Wednesday, October 22, 2025
Scripture Readings
- Primary Reading: Ecclesiastes 5
- Secondary Reading: Psalms 122
Key Verse
Ecclesiastes 5:11 — “When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes?”
Devotional Thought
The Preacher of Ecclesiastes turns our feet toward the house of God and tells us to watch them carefully. In ancient Israel, worshipers climbed the hill to the temple with sacrifices in hand and songs on their lips, but Solomon warns that drawing near to God is no casual errand. “Keep thy foot,” he writes—guard your steps, for the ground itself is holy. The fool rushes in with a lavish offering while his heart is far away, but the wise man comes with open ears and a quiet tongue. “God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.” It is a sobering geography lesson. We do not approach the Almighty as equals trading opinions; we come as creatures before our Maker, and our posture ought to match the distance.
From the temple, the Preacher walks us through the marketplace and the courtroom. He names the oppression of the poor and the perverting of justice in the province, those ordinary cruelties that make us clench our fists. Yet he says, “Marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth.” Earthly thrones are not the final court. And then the great equalizer: “the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field.” Every man, from monarch to laborer, is fed by the same soil and stands under the same heaven. The man who loves silver will never be satisfied with silver; the rich man’s abundance keeps him awake at night, while the laboring man sleeps sweetly whether he eats little or much. Here is a portrait of our own age, where we clutch our gains and lie restless, counting what we cannot keep.
Then the Preacher does something unexpected—he commends joy. “There is nothing better,” he says, than to eat and drink and enjoy the good of all your labor, for this is your portion, the gift of God. He is no grim ascetic. He simply insists that we receive our daily bread as a gift rather than grasping at it as a god. Naked we came from the womb; naked we shall return. Everything we carry is borrowed, and the only safe way to hold it is with open hands.
Psalm 122 sets our feet in the right place again. The pilgrim sings, “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.” His feet stand within the gates of Jerusalem, that city compact together, where the tribes go up to give thanks. There, too, are set thrones of judgment—the house of David—reminding us that God’s house is a house of order, justice, and peace. “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.” On this autumn Wednesday, as the year folds toward its close and the leaves fall, we are still pilgrims climbing toward the house of God. We come with few words, open ears, and open hands, seeking the peace of the city whose builder is God.
Reflection
- When you enter God’s house—whether a sanctuary, a quiet room, or a moment of prayer—are you more ready to speak your own words or to hear His? What would it look like this week to come before God with fewer words and a more attentive heart?
- The Preacher says the laboring man sleeps sweetly while the rich man’s abundance keeps him awake. Where in your life are you grasping at gifts rather than receiving them, and what would it mean for you to hold them with open hands as a portion from God?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, Thou art in heaven and we are upon earth, yet in Thy mercy Thou dost bid us draw near. Guard our feet as we come into Thy house, and quiet our hasty tongues, that we might hear before we speak and listen before we vow. Teach us to keep our promises to Thee and to one another, and to fear Thy name. Give us contentment in the portion Thou hast assigned us, that we may eat our bread with joy and sleep in peace, knowing that every good gift comes from Thy hand. We pray for the peace of Thy city and for all who love Thee, that we may prosper in Thy truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Psalm Verse
Psalms 122:1 — “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.”