Proverbs 7:1-3, Wise Words for a Wicked World
March 17, Proverbs 7:1-3
Heb. 8:6-13 “Thou will to keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee” (Isa. 26:3).
Wise Words for a Wicked World
Again, the study of wisdom, as the word of God, is most affectionately and dramatically commended. The Way of Righteousness and Life (vs. 1-5) is contrasted with the Way of Sin and Death (vs. 6-27). Blessedly, the Words of life come first as an introduction to what is to follow. O that every youth would heed this advice first and be delivered from the danger on that other road. Let us ponder these rules and apply them to our hearts.
- There must be a Receptor of the Word. Lay up my commandments (v.1; 2:1, 7). Lay up means hide, and applies to hiding what we treasure in some safe place. It must not be lost or stolen. This may be an illusion to the laying up of the Law for safety in the Ark of the Covenant. It is an exhortation to be eager receptors of God’s words, impressing them by repetition on our minds, and thereby receiving them into our hearts that they may affect our lives for good. The devil knows only too well the depravity of the human heart. He is the Master Exploiter and knows how to undermine our desire to follow God’s Word and Way (Ps. 56:4-6), and to rob us of our joy and peace in believing (7:26, 27). So, like David, let your heart be the receptor of God’s Word, for it is the only remedy against our sin-bent nature. Let us be good receptors of the whole Word of God for the whole of life. It is, after all, our most precious treasure.
- There must be a Reflector for the Word. Keep… my law as the apple of thine eye (v.2). The apple of thine eye, literally means little man of the eye (ishon; Deut. 32:10; Ps. 17:8). How precious our eyes are! How carefully we guard them! The apple of the eye refers to the miniature reflection of exterior objects in the pupil, the window of the soul. What the eye is to the body, God’s Word is to the soul. God’s Law is Light, and when that Law is in the heart it acts as the eye of the soul. If we truly receive God’s Word, we cannot but reflect it in our lives. When, however, reflectors become dusty or dirty, they no longer function properly. They must be kept clean, and God has graciously made provision for that (1 Jn. 1:6-7). Therefore, keep your eyes so closely fixed on your heavenly Father’s teachings that they are constantly being reflected from the apple of your eyes.
- There must be a Reactor to the Word. Bind them upon thy fingers; write them upon the table of thine heart (v.3). One definition of a reactor is “to return an impulse in the opposite direction.” Again, we believe this exhortation is not to be taken literally, as some Jews have done. We are to react to the Word of God by putting the highest honour upon it. Let it dwell richly in us and be written where it will be always at hand to be read and obeyed! Are you such a reactor to the impulses that come to you from God’s Word written on your hearts? How many people’s faith never reaches their fingers and feet. Don’t keep God’s Law in the closet. Carry it to the home, office, factory, and the school.
Thought: The actions of the hand result from the passions of the heart.
Prayer: Where sin was written in the heart let the Word of God be written there.