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Solomon exhorteth his son to obedience, Proverbs 3:1-4. To faith, Proverbs 3:5,6, and trust in God; the benefits that they shall receive thereby, Proverbs 3:7,8. To honour God with our estates, Proverbs 3:9. The advantage in so doing, Proverbs 3:10. To patience under God’s chastisements, Proverbs 3:11. A reason for it, Proverbs 3:12. The happiness of him that findeth wisdom, Proverbs 3:13. Wisdom set out, with the benefits that attend her, Proverbs 3:14-18. The effects, Proverbs 3:19,20. Another exhortation to perform our duty, Proverbs 3:21-27. To charitableness, Proverbs 3:28. To avoid strife, Proverbs 3:29,30. Against envy, Proverbs 3:31. The misery of the wicked, and blessings of the just, Proverbs 3:32-35.

My law; my doctrine or counsel; or the law of God, which might be called his law, as the gospel is called Paul’s gospel, 2 Thessalonians 2:8, because delivered by him.

Keep my commandments, by diligent meditation and hearty affection.

God will add these blessings which he hath promised to the obedient, Deu 8:18 30:20 1 Timothy 4:8.

Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: either,

1. God’s mercy and truth. So it is a promise, God’s mercy and truth shall not forsake thee. Or rather,

2. That mercy and truth which is man’s duty. So it is a precept; which seems most probable, both from the form of the Hebrew phrase, and from the following words of this verse, which are plainly preceptive, and from the promise annexed to the performance of this precept in the next verse.

Mercy and

truth are frequently joined together, as they are in God, as Psalm 25:10 57:3, &c., or in men, as Proverbs 16:6 20:28 Hosea 4:1, and here. Mercy notes all that benignity, clemency, charity, and readiness to do good freely to others; truth or faithfulness respects all those duties which we owe to God or man, to which we have special obligation from the rules of justice.

Bind them about thy neck, like a chain, wherewith persons adorn their necks, as it is expressed, Proverbs 1:9; which is fastened there, and not easily lost, which also is continually in one’s view.

Upon the table of thine heart: either,

1. Upon those tablets which the Jews are said to have worn upon their breasts, which are always in sight. So he alludes to Deu 6:8. Or,

2. In thy mind and heart, in which all God commands are to be received and engraven, as is oft required in this book, and every where. So the table of the heart seems to be opposed to the tables of stone in which God’s law was written, as it is Jeremiah 31:33 2 Corinthians 3:3.

Find favour, i.e. obtain acceptance, or be gracious and amiable to them.

Good understanding; whereby to know thy duty, and to discern between good and evil. The serious practice of religion is an excellent mean to get a solid understanding of it; as, on the contrary, a vicious life doth exceedingly debase and darken the mind, and keep men from the knowledge of truth, which not only Scripture, but even heathen philosophers, have oft observed. Others render it, good success; which seems not to suit well with the following words.

In the sight of God; grace or favour with God, and that understanding which is good in God’s sight, i.e. truly and really; as a truly good man is called good before God, in the Hebrew, Ecclesiastes 7:26.

Trust in the Lord; wholly and securely rely upon God’s promises and providence for help and relief in all thine affairs and dangers.

Lean not unto thine own understanding; think not to accomplish thy designs by the strength of thine own wit without God’s blessing. Under this one kind of carnal confidence, which is most frequent and most plausible, he understands and forbids all other confidences in bodily strength, wealth, friends, &c.

Ways; designs and undertakings for the things of this life or of the next.

Acknowledge him, Heb. know him, to wit, practically; or, own him; his wisdom, in following his counsels; his power and goodness, in expecting success from him; his sovereignty, in managing all thy affairs so as to please and glorify him.

Direct thy paths; assist and bless all thine endeavours, and keep thee from the paths of sin and destruction.

Be not wise in thine own eyes; be not puffed up with vain conceit of thine own wisdom, as if that were sufficient for the conduct of all thine affairs without direction or assistance from God, or without the advice of others.

Fear the Lord: this he adds, because the reverence and dread of the Divine Majesty will make a man, when he compareth himself with God, little and vile in his own eyes. Reverence God’s wisdom, and thou wilt despise thine own.

To thy navel, i.e. to thy body, which is signified by the navel, which is a noble and useful part of the body, by which the infant receives nourishment in the womb, and which is the ligament or bond by which the bowels, a principal part of the body, are united together and preserved.

Marrow is the nourishment and strength of the bones, and a great preserver and prolonger of life, as the decay of it is a chief cause of the weakness, and dryness, and decay of the body. The sense of the verse is, This wisdom or fear of God is not only useful to the salvation of the soul, but also to the health and welfare of the body, both as it prevents those diseases and distempers which are oft procured by sinful lusts and passions, and as it giveth us an interest in all God’s promises, and putteth us under the care of his special providence.