Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Proverbs 3:1 - 3:12

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Proverbs 3:1 - 3:12


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:



Obedience, Faith, and Liberality Urged

v. 1. My son, forget not my law, the teaching of wisdom; but let thine heart keep my commandments, sincerely observing all instructions of God's Word;

v. 2. for length of days and long life and peace,
literally, "years of life and peace," shall they add to thee, earthly prosperity and happiness following the application of knowledge gained from the divine Law.

v. 3. Let not mercy and truth,
both on the part of men and on the part of God, forsake thee, loving sympathy and companionship being one of the prime factors in our moral life; bind them about thy neck, like a costly chain or necklace, from which was suspended tile seal-ring; write them upon the table of thine heart, the emphasis being both upon the inward motives and upon tile outward expression and adornment in the way of virtues.

v. 4. So shalt thou find favor,
gracious acceptance, and good understanding, good reputation, good success, in the sight of God and man, the good opinion on the part of men corresponding to the favorable judgment on the part of God, and both serving for the success of the believer. This being a gracious gift on the part of God, the godly person is warned:

v. 5. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart,
committing oneself entirely to the grace and faithfulness of Jehovah, and lean not unto thine own understanding, in false and blameworthy self-confidence.

v. 6. In all thy ways acknowledge Him,
by reposing one's trust in Him and relying entirely upon His wisdom, and He shall direct thy paths, for the benefit and well-being of His child.

v. 7. Be not wise in thine own eyes,
puffed up with an imagined superiority on account of possible greater learning, since the wisdom of this world is not essential before God; fear the Lord, such reverence for Jehovah serving to set aside one's own wisdom, and depart from evil, this course being natural in the case of a child of God, to whom all wickedness is undesirable and loathsome.

v. 8. It shall be health to thy navel,
considered as the center of the entire body, and marrow to thy bones, refreshing the entire organism with vigor and strength; for such is the effect of a good conscience and of an honest endeavor to serve the Lord in faith.

v. 9. Honor the Lord with thy substance,
with the riches which one enjoys as His blessing, repaying Him from tile gifts granted by Him, and with the first-fruits of all thine increase, the yield of one's work and the harvest of one's land, for mere lip-service is not sufficient, the Lord demanding tangible evidence of the faith which His children profess to possess;

v. 10. so shall thy barns be filled with plenty,
as a reward of God's gracious favor and fatherly kindness, and thy presses, rather, the vats where the wine was stored, shall burst out with new wine, overflowing with rich abundance by the blessing of God, with which He would acknowledge the willingness of His children. But the opposite also holds true: As we should not forget the Lord in days of plenty, so we should not be estranged from Him in evil days.

v. 11. My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord,
the correction which He deals out in the school of life; neither be weary of His correction, regarding it with loathing and aversion;

v. 12. for whom the Lord loveth He correcteth,
and so the person subject to His discipline thereby receives a proof of His love; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth, or, "holds him dear as a father his son, in whose case tile lack of discipline is rightly referred to a want of fatherly love. Cf Job_5:17; Heb_12:5-6.