When Life is Hard, Pay Up

Martin Luther was a young, German law student when he got caught in a violent storm. It was a day when people instinctively attributed storms and other calamities to Satanic attack, and Luther, who had not yet discovered God’s grace to him in Christ, lived in constant dread of Satan capturing his soul. As he took shelter from the thunder and lightning, he heaved up a desperate vow over the howling winds: “St. Anne, save me, and I will become a monk!”

Solomon is teaching us about how our mouths can get us into trouble when life gets hard. Yesterday, he warned us about popping off at God with accusations and demands (5:1–3). Today, he shows us how trials can prompt us to make vows that we are not prepared to keep. Have you ever cut a deal with God when you’re in trouble? “God, if you’ll just get me out of this, I promise I’ll ______.” If the heat is turned up enough, we’ll promise just about anything to make the pain stop!

Vows are not always viewed negatively in the Bible. The Old Testament has a whole category for  “votive offerings.” God’s people brought votive offerings when they wanted to make a solemn commitment to God. One godly lady who desperately wanted a child made a vow to God: if the Lord would give her a son, she would devote him to God’s service. The woman’s name was Hannah, the little boy God gave her is named Samuel, and we would wipe out many a Mother’s Day sermon if we took this “vow” story out of the Bible! Solomon does not condemn making vows to God in this passage. But he does say that if you make one, you better take it seriously, because God does: “When you vow a vow to God, do not delay in paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow” (5:4).

A fool thinks that he can manipulate God into doing what he wants by making a lot of empty promises. “God, if you’ll just get me this job, I promise I’ll start going to church.” “God, if you will deliver me from this trouble, I promise to serve you.” But God is not mocked. When he delivers us like we begged him to do, he expects us to follow through with what we promised. This is the model we find in a text like Psalm 66:13–14: “I will come into your house with burnt offerings; I will perform my vows to you, that which my lips uttered and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.”

God is so serious about this that Solomon says it would be much better not to vow at all than to make a vow and then break it: “Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake” (6). The “messenger” here appears to be the priest, coming to collect on the promise that was made. We might think of Eli knocking on Hannah’s door to bring baby Samuel back to the tabernacle with him. Can you imagine Hannah looking back at Eli and saying,“Vow? I don’t remember making any vow?” Solomon says this would be a very, very bad idea: “Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands?” (5:6)

Let that verse sink in. If you take a flippant attitude toward God, he is able to destroy the work of your hands. Think about everything that you are trying to accomplish in your life right now. Then imagine God systematically dismantling it all! This is exactly what he did to Pharaoh. He promised over and over to let Israel go if God relented of the plagues but then just laughed about it when the heat was off. This didn’t work out so well for the land Egypt! We don’t want to make empty promises and commitments to God. Yield your life to him.

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Article by Eric Smith
Senior Pastor, Sharon Baptist Church