VANITY OF VANITIES

Ecclesiastes Chapter 5

“Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.” (Verse 1)

Lord God in Heaven, please help me to faithfully attend the house of God in accordance to Thy Will for me. Lead me to the house of God that is Thy Will for me to attend. Help me to always exercise care to keep my foot when I go to the house of God. Please help me to be more ready to hear than to speak. Please save me from the vanity of giving the sacrifice of fools. What is the sacrifice of fools? Is it lengthy, impetuous, uncontrolled, unprofitable, vain, proud, boastful, self-centered, selfish speech? Please teach me the meaning of the sacrifice of fools. Please save me from being a fool and from giving the sacrifice of a fool. Also teach me what a great evil the sacrifice of fools is. Please make all people aware of this evil and save us all from the evil referred to in this verse.

“Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.” (Verse 2)

Almighty God, please extend great mercies unto me and save me from the vanity of being rash with my mouth. Please save me from the vanity of letting my heart be hasty to utter any thing before God. Please make me ever aware of how High, Holy, and Great Thou art, on Thy Majesty Throne in the Highest Heavens. Please keep me ever aware of what a low being I am. Please help me to always speak proper words in due season, and to let my words be few. I pray these things for all other people. Please save us all from vain, sinful speech.

“For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words.” (Verse 3)

Lord Jesus, please save me from the vanity of being a fool. Please save me from the vanity of being known as a person of a multitude of words. I pray these things for all other people also.

“When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.” (Verse 4)

Almighty God, save me from the vanity of carelessly making vows unto Thee. Right now, please convince me of what a solemn and grave matter it is to make a vow unto God. Guide me as to when I should make any vow unto Thee, and as to when I should refrain from making a vow unto Thee. And please make my heart fully obedient to Thee to assure that I will pay any and every vow that I make unto Almighty God. I pray these things for all other people also. Please save us all from the vanity of being fools in Almighty God’s Sight.

“Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. (Verse 5)

Lord Jehovah God, Judge of all mankind, please instill within me a full knowledge of what a fearful thing it is going to be when I soon stand before Thy Judgment Throne in Heaven to give account to an All-Knowing God of all duties I failed to fulfill during my life under the sun. Please have mercy upon me and save me from the vanity of making any vow that I do not pay, any vow that I do not fulfill. I pray these things for all other people also.

“Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?” (Verse 6)

Almighty Jehovah God, please save me from the vanity of my mouth causing my flesh to sin. Please teach me who is this angel mentioned here? Please save me from the vanity of making excuses for my sins against God, lightly saying that it was just an error. Please save me from the vanity of voicing things that anger Thee, thus causing Thee to destroy the work of my hands. Please daily guide me to say and to do the things that are pleasing to Thee and the things that bring joy to Thee, my Creator God. I pray these important things for all other people also.

“For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.” (Verse 7)

Lord God Almighty, please save me from the multitude of dreams and many words and the divers vanities that come from them. Please have great mercy on me and instill within me a deeply sincere and most reverent fear of Almighty God My Creator and Judge. Help me to serve The Lord Jehovah God with fear, and to rejoice with trembling. I pray these things for all other people under the sun also. Please do whatever it takes to smite us all with a genuine, reverent; holy, awesome fear of Almighty God our Creator.

“If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they.” (Verse 8)

Almighty Jehovah God, High and Holy, on Thy Great Throne in the Highest Heavens, please instill in my heart a burning and most earnest desire to know Thee as fully, completely, and intimately as I possibly can know Thee during my life under the sun. Please reveal Thy Great Glory unto me and reveal to me all the great and wonderful things Thou hast in store in this life under the sun for any person who will fully obey Thee. Please save me from the vanity of being indifferent to the oppression of the poor, and from being indifferent to the violent perverting of judgment and justice. I now strongly cry out to Almighty God on High against these evils of oppressing the poor and the violent perverting of judgment and justice. In accordance to Thy Will for me, please cause me to stand against these great evils, and then commit myself, and the judgment of these evils, to Thee, our Faithful Creator God and Judge of all the earth. I pray that all other people will do these things also.

“Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field.” (Verse 9)

Lord Jesus, I acknowledge that Thou art the Creator of all things. I thank Thee and praise Thee for creating this earth to bring forth a most varied abundance of food and other natural things necessary for sustaining all the life that Thou didst create upon this earth. Thank Thee, Lord, that the profit of the earth is for us all, given to all creatures under the sun by God’s Abundant Grace. Please save me from the sinful vanity of not giving thanks to Thee at mealtime when I partake of the profit of the earth to nourish my body and for my own pleasure. Please save me from the sinful vanity of not constantly thanking Thee for daily showering upon me an abundance of things necessary, pleasant, and enjoyable to me. I pray that all other people will acknowledge that every good thing available to us under the sun is from our Creator God’s Bountiful, Gracious Provision and that we will always give Thee thanks for it. I pray that kings and all great people will ever be mindful that, no matter how great a status they rise up to while living under the sun, they are served by the field and that their physical life under the sun is daily sustained by food grown by lowly farmers who work in the “dirty” soil Thou didst create for that purpose. May the knowledge of that fact cause all great people to be humble, and to be obedient to their Creator God. In this present, modern-day, end time age (with worldwide famine likely rapidly approaching), please help us all daily to be truly thankful to Thee for the few farmers who remain, and for each bite of food Thou doest provide to nourish our physical bodies. I pray these important things for all other people under the sun.

“He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.” (Verse 10)

Almighty God in Heaven, I acknowledge that NOTHING is impossible with Thee. Therefore I cry out to Thee from the depths of my heart, begging Thee to save me from the ever so destructive vanity of loving silver (money), and the abundance of the things of this world that money can buy! Please thoroughly convince me that money, and the abundance of worldly things that money can buy, CAN NOT and WILL NOT satisfy me. Please help me to now yield my heart fully to Thee, my Creator God, for the purpose of Thee working totally unrestricted in my heart and life, and by Thy Unlimited Power creating within me a pure, upright, and perfect heart that totally and absolutely seeks all its needs, satisfaction, and fulfillment in my Creator God alone. I also pray that all other people will do these things.

“When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners hereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes?” (Verse 11)

Lord God, remind me of the reality of multitudes of people running to the people on this earth whose goods are increased, (running to rich people) begging for charity. Remind me of what vexation of spirit such solicitation is to those rich people whose goods are increased. Save me from the vanity of labouring to be rich. Help me to be fully content with food and raiment. I pray these things for all other people also.

“The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.” (Verse 12)

Almighty Lord God, daily, please clearly guide me to work the work that Thou didst ordain that I work, even before Thou didst create the worlds. Cause me to daily labour with all my might, as unto My Lord God. I thank Thee, that Thou doest cause the sleep of a labouring man to be sweet. Please cause me to thoroughly take this warning to heart, that the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep. Make me aware that sleep is priceless and is most necessary to sustain my physical life under the sun. Cause me to look on history’s record of abundantly rich people who died long before their 70 allotted years, and who were unable to obtain priceless sleep during the latter end of their life under the sun, a life cut short of a normal life expectancy by misery caused by an abundance of riches. May the knowledge of these direly important truths save me from loving money, silver, gold, and the things they buy. May that knowledge and God’s Wisdom save me from labouring to be rich. I pray these things for all other people also. Please save us all from all the vanity of worldly riches.

“There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.” (Verse 13)

Lord Jesus, please open my spiritually blind eyes. Please give me keen spiritual vision to make me fully aware of all the evil that is around me in this life under the sun. Cause me to spiritually stand against that evil. Make me aware of the sore evil of riches having a great potential to hurt the owners thereof. Save me from the vanity of loving riches and the abundance they buy. I pray these things for all other people also.

“But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand.” (Verse 14)

Almighty God, cause me to face the reality that earthly and worldly riches are fleeting things that perish by evil travail and can do so at any time. Please save me from the vanity of loving them and pursuing them. Please guide me to lay up treasures in Heaven where they will last forever. Please help me to love my Creator God with all my heart and to train up my children to do the same. By doing so, I will give my children a godly heritage. Save all my house, Lord God, I pray. I pray these things for all other people also.

“As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.” (Verse 15)

Lord God in Heaven, save me from the vanity of labouring only for this life under the sun. Show me how to labour to lay up treasures in Heaven that will last forever. Please cause me to ever bear in mind the reality that death could come at any time, and will certainly come soon to put an end to all my endeavors in this life under the sun. Remind me that I cannot then take any of my earthly and worldly labours under the sun with me when I depart this life to meet Almighty God in Judgment. Please guide me to always fervently labour for the meat that endures unto everlasting life. Help me to always labour to lay up treasures in Heaven where they will last forever. Please guide me to properly prepare for the day of my death. Please give me steadfast and unmovable faith to fully trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and may my faith never fail me. I pray these things for all other people also. Please save us all from all vanity.

“And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind?” (Verse 16)

Lord God, cause me to stand in my spirit against all the sore evil that is in this life under the sun. Please save me from all evil. Save me from the vanity of labouring for the wind. Teach me and guide me to labour for spiritual profit that will endure forever and will reward me forever. I pray these things for all other people also.

“All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.” (Verse 17)

Lord Jesus Christ, I confess that Thou art God’s True Light that lighteth every person that cometh into the world. Please shine Thy True Light into my heart and dispel all the darkness in my heart. Save me from the vanity of walking and eating and living in darkness. Please guide me daily to walk in the True and Glorious Light of The Lord Jesus Christ. Please comfort me in all my sorrow. I praise Thee that Thou art the God of all comfort. Please save me from wrath, and from sickness. Please have mercy upon me and heal all my diseases. Please strengthen my body, empower me from on High, and guide me to use all my life’s energies for Thy Great Glory. I pray these things for all other people also.

“Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion.” (Verse 18)

Almighty God, please give me clear spiritual vision to see all that Thou desirest I see during this life under the sun. Please save me from the vanity of being void or lacking of spiritual vision, spiritual knowledge, and spiritual wisdom. Please fill me with Thy Divine Wisdom, I pray. Convince me that every good thing I have cometh from God in Heaven. And that as I eat and drink and enjoy the good of all my labour during my days under the sun, please help me to do everything that I do as unto Thee, my Creator God. And help my heart to always be filled and running over with thanksgiving for all Thy Abundant Goodness to me and to all my family and friends. I pray these things for all other people also.

“Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.” (Verse 19)

Lord God in Heaven, please work powerfully in my heart to cause me to fully acknowledge the Truth that Thou has given me all the riches and wealth that I have. Every good thing comes from God’s Hand. Save me from the sinful, pride-filled vanity of boasting that I got all I have by my own might. Save me from the vanity of not constantly thanking God in Heaven for the great abundance Thou doest daily bestow upon me. “If riches increase, set not your heart upon them.” (Psalms 62:10) Lord Jesus, please help me to obey this command from Almighty God. Please save me from the vanity of ever setting my heart upon earthly and worldly riches. Right now, I praise Thee for Thy Great Gift in giving me power to eat thereof and to take my portion of the riches and wealth Thou hast given me, and to rejoice in my labour. I acknowledge that all this is the gift of a gracious God in Heaven. Remind me of wealthy people who lost their ability to eat because the great magnitude of their wealth weighed so heavily upon their hearts. Save me from the destructive vanity of loving riches, setting my heart upon them, and making them into my life. Please help me to make The Lord Jesus Christ my Life and my All. I pray that all other people on earth will acknowledge the true nature of worldly riches and not set their hearts upon them. Please turn every heart under the sun, to the Lord Jesus Christ. “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.” (Revelation 5:12)

“For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart.” (Verse 20)

Lord Jesus Christ, please work powerfully in my heart now, and enable me to fully open my heart to Thee, for the purpose of Thee filling my heart with the fruit of God’s Holy Spirit, Love, Joy, and Peace. Please reveal to me how that only these Fruit of the Holy Spirit can fulfill my being. Please save me from the vanity of seeking my fulfillment from the things of the world, which are the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Right now, I give my heart fully to My Creator God for the purpose of Thee filling my heart and my entire being full to running over with Almighty God’s Love, Joy, and Peace. I praise Thy Glorious Name that God’s Love, Joy, and Peace cause me to forget my days of tears, heartache, hurt, sorrow, worry, gloom, travail, toil, lack, want, defeat, despair, disappointment, depression, sadness, loneliness, hopelessness, and suffering in this life under the sun. By all means, forever more, everyday, for all my remaining days under the sun, please give me a fullness of Almighty Jehovah God’s Love, Joy, and Peace. I pray this prayer for all other people under the sun. Heavenly Father, I pray all these prayers in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and I ask Thee to please answer them all for The Lord Jesus Christ’s Precious Name’s Sake. I thank and praise Thee for answering them for me. Amen.

(This is the end of Chapter 5 of VANITY OF VANITIES)

Chapter 6

Home Missionary Newsletters Sermons Books