Year 1, Week 44, Day 1 Bible Reading Observations

Year 1, Week 44, Day 1

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of Proverbs 3-6.

Today’s reading is additional chapters through the Proverbs. Proverbs 3-6 continues an arrangement that was set in place at the start of the Book of Proverbs: the wisdom expressed in the Proverbs is framed as a conversation of a father to his son: “My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you” (Proverbs 3:1, see also Proverbs 1:8, 2:1, etc.). A father teaching his son runs throughout the Book of Proverbs. This father and son arrangement echos the same arrangement expressed in Deuteronomy: "Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the LORD your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, that you may fear the LORD your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you…You shall teach them diligently to your children” (Deuteronomy 6:1-2a,7a). The Book of Proverbs is practicing the kind of instruction that Deuteronomy required fathers to have with their children.

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading was the frequent use of the term “heart” found throughout the Book of Proverbs: “Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart” (Proverbs 3:2). The matters that a father talked to his son about were matters that were to be internalized. Wisdom was to be embedded into the very fabric of a person’s heart and soul, so that the wisdom imparted would have great influence in shaping a person’s thoughts, affection, and will. What Proverbs is seeking to do with the matter of wisdom, Deuteronomy was seeking to do with the Law: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart” (Deuteronomy 6:4-6).

Just as Moses directed the Israelites toward an earnest relationship with the LORD that was rooted in the heart, so the pursuit of wisdom is obtained through an earnest relationship with the LORD: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart” (Proverbs 3:5a). Turning to the LORD and not merely relying upon one’s self is necessary for not merely obtaining wisdom but living in relationship with the LORD: “and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths” (Proverbs 3:5b-6). Knowing the LORD and His ways is the pathway of wisdom. Humility before the LORD and true obedience to His Word is essential to living wisely: “Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil” (Proverbs 3:7). And these matters must be matters of the heart: “Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth” (Proverbs 4:4b-5). A superficial assent to either valuing wisdom or to knowing and obeying is an insufficient means for actually realizing any of these goals.

The Book of Proverbs, as does the rest of Scripture, sees the term “heart” as the center of what a person actually is: “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23). The “heart” is descriptive of all the physical/intellectual/spiritual/emotional processes of a person. The heart feels, thinks, and wills to love, worship, and commit to any other kind of action. This all encompassing domain of the “heart” is contrary to the common division often made between the head and the heart. The “heart” is the location of the mind, emotion, and choice. Where the heart goes, thinking, feeling, and choosing follow, for from the “heart” flows the direction of life. Thus, wisdom must land in the “heart”: “My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart” (Proverbs 4:20-21). To direct and redirect the trajectory of one’s life, the “heart” must be watched, tended, and regulated—with great attentiveness.

One matter that the wisdom of Proverbs addresses is sexual faithfulness. Unfaithfulness originates in the “heart”: “Do not desire her beauty in your heart, and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes” (Proverbs 6:25). The words and wooing of an adulterous woman are powerful: “For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword” (Proverbs 5:3-4). So, her words must be countered by a prepared “heart”: “My son, keep your father’s commandment, and forsake not your mother’s teaching. Bind them on your heart always; tie them around your neck” (Proverbs 6:20-21). The manner in which the control center of thinking, feeling, and deciding will stand against being overrun by thoughts, emotions, and decisions that are wrong and destructive, is for the LORD’s Word to be etched upon the heart so that His Word shapes the flow of the heart: “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!” (Psalm 119:9-10).

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe