Let not loving-kindness and truth forsake thee; bind them about thy neck, write them upon the tablet of thy heart
A father tells his son to keep two qualities close — bound where people can see, written where they cannot. Older translations call them "mercy and truth" or "loving-kindness and truth"; the ESV calls them "steadfast love and faithfulness". What are they, and why are they always named together?
These two words are not just an ideal to admire. One writer matches them with words used of Christ, and finds His own life traced here.
There is another point of great interest here. The language used here matches perfectly what history records of the Lord. "Let not grace and truth forsake you," is said to the young men. Now "grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." He was that, its perfection, which the young man was to seek to keep. It is added, "You shall find favour and acceptance with God and man." "So Christ increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man." And He was subject to Joseph and His mother. It is deeply interesting to find in Christ what wisdom is here sketching out as the divine path of man on the earth.
The command is negative: do not let these go. One writer hears in it a call to trust mercy and truth, and to keep trusting them always.
As we know that "grace and truth came by Jesus Christ," the Israelite was urged to cherish confidence in mercy, or loving-kindness, and truth. Let them "not forsake you," is the word. He was entitled to believe and count on them habitually and for ever. "Bind them about your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart." What ornament can compare with them? What inward lesson is so cheering and strengthening!
The two images do more than decorate. Each names a place where a person goes wrong: a stiff neck, and a hard heart.
Mercy and truth (v. 3) are especially important in our relationships with others. If they are bound "about your neck," they will keep us from being "stiff-necked" or self-opinionated. Written on the tablets of our heart, they will keep us from hard-heartedness. These matter mainly in our dealings with others. Yet they also gain favour and high esteem in God's sight as well as in men's. God wants believers to represent Him rightly before the world (v. 4).
The two must stay together. One writer makes their blending the test of whether anything will thrive.
Where mercy is not blended with truth, there can be no prosperity. Mercy and truth are met together in Christ. The word is, "Let not mercy and truth forsake you, for so you shall find favour and good understanding (or success) in the sight of God and man." Through our Lord Jesus Christ "grace and truth subsist" now. When we receive of His fullness, it is not truth upon truth, but "grace upon grace." That is the secret of our spiritual success today.
The son must write these things on his heart. Believers now have help with that writing. And the promised favour, from God and from people, was seen in full in Christ.
So we see in our perfect pattern. Our Lord certainly found "favour" with God and man in His unequalled path of subjection, as we are told... It was a good and welcome mark of divine approval through devotedness to God's will, without either self-seeking or people-pleasing. Happy, when as here, the answer comes from people around as well as from above, to grace and truth written on the heart! Now too one word, Christ, expresses it all. And the Spirit of the living God is given to us who believe, so that He may be written truly and deeply on those tablets of flesh, our hearts.
The instruction has authority because of its source, not because of the one delivering it. In Israel it usually came through a parent, but its value lay elsewhere.
What gave it divine value was that it was His teaching, and that the commandments enjoined were His. This alone sanctifies — obeying God, obeying His Word, the effect and proof of love, when any are in relationship with God. Nor do we forget, but remember, what we love and value.
- Person — Mercy and truth are grace and truth. They came in a Person: the path set out for the son was walked perfectly by Christ.
- Hold — The word is negative: do not let them go. They are yours to count on, not just to achieve.
- Wear — Bound around the neck, they keep a neck from stiffening. No ornament compares with them.
- Write — Written on the heart, they cure hard-heartedness. The Spirit now writes Christ deeply on those tablets of flesh.
- Favour — Keep them together, and verse 4 answers twice: favour from God above, esteem from people around.
and thou shalt find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
This promise rests on a condition set just before it: keep mercy and truth close, bound on the neck and written on the heart. The result is double — approval from God, and standing among people. How can one life win both at once?
The favour of verse 4 is not where the chapter starts. It follows a call to obedience, inside a relationship the son already has with God.
We may first remark that subjection and obedience are the first marks of the path of wisdom. He receives this guidance inside a relationship he already knows. "My son, forget not my law; and let your heart keep my commandments," chapter 3:1.
Kelly ties this obedience to love, and to the source of the commands.
But what gave divine value was that it was His teaching, and that the commandments enjoined were His. This alone sanctifies — obeying God, obeying His Word, the effect and proof of love, when any are in relationship with God. Nor do we forget but remember what we love and value.
Verse 3 gives two pictures: mercy and truth tied around the neck, and written on the heart. One writer reads each picture as a guard against a different failure.
Mercy and truth (v. 3) are especially important in our relationships with others. Bound "about your neck," they will keep us from being "stiff-necked" or self-opinionated. Written on the tablets of our heart, they will keep us from hard-heartedness. These things matter mainly in our relationships with others. Yet they also gain favour and high esteem in God's sight as well as in men's sight, for God wants believers to represent Him well before the world (v. 4).
Mercy and truth are not only qualities to practise. They are also things to trust.
But this is far from all. We know that "grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." So the Israelite was urged to hold on to confidence in mercy, or loving-kindness, and truth. "Let them not forsake you" is the word. He was entitled to believe them and count on them habitually and for ever. "Bind them about your neck, write them upon the tablet of your heart." What ornament can compare with them? What inward lesson is so cheering and strengthening!
The ESV reads "good success" here. Older translations render the same word "good understanding." Kelly is not sure of its exact shade. He is clear about what the promise marks: God's approval, echoed back by people.
The word often translated "good understanding" may carry a modified sense here, as it sometimes does elsewhere. But as it stands, it was a good and welcome mark of divine approval through devotedness to God's will, without either self-seeking or men-pleasing. Happy, when as here, the answer comes from people as well as from God on high, to grace and truth written on the heart!
Darby finds the same wording matched in the Gospel account of Jesus' early years.
But there is another point of great interest here, before we come to details. The language here matches perfectly what history tells us of the Lord. "Let not grace and truth forsake you," it says to the young men. Now "grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." He was that, its perfection, which the young man was to seek to keep. It adds, "You shall find favour and acceptance (esteem) with God and man." "So Christ increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man." And He was subject to Joseph and His mother. It is deeply interesting to find in Christ what wisdom is sketching out as the divine path of man on the earth.
Paul seems to draw on this verse when handling money given by the churches. He took steps so that no one could accuse him.
The moral reason for the caution follows: "guarding against this, that no one should blame us in this abundance that we are administering, for we provide things honourable not only before the Lord but before men" (vv. 20, 21). This is not a lack of faith. It is faith working by love, cutting off any occasion from men and walking with a pure conscience before God. The allusion is to Proverbs 3:4 in the Greek Old Testament.
- Rooted — the promise grows out of obedience inside a relationship God has already given. The commands carry weight because they are His.
- Worn — tie mercy and truth on like an ornament, and write them on the heart. One guards against a stiff neck, the other against a hard heart.
- Reflected — the favour is God's approval, and people notice it too. It comes without self-seeking and without pleasing men.
- Perfected — Christ fills out the pattern. Grace and truth came through Him, and He grew in favour with God and man while subject at home.
- Practised — Paul applies it to handling money. He provides what is honourable before the Lord and before men, so no accusation can stick.