Every one of us who has come to Christ knows what it is to trust God. We came to Christ acknowledging that we have nothing to offer – that we have Christ alone. That’s all. And we entrust ourselves wholly to him, believing his promise and trusting in his saving work. And not just for escape from hell. When we first came to Christ we came with head bowed and knee bent, submitting to his yoke. And in giving ourselves to him we committed ourselves to “observe all that he has commanded.” We trust him, and so we obey him.

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 they will add to you. ³ Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. ⁴ So you will find favor and good success 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 straight your paths. ⁷ Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. ⁸ It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. ⁹ Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; ¹⁰ then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine. ¹¹ My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, ¹² for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights. (Prov. 3:1-12)

Wisdom as God-Oriented

Wisdom is first and foremost God-oriented. It’s just the nature of the case that wisdom is the skill of living under God. If God is, and if he has created us, and if he has built into this world a moral order, and if he has revealed himself to us, and if we are accountable to him, then we must hear his instruction and live faithful under him and unto him. Only a fool would attempt to live otherwise. To ignore God’s instruction would be both morally wrong and personally destructive – “foolish” in every sense of the term. But to listen to God’s instruction and follow it – that is “wisdom” in every sense.

So again, wisdom, first and foremost, is God-oriented. What we call “religious instruction” is not just one dimension of an otherwise busy life – it is basic to everything about us. We look first to God, and only then do we attempt to live successfully.

As we will see, that is the larger frame of reference again when we come to chapter 3.

The introduction to this lecture follows the same general structure we’ve seen already. First there is a call to the son to capture his attention – that’s verse 1. And then there is the motivational clause, reminding him of the value and benefits of wisdom – that’s verse 2.

But this call to his son to capture his attention is worded in a new way in verse 1: “My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments.” This time he doesn’t say, “Listen up”; he says “Don’t forget.” “My son, do not forget my teaching.”

Forgetting is something all children are pretty good at.

• You tell your child to go to his room and pick up his toys, and he goes into his room and immediately he is distracted from the task at hand and begins playingwith his toys. You go in thirty minutes later and admonish him, and what does he say? “I forgot.”
• You tell your child that it is his responsibility every day to empty the trash from the kitchen waste basket. So he immediate goes and empties the trash. Next day – “I forgot.”
• You tell him that he has to clean up the yard after the dog every day. And day two it’s the same: “I forgot.”
• You tell him to do his homework immediately when he comes home from school – get that done first. He comes home and is distracted by the toys or the cell phone or the refrigerator, and when you admonish him, he says it again: “I forgot.”

Finally at some point it dawns on you that forgetting is not a mere intellectual infirmity – it has a moral dimension to it. The fact is he should not have forgotten. He should have remembered. He knew better, and he must be held accountable. Sometimes he may require a little “reinforcement” of some kind to aid his memory! If he has forgotten, it’s ultimately because he didn’t take your word as seriously as he should have. There was a lack of concern.

Same here with regard to wisdom’s very serious instruction for life – to forget it and fail to live up to it is not just a bad memory – it’s a moral flaw. You knew better. You are not an autonomous creature – you live under God, and you know it. He has given you instruction for life, and you are accountable to him. And to forget that will not work out well for you. “My son, do not forget my teaching.”

That’s the negative exhortation.

Then in the second half of the verse he says it again but in a more positive way: “My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments.”

Notice, he doesn’t just say, “Remember my commandments.” He says, “Let your heart keep my commandments.” The “heart,” as you know, is the seat of the personality. It’s the inner you that makes you you. It’s your mind, your thinking, your will, your affections – the inner self, as we call it. And the word “keep” obviously has the connotations of obey, but it’s more than that. The word “keep” has connotations of guarding, watching over. “Keep” my commands in that sense.

So the father is exhorting his son to imbibe, internalize, and value his instruction. “Make it yours. Take it seriously. Adopt it as your own. Recognize its value such that it shapes your life from the inside out.” He’s trying as far as he is able to make wisdom shape his son’s heart. Wise behavior, then, will follow as a matter of course.

And then the motivational clause (v.2). Why is it so important that you keep this instruction in your heart and not forget it? “For length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you.” It’s what we’ve seen before. “This is in your own best interests.” This promise of long life, like the promise of full barns in verse 10, reflects the underlying promise of the old covenant in which God promised temporal blessing for obedience. God of course remains sovereign, and under his rule and for his own purposes some good people are not given long lives. But the principle is larger than material blessing: it is in obedience to Christ that we find joy, contentment, and satisfaction. We sing, don’t we, that “there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey”? Living according to God’s revealed wisdom is good for us. It’s in our own best interests – both temporally and eternally.

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