The Fear of God and the Gift of Contentment

May 2, 2026|The Fear of God and the Gift of Contentment | Ecclesiastes 5

JD Cutler

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Good morning church family. Once a month, as a church, we have been turning our attention away from our series in the Gospel of John to look at the Old Testament wisdom book titled Ecclesiastes.

If you have never spent time in Ecclesiastes, its unfiltered, and sometimes raw tone can be surprising… but, as we’ve been discovering as a church, not unfamiliar.

Ecclesiastes is a book that looks at life not as we wish it was, but as it actually is.

It records the words and observations of a man who has taken a long look at life under the sun. He is simply called the Preacher.

In chapter 1, the Preacher observes life under the sun and concludes that it is vanity—frustrating, fleeting, and hard to make sense of.

In chapter 2, he tests that conclusion, pursuing pleasure, achievement, and success, only to find that none of it can carry the weight of meaning.

In chapter 3, he begins to understand why, God is sovereign over time and eternity, but we are not. We experience moments, but we cannot see the whole.

And in chapter 4, we see how that plays out in real life, oppression, competition, loneliness, life lived in the midst of a broken world.

In many ways, Ecclesiastes is a commentary on the kind of life we should expect living after the fall recorded in Genesis—separation from God, broken relationships, and hardship.

What begins to emerge is a tension that builds throughout the book.

Life is often frustrating and mysterious. We endure difficult seasons, sometimes alone. We long to understand the purpose and meaning of our days—and yet, we cannot.

The Preacher puts his finger on it in chapter 3: God is sovereign over all things and eternal in His understanding… and we are not. And what’s surprising is this, the Preacher does not resolve that tension. He tells us repeatedly that human effort cannot fix it.

Instead, beginning in chapter 4, he starts to show us how to live wisely within that tension.

And here in chapter 5, that continues.

In the midst of this tension, this frustratingly enigmatic life, he brings it down to two areas that really encompass all of life: how we come before God… and how we live the days He gives us.

Let’s read Ecclesiastes chapter 5 together this morning.

Ecclesiastes 5 ESV

1 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. 2 Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few. 3 For a dream comes with much business, and a fool’s voice with many words. 4 When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. 5 It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. 6 Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? 7 For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity; but God is the one you must fear. 8 If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness, do not be amazed at the matter, for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them. 9 But this is gain for a land in every way: a king committed to cultivated fields. 10 He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. 11 When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? 12 Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep. 13 There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, 14 and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand. 15 As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand. 16 This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and what gain is there to him who toils for the wind? 17 Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger. 18 Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. 19 Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God. 20 For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.

I want to show you two take aways from the preacher’s words this morning. First, we should…

I. APPROACH GOD WITH REVERENT HUMILITY

The Preacher assumes that people will go before God and that they will do so according to His command.

He has lived long enough to understand that when life gets hard, everyone turns somewhere.

He has already shown us in chapters 1 and 2 that pleasure, wealth, and achievement cannot provide answers or lasting satisfaction. So it is no surprise that many turn to God, hoping to find purpose, order, and meaning.

And in one sense, that instinct is right.

As C. S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity: ‘If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.’

The problem is not that people turn to God, it is how they approach Him when they do.

So the Preacher begins with a warning: “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God.”

More literally: watch your foot.

You might be familiar with the idiom, ‘watch your step around that person’. We understand the person is not talking about our physical feet or physical steps, but it is a warning to be careful, to be thoughtful.

Approaching God is not something to be done casually or carelessly.

So how should we approach Him?

The preacher says, “It is better to draw near to listen than to offer the sacrifice of fools.”

That is the contrast: listening with the intent to obey…versus acting quickly, thoughtlessly, even arrogantly. Why?

Because when we rush in without listening, we may actually be doing what is displeasing, even evil, in the sight of God.

This is not new and it shouldn’t surprise us.

When God mercifully promised to dwell among His people, to tabernacle in their presence, He gave very specific instructions for how He was to be approached. Instructions on the tabernacle itself, it’s instrumentation, and who could go where, when, and do what.

The first indication we have of how seriously God takes those who approach him foolishly is shortly after the tabernacle is finished. When Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, something He had not commanded, they were consumed.

That moment makes something very clear: God is not approached on our terms.

And that is exactly where the Preacher presses next, our words before God. He says, “When you vow a vow to God…”

Contextually, we need to understand that in the levitical system, there was different vows you could make. Hebrew terminology distinguishes between vows of devotion (néder), vows of abstinence (esâr or issâr), and vows of destruction (chérem). Here, he speaks of vows of devotion, promises made either out of love or in hopes of gaining God’s favor.

And his instruction is simple: Don’t delay in paying it Don’t try to excuse your way out of it Better not to vow at all than to vow and not fulfill it

Why?

Verse 7 gives the answer: “When dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity.”

When our desires grow, when we begin imagining the life we want, our words multiply. We start trying to bargain with God.

“God, if you will just… then I will…”

“God, if you fix this… I promise I’ll…”

You may have even done this kind of bargaining yourself.

It feels natural—but the Preacher says it is not wise.

Why?

Because we are not in control. This takes us back to chapter 3.

Believe it or not Jesus spoke on this same thing in the SOTM when he said, 33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ 34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

You cannot swear by heaven-it is God’s throne. You cannot swear by earth-it is His footstool.

You cannot even swear by your own head-because you cannot make one hair white or black.

The preacher hints at it, but Jesus exposes it fully. You don’t control anything you’re trying to bargain with, and you don’t control the God you’re trying to bargain with.

The question becomes, ‘what then, is all this multiplied speech?’

It is not faith. It is not devotion. It is subtle pride. An attempt to speak as though we are in control of our lives and can negotiate with God.

Which is why the Preacher’s conclusion is simple: “God is in heaven, and you are on earth… therefore let your words be few.””

God is in heaven, and we are on earth; so when we come before Him, we do not come in control…we come in humility, reverence, and dependence.”

And this is where the gospel speaks with clarity.

Because the God who is in heaven has made a way for us to come near, not through our words, not through our promises, but through Jesus Christ. He is the mediator between God and man, the propitiation for our sin. Which means when we come to God, we do not come bargaining…we come believing. We don’t offer promises, we receive grace. We come empty-handed, bringing nothing but our sin…and we receive salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone.

And this is where the preacher presses his point even further.

Because this issue of control doesn’t just show up in how we speak to God, it shows up in how we live our lives. What the Preacher shows us next is that the same problems are still there…in injustice, in wealth, in striving, in dissatisfaction.

So the question becomes, if we are not in control, how do we live?

Let’s turn our attention to how we should…

II. RECEIVE LIFE WITH DEPENDENT CONTENTMENT

The Preacher now turns from how we approach God to how we live in the world He has placed us in. And he begins with a reminder:

There will be injustice. There will be oppression. That shouldn’t surprise us. But neither should it lead us to believe we are in control.

Verse 9 can seem out of place, until you realize the temptation of verse 8. If there is oppression and injustice, why not do away with the whole system? Why not bring down monarchies and dismantle governments?

But verse 9 reminds us, imperfect as human authority is, order is still better than chaos. Even here, we are reminded: We are not in control of God or of those who govern us. And even if we were one of the governing authorities, there is always someone higher.

Now that the preacher has oriented us he moves into the area even closer to home, something that trips up so many of us. Money, wealthy, accumulation.

He says, He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income. That’s not just a true statement, it’s a proven one.

I’ve shared this quote before, but when J.D. Rockefeller was asked. ‘How much money does it take to make a man happy?’ He answered, ‘Just one more dollar.’

That’s how it works. You get more… and you want more. You gain… and you crave more.

And this is not just a rich person problem. You can certainly love money and not have any of it.

Because the issue is not how much you have, it’s what has your heart.

the issue is not how much you have, it’s what has your heart.

If money or wealth has captured your heart, no amount of it will ever be enough. You will never be satisfied.

And the Preacher draws a contrast: The one who works and receives what he has, he sleeps. But the one who is driven by more, he cannot rest.

Why? Because one is receiving life and the other is trying to control it.

Then he presses even deeper. He says, I have seen people destroyed by their own wealth. They worked hard. They accumulated much. And then, through a bad venture, it was gone.

And what remains? Nothing. “As he came from his mother’s womb, he shall go again…”

This cuts against one of our deepest assumptions: That if we work hard enough…and plan wisely enough…we can secure our future.

But Ecclesiastes reminds us: You are not in control of tomorrow. And you will not take anything with you.

Encouraging, right?

This is why Ecclesiastes feels so raw and relatable. It refuses to soften reality.

So the question becomes: If money won’t satisfy, if wealth doesn’t bring security, and if tomorrow is not guaranteed…

How should we live today?

And here is where the Preacher gives us one of the clearest answers in the book. “Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting” Let me pause there a moment.

Because throughout Ecclesiastes, the dominant refrain is: “All is Vanity and striving after the wind” It is frustrating and mysterious and a little like trying to grab handfuls of smoke.

But every so often, the Preacher stops and says: Even in a broken world, God has given gifts to mankind. This is one of those moments where what is good and fitting is contrasted with what is vanity and striving after the wind.

So what is good and fitting? To eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun. Eat and drink what you have with gratitude and joy. Work joyfully with whatever toil the day brings. In other words, receive your life.

Eat what you have...with gratitude. Work what is before you...with joy. Live the day you’ve been given...without constantly wishing it were different.

How many of us have wasted so many of our days by spending them wishing it was different.

How I wish someone would have grabbed 18 year old JD and told me this! Like many of you, I couldn’t wait to drive, to move out, to be independent, to get a job, to get a better job, to have a career, to be successful, to buy a house, and then get a bigger one. Every day we waste wishing our days were different is a missed opportunity to receive life one day at a time from the very hand of God.

Lest we are tempted to think the preacher is simply encouraging those who don’t have to be grateful with what they do, verse 19 says that God does in fact give wealth and possessions and the power to enjoy them.

This is the gift of God. That ability, that contentment, is the gift.

Why?

Because he says, he will not much remember the days of his life.

Why?

Because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.

Not because life is perfect. Not because injustice disappears. Not because difficulty goes away. But because instead of trying to control life…he has learned to receive it.

Will we still experience injustice? Yes.

Will we still experience difficulties? Yes.

Will we still experience life as frustratingly enigmatic sometimes? Absolutely

But for the one who receives each day as a gift from God, there is a settled joy.

And this brings us back to where we started: This is how we live in a world we do not control.

We come before God with reverence…and we receive life from His hand with contentment.

Every time we come to the book of Ecclesiastes as a church, we are reminded that life is often difficult and frustrating. A wise man who tried just about everything under the sun to find purpose, satisfaction, and contentment, keeps telling us the same thing. We will not resolve the tension in our own power. Yes, he offers us glimpses of how to live within it, how to walk through a broken world wisely. But from his perspective and place in history, he cannot rise above what God has not yet revealed. But we are not left there.

As New Testament believers, we know that Jesus stepped into this very broken world. He entered life under the sun. He experienced the injustice, the struggle, the pain, the difficulty.

And yet…

He approached the Father with perfect humility and reverence. He had very little in the way of material wealth and yet we never find him lacking, frustrated, or angry about his situation. We never find him grasping, striving, or dissatisfied. We find him content. Trusting. Joyful receiving whatever the Father had given him that day.

Don’t get me wrong, he is not just our example. He is our savior.

Because the truth is, left to ourselves, we don’t live this way.

We speak too quickly, act too rashly, we try to control what we cannot control, and we chase what will never satisfy.

But Christ lived perfectly where we fail, and then willingly went to the cross. He allowed himself to be unjustly tried, sentenced, beaten, and put to death.

So that sinners like us could be brought near to God.

Here’s what that means for us this morning.

The call of Ecclesiastes is no longer just an impossible ideal, destined to be corrupted by our sinful desires and natures. It serves as a description that shows us how Christ perfectly lived this way and in doing so made a way for us to be reconciled to the God who is in heaven.

Now, by his grace and indwelling presence, we can begin to live differently. We can come before God, not casually, but reverently. Not bargaining, but believing. Not trying to control, but in surrender.

And more than that, we can live each day, not trying to control everything, not grasping and striving, but receiving it as a gift from His hand.

The tension of living in time, with limited understanding, in a world governed by an eternal and holy God, doesn’t disappear simply because we recognize it.

It begins to ease when we come to know that same God through his revealing of himself in His Son, Jesus Christ.

And when you come to Christ, you may still live in a world that you do not control, but you will belong to the One who does.

Let us pray.