My son, keep my words, and treasure my commands within you. Keep my commands and live, and my law as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.
Proverbs is counsel from a father to a son about getting wisdom. Solomon’s greatest desire for his son was that he keep, treasure, and remember, God’s Word in his heart. What do these words mean?
The word translated keep means to put a hedge around something to guard it. It means to attend to, beware of, take heed, and to observe. The sense is that one must give full attention to protect what is treasured from being lost.
The word translated treasure means to cover or hide (as in buried treasure), to preserve or to hoard. The sense is that what is treasured must not be lost and must be preserved at all costs.
The concept of binding something on one’s fingers carries two thoughts with it. The first is that of tying a string around one’s finger to remember something. The second is to have that thing always within easy grasp at one’s fingertips.
And what is it that Solomon admonishes his son to keep, treasure, and bind on the fingers? God’s Word, as that is what Solomon was writing, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
One last thing. Verse three tells us to write God’s Word on the tablet of our hearts. It is not enough to have a sterile “head knowledge” of the Bible. It must capture our hearts, for only then will it make a difference in our lives.
Lord, may I keep, treasure and remember your Word, writing it on the tablet of my heart that I may be transformed into the image and likeness of your Son, Jesus Christ.
