3 Let not kindness and truth forsake thee: Bind them about thy neck; Write them upon the tablet of thy heart:
Bind them upon thy fingers; Write them upon the tablet of thy heart.
Bind them continually upon thy heart; Tie them about thy neck.
The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, `and' with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the tablet of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars;
And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes.
For they shall be a chaplet of grace unto thy head, And chains about thy neck.
Whereas thou camest but yesterday, should I this day make thee go up and down with us, seeing I go whither I may? return thou, and take back thy brethren; mercy and truth be with thee.
This is the covenant that I will make with them After those days, saith the Lord: I will put my laws on their heart, And upon their mind also will I write them; `then saith he,'
Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul; and ye shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, talking of them, when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the door-posts of thy house, and upon thy gates; that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which Jehovah sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens above the earth.
Be ye therefore imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, even as Christ also loved you, and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for an odor of a sweet smell.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye tithe mint and anise and cummin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law, justice, and mercy, and faith: but these ye ought to have done, and not to have left the other undone.
Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in lovingkindness. He will again have compassion upon us; he will tread our iniquities under foot; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, `and' the lovingkindness to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.
Hear the word of Jehovah, ye children of Israel; for Jehovah hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor goodness, nor knowledge of God in the land.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Proverbs 3
Commentary on Proverbs 3 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 3
This chapter is one of the most excellent in all this book, both for argument to persuade us to be religious and for directions therein.
From all this it appears what a tendency religion has to make men both blessed and blessings.
Pro 3:1-6
We are here taught to live a life of communion with God; and without controversy great is this mystery of godliness, and of great consequence to us, and, as is here shown, will be of unspeakable advantage.
Pro 3:7-12
We have here before us three exhortations, each of them enforced with a good reason:-
Pro 3:13-20
Solomon had pressed us earnestly to seek diligently for wisdom (ch. 2:1, etc.), and had assured us that we should succeed in our sincere and constant pursuits. But the question is, What shall we get by it when we have found it? Prospect of advantage is the spring and spur of industry; he therefore shows us how much it will be to our profit, laying this down for an unquestionable truth, Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, that true wisdom which consists in the knowledge and love of God, and an entire conformity to all the intentions of his truths, providences, and laws. Now observe,
Pro 3:21-26
Solomon, having pronounced those happy who not only lay hold on wisdom, but retain her, here exhorts us therefore to retain her, assuring us that we ourselves shall have the comfort of doing so.
Pro 3:27-35
True wisdom consists in the due discharge of our duty towards man, as well as towards God, in honesty as well as piety, and therefore we have here divers excellent precepts of wisdom which relate to our neighbour.