BEING the Creator of heaven and earth, the Most High merits our reverential fear and awe. In a forceful way, King Solomon emphasized this when he wrote: “Guard your feet whenever you go to the house of the true God; and let there be a drawing near to hear, rather than to give a sacrifice as the stupid ones do, for they are not aware of doing what is bad.

Eccl. 5:1, 2.

When it comes to a place of worship, a person should rightly keep in mind where he is going, watching his step. The “house of the true God” surely is no place for morally defiled people or for those having no regard for sacred things. (Ps. 15:1-5) It is a place for “hearing,” that is, paying attention to or obeying divine precepts.

A person should not be like a fool who fails to use his reasoning faculties and chooses a course contrary to God’s commands. The fool may offer a sacrifice as a religious duty or as an outward manifestation of piety. Yet he refuses to recognize that this makes his sacrifice valueless, in fact, detestable to God. Proverbs 21:27 makes this clear: “The sacrifice of the wicked ones is something detestable. How much more so when one brings it along with loose conduct [“vileness at heart,” New English Bible].”