Proverbs 4 -- Did DAVID Say That?

I thought of how Solomon’s life had turned out as I was reading this, and imagined David, his father, having said these things to him when Solomon was a boy.  I had to be careful, because God’s name never appears in this chapter.  My first thought was that David would never have told Solomon what verse 7 says, I think:  “Wisdom is the most important thing; so get wisdom.  If it costs everything you have, get understanding.”

 

But then I noticed a note I’d written that came out of another commentary:  “Wisdom and understanding really means living for the Lord … only the life that’s lived for God really counts.”  Perhaps David’s words made it properly into Proverbs, but not into Solomon’s heart.  It’s more evidence of God’s sovereignty over what went into the Bible.

 

Along that same line, I read about verse 5, “There’s a price to pay if you want to know God’s truth and obey it.  Parents and grandparents can teach us, but only we can receive the Word into our hearts, cherish it, and pay the price to obey it.”

 

About verses 10-19, I read, “If you are willing to do God’s will, you will have God’s guidance, but if you treat God’s will like a buffet lunch, choosing only what pleases you, He will never direct you … the will of God isn’t for the curious; it’s for the serious.”

 

In verses 20-27, there’s a sort of spiritual checklist for us, much like what an antivirus program on a computer checks:

1)      What comes into my ears?

2)      What is within my heart?

3)      What is upon my lips?

4)      What is before my eyes?

5)      What is beyond my path?

 

The verse that kept screaming to me this morning was verse 23:  “Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life.”  I’ve often told students I teach, “Remember, it’s the thought that counts.”  In other words, we must stop sin at the thought level before it reaches the action level.

 

Father, I think of my sons and how the world strives its best to pollute them.  They see so much of what they are viewing and listening to as harmless, never considering the cumulative effect that it all is having on their hearts.  I know.  I’ve been there and gotten the t-shirt.  Please help me to show them how every new and ungodly thing they hear causes them to blur the line in the sand, to the point where they eventually won’t even notice that they’ve crossed it.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford