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Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you;
bind them around your neck;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
So you will find favor and good success
in the sight of God and man (Prov 3:3-4).
I love this verse! It is followed by one of the most famous proverbs – which will examine next time – so it can be easily overlooked. That’s a teaser for next Wednesday, but if you can’t wait you can find the “famous one” here. 😉
The first line is covenant language. Faithfulness (trustworthiness/Truth) and steadfast love characterize God’s behavior toward His people. And in return, since covenants are reciprocal, His people are expected to return faithfulness and steadfast love to Him. Whenever you see covenant language, remember that the analogy God uses to teach us about covenants is marriage. As a husband shows love and faithfulness to His wife, so a wife should show love and faithfulness to her husband. God is the husband and His people are the wife/bride.
His faithfulness results in our trust in His character; knowing Him allows us to put our faith in Him. Putting our faith in God is life changing! Trusting in God’s character means that, because we know Him, our allegiance is with Him. Because our allegiance is with Him, we desire to please Him and honor Him above others. Because we desire to please Him, we will obey, walking in His ways. This is the life-changing part – the Holy Spirit grows our love and faith and trust in Him.
And our love, faith, and trust in God should be obvious to others, like a beautiful necklace which would adorn our necks (v. 3). This reminds me of another Proverb: Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised (Prov 31:30). This is another time where we cannot chase the product (in this case approval of others). Instead, as we live a life pleasing to Him, this is perceived as something precious and beautiful, that can seen by all.
I LOVE this image: write them [steadfast love and faithfulness] on the tablet of your hearts (v.3). Maybe this appeals to me because I am a writer. I love words! Writing makes meaning, creates connections. And writing something on your heart means (1) it touches you deeply, (2) you are marked by it, and (3) you will always remember it.
Finally, in verse 4 (So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man), we are reminded of one of God’s basic principles: Sowing and Reaping (Gal 6:7-8). He is telling us that if we obediently covenant with Him, we are choosing the path that leads to favor and good success. God is teaching us, for our good, how He set things up in the world.
To me this is something very powerful about the Word. So in this proverb (in both verses 3 and 4), He is demonstrating that by seeking after (sowing) relationship with Him, we will find (reap) favor with Him and the change that is wrought in our lives will bring us favor with others. This is NOT “quid pro quo”, not transactional, not “I scratch your back and you scratch mine”. We don’t see this everyday, in every situation, immediately. Instead, this is the guiding principle that orders all life: reconciliation with God brings peace.
That is the Good News! This is in keeping with what Jesus said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt 6:33). This is something to tell everyone about – especially our children! I hope you can ponder this in your heart today and find peace. 🙂
Hugs,
So I’m still trying to learn the meaning of “faithfulness.” Is it being persistent? Does it mean going to church every single Sunday? Or does it mean being consistent in our practice of love? I want to increase my faithfulness, how do I do it? Would appreciate your thoughts/comments. Thanks! …..Bob
Hi Bob! I’m so sorry! I have been on a very extended hiatus from blogging and I missed your comment by a mile! Faithfulness is like steadfastness. It is more like consistency than persistence, though I think it requires persistence. Your examples of going to church and practicing love are kind of the same thing to me. Jesus said all of the commandments boil down to (1) loving God above all else AND (2) loving your neighbor as yourself. So, I think we do express our love and respect for God by spending time with him in church, scripture reading, praying, fellowshipping with other believers, being generous, forgiving others, repenting of our sin, AND all of this is practicing love for God. The Bible says when we love others it is a reflection of our love for God, so another way to show love to God is to love others well. Love is what we are to faithfully DO.
This is a beautiful article & explanation of God’s word thank you!
This scripture is meaning a great deal to me right now. We are called to diligence in our response. We must perceive the greatness and reliability of Gods love, and that perception should also perceive the cost of not being in that merciful love. If we see what is to gained and the fearfulness of what is to be lost, it gives us a full and sobering picture of reality. This should cause our heart to fear in a godly manner what is evil and to want to steer away from all evil because of its danger. Conversely we should see the great benefit personally of godliness and want to lean in as you say, into God. There is great promise for us in this path and attitude. The favor/grace of a God is found along this path, and or peace is here. Enough cannot be said about this.we have promise in this life and in the one to come. The thought that comes then is a person who is not aware of this needs an awakening. We all need it, and the urgency of souls is great. In the midst of all this seriousness is the presence of God enabling us to keep our heads while discerning the emergency the world, the people around us are in. God bless, thank you for your thoughts
I especially love the convenant language. It reminds me that we are part of this Whole that we cannot fathom; which has been around from the beginning, yet does not change. He is reliable and trustworthy. That makes my heart hum!