OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH WISDOM

Proverbs 7:1-5 NKJV 

1 My son, keep my words, 

And treasure my commands within you. 

2 Keep my commands and live, 

And my law as the apple of your eye. 

3 Bind them on your fingers; 

Write them on the tablet of your heart. 

4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” 

And call understanding your nearest kin, 

5 That they may keep you from the immoral woman,

From the seductress who flatters with her words. 

Solomon is advocating for a close positional relationship with wisdom. The chapter is structured as wisdom coming from a father to a son. Once again, we can easily make that jump to God’s wisdom to us, His children. Our relationship with God’s wisdom is to be more than casual; it’s to be close. 

Keep God’s words and treasure His commands within you. Throughout the book of Proverbs, the emphasis is on keeping God’s words and keeping our hearts or protecting our inner life. The same theme is seen here, where we are to keep God’s words and treasure His words within us. The idea for treasure is to store away as you would something that is valuable. This makes reading the Bible much more than a duty. The Scriptures contain valuable treasures. 

Keeping God’s word leads to life and helps us avoid those paths that cause destruction. Too many times, I have watched people take a wrong path. That is one of the challenges of pastoral ministry. You know the path some are on will not lead to good things. 

God’s ways and words as the apple of our eye. That phrase would involve seeing God’s Word as extremely valuable. We don’t see that term used as much today, but the apple of the eye is appraising something as important and valuable. This is such a different position. Seeing God’s Word as highly valuable and desirable positions us to receive His word in a much greater measure. When we value something highly, how we think about it is very different from something that we could take or leave. 

Bind them on your fingers and write them on the tablet of your heart. Again, these phrases are used to designate keeping God’s Word close to us and in our consciousness. We are very aware of our hands. Just jam a finger or have your hand in a cast and realize how vital our hands are to functioning in life. Writing God’s Word on the tablet of our hearts would involve intentional thinking and biblical meditation. One definition of biblical meditation is to mutter or ponder out loud. 

Verse four is fairly unique. Saying that wisdom is our sister and understanding our nearest kin. Try to look past any troublesome relationships with your siblings or relatives and catch what the Lord, through Solomon, is saying. A good son would respect and protect his sister. And Jewish culture was very accommodating towards near kin. These were people who needed to stick together, so kin folks were afforded consideration and honor. Solomon is advocating a close relationship with God’s wisdom. Remember, he was the king who asked for wisdom and understanding above everything else. 

In verse five, we see that God’s wisdom keeps us from immoral women who flatter and attempt to seduce with words. I believe there are two applications here. One is the literal staying away from immorality, period. God’s Word applies to men and women. The other application is my own belief that the wisdom of God if honored, respected, and applied to our lives, keeps us from the immoral and seducing world system that we live in. The spiritual current of this world pulls us away from God. This is why we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds so we are not conformed (Romans 12:2). 

Proverbs chapters five through seven and chapter nine address this evil woman. But if we look at this evil woman as the world’s system, it makes more sense, especially for women reading the Proverbs. If I am wrong about the two applications, this is one of those no harm, no foul Bible interpretations. Staying close to God’s Word in our lives and staying away from evil in any form will always be a solid idea! 

PRAYER 

Lord, help me to see even more clearly the value of Your word and wisdom. And strengthen me to implement Your wisdom into all areas of my life.