Proverbs 3:24 - The Biblical Illustrator

Bible Comments

My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments.

Useful precepts and inspiring motives

I. To remember and keep in our hearts the things written in this book (Proverbs 3:1-2). Interest dictates to us the propriety of keeping God’s commandments.

II. To live in the exercise of mercy and truth (Proverbs 3:3), in every part of our intercourse with our fellow-creatures, however defective they may be in the practice of these virtues to us. As workers under the Spirit we are required to write the law of kindness and of truth upon the tables of our heart, by maintaining deep impressions of it, by meditating upon the peaceful motives that should excite us to that virtue, and by endeavouring, through the grace of Christ, to have our hearts habitually disposed to all those duties which are the natural fruits of love and integrity. God is well pleased, not only with the reverence and love which His people show to Himself, but with that generosity and mercy, that sincerity and faithfulness, which they evince to their fellow-men. To find in His children His true though imperfect image greatly delights the Deity. That understanding which is good in the sight of God and man is another fruit of the constant practice of mercy and truth.

III. To depend on God, and not on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). To trust in God is to depend on Him for bestowing on us every needful blessing, and preserving us from all evil. This dependence on God is to be exercised with all our hearts, our judgments being persuaded that God is the only and the all-sufficient object of confidence, and our souls resting with full satisfaction in His power and faithfulness. We must renounce every sublunary dependence; we must not make our own understanding a staff to our hearts.

IV. To be liberal in the service of God (Proverbs 3:9-10). Earthly substance is necessary for the use of our bodies, but we are called to make a nobler use of it than in the mere service of the outward man. We are to honour the Lord with it, making no use of any part of our increase till we have set apart a reasonable proportion of it for the service of God.

V. To behave aright under afflictive providences (Proverbs 3:11). We are warned against despising Divine rebukes, or fainting under them. The rebukes of providence are despised when persons regard not the supreme hand which afflicts, when they consider not the design of God in afflicting, or when, through stupidity of mind or hardness of heart, they neglect to comply with it. Afflictions may be despised when men do not value them as necessary and useful. Weariness under the Divine correction is another common fault, which we must avoid with care. Our hearts must not fret against the Lord, nor suffer reflecting thoughts to spring up, for God never exceeds the due measure in distressing us. No ingredient is poured into the cup of affliction, but by infinite wisdom and grace. Ever keep in mind who it is that afflicts us. Let all flesh keep silent before Him. He is a Father, and chastens us in love.

VI. To esteem wisdom, and earnestly pursue it (Proverbs 3:13-26). All the treasures of wisdom are hid in Christ, and He communicates the precious gift by His Word and Spirit. The excellency of wisdom appears in the gifts she bestows. She is a munificent princess, holding in both hands the richest presents, to be given to her servants. A happy life extended to old age is given to the lovers of wisdom, and riches and honour are given in the same sense as length of days. And religion is not less conducive to pleasure than it is to honour and wealth. It will readily be admitted that some of wisdom’s ways are pleasant; but are they all so? There is peace and pleasure in repentance, which is sweetened by the apprehension of God’s mercy in Christ. There is pleasure in self-denial, for he that practises it knows that he is the true self-seeker. There is pleasure and peace in tribulations, because when they abound, consolations abound much more by Christ. There is peace in fighting the Lord’s battles. All the exercises, all the privileges, all the hopes of religion, are full of pleasure. Add the glory which belongs to wisdom, as it appears in creation and providence (Proverbs 3:19-20). No wisdom is sound but that which is taught by the Word of God, and approved by Him who is the author of wisdom. This sound wisdom makes us discreet and prudent, and guards us against that selfish cunning which has so often assumed its name. Safety is another of the great advantages which always attend wisdom. Walking in the ways of the Lord, we may banish those fears that would distress the soul. The Lord is a sure ground of confidence in the worst of times. Our proper exercise in such seasons is to trust in the Lord, and to pour out our hearts before Him, knowing that He will be a refuge for us. (G. Lawson.)

Religious impressions to be retained

Travellers tell us that the constant rubbing of the sand on Egyptian hieroglyphs removes every trace of colour, and even effaces the deep-cut characters from basalt rocks. So the unceasing action of multitudinous trifles will take all the bloom off your religion, and cause the name of the King cut on the tablets of your heart to be forgotten if you do not counteract them by constant, earnest effort.

Godliness

I. Godliness is associated with regard for law (Proverbs 3:1).

1. Appropriation. “My law.” Before we commend the Word of God to others we must receive it ourselves.

2. Instruction. “Forget not.” This implies that something has been taught.

3. Exhortation. “Forget not.” There are few things men so soon forget as Divine commands. The godly man is one who respects righteous law. He delights in the law of the Lord (Psalms 1:2; Romans 7:22). The moral law is eternal, and must be regarded by all true followers of Christ. Obedience to it is not the ground of justification, but this is attained in the work of sanctification.

II. Godliness is associated with present advantages (Proverbs 3:2).

1. Intensity of life. “Length of days.” In the long run the longest day is the day that has the longest record of service for God.

2. Length of life. “Long life.” “A blessing,” say some, “of the Jewish dispensation.” A blessing, rather let us say, of all dispensations. “Righteousness tendeth to life” as much now as ever, and, other things being equal, he will live the longest who lives the best.

3. Serenity of life. “Peace.” Tranquillity continuing through all the years. The peace of the man who hearkens to God is like a river (Isaiah 48:18), getting broader and deeper as it gets nearer to the sea.

III. Godliness is associated with regard for the well-being of men. “Mercy” (R.V. margin, “kindness”) “and truth” (Proverbs 3:3). See here the bearing of a godly life upon the good of men. The mind of God is one of “good-will toward men” (Luke 2:14), and those who would be God-like must be of the same mind (Matthew 5:45).

IV. Godliness is associated with faith in god (Proverbs 3:5). Trust in the Lord is the secret of safety (Proverbs 29:25), of happiness (Proverbs 16:20), and of spiritual prosperity (Proverbs 28:25).

V. Godliness is associated with the acknowledgment of God (Proverbs 3:6). This acknowledgment of God is to be--

1. Personal. “Thy ways.”

2. “In all thy ways.” Man’s ways are many. Some walk in high places, some in lowly valleys. The way of some is in the sea, of others in the office, of others in the academy, of others in the senate. Some men walk in many ways. Abraham Lincoln was a rail-splitter, a storekeeper, a bargeman, a lawyer, a member of a State legislature, a Congressman, and President of the United States, but in all positions he acknowledged God. At the threshold of life “he had,” says one of his biographers, “a profound trust in Providence”; and when he left Springfield for Washington to take his place as President he said to his friends, “Pray that I may receive that Divine assistance without which I cannot proceed.”

3. In our own sphere. We need not go out of our way. The ordinary path of life will “furnish all we ought to ask.” The promise in the sixth verse suggests that we may acknowledge God by looking to Him for guidance, and it gives the assurance of Divine direction.

VI. Godliness is associated with humility (Proverbs 3:7). “Be not wise in thine own eyes.” “Many,” says Seneca, “might have attained wisdom had they not thought they had attained it.” The way to godliness is in the footsteps of Christ, and to follow in that path we must be meek and lowly in heart. VII. Godliness is associated with practical holiness (Proverbs 3:7-9).

1. The godly man will shun evil. “Depart from evil.” To “depart” may be rendered to “turn aside.” As men sometimes “cut” those they do not wish to see, so is evil to be “cut.” To go into the way of evil is to run a risk of falling into it.

2. Cultivate benevolence (Proverbs 3:9). Christian benevolence is substantial (“substance,” not merely good wishes); generous (“first-fruits”); God-honouring (“honour the Lord”). Those who with a right motive give of what God has given them acknowledge their indebtedness to Him and His ownership in what they possess.

VIII. Godliness is gain (Proverbs 3:10). Gain is not always godliness, but godliness is always gain in the highest sense. The giving of the first-fruits fills the barns. (H. Thorne.)

The earthly rewards of wisdom

We are taught to look for the fruit of righteousness in long life and prosperity, for the penalty of sin in premature destruction. We are accustomed to dwell on the promised joys of the future world as if godliness had no promise of the life which now is, and in so doing we take all life and colour from those expected blessings. The true view seems to be, the way of wisdom, the path of the upright, is so full of joy, so crowned with peace; the life of the children of the kingdom is so wisely and bountifully provided for; the inevitable pains and troubles which fall to their share are so transformed, that from this present good we can infer a future better, gathering hints and promises of what we shall be from the realised felicity of what we are. What are the immediate and apprehensible benefits of the life which is lived according to the dictates of heavenly wisdom?

I. The right life is a wholesome life, physically healthy. The body is a sacred trust, a temple of the Holy Ghost; to use it ill is to violate the trust and to defile the temple. The temperance of habit and orderliness of life which Wisdom requires of her children are the first conditions of vitality. Peace of mind, cheerfulness of temper, the transfer of all anxiety from the human spirit to the strong Spirit of God, are very favourable to longevity. Let no one think of measuring life only by days and years. Each day should be a full, rich day, unmarred by recollections, unshadowed by apprehensions. Each day is distinctly worth living. The life in God is undoubtedly a healthy life, nor is it the less healthy because the outward man has to decay, and mortality has to be swallowed up of life.

II. The right life requires fair dealing between man and man. The main economic principle of wisdom is this, that all legitimate trade is the mutual advantage of buyer and seller.

III. Wisdom commands not only justice, but generosity. She requires her children to yield the first-fruits of all their possessions to the Lord, and to look tenderly upon His poor. And the teaching of experience is that those who act upon this precept purchase to themselves a good possession.

IV. Look at the deeper, more spiritual results of right living. God is so much to men, that clear vision and strong action are utterly impossible apart from a humble dependence upon Him. The beginning of all wisdom is in the recognition of God, in personal submission to Him, in diligent obedience to all His directions. We do not at first see what is meant by trusting in the Lord with all our heart; we confuse it with that tepid, conventional relation to God which too frequently passes current for faith. They who do entirely renounce their own judgment, who, with their whole heart trusting Him, acknowledge Him in all their ways, find their lives running over with blessing, and become the means of incalculable good to the world and to themselves. It would not be easy to make plain or even credible to those who have never trusted in God how this guidance and direction are given. When a few years have been passed in humble dependence on God, it is then possible to look back and see with astonishing clearness how real and decisive the leadings of the Spirit have been. Our life, we find, is all a plan of God, and He conceals it from us, as if on purpose to evoke our trust, and to secure that close and personal communion which the uncertainty renders necessary. Some are suspicious of the “Inward Light,” as it is called. That may be because they do not trust the Lord “with the whole heart.” Wisdom calls for a certain absoluteness in all our relations to God, a fearless, unreserved, and constantly renewed submission of heart to Him. And while the external results of wisdom are great and marked, this inward result, which is the spring of them all, is more blessed than any. The supreme bliss of the heavenly wisdom is that it leads us into a detailed obedience to the law which is our life; it sets us under the immediate and unbroken control of God. To know the secret of the Lord, to walk in this world not guideless, but led by the Lord of life, to approach death itself not fearful, but in the hands of that Infinite Love for whom death does not exist, surely this is worth more than the gold and precious stones which belong only to the earth and are earthy. (R. F. Horton, D. D.)

Proverbs 3:1-35

1 My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:

2 For length of days, and longa life, and peace, shall they add to thee.

3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:

4 So shalt thou find favour and goodb understanding in the sight of God and man.

5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

8 It shall be healthc to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.

9 Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:

10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

11 My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:

12 For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

13 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.

14 For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.

15 She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.

16 Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour.

17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.

18 She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.

19 The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he establishedd the heavens.

20 By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.

21 My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion:

22 So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck.

23 Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.

24 When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.

25 Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh.

26 For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.

27 Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.

28 Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.

29 Devisee not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.

30 Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm.

31 Envy thou not the oppressor,f and choose none of his ways.

32 For the froward is abomination to the LORD: but his secret is with the righteous.

33 The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just.

34 Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly.

35 The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.