of us can't even pronounce. All right? Five things you need to know about money. First of all, and I think you will all agree, the more you have, the more you want. Is that true? Come on.

Verse 10: "He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver, nor he who loves abundance with increase. This also is vanity," Solomon says. The more you have, the more you want. You look at the person that you think is the richest person you know, and if I could interview him with you in the room, you would find out he's trying to get more. True? It doesn't matter what level you are or how much you have or don't have, the more you have, the more you want.

In the book of Luke we are told we are to take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of things he possesses. One of the really difficult issues to deal with as far as money is concerned is that you never have enough. The more you have, the more you want. Here's the second thing Solomon says: the more you have, the more you spend.

Listen to Solomon's words: "When your goods increase, they increase who eat them. So what profit have the owners except to see this with their eyes?" Solomon says you know, you get more and all that happens when you get more is more people come to eat what you've gotten. Are you catching Solomon's counsel here? The more you have, the more you want. The more you have, the more you spend.

All right, here's an interesting one. Thirdly, the more you have, the more you worry. "The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep." Solomon says getting more money won't make you relax about the possibility that you could face tragedy. In fact, the opposite is true: the more you have, the more you worry. Money is not the answer to your anxiety. Money might be the cause of your anxiety because Solomon says the more you have, the more you worry.

Don't believe the lie about riches, that if you just had more, you would be okay. The more you have, the more you want. The more you have, the more you spend. The more you have, the more you worry. Now here's one that's very contemporary: the more you have, the more you lose. Notice what he says: "There is a severe evil which I have seen under the sun: riches kept for the owner to his hurt, but those riches perish through misfortune."

I'm not saying you shouldn't have stuff, you shouldn't have things, but Solomon is just making the point: you can't lose what you don't have, and the more you have, the more you lose. And here's the last thought: the more you have, the more you leave. Verses 14 through 17: "When he begets a son, there is nothing in his hand. As he came from his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came. And he shall take nothing from his labor which he may carry away in this hand."

"And this also is a severe evil: just exactly as he came, shall he go. And what profit has he who has labored for the wind? All his days he also eats in darkness, and he has much sorrow and sickness and anger." Solomon is saying the more you have, the more you're going to leave. Don't put your hope in riches. It's not wrong to have them, it's wrong to put your hope in them.

And now he tells us two things we need to know about God as he closes out this passage. Five things we need to know about money, two things we need to know about God. First thing you need to know about God is that your ability to earn money is God's gift to you. Did you know that? You say, "Well, I'm a self-made man." Oh, no you're not. If God wants to shut off your air, you are over.

You are not a self-made man or a woman. Notice what he says in verse 18: "Here is what I have seen: it is good and fitting for one to eat and drink and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him, for this is his heritage." Solomon is saying, I'm not telling you don't be interested in money or a good living, just remember whatever you've got, it's from God, right?

And let's face it, if what we have is God's, if he wants to burn it up, it's his business. He will give it back to us in his own way. Whatever we have, whatever we earn, God gives that ability to us. We ought to be grateful for our jobs. We ought to be thankful for our work. It's your gift from God. It's your heritage. God gave you the ability to earn. It's from him. It's a gift. It says it right in the text.

But notice the second thing about God that's even more important. Your ability to enjoy money is a gift from God. Verses 19 and 20: "As to every man to whom God has given riches and wealth and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor, this is the gift of God. For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life because God keeps him so busy with the joy of his heart."

Don't blame God. Don't bribe God. Don't be disappointed in what the government does, and don't believe the lie that money is the answer. You know who the answer is? I do. It's Almighty God. When you're going through the fire, when you're going through the storm, when you're going through the difficult times, hang on to God like you never have before.

And then remember this: someday you will give an account to him. The Bible says that those who reject God in their life will spend eternity in a place called hell. Nobody ever talks about it anymore. It's in the Bible. In fact, there's more in the Bible about hell than there is about heaven. Did you know that?

And the Bible says that hell is a place where the worm dies not and the fire is not quenched. That means where you can't die. Dying would be a wonderful relief. You cannot die, and the fire will never go out. You cannot count on any one day of your life. One of these days you're going to stand before God. You say, "Pastor, I don't believe that." That doesn't make any difference. It's going to happen anyway.

Some people think because they don't believe something it isn't true. Just because you don't believe it's true doesn't make it untrue. The fact is, it is true. Every man will stand before God and give an account of his life. If this were that moment, are you ready to meet God? Can you say with assurance in your heart, I have received Jesus Christ as my personal savior, he has forgiven my sin, if I were to die this moment I would go to be with him immediately?

You say, "Pastor, nobody can know that." Oh, yes you can. "These things are written that ye may know that ye have eternal life." That's what the scripture says. And frankly, I'm not being arrogant when I say it. I know that I have eternal life because Jesus Christ is in my heart. We only have a time, perhaps a short time, to tell people about Jesus, and if you've never received Christ as your savior, open your heart to receive him.

I hope you will do that. So many have over the years. We've met hundreds of people who have bowed to pray and receive Jesus Christ at the end of this program. Our great goal is to go to heaven and take as many people with us as we can. If you haven't made peace with God through his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, this is the time to do it. Open your heart and receive him as your savior, ask him to forgive your sin. He will do that, and you can become a Christian, and you can go to heaven and you can enjoy the journey between now and then.

This is a wonderful opportunity that God has given us to teach the Bible every day and for all of you who support us, we want to say thank you because without you we couldn't do it. There's no question about that. The cost of what we do both on radio and television is astronomical and could not be possibly accomplished without the many friends who join with us sacrificially giving so that the word of God can be released all over the world. On behalf of all of us who do this here at Turning Point, thank you, and we'll see you next time right here on this good station.

Announcer (Male): For more information on Dr. Jeremiah's series "Searching for Heaven on Earth," please visit our website where we also offer two free ways to help you stay connected: our monthly Turning Points magazine and our daily email devotional. Sign up today at davidjeremiah.org/radio. That's davidjeremiah.org/radio. Or call us at 800-947-1993.

Ask for your copy of David's book, "31 Days to Happiness." It's filled with Solomon's wisdom and it's yours for a gift of any amount. You can also purchase the Jeremiah Study Bible in the English Standard, New International, and New King James Versions, complete with notes and articles from Dr. Jeremiah's decades of study. Get all the details when you visit our website, davidjeremiah.org/radio. This is David Michael Jeremiah. Join us tomorrow as we continue "Searching for Heaven on Earth" on Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah.