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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God; for to draw nigh to hear is better than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they know not that they do evil. |
Keep thy foot – Take heed to your standing, your walk, your conduct. R3990:1
Not literal feet, but being circumspect in one's daily life. R5186:3
Do not go to the house of God as to the market place, or to some place of amusement. R5186:3
Decorum, reverence, is necessary in every place where God is worshipped. R5187:1
House of God – Whether we meet in a parlor, church, or opera house, the fact that God's people are there makes that building a holy place. R5187:1
Ready to hear – Listen; not full of mirth. All conversation should be of a kind that would edify, build up, along spiritual lines. R5187:1
We do not know any lesson the Lord's people need to learn more than that of reverence. R5187:2
Sacrifice of fools – Laughter, levity, foolish talk, jesting. R5186:6
Consider not – Many parents become so accustomed to the ways of their children that they do not realize that others are being annoyed. R5187:4
To come into the meeting late is out of harmony with the principles of both justice and love. R5187:4
He who is indifferent to the rights of others manifests that he is lacking in the spirit of love. R5187:4
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| 2 Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter any thing before God; for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few. |
Before God – In view of the fact that "All things are naked and open with him with whom we have to do." (Heb. 4:13) R1938:1
For God – Our Judge. R1938:1
Is in heaven – Upon the throne. R1938:1
Thou upon earth – Under trial before the bar of God. R1938:1
Thy words be few – Thoughtful, wise, as uttered before God; not rash, hasty and ill-considered. R1938:1
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| 3 For a dream cometh with a multitude of business, and a fool’s voice with a multitude of words. |
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| 4 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou vowest. |
Vowest a vow – Makest a covenant or promise. R2081:1*
Our "consecration" or "baptismal" vow, if a proper one, was all comprehensive--involving the sacrifice of all that we possessed or ever would acquire. R4238:1
Defer not to pay it – The Lord expects faithfulness in each one who has taken his covenant upon him. R5855:5
One who consecrates cannot, by subsequently changing his mind, be released from the obligations thus incurred. R2080:6*
Pay that...vowed – Its observance tends to strengthen the entire life. R5613:6
"It is a snare for a man to devour that which is holy, and after vows to make inquiry." (Prov. 20:25) R4265:5
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| 5 Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. |
Better is it – Our Lord emphasized the same lesson. (Luke 14:28-33) R4238:2
And not pay – Its violation serves to weaken the conscience. R5613:6
It is not enough that we have consecrated. It will avail nothing if we prove unfaithful to it, except to rise up in judgment against us. R2154:5
If death is not voluntary the Lord will destroy our flesh. If we resist this it will mean the hopeless death of our being. R5855:5
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| 6 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 thy hands? |
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| 7 For in the multitude of dreams there are vanities, and in many words: but fear thou God. |
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| 8 If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and the violent taking away of justice and righteousness in a province, marvel not at the matter: for one higher than the high regardeth; and there are higher than they. |
Marvel not – Take comfort that God's judgments will some day be manifest and prevail. R1532:5
That is higher – God is above all the judges of the earth. R1532:5
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| 9 Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field. |
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| 10 He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance, with increase: this also is vanity. |
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| 11 When goods increase, they are increased that eat them; and what advantage is there to the owner thereof, save the beholding of them with his eyes? |
What good is there – Business prosperity he regards as an empty bubble and the excessive labor to accomplish it as laboring for the wind. R1532:5
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| 12 The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much; but the fulness of the rich will not suffer him to sleep. |
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| 13 There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept by the owner thereof to his hurt: |
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| 14 and those riches perish by evil adventure; and if he hath begotten a son, there is nothing in his hand. |
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| 15 As he came forth from his mother’s womb, naked shall he go again as he came, and shall take nothing for his labor, which he may carry away in his hand. |
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| 16 And this also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that he laboreth for the wind? |
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| 17 All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he is sore vexed, and hath sickness and wrath. |
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| 18 Behold, that which I have seen to be good and to be comely is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labor, wherein he laboreth under the sun, all the days of his life which God hath given him: for this is his portion. |
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| 19 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 labor; this is the gift of God. |
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| 20 For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart. |
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