 Chapter 5, beginning at verse 1, reading to verse 5. I was going to take you to verse 4, but I'll take you to verse 5. Solomon writes, 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. 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. For a dream comes through much activity and a fool's voice is known by his many words. 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 better not to vow than to vow and not pay. So as we've been going through the book of Ecclesiastes, the author Solomon has been commenting on things that he has seen, and we've seen some of these things as he's spoken of them. He has seen injustice, he's seen envy and loneliness, he has seen the transience of power and popularity. And so he's been pointing out that life under the sun is filled with vanity, it's grasping for the wind. So as he's been contemplating what we would refer to as a natural life, he now considers the spiritual life. He had paid a visit to the temple and while he was there, he had observed the worshipers. And as he was doing that, he couldn't help but notice that many were not sincere believers. Now what made him so sure of this? He noticed that they would offer sacrifices, but they would not keep their vows to God. So what he was looking at was hypocrisy, and it seems that they did not see this in themselves. They seemed oblivious to the fact that they were offending God. That's why in verse one he says that they do not know that they're doing evil. So as he's observing this, he's moved to issue a warning, and this is what we're looking at as we introduce in verse one. He issues a warning, he says, walk prudently when you go to the house of God. Walk prudently. That's another way of saying be on your guard, watch your step. You should never approach the worship of God in a careless manner. Be cautious in your behavior as you approach God in worship. Now obviously we don't worship God in the temple in Jerusalem. We know that God can be worshiped wherever we choose to worship him. We understand that because we know that the worship of God isn't restricted to one geographical place or one building. In the book of Acts in chapter seven, it tells us that the most high-does and dwelling temples made with hands. As the prophet says, heaven is my throne, earth is my footstool, what house will you build for me, saith the Lord, or what place, or what is the place of my rest? Has not my hand made all of these things? So God doesn't dwell in a temple made with human hands. We know that God occupies earth, the earth is his, every single bit of it. And so it's not as if we go to a special place to worship, but the fact is as we worship and as we worship, we need to understand that worship is not just saying things, but worship is a way of life. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit and we worship him wherever we are. So he says, walk prudently. He says, prepare our hearts as we come before the Lord to worship him. We ought to worship the Lord is what he's saying carefully, not in a casual kind of flippant manner. When I was a young believer, I went to Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa. It was a small chapel building at that time. And I still remember going in and I've shared this with you before in terms of how small the chapel was. It's had around two, three hundred people. People were seated everywhere. And as a brand new believer going to church and actually enjoying it, I had this freedom. I had a sense of like just it was such a joy to be there. And I can remember the casual way I began to look at joining with these people. And one day somebody brought a beach ball in, kind of like you see at angel games. And I think I've seen them and I don't watch the angels really. I like professional teams, but I bang. But you know how they, they did it in church. And I'm sitting there and someone had brought in a beach ball and they hit it and they were bouncing it around the pews. I didn't think anything of it. I thought, wow, this is freedom. You know, they're not restricted. They're not stuffy. And then the elders came out. They must have been at least 20 years old, 21. The elders really were. They were very young, 19, 20, 21. And they came walking out and one of them took the beach ball and I'm watching what he's doing. I'm a brand new believer. And he said, this is where we worship God. It's not a playground. And I've never forgotten that. I've never forgotten that. This is where we worship God. It's not a playground. It's not a place that you come and basically just have a casual kind of flippant way of approaching the throne. God is a God of grace, but he's also an amazing, awesome, powerful God. And if there's anything that I've bemoaned over the years, it's been as I've looked upon much of the church world. I've had plenty of time to do so now. There seems to be a lack of reverence sometimes, as a matter of fact, often. And sometimes, and I've seen photos, some of you have, I've seen videos of the different kind of what they call worship services today. I've seen where they've had some speaker, they've put him in a wire and he's come from the back of the church on a wire and he comes down and lands on the platform, things of that nature. And it's like a circus and it becomes entertainment. We have to guard our hearts. We have to be aware of the fact that this may just be a building, but we're worshiping God, we're worshiping God as we gather together. And the right relationship that we should have with God is the relationship of a creature, us, one who has been created with the Creator Himself. And when you have that kind of understanding, then that's gonna produce in us an attitude of humility. It's like what the psalmist said in Psalm 8 verse 4, when he said, oh Lord, what is man that you care for him? The son of man that you think of him, what is man? What are we in comparison to you is the absolute question. The answer is we're nothing, that you should even consider us, that you should even think about us. It ought to humble us. So Solomon is saying, listen, when you worship God, come prepared. Come prepared, not to be entertained. Come prepared to hear from him. You see, genuine worship occurs when we've devoted our hearts as well as our wills to him, and that will happen when we take the time to be prepared to meet him in worship. And so I made a note, I'll just share it with you. I'd encourage us all to resist rushing around as we get ready to go to church. There's an awful lot, I know that, of rushing around before we go. And sometimes we can get ourselves into an emotional state because, you know, because we're running a little bit late. If you're a parent, you may have a couple kids who you've tried to get ready, and I understand some of that. We had four small children at one time. And for Marie especially on a Sunday to try and get them ready to go to church, it was difficult. I get it. And yet at the same time, you can lose sight of where you're going and what you're doing. You know, because I've seen it. I've seen it when people are upset, you know, and they're hurrying, they're mad, you know, everybody was supposed to be ready to go. And then one of the kids goes outside and falls down in the mud or whatever and dirties themselves up. And then you get real upset. Oh, we got to change him in. Here's a husband usually sitting in the car honking the horn while the wife's running around doing what she's doing. Come on, lady. Don't you see what time it is, that kind of thing. And they finally get together. Now the husband and the wife are a little bickering a bit as they're driving and if I could only reach you, kids, I'd break your legs. You know, we're going to church. Maybe God will heal you. I'm so mad. And there you go. You're going to church. And then, you know, it's just this pandemonium. And then you pull into the holy driveway and everybody suddenly becomes angels. It's just an amazing thing how that takes place. We need to be ready. Prepare your heart for Sunday services. I wrote a few things for Sunday services. Well, this is just advice. Prepare for church services on Saturday night. Get the clothes ready ahead of time. Put the kids to bed if you have children on time. Organize your time. Understand that it takes time to get ready. So give yourself enough driving time to get here. And as you're doing so, you can be preparing your heart to worship in song. And you'll be ready to hear what the Spirit says. Because sometimes when I come up, I'll tell John after the first service or whatever, I'll say, what was a quiet service today? There was a lot of anger in that room. They must have had a really difficult time getting here. Or they just can't stand the way you do the bulletin. We're going to have to get rid of you. Have your heart prepared. Remember where you're going. This lady had come to church and there was a time when they used to put these rollers in their hair. Some of you ladies might remember it. And somebody asked, why did you come to church with these rollers in your hair? And she said, because I'm going some place important after church. And so, you know, we have to be aware. We have to be aware. Where are you going? I'm going to worship my King. I'm going to hear the word of God so that my life can be transformed for the better. I can be a better person so I can be a better worker, father, mother, son, daughter, whatever. I can just be a better person and I'll be better because I'm going to hear something from the Lord today that's going to help me to see Him and to serve Him. Notice how he says again in verse one, draw near to hear. So prepare our heart as we approach God's word that we might hear Him as He speaks. Draw near speaks of a, and I looked this up, I wanted to see what the thought of that would be. Drawing near speaks of a personal relationship. It speaks of actual kinship as you're related. Your child, a relative, a loved one can draw near to you but a stranger can't. You can be standing there and somebody you know very well will walk up and invade your space. Now, I'm one of those people who doesn't like people that close to me, just that invades my space. I get kind of awkward, but there are some people who can do it. My grandchildren, the littlest ones can come up and grab hold of me and hold on to me. That's not invading my space. My wife can do it. My loved one, my closer friends can walk up and put their arm around me. They're not invading. It speaks of a kinship, it speaks of a relationship and that's what he's saying. Draw near to God. Come close to Him. Draw near to Him that you might hear from Him. When he speaks of it, draw near to hear, he's saying draw near so that you might understand. The word hear speaks more of just hearing with your ears, just the sound. It means to listen with a heart of understanding, with a willingness to obey. It speaks of having a discernment of what's being said and being able to perceive and pay attention to what's being spoken. You see, when God's word is rightly divided, God is speaking to His people. And that's something many fail to understand. We need to understand that Bible studies aren't simply talks. They're not just somebody up here talking. It's when we're here to hear God speak to us. In Matthew 10, 19 and 20, when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak, for it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak, for it is not you who speak, but the spirit of your Father who speaks in you. When we gather to hear the word rightly divided, it's the spirit of the Lord speaking to us. So you don't walk in haphazardly, just kind of whatever. In 1 Thessalonians 2.13, Paul said it like this. He said, for this reason, we also thank God without ceasing because when you receive the word of God, which you heard from us, you welcomed it, not as a word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe. I was listening to a Jewish believer the other day, and he was saying something. I'll just compress his words to the main point. He says, you need to understand when God is speaking, God is doing a creative work. He said like when it says in Scripture, and God said, let there be a light. It was speaking of his creative power through his spoken word. And the point is, is when the word of God is being divided rightly and received by faith, he's doing a creative work in us. And if we approach the word of God understanding that if we receive those things that his word teaches us, our life will be transformed. Well, that's the way we ought to come to church. That's the way we ought to gather for our studies. We need to understand that we are approaching the Lord of the universe. Remember when the Lord God was speaking to Moses in Exodus chapter 3, verse 5, he had said to Moses, do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet for the place where you're standing is holy ground. If we have that understanding, I guarantee you, if I enter into the house of God carefully drawing near to here rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, God is going to speak to me and my life is going to be transformed because his word is rightly divided. And that's what Solomon is saying. Now notice in verse 1 how he says, the sacrifice of fools. The sacrifice of fools is an offering that's made without obedient faith. That's because only a fool can think that he can pull the wool over God's eyes. In Matthew 15, verse 8, God said it like this. He said, these people draw near to me with their mouth, honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. So don't make the sacrifice of fools. Don't make this vow to God, this offering to God with no intention of keeping what you're saying. Verse 2, do not be rash with your mouth. Let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. God's in heaven and you on earth. Therefore, let your words be for you. And so do not be quick to speculate about heavenly things. Don't be an armchair theologian. All of us have friends who know more than the manager or the coach on the team when we're watching a game. Oh, he should have done this and they should have done that. They're armchair, armchair quarterbacks. We all have been that or we all have friends who are. Well, there are armchair theologians too. You know, and every once in a while I have met one or two. You know, you should use this scripture when you said that there. You know, they're not listening to the study. They're correcting it. And so some people think themselves to be theologically deep, but they're speaking wrongly in the name of God. They speculate concerning heavenly things. They try to explain God to people and it reveals very often that they have a zeal, but they're still in need of maturity. So don't be rash with your mouth and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. There needs to be an attitude of humility. As we're going through the book of Acts, we're ultimately going to come to chapter 18 and we're going to read about a man named Apollos. Apollos is a young Christian when we're introduced to him in chapter 18, verses 24 through 26. And when you read those verses and I'll just gel them for you, he's described in a certain way. Apollos, this young Christian is described as eloquent. He's mighty in scripture. He's instructed in the way of the Lord. He's careful to teach accurately and he's bold. But he only knows the baptism of John. So there are two older believers who are there listening to him as he's sharing. And Aquil and his wife Priscilla take him aside and they explain the way of God to him more accurately. And the Bible tells us that he received from them. There are some young people who are very eloquent, very energetic, very filled with ideas and zeal. And their passion is something that rubs off on people. But unfortunately they're not, they're not solid in God's word. So the people get hooked on their, on the passion. But what's being said isn't correct. And you ought to see it when they're corrected because there have been times when I as an older believer have said, you know, that's a very zealous state. But you need to realize that it was biblically incorrect. What are you talking about? I've got all these people, et cetera, et cetera, they love me. Well, the bottom line is, is we need more people like Apollos who are aware of what they're saying so that they can learn from the, from those who have been there before. We need to remember that when we speak for God, it is a great responsibility. In the book of Isaiah, chapter six, verse five, Isaiah said this, woe is me for I'm undone. I'm a man of unclean lips. I dwell in the midst of people of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the king, the Lord of hosts. I'm a man of unclean lips. There are those I heard people say, yeah, Isaiah had a profanity problem. He was a cussing prophet. No, that's not what he's saying. What Isaiah was saying is the things I say of God haven't been right, haven't been thoroughly correct, not that they're filled with error, but I have developed even a greater understanding of who he is by my confrontation with him. And I realize that the half of what I'm saying does not give him honor. It didn't give him the glory he should have had. So he wasn't a man who was filled with profanity. He was a man who was awakened to humility. In Job 38 verses one and two, it says that the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and he said, who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? And that's one of the more powerful portions of the book of Job. To me, it's when the Lord reveals himself to a man who in the first chapter is stated to have been a man who was by God himself stating concerning this man that he is a righteous man, that there's nobody like him. And yet you see all the way into the 38th chapter after Job goes through all those things that he goes through that Job ultimately says. I heard of you with the hearing of my ear, but now I see you with the scene of my eye. I've been walking in faith. I've been saying those things that I knew to be true because I received them from those who came before me. But now I have a deep personal knowledge of who I'm speaking about. So if you want to have a kind of clarity in the way you share. And I pray that every one of us it's important for us to get to know who God is, because even as when the Apostle Peter was on that boat and Jesus had cast off from the shore and Jesus used that boat as a floating pulpit and ministered and he turned to the Apostle and told him to cast out and drop his nets and he'll get a large catch of fish. And we remember the story, how that the Apostle Peter said, we fished all night, we got nothing. In other words, I'm a fisherman and you're a preacher. What do preachers know about the real world? You know, you should stick talking to people's spiritual lives and let me do the fishing. That's inherent in what he's saying. He says, but nevertheless at your word. And that's when he drops the net and they catch so many fish that the net begins to break. And then Peter's words were the wisest when he said, depart from me. I'm a wicked man. Because when you draw close to God, you see yourself for who you are. And when you see yourself for who you are, then you abhor yourself. You see yourself for being less than you thought you were. That produces real humility because everybody looks beautiful at three o'clock in the morning with the lights off. But when you turn the lights on and you see yourself for what you really look like, the more the light, the uglier we are. The closer you draw to the Lord, the more of yourself you see. And it's not pretty. That's why we say God be merciful to me. I'm a sinner. I don't want to speak in ways that do not give honor to you. Somebody once said, those whose thoughts have their origin in this world cannot speak about God without error. He says in verse three, a dream comes through much activity. A fool's voice is known by his many words. Our lives can be so busy that when we dream, our dreams can be confusing. So our prayers can also be filled with confusion with many words. In other words, we don't know what to pray for. So we pray for whatever is on our mind. So he's saying, even when you're praying, be very aware of what you're saying. Bring your petitions to God with few words. They'll be fervent, but they can be few. Why is that? Well, Matthew six, verses six and seven. Jesus said, when you pray, go into your room. When you've shut the door, pray to your father who's in the secret place. And your father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as they heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. God already knows what I need. And I simply should approach him as a father who would know. Now he goes on in verse four, when you make a vow to God, don't delay to pay it. He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vowed. Better not to vow than to vow and not pay. Verse six, 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 hand? For in the multitude of dreams and many words, there's also vanity. Fear God. And so making a vow to God when he says, when you make your vow to God, that's making a promise. That's making an oath. Now in the Old Testament promises were not required, but when they were made, they were to be honored. In Numbers 30, verse two, it says, if a man makes a vow to the Lord or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. So he's saying, do not make promises to God that you do not intend to keep and delaying to pay it. When he says in verse six, don't let your mouth cause your flesh to sin. Well, these are those who are making promises. But they're trying to bribe him to get him to do something. And when he speaks of the messenger, that's the priest. When he comes to collect that, which was promised. Don't be telling him, oh, I, I rashly said that I made a mistake. And I really wasn't going to give him that. Verse seven says, in the multitude of dreams and many words, there's also vanity. Fear God. Now most dreams are insignificant. I have the weirdest dreams. I bore my wife with them all the time. I just wait for her to wake up and I'll say, this is the craziest thing happened to me last night. And she can't get away from me because she's next to me and I make sure she doesn't. Then I tell her these crazy dreams. Well, most dreams are insignificant. And the point he's making is so are vain and empty promises. So here's your answer. The answer, fear God, don't make false promises to him. It is better to not make a promise than to make one and not keep it. One of the things that we need to honor is our word. I've shared this recently. I'll say it briefly again. Be a person of your word. When you say you're going to do something, then do your very best to do it. But be very careful, Solomon would be saying, to not make rash promises to God that you don't intend to keep. And Versailles, 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. High official watches over high official and higher officials are over them. Moreover, the prophet of the land is for all, even the king is served from the field. So he who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver, nor he who loves abundance with increased white. Well, this is also vanity. So Solomon in Versailles is seeing government officials using their authority to serve themselves. It's a good thing that doesn't happen anymore. So he's saying, don't be surprised by this because corrupt bureaucracies exist. Pecking orders still exist. People get preferential treatment because of who they are or related to all the time. And people will always dominate over those who are at the lower level. And so instead of justice, the matter will be lost in red tape as well as officials who pocket the funds. When he says in verse nine, the prophet of the land is for all, the king even himself is served from it. Well, when things are done fairly, he's saying everybody benefits. The king himself benefits from government that is honest and efficient. Now he says in verse 10, he who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver, nor he who loves abundance with increased, this also is vanity. Why is that? Well, when goods increase, they increase who eat them. So what prophet have the owners except to see them with their eyes? 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. So Solomon speaks concerning wealth. Now the reason he's addressing this is because when we're in love with wealth, then we are being robbed of God's blessings. For many possessing great wealth is the goal of their lives. They see advantages gained by the wealth, and they pursue those advantages. They'll set a goal, they'll work, they'll achieve that goal, but in pursuit of the wealth, they forget God. Why is that? Because they're driven by greed. Now greed is an excessive desire to possess more than what you need or deserve. Someone once said, greed is a fat demon with a small mouth. Whatever you feed it is never enough. How much is enough? A little bit more, but you have all of that. Yeah, I do, and I'd like a little bit more. Well, what happens is when you're driven by it, you forget God. Why? Because you're pursuing gain and wealth. Solomon's already shared what he would refer to as a futility of gaining wealth. He said that he had gathered silver and gold. He had gathered the special treasures of kings, and he went on to say in chapter two in verse 18, he said, I hated all my labor because I have to leave it all behind. All of my labors are wasted because they were lacking eternal perspective. And so he's addressing myths concerning wealth. He's addressing the myth that money can buy happiness, that money can solve every problem, that money brings a complete peace of mind, and that money brings security. So he said in verse 10, the one who loves silver will never be satisfied with silver. In other words, money cannot buy happiness. When you have an appetite for something, you're never gonna be fulfilled. When you're always looking for the wealth or the increase of your revenue that will never satisfy you. Now, I've heard people say, you know, I know that money doesn't buy happiness, but I'd like to find that out for myself, so I hope I get a whole lot of it. What happens is people can begin to not only love it, but they think about it all the time, they strive for it constantly, ultimately the controlled buy it, and then they guard it. And their lives are driven by desire for money, and all they think about is how much more can I get, and they lose everything. At the end of the day, there are very few things that last forever. I don't know, at the risk of bumming you out, and I keep looking at the time because we're gonna have communion, and I wanna make sure I go through this. Let me tell you this very quickly. The one thing that lasts forever is relationship. The one thing that lasts forever is your relationship with God, and the one thing that we should pursue above all things is relationship with Him and with other people, number one. The other day I awakened, it wasn't a dream, it was just one of those cloudy thoughts that you have. Sometimes when you awake, as you're trying to become oriented to be aware of where you're at and what you have to do, and what day is it, that kind of thing. And this thought hit me, and I hope it doesn't bum you out, but if it does, good. It made me think. I remembered something my mother had told me. It's funny how these things happen. My mom told me this, and I'll say this briefly. She said, son, she said, your grandfather was leaving for work, and he and your grandmother, my dad's mom and dad, he and your grandmother had had an argument. And so your grandfather was about to step out of the house to go to work, and he turned to give his wife, my grandmother, a goodbye kiss. He's going to work. And she said, and your grandmother turned her face away from her husband. One of those things, don't kiss me, I'm still mad at you, one of those. She said, you know what happened? I said, what? Your grandfather went to work. My grandfather worked in a lumberyard, a shop, where there was a lot of grinding and sign cutting of wood. And the particles, a lot of you already know this, but there's a dust that forms in there that is very flammable. It can explode, and that's what happened that day. My grandfather was enveloped in a ball of flame at work that day. He was hospitalized. My mother was six months pregnant with me. I never knew my grandfather. And she said, your grandmother never had a chance really to kiss her husband goodbye one last time. And she said to me, never fall prey to that kind of thing, David. And I wakened to remember that, and the words came to my heart. One day, the last time you say goodbye will be the last time you say goodbye. Now, that's just not coming from just some old man. That's just a fact, because if you think for a moment of some of your friends that you saw, and you said, I'll see you later, and you never had a chance to see them ever again, you know exactly what I mean. Sometimes the last time you say goodbye is the last time you say goodbye. So the only things that matter are relationships. It's not the money. Money is a tool. It can even be a blessing, but it is not our goal. Our goal should be relationship. Our goal should be loving one another and doing those things. Jesus said, watch out and be on your guard against all kinds of greed. A man's life doesn't consist in the abundance of his possessions. He says when goods increase verse 11, they increase who eat them. Money doesn't solve every problem. We need money just to survive. But money isn't the solution to every problem I have. Solomon says the more you have, the more people are around to help you spend it. If you hit a jackpot, the IRS will help you give money to the government. And wealth helps you discover friends and relatives you didn't even know you had. They'll show up and be willing to enjoy your hospitality. That doesn't happen normally to someone with no money. Proverbs 14, 20 says the poor man's hated even by his own neighbor, but the rich has many friends. So many who are wealthy never know who really loves them and who is using them. And a lot of times you see these very old men with these very young women. And I know that's true love. And verse 12, he says the sleep of a labor man is sweet. That deals with the myth that money brings peace of mind. Solomon points out that ordinary working men sleep better than the rich. While the rich have security guards and fences, video alarm systems on their homes, bulletproof vehicles and all kinds of things to protect them and their goods. And very, very rich people have insomnia because they're never able to get any rest. And so be careful about that, why? While he continues, there's a severe evil which I have seen under the sun. Rich is kept for their owner to his heart. Those riches perish through misfortune. When he begets a son, there's nothing in his hand. As he came from his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came. He shall take nothing from his labor which may carry away in his hand. And this also is a severe evil. Just exactly as he came, so shall he go. And what profit has he who has labored for the wind? All his days, he also eats in darkness. He has much sorrow, sickness and anger. And here is what I've seen. It's good and fitting for one to eat and drink, 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, it's his heritage. As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth and given him power to eat it, eat of it to receive his heritage, to rejoice in his labor, it's a gift from God. For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart. So this I'll just condense. What you have here is the myth that money brings security and I'll just read my notes and go through it this way. What you have here is a wealthy miser. He ends up losing his fortune through bad business decisions. He thought that all of his problems would be solved when he became rich, yet through poor money management, he ended up with nothing to leave behind. So, afraid of letting his money work for him, he became a miser and he lost it all. In the end, he was back where he started from, having nothing to leave for a son. He trusted in his riches and he was let down. And because he was rich, he thought that his riches would be his protection as well as his identity, but he lost it all. And when he lost it all, he had no parachute to break his fall. In verse 17 tells us he ends his days in sorrow, sickness, and anger. Why is that? Well, ultimately we die and take nothing with us, but we do end up giving an account to the Lord. Proverbs 22 verse two says, the rich and the poor have this in common. The Lord is the maker of them all. And so he concludes in verses 18 following, this is what I've seen. It's fitting to work faithfully, to enjoy good things of life and to see it as a blessing. God will take care of him. A person rejoicing in God's blessings won't have regrets. Why is that? Well, he has learned where to put his trust and because of it, he's blessed. It's like what Paul said in 1st Timothy 6 verse 17, command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy. If the Lord has blessed you with finances, he's saying enjoy them, but don't forget that God blessed you. Don't begin to trust in those things. I am telling you beyond a shadow of a doubt that it's absolutely true. Many a person who began saying, God, I just want you to bless my hands so that I can do things for you has been blessed so much that ultimately they forget who's the one who's blessing them. I remember J. Vernon Nagy saying something and I'll close with this. Now that a man had approached him, I believe it was J. Vernon, a man had approached him and said to him, Dr. Nagy, I need you to help me. I made an oath to God and I want you to give me a way to get out of it. And J. Vernon Nagy said to him, what was the oath? He said, well, I told God that if he blessed my hands, I would give him 10% of everything I made in my business. He said, and I faithfully did that. He said, the problem is, is my business has grown so much, I can't afford to give 10% anymore. So I'm asking, is there a way for me to no longer give to him 10%? And J. Vernon said, well, no, I can't give you a way to get out of keeping the promise you made to God, but I can do this. I can pray that God will break you to the point where you're so poor you can afford to give to God what you promised him. So we have to be very careful. It's a good thing that the Lord can bless us and indeed he does. But the things that we have, I never to take the place of our trust in him. Solomon said, this is something I've learned. To work hard, to be able to labor and sleep in peace is a good thing. But when you have so much money that all you do is have insomnia over it, you've missed the boat. You've missed on what is really the most important thing.