Proverbs 3:3, 4: Do Not Abandon—In Plain View

Let not mercy and truth forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart, And so find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man. Proverbs 3:3, 4

Mercy: kindness (especially as extended to the lowly, needy and miserable)

Truth: faithfulness, reliableness

Forsake: leave, abandon

Bind: conspire, join together

tablet of your heart: tablet of the memory

Find: attain to thing sought

Favor: acceptance

High esteem: insight, understanding

Sight: in the view, opinion of

God: Yahweh is God in truth

Man: mankind

Forget. Abandon. Leave. Forsake. We all forget things. Many of us have gone to the grocery store for a particular item, and leave with a grocery cart full of stuff, only to get home and realize that we forgot that one item we wanted. 

How do we NOT forget, we write it down. Shopping lists, right? 

God knows that we will forget His mercy and truth, therefore He tells us... bind it, conspire then around your neck, like a necklace, write them on your memory. Keep them handy at ALL times. 

Why to we need to keep mercy and truth handy? So that our lives would be first and foremost acceptable to God, and then fellow man can see God through us. 

Each morning when we get dressed, we need to make sure we bind, put on mercy and truth. We need to make sure that we have written God's truth and mercy upon our hearts so that they are in plain view of everyone who sees us. 

What do people see when they look at me? Do they see God's mercy and truth? Or do they see a person who is self-centered, hateful, prideful...... the list continues. 

Even more importantly, than what do people see, what does God see? He not only sees my actions, but also the motive behind the actions. Am I living out His mercy and truth? Am I allowing His mercy and truth permeate my heart so that my motives and actions are in accordance with His will? 

In sight, in plain view—God and people will see. The question is WHAT are they seeing?  Only when my heart is permeated with a deep sense of reverence for God (Acts 9:31 MSG), will I want to know God's mercy and truth and display them for everyone to see. Do not abandon mercy and truth — for your life is in plain view!

Trust Based on Sight

And Israel saw that great work which the Lord did against the Egyptians, and the people [reverently] feared the Lord and trusted in (relied on, remained steadfast to) the Lord and to His servant Moses. Exodus 14:31 (AMP)

The Israelites had just been led out of Egypt and WALKED across the dry land of the Red Sea. God had miraculously delivered them from the hand of the Egyptians. Exodus 14:31 is the response as they looked back at the Red Sea, and the dead Egyptians. They were now delivered. 

They SAW the GREAT WORK the did. And their response was REVERENT fear and TRUST in the Lord. 

There is something being said for SEEING and then trusting. That can be good as recognizing what God has done is very appropriate and it should be seen, recognized, and remembered. However, if trust is BASED on sight, then trust can be short lived. 

We see that with the Israelites. For in Chapter 15, three days into their wilderness journey, they could not find water, so the murmuring and complaining  started and DISTRUST set in among the Israelites. 3 Days into their journey..... (Exodus 15:22).... and they forgot what GREAT WORK the Lord had done. 

Trust based on sight is short-lived for as the scenery changes often the trust is misplaced as well. Trust is not to be based on WHAT as been done, but rather WHO is involved in the doing. Trust based on sight, is too often blurred by our doubts, our anxiety, our circumstances. Trust based IN God Almighty is steadfast, for He does NOT CHANGE! He is not only worthy of trust, He has proven Himself faithful for generations, and He is the One who knows what the future holds. 

Trust based on sight is not true trust. Rather it is short-sighted trust, based on ME and what I can see or have seen. And since my sight is limited to only what effects me, or the present, I do not get the big picture of what God is doing. 

Seeing what God has done and giving Him honor for it, is the respectable thing to do. Recognizing all that God has done is part of having a heart permeated with a deep sense of reverence for God (Acts 9:31 MSG). However, if I truly have a deep sense of reverence for God, then my trust will NOT be based on sight, rather my trust will be PLACED in GOD—period.  When my heart is permeated with a deep sense of reverence for God, my trust will not be short-sighted.