Proverbs 3:1-5

 

Prov 3:1 (KJB)

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

 

Forget - To willfully ignore something

Keep - To observe or to obey

 

This chapter begins with an exhortation that the true believer is not to willfully ignore the teachings of the law. Under grace we would say that we must never forget the teachings of the doctrines of Scripture. For a child of God, it behooves us to be obedient unto the Lord and to observe all His commandments. This is not for the purpose of keeping us in bondage to any ritual as it was in the Old Testament, it is for the purpose of maintaining our Christian walk on earth and being a testimony to others. Whenever we willfully neglect any of God’s commandments, we are setting ourselves up for trouble.

 

Prov 3:2 (KJB)

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

 

Whenever we consistently obey God’s commands, we will live in a state of peace. That is because when we trust God with everything, we exist in peace because we will have transferred any and all anxiety unto the Lord. This is why believers can be very peaceful under harsh circumstances. (Phil 4:7 KJV) And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. The peace that God gives us will exceed the understanding of unsaved man and even will surprise believers how stable and peaceful they can be under pressure. Another aspect of walking in obedience is that it gives evidence that one is a child of God. When it talks about long life and length of days, it speaks about eternal life. (James 4:14 KJV) Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. James speaks of our lives as a vapour which appears for a little time, meaning in the comparison to eternity, it is but a puff. When God states He will add long life or length of days, He speaks of the fact that He has given eternal life to His children. (Psa 91:16 KJV) With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation. Psalm 91 carries the theme of one walking in obedience to God and God linking long life and salvation in verse 16. Now we have all known or known of Christians who have died at young ages so if this verse was speaking only about earthly life, there would be a problem. Now it is true that when one is obeying God, they will avoid the things in this world which could cause our bodies to degenerate and die at young ages. As Christians we avoid alcohol, tobacco, drugs, etc. These things will shorten a physical life so there is some truth in the fact that if we forsake these things, we may live longer but that is not a guarantee because we could be hit by a car and die instantly.

 

Prov 3:3 (KJB)

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

 

(Prov 1:9 KJV) For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck. Always be cognizant of the mercy of God which has forgiven all your sins and the truth of God that He has kept all His promises and is always faithful to His children. These truths are to be such a part of the Christian life that they are to be as if they have been physically bound around the neck and physically written on the tables of our hearts. This way the mercy and truth would be both on the outside of our lives guiding our actions and on the inside of our lives guiding our motivations and desires so no wrong actions will emanate from our hearts. (Prov 4:23 KJV) Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

 

Prov 3:4 (KJB)

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

 

(Prov 16:7 KJV) When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. Proverbs 16:7 gives a good insight into this verse. When does a man’s way please the Lord? When they are saved! A saved person is indwelled by the Holy Spirit who is the disseminator of wisdom. He gives the believer the insights which is another meaning of “understanding.” In fact, Abigail, Nabal’s wife, is called a woman of understanding. (1 Sam 25:3 KJV) Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb. When the Christian walks in the ways of the Lord, He withholds the enemies from them allowing them to live in peace. Solomon knew this, as long as he walked with the Lord, he had peace all around. (1 Ki 4:24 KJV) For he had dominion over all the region on this side the river, from Tiphsah even to Azzah, over all the kings on this side the river: and he had peace on all sides round about him. We begin to lose our peace when we start making alliances with the world and Solomon knew this as well.

 

Prov 3:5 (KJB)

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

 

Here is one of the most popular verses in the Scripture and the least followed. We are to have total trust in the Lord, that is, not 99% but total. God is totally faithful and has never or will never be unfaithful. There are warnings in Scripture about people placing trust in troops and their devices (Job 6:20), fenced cities (Jer. 5:17), a person’s own heart (Prov. 28:26), riches (Mark 10:24), man (Jer. 17:5), etc. Any divided trust between the Lord and something else, is mistrust in the Lord. We cannot lean on our own understanding because it is tainted by sin and is full of the ways of the world. When tough times hit, normally the first thing is we go to the world instead of the Lord first and asking Him to guide us into what to do. Many times God will be working something out in our lives and we may have no clue as to what God is doing and that is when we must trust Him fully. It is not easy because as people we always feel we must be doing something but we must follow the advice of Moses sometimes. (Exo 14:13 KJV) And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will show to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. Sometimes we must stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. Many times we get into trouble because we feel we have to help God. Believe me, He does not need our help, just read Job 38-42.

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