The Absurdity of Worship

Up until Chapter Five in Ecclesiastes, Qohelet does not address man’s relationship with God directly. He infers things here and there but is not specific regarding the way man relates to God. But now in Chapter Five Qohelet addresses the worship of God, specifically, or the way in which man should approach God. In this passage Qohelet warns the reader to be sincere before God, to not burden Him with unnecessary ramblings in prayer, and be careful not to make promises to Him because He will hold you to them. In all, Qohelet says we should walk on eggshells around God, do what we can so we don’t make Him angry. The best you can do with your worship is to do it as rarely and carefully as you can.

This attitude, though, can only inhibit true worship. Worship is an expression of love and a person cannot love what they fear. 1 John 4:18 states the opposite of Qohelet’s claims in Ecclesiastes: “There is no fear in love. Perfect love casts out fear. “ Because we live under a sinful state, it is difficult to have this perfect love. Even as Christians we can still operate from the fear that God will punish us for sinning or for lack of growth. God’s Word actually operates under this assumption – the assumption that our false view of the Father is a result of our fallen, imperfect relationships on earth.

Matthew 7:7, Isaiah 49:15, and Psalms 103:8-13 all assume that the way in which we relate to our parents or we as parents relate to our children is similar to the way the Lord relates to us. But in each reference, the Lord does not fail as earthly relationships do. He is the supreme parent, able to love us more than earthly parents ever could.

As wonderful as the love of God is, we must guard ourselves against a rebellious attitude towards His corrective love. To see His work in our lives as harsh at times can cause us to feel He is unloving, to think He is cruel. In those times, if we rebel, we feel justified in doing so. Rebellion becomes a means of defending ourselves against God’s perceived cruelty. Also, we must guard ourselves against pride. To depend on God’s love is to be as children, needing someone’s provision and protection in our lives. To be a Christian is to be a child of the Father. But to be a child goes against our sinful nature – we don’t want to be weak, needy, or childish. But for both of these things we have to remember that all our sins have already been covered by Christ’s death on the cross. None of life’s adversities and difficulties are punishment. Jesus was punished for our sins and we are only recipients of God’s love.