Proverbs 3 - Shalom
- Chad Werkhoven
- Jun 28, 2022
- 2 min read
Find shalom in the wisdom of Proverbs 3.
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Proverbs 3 Summary
Proverbs 3:5 is perhaps one of the most familiar of them all:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Yet this is just one of the important imperatives communicated from a wise father to his young son in the opening section of chapter 3.
Godly people will:
v3 - Model God's steadfast love (His hessed covenantal love);
v7 - Will fear the Lord and shun sinful instincts;
v9 - Honor God in the way we make and spend money;
v11 - realize God's discipline is a blessing.
The second section of this chapter extends from v13-20, and it outlines the blessings a person realizes by living according to the Lord's wisdom, upon which the earth is founded (v19).
In the final section, from v21-35, the father gives his advice in a series of do not statements:
v21 - Do not lose sight of God's wisdom;
v25 - Do not be afraid;
v27 - Do not withhold good;
v29 - Do not plot against your neighbor;
v30 - Do not be quarrelsome for no reason;
v31 - Do not envy violent men.
Dig Deeper
Certainly the fact that God gave us His law ought to be enough incentive for us to want to keep it, even if there was no immediate benefit to us for doing so. But the wise father imparting this wisdom to his son gives even more reason to keep these commandments. He writes that doing so will add:
length of days and years of life and peace (v2).
Peace is something all people long for, and it's often understood as the absence of noise / conflict.
But the Biblical idea of peace is much more robust. You've likely heard this Hebrew word before: shalom.
Shalom is the condition in which everything is at it ought to be, as it was in the Garden of Eden. Although the Bible never promises us total shalom in this sinful world until Christ returns, the amount of shalom in your life is closely correlated with how closely you hold tight to the proverbs we've been learning.
AAA Prayer:
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who you can trust with your whole heart (v5)
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you honor the Lord in all you do (v9)
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
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