Proverbs 22

Proverbs 22

“Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge,
for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips.
That your trust may be in the LORD,
I have made them known to you today, even to you.”
– Proverbs 22:17-19

The phrase “if all of them are ready on your lips” in this proverb has caught my attention lately. I had been thinking about wanting wisdom in a number of relationships and that phrase made me think about the degree of familiarity required for the proverbs to be “on my lips.” Is God’s wisdom the first thing that comes to mind when I am considering a situation? Thankfully, God’s requirement from me is not that I “nail this” part of life (since he “counts me righteous” because of my belief, not works [Romans 4:5]), but I desire the wisdom He has made available to us. The phrase “if all of them are ready on your lips” has spurred me on to read and meditate on the proverbs so I can be ready to apply them.

Another section that God has used in my heart is “That your trust may be in the Lord.” God has given us the proverbs, so we can grow in our trust for him. It has taken a while for that to start to really sink into my heart. I find myself so quick to wander in this area… I find my trust quickly wandering to other things. This phrase has been a good verse for me to meditate on to continually remind myself where I need to be putting my trust.