謹慎言語
傳道書五章1至7節
1你到神的殿要謹慎腳步。因為近前聽，勝過愚昧人獻祭（註：或作“勝過獻愚昧人的祭”），他們本不知道所做的是惡。
2你在神面前不可冒失開口，也不可心急發言。因為神在天上，你在地下，所以你的言語要寡少。
3事務多，就令人做夢；言語多，就顯出愚昧。
4你向神許願，償還不可遲延，因他不喜悅愚昧人，所以你許的願應當償還。
5你許願不還，不如不許。
6不可任你的口使肉體犯罪，也不可在祭司（註：原文作“使者”）面前說是錯許了。為何使神因你的聲音發怒，敗壞你手所做的呢？
7多夢和多言，其中多有虛幻。你只要敬畏神。
信息分享
在希伯來文中，「愚昧人」包含了很多意思。它可以指一個行事輕率的人，一個自信自恃的人，一個說長道短的人，一個毫無愧疚、不知悔改的人，一個藐視神的人等。因此，一個在敬拜神的時候表現輕慢的人，就正是一個如上所指的「愚昧人」，他不是懷著一顆不配和謙恭的心來到神的面前，還以為他向神禱告是給神面子。事實上，我們無論何時、何地來到神的面前，都必須帶著謙恭之心，承認我們的不配；惟有靠著耶穌基督為我們作成的工，我們才得蒙神的接納。
所羅門還提醒我們要小心許願。古代的希伯來人對於許願非常謹慎和認真，所許的願定必償還。所羅門直言：「你許願不還，不如不許。」我們很容易虧欠的就是在金錢奉獻上，我們也許在懇請感動的壓力之下輕率認捐，卻在落實之時深感為難；又或者決定將賺取的十分之一奉獻給神，卻覺得要獻的十分之一比其餘的十分之九還大。我們必須對神誠實，向神還所許的願。
我們是否求神的幫助，讓我們能謹慎言語和小心許願呢？我們每天都要在神面前，省察我們的言語、我們的許願、我們的意願。主察看並知道一切。我們必須緊記我們在與誰交往——祂不是一般人，而是神自己。沒有任何東西能夠向祂隱瞞。
LET'S WATCH OUR WORDS
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.
Message
The Hebrew word for “fool” covers many meanings. It can be a thoughtless person, a self-confident person, one who chatters, and one who feels no guilt, a person who ignores God. Each meaning is a rebuke to any of us who think lightly of worshipping God. A fool has no sense of unworthiness or humility in approaching God. He may even think he is doing God a favour by speaking to Him. Obviously our attitude as we approach God at any time anywhere should be one of humility, recognising we are only accepted because of Jesus Christ and His work for us.
Solomon also includes a warning about vows. These were a serious matter to the ancient Hebrews. Once made they must be kept. Solomon said it plainly, “It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfil it.” Perhaps one place where we may fail here is in our giving. It is easy to make a promise under the pressure of an emotional appeal but then comes the difficulty of fulfilling of our promise. Or we may decide to give a tithe of all we earn to God and then find that the one tenth looks larger than the other nine-tenths. We need to be honest with God and give Him what we have promised.
Can we ask God to make us more careful in the things we say and the promises we make? We need to watch our words, our promises, and our intentions in our daily walk with the Lord. He sees and knows it all. We must remember with whom we are dealing - not merely man but God Himself. Everything is open before Him.