Proverbs 3 - Don't Forget

Keeping the LORD's commands leads to living in His blessings.

Proverbs 3:1–12 (NASB95)

3 My son, do not forget my teaching,

But let your heart keep my commandments;

² For length of days and years of life

And peace (šā·lôm) they will add to you.

³ Do not let kindness and truth leave you;

Bind them around your neck,

Write them on the tablet of your heart.

⁴ So you will find favor and good repute

In the sight of God and man.

⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart

And do not lean on your own understanding.

⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He will make your paths straight.

⁷ Do not be wise in your own eyes;

Fear the LORD and turn away from evil.

⁸ It will be healing to your body

And refreshment to your bones.

⁹ Honor the LORD from your wealth

And from the first of all your produce;

¹⁰ So your barns will be filled with plenty

And your vats will overflow with new wine.

¹¹ My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD 

Or loathe His reproof,

¹² For whom the LORD loves He reproves,

Even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.

Belgic Confession

Article 24: The Sanctification of Sinners

We believe that this true faith,

produced in man by the hearing of God’s Word

and by the work of the Holy Spirit,

regenerates him and makes him a “new man,”

causing him to live the “new life”

and freeing him from the slavery of sin.

--

So then, we do good works,

but nor for merit—

for what would we merit?

Rather, we are indebted to God for the good works we do,

and not he to us,

since it is he who “works in us both to will and do according to his good pleasure”

--

Yet we do not wish to deny

that God rewards good works—

but it is by his grace

that he crowns his gifts.

Summary

So many of the proverbs are formatted like today's - a father imparting wisdom upon his son. Certainly this sets the ideal relationship between a parent and child - one in which teaching God's Word finds top priority. But remember that these words are more than just King Solomon's wisdom being imparted to his sons (which as we read a few months ago, didn't go so well); these words are God's words, being imparted directly to you by His Spirit through Solomon's pen.

Did you feel the rhythm of these words as you read the text? So much Hebrew poetry takes the form of today's passage, set in parallel couplets in which the second line poetically restates the first. Verse seven is a good example:

Do not be wise in your own eyes;

Fear the LORD and turn away from evil.

This structure does more than just form aesthetically pleasing poetry. It enables a couple of simple, elegant lines to deliver a heavy theological load: wisdom as we define it - that is, in your own eyes - is evil and must be turned away from, whereas true wisdom comes through fearing the LORD, which is the primary theme of the Proverbs that we learned yesterday.

This poetic parallalism also adds value to the proverbs' imperatives. Our Father certainly could demand that we do not forget His teaching simply because they are His commandments, and it's His way or the highway. But in His love for us He defines how it is that keeping them benefits us:

IMPERATIVE / COMMAND	BENEFIT
Do not forget teaching / keep my commandments	Add years of life and peace (shalom)
Do not let kindness & truth leave you	you will find favor and good repute
Trust in the LORD / lean not on your own understanding / in all your ways acknowledge Him	He will make your paths straight
Don't be wise in your own eyes / fear the LORD & turn away from evil	It will bring healing and refreshment
Honor the LORD with your wealth	Your barns will be filled with plenty
Do not reject the LORD's discipline	The LORD's reproof is evidence of His love

  Dig Deeper  

We read the word heart so often in the Bible, but we rarely understand what the word means, especially here in the Old Testament. Today's passage has three instances of it:

Let your heart keep my commandments...

...Write them on the tablet of your heart.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart...

When our western ears hear heart language, it's easy to think of sappy Hallmark movies or greeting cards, dripping with contrived emotion. We tend to distinguish between our heads and hearts - the former being rigid, disciplined, organized and intellectual, while the latter is raw and impulsive feeling that resists all attempts to be categorized or controlled. Some people are all head, and others are all heart. Somehow our goal needs to be to hang on to both.

But the ancient Hebrews had no such distinctions between their emotion and intellect - their heart and head. Here's how one Hebrew dictionary defines their word often translated as heart. It includes your:

inner self;

disposition, inclination;

determination, courage;

will, intention;

attention, consideration, reason

In other words, when the Bible speaks of your heart, it's referring to every portion of your being - who you are at your very core; not just your emotions or feelings, but all of your intellect and volition as well.

This is important to understand because a couple of weeks ago we read about what the Holy Spirit has done for you: replaced your heart of stone with a heart of flesh. In other words, you've been transformed from being completely repulsed by Proverb's wisdom to one who in Christ can not just keep the LORD's commands, but experience the blessings and benefits that come with having a heart that is all in on trusting the LORD rather than leaning on your own understanding.

AAA Prayer (About)

• ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who will make our paths straight when His commandments are written on the tablet of our hearts;

• ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that your heart will fear the LORD and turn away from evil;

• ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

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