As I look back on the last few months of posts, I’ve written a lot of words about many difficult subjects, from Biblical interpretation to sexism in the church, from religious tolerance to homosexuality.  This week, I’m feeling the need to return to a verse in the Bible that has resonated with me more than any other, for some reason.  It’s found in the Old Testament, in the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 5, verse 2, and in my unauthorized “Eric Stillman Version” (ESV), it says this:

Do not be quick with your mouth or hasty in your heart to utter anything before God.  God is in heaven, and you are on earth, so SHUT UP.

For some reason, that verse has always meant a lot to me.  In the context, this is what Solomon writes:

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.  Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.  As a dream comes when there are many cares, so the speech of a fool when there are many words.  When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow.  It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it.  Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, “My vow was a mistake.” Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands?  Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore stand in awe of God.  (Ecclesiastes 5:1-7)

Ecclesiastes has a special place in my heart, because it was the first book of the Bible that I ever read completely through.  I was a senior in high school, not yet a follower of Jesus, and was writing my senior English thesis on the meaning of life (really, why analyze the relationship between mortality and aesthetics in The Picture of Dorian Gray when you can figure out the meaning of life?).  I had read a bunch of books and short stories that portrayed life as having meaning, and others that portrayed the world as a chaotic, meaningless place.  One of the books I read was The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway.  As I began to read, I found that the title came from a verse in Ecclesiastes:

“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” What profit has a man from all his labor in which he toils under the sun? One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever. The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it arose. (Ecclesiastes 1:2-5, New King James Version)

I decided to check out Ecclesiastes for the first time that year, and have found myself drawn to that intriguing book ever since. 

As I’ve grown in my faith, I’ve seen more and more wisdom in Ecclesiastes 5:2 – God is in heaven, and you are on earth, so let your words be few.  Ironic advice for someone who gets paid in large part for his ability to communicate, but think about it:  How much better a place would this world be if more people would remember that God is in heaven, and we are on earth, and therefore we should let our words be few?  How much more Christlike could Christians be if we thought carefully and with humility before opening our mouth?  How much more impact could we have as a church if we stopped arguing and debating and started to love and live out our faith with good deeds?  It’s like what St. Francis of Assissi said: “Preach the gospel at all times.  Use words if necessary.”  Or like the early church, which had a practice known as the discipline of the secret, where they avoided mentioning the death and resurrection of Christ in the presence of the unbaptized, believing that the most persuasive witness was the way one lived, not the words one spoke.  Or perhaps Solomon said it best in verse 3 of chapter 5: “As a dream comes when there are many cares, so the speech of a fool when there are many words.”  God is in heaven, and you are on earth, so let your words be few. 

Or, think of it this way:

God is the judge in heaven, and you are not all-knowing here on earth,
so be careful how you judge.

God is sovereign in heaven, and you are not in control down here,
so stop complaining and trust in him

God is good in heaven, and you are full of evil down here,
so be careful what you say and how you say it

God is holy, and you are flawed,
so listen before you speak

God is truth, and we only know part of the truth here on earth,
so stop acting like a know-it-all

God is infinite, and our minds and senses are finite,
so learn to be content with mystery

Solomon ends this section in verse 7 by exhorting his listeners to stand in awe of God.  One of the most powerful experiences I ever had in worship was during a time where the worship team was playing the song “I Stand in Awe”.  As they sang the song, I tried to sing along, but my heart was so overcome by the presence of God that I could not speak.  I was opening my mouth, but nothing was coming out.  And as I sat there in silence, tears spilling out of my eyes, I heard the people singing these words:

“You are beautiful beyond description
Too marvelous for words
Too wonderful for comprehension
Like nothing ever seen or heard.”

I couldn’t help but smile through the tears, as the words of that song were coming true for me… the beauty of God was so overwhelming me in that place that no words could have ever done Him justice.  It was as if God was stopping my voice and forcing me to listen and recognize that there was nothing I could ever say that would adequately explain how incredible it is to know Him.  God is in heaven, and I am on earth, and sometimes the wisest, most worshipful thing I can do is to stop talking.

For all who have contributed to the discussions on this blog over the past couple of months, thank you.  I’ve really enjoyed the opportunity to seek the truth together. I will be back blogging next week, but for this week I wanted to take a moment to remember my place in the universe. And now, in honor of the one whom words can not explain and language can not contain, I will gladly close my mouth.  God is in heaven, and I am on earth, so I will let my words be few.

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