Proverbs 4 – if you haven’t read my thoughts on the book of Proverbs yet, you’ll want to do so here. This isn’t a comprehensive look at each verse, but it is how God spoke to me through particular chapter of His Word at this particular chapter in my life. I hope it can speak to you as well, and I hope you are encouraged to seek Him in His Word. And if you missed Proverbs 3, you should also check that out here.  Otherwise, on to Proverbs 4!

4:1-2 – Listen, children, to a father’s instruction; pay attention, in order to gain insight. This is God’s promise to us! If only we will listen and pay attention, God will supernaturally impart insight to us. For I am giving you good advice; so don’t abandon my teaching. We can trust in the integrity of God’s Word. It is good advice. His only thought is for us to grow in Him and grow in relationship with Him. If it is advice from God’s Word, we can trust that is it good for us.

4:3 – For I too was once a child to my father. This is Solomon talking, the son of King David who sought after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22). Some of this advice is coming from what David taught Solomon when he was still a child. God loved us SO much, and wanted to help us know how to navigate this life. So, He made sure that this writing and knowledge was preserved from nearly 3,000 years ago so that we would be able to glean wisdom and insight and understanding from two of the greatest kings of Israel. We are a part of something so very ancient, and God has taken great measures for us to be a part of His story.

I think it also shows us that Solomon had to grow in his wisdom and knowledge, just like we will have to. He’s letting us know that it doesn’t happen overnight. He saying it’s okay to be patient and let the Word of God work naturally in our lives. We should allow ourselves to revel in the waiting of learning, to allow it to soak in and drench our souls, and that can only take time.

And my mother, too, thought of my as her special darling. Mothers have just as much of a right to speak God’s truth into the lives of their children, and it will have just as much of an impact. I think Solomon greatly treasured her advice as well, because of the way she imparted knowledge and advice to him. She didn’t just tell him what to do. First and foremost, she thought of him as her special darling, and he knew she thought that of him because it came out in the way she treated him and talked with him. That impacted him as much as her advice, giving her counsel more weight in his life. I’m not a parent yet, but that speaks volumes to me as how I hope I will parent my children. 

4:4-9 – I would just read this passage with the thought in the back of your mind that this word came directly from a king, King David, to his son. I can just imagine a young Solomon, with dirt on his face and knees from playing down my a stream, wide-eyed and looking up at his father, and King David kneels down to look at him in the eye to teach him the great power God’s Word has in our lives. I don’t doubt this was only one of many instances that David would speak to Solomon about God. David studied the Word so much, he would have definitely heeded its instruction to teach his children about God when they were sitting and resting at home, and along the way of a journey, and when they lay down in the evening, and when they got up for breakfast. David loved God so much, it just spilled out of his mouth no matter what he was doing. And God wanted us to have this same knowledge so much, He made sure to preserve this passage, and all of Proverbs, and all of His Word for us. I pray we can always keep that sort of awe in our mind when we take time to read His Word.

4:11 – I’m directing you in the way of wisdom, guiding you in the paths of uprightness. This is the great goodness of God, he directs us and guides us every day, even if we don’t see it. When you walk, your step won’t be hindered, and if you run, you won’t stumble. When we walk with God, He promises that our step won’t be hindered. And even if we run, and try to get ahead of God’s plan for us, we won’t stumble. Sure there might be consequences for wrong decisions that we make, but God knew we would mess up, and He already had a plan to step in and make up for our weaknesses and help us grow past it. What looks like stumbling to us, God will still work for our good (Romans 8:28). 

4:18 – But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, shining ever brighter until full daylight. This is the process of sanctification in our lives! We shine brighter and brighter in Christ the more we walk with Him and the more we get to know Him. He starts working His supernatural power in us to become more like Him every day, until full daylight when we meet Him in heaven. But this sanctification is also dependent on us taking just that little step towards Him to listen and meditate on His Word. Then He promises to take care of the rest for us (Deuteronomy 17:19-20).

4:20-23 – My child, pay attention to what I am saying; incline your ear to my words. Don’t let them out of your sight, keep them deep in your heart: for they are life to those who find them and health to their whole being. Keep your heart with the greatest vigilance; for out of it are the issues of life. Everything in God’s kingdom works from the inside to the outside. The attitude we have in our hearts internally affects everything else in our lives externally. It doesn’t matter how much we smile and put on a good outward appearance for others, if our hearts don’t have the right attitude, it will eventually catch up with us and start affecting the rest of our life and relationships. God wants to heal our hearts first, so that everything externally can fall into step and align with our heart attitude.

Prayer – God, I pray that I continue to seek you every day in Your Word and in Your presence and never lose sight of the wonder there is in how you preserved your Word for me. I trust in your grace to stay at work in my life and naturally bring me closer to you and make me more Christlike. I thank you for the great gift of Christ and of your Holy Spirit and of Your Word to me.

I pray the same pray for you today, friend!

Until tomorrow, 

– Just a girl pursuing her reflection in the mirror of God’s Word, and inviting you to do the same

Scripture quotations taken from the Complete Jewish Bible,
Copyright © 1998 and 2016 by David H. Stern
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.