Proverbs 4:10-15, 20-27

In the text before us, the speaker is a father and the audience is his son. The words of the father are utterances which have been preserved as scripture by God to be used by us for His purposes.

“Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings . . .” (v. 10). Not all sayings are of equal merit. The merit of the father’s sayings is established by their inclusion in God’s word. The father states the origin of his sayings to be the instruction which he received from his own father (see 4:1-4).

The father’s father did not speak to his son to hear his own voice. He said that which needed to be heard by the ears of the son. The father who speaks in verse 10 is the son who was tender (v. 2). Tender means receptive. The sayings of the father were received by a receptive son. The call to hear and to receive “my sayings” is from the lips of one who heard and received the sayings. The voice of him who in past time heard now speaks to a son who shall, likewise, hear and receive.

For readers of Proverbs 4, the message of the father to the son has dual application. The father’s words are either words that we need to receive as the father’s son or they are words that we need to convey as a father speaking to his son. The words of the father are words which the Father has given to us so that we might be instruments of His will.

As a receptive son, we need to realize that the sayings of the father are of great importance. His sayings, when heeded, are the difference between a long life filled with blessings and a short life of missed opportunities. As a father, we must realize our responsibility to relay the wisdom that we have received. We need be mindful that a message not conveyed is not the Lord’s intent.

In verse 11, the father tells his son that he has instructed him in the way of wisdom and has led him in the right paths. Having done these things, why is it necessary for the father to tell the son that he (the father) has done these things? The father’s words serve as a notice that (to borrow a tennis term) the ball is in his (the son’s)court. The son cannot sit upon the instruction which the father has given; the son must act upon it.

As a father, one must direct his son to assume responsibility. Today, responsible parents provide the best possible education available to their children. Parental responsibility does not end with the transfer of information. Parental responsibility requires follow up action: notice that it is time for an adult to assume responsibility. As a son, one must heed the father’s notice. The son needs to recognize that his time to step up has come.

The message to the son in verses 12 and 13 is very clear: Do as the father has directed and you will not fail. Christians, like the son, are without excuse. God has given us His word. If we do as He directs, we shall succeed. We, like the son, have not been handed success. We, like the son, have been handed all that is needed to fulfill our Father’s will. If we do as He directs, we shall not fail.

In verses 14 and 15, the father instructs the son what not to do. Such instruction is necessary. The path of the wicked can be inviting, but one cannot get to where God would have one to go if one travels in the wrong direction. There is no such thing as a necessary evil. This is a message that the father need deliver and it is a message that the son need receive and heed. It is a message that Christians must exemplify as fitting fathers and receptive sons.

Listen to the father’s instruction in verses 20-27. The father pleads with the son to attend to his words and to incline his ear to his sayings. The father makes it clear that there is no alternative way which is acceptible. The father states that the precepts which he has made known and living by them “are life unto those that find them” (v. 22a). In the father’s words, one can hear the voice of certainty. One can hear the voice of one who has kept the words which he (as a son) received.

New Testament believers hear more than the words of a father to a son. We hear the voice of the Son who gave himself as an offering upon Calvary. Believers hear: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

The father’s message does not end with his declaration of new-found life and health. The father makes his expectation of conduct known to his son. The father implores the son to use diligence in keeping his heart. When diligence is not employed, the natural order prevails — weeds grow, paint fades and peels, things that should get done remain undone. One’s heart becomes subject to the natural order. One must continue to seek God with all his heart. The father identifies specific areas in which the son must be diligent: the manner in which he expresses himself, the manner in which he attends to details, and the course of actions which he pursues.

The father’s message rings in the ears of Christians. As adopted sons, we, too, are called to do the Father’s will, looking neither to the right nor to the left. God has given us His instruction and guidance. It is for us to make the right choice. It is for us to do as He has shown us. It is for us to do as the Son has said. Let us ever seek to love one another as He has loved us and to declare His love to others.