My son, if you receive my words
and treasure up my commandments with you,
2 making your ear attentive to wisdom
and inclining your heart to understanding;
3 yes, if you call out for insight
and raise your voice for understanding,
4 if you seek it like silver
and search for it as for hidden treasures,
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
7 he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
8 guarding the paths of justice
and watching over the way of his saints.
9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice
and equity, every good path;
10 for wisdom will come into your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
11 discretion will watch over you,
understanding will guard you,
12 delivering you from the way of evil,
from men of perverted speech,
13 who forsake the paths of uprightness
to walk in the ways of darkness,
14 who rejoice in doing evil
and delight in the perverseness of evil,
15 men whose paths are crooked,
and who are devious in their ways.
16 So you will be delivered from the forbidden woman,
from the adulteress with her smooth words,
17 who forsakes the companion of her youth
and forgets the covenant of her God;
18 for her house sinks down to death,
and her paths to the departed;
19 none who go to her come back,
nor do they regain the paths of life.
20 So you will walk in the way of the good
and keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright will inhabit the land,
and those with integrity will remain in it,
22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land,
and the treacherous will be rooted out of it. Proverbs 2 ESV
Proverbs 2
My son, if you receive my words - Instruction can be given, the path can be shown, and yet not received or followed. Just because we hear something or can repeat it does not equal ownership or maturity in the way, we must continue in it.
And inclining your heart to understanding -
The heart is the seat of reason and the will. Today's popular distinction between heart and head knowledge does not apply here. The usual Old Testament contrast is between a formal or outward compliance lacking true assent of will, and willing, whole-hearted compliance. Reformation Study Bible
…8 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9 that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved.… Romans 10: 8-10
…9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure—who can understand it? 10 I, the LORD, search the heart; I test the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve. 11 Like a partridge hatching eggs it did not lay is the man who makes a fortune unjustly. In the middle of his days his riches will desert him, and in the end he will be the fool.”… Jeremiah 17: 9-11
Yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding - Ask of God, Who will not withhold such good things.
…26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances. 28 Then you will live in the land that I gave your forefathers; you will be My people, and I will be your God.… Ezekiel 36: 26-28
From His mouth comes knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright -
God has placed His word above His name, and has preserved His word in Holy Scripture. Blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord, he meditates therein. It is to him more precious than gold, than applause, the approval of men; it is God breathed, and the source of true wisdom.
…14 But as for you, continue in the things you have learned and firmly believed, since you know from whom you have learned them. 15 From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness,… 2 Timothy 3: 14-16
Delivering you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech - Knowing, reading, studying, meditating on truth will protect you from error.
So you will be delivered from the forbidden woman - These are interesting words from Solomon, the son of David, who committed adultery and of Solomon himself, who was also unwise in his dealings with women. Both kings forsook the law unto kings and took for themselves many wives. David became a murderer and the sword never left his house. Solomon became an idolater, a stumbling block and a great burden to his kingdom. Both knew what was written, and in retrospect could see that they had proved it out by defiance. Both departed from God's word and original intent.
…7‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, 8 and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”… Mark 10: 7-9
…13 You shall not murder. 14 You shall not commit adultery. 15 You shall not steal.… Exodus 20: 13-15
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