4 And he directeth me, and he saith to me: `Let thy heart retain my words, Keep my commands, and live.
Keep my commands, and live, And my law as the pupil of thine eye.
And the fathers! provoke not your children, but nourish them in the instruction and admonition of the Lord.
`And thou, Solomon, my son, know the God of thy father, and serve Him with a perfect heart, and with a willing mind, for all hearts is Jehovah seeking, and every imagination of the thoughts He is understanding; if thou dost seek Him, He is found of thee, and if thou dost forsake Him, He casteth thee off for ever.
My son! my law forget not, And my commands let thy heart keep,
Incline your ear, and come unto me, Hear, and your soul doth live, And I make for you a covenant age-during, The kind acts of David -- that are stedfast.
according to the work of the land of Egypt in which ye have dwelt ye do not, and according to the work of the land of Canaan whither I am bringing you in, ye do not, and in their statutes ye walk not. `My judgments ye do, and My statutes ye keep, to walk in them; I `am' Jehovah your God; and ye have kept My statutes and My judgments which man doth and liveth in them; I `am' Jehovah.
`Only, take heed to thyself, and watch thy soul exceedingly, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they turn aside from thy heart, all days of thy life; and thou hast made them known to thy sons, and to thy sons' sons.
`Now, my son, Jehovah is with thee, and thou hast prospered, and hast built the house of Jehovah thy God, as He spake concerning thee. Only, Jehovah give to thee wisdom and understanding, and charge thee concerning Israel, even to keep the law of Jehovah thy God; then thou dost prosper, if thou dost observe to do the statutes and the judgments that Jehovah charged Moses with concerning Israel; be strong and courageous; do not fear, nor be cast down. `And lo, in mine affliction, I have prepared for the house of Jehovah of gold talents a hundred thousand, and of silver a thousand thousand talents; and of brass and of iron there is no weighing, for in abundance it hath been, and wood and stones I have prepared, and to them thou dost add. `And with thee in abundance `are' workmen, hewers and artificers of stone and of wood, and every skilful man for every work. To the gold, to the silver, and to the brass, and to the iron, there is no number; arise and do, and Jehovah is with thee.'
In my heart I have hid Thy saying, That I sin not before Thee.
and I have known that His command is life age-during; what, therefore, I speak, according as the Father hath said to me, so I speak.'
taking remembrance of the unfeigned faith that is in thee, that dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice, and I am persuaded that also in thee.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Proverbs 4
Commentary on Proverbs 4 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 4
When the things of God are to be taught precept must be upon precept, and line upon line, not only because the things themselves are of great worth and weight, but because men's minds, at the best, are unapt to admit them and commonly prejudiced against them; and therefore Solomon, in this chapter, with a great variety of expression and a pleasant powerful flood of divine eloquence, inculcates the same things that he had pressed upon us in the foregoing chapters. Here is,
So plainly, so pressingly, is the case laid before us, that we shall be for ever inexcusable if we perish in our folly.
Pro 4:1-13
Here we have,
Pro 4:14-19
Some make David's instructions to Solomon, which began v. 4, to continue to the end of the chapter; nay, some continue them to the end of the ninth chapter; but it is more probable that Solomon begins here again, if not sooner. In these verses, having exhorted us to walk in the paths of wisdom, he cautions us against the path of the wicked.
Pro 4:20-27
Solomon, having warned us not to do evil, here teaches us how to do well. It is not enough for us to shun the occasions of sin, but we must study the methods of duty.