SUMMARY
We are encouraged to trust God with all our heart and to keep the commandments.
ANALYSIS
Three times in these five verses reference is made to the “heart”: Our “heart” is to keep the commandments; we are to write loyalty and faithfulness on the tablet of our “heart;” and we are to trust the word with all our “heart.” As is noted in The Role of Imagery in Bible in the World, in Hebrew the metaphorical meaning of “heart” (Hebrew, leb) often encompasses both emotion and reason. The heart is also connected to the will. Strikingly, the notion of the law or commandments or faithfulness being written in our hearts sends us to all manner of passages in Scripture. See, for example, PsalmA psalm is a song of praise. In the Old Testament 150 psalms comprise the psalter, although some of the psalms are laments and thanksgivings. In the New Testament early Christians gathered to sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. More 40:8; JeremiahProphet who condemned Judah's infidelity to God, warned of Babylonian conquest, and promised a new covenant. More 31:33; Romans 2:15; 2 Corinthians 3:3; and Hebrews 8:10 among other places. And centrally, we are reminded of the great commandment in Deuteronomy 6:5-9 –
You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart.
Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
These passages, alongside of others, help us to see that the deep connection between WisdomWisdom encompasses the qualities of experience, knowledge, and good judgment. The Old Testament book of Proverbs, which sometimes invokes a Woman as the personification of Wisdom, is a collection of aphorisms and moral teachings. Along with other biblical passages, it teaches, "The fear of the... More and TorahThe Torah is the law of Moses, also known as the first five books of the Bible. To many the Torah is a combination of history, theology, and a legal or ritual guide. More/Law (which is developed further in Psalms, Sirach, and BaruchThe scribe of the prophet Jeremiah. More) is present in Proverbs as well. (See Proverbs and the ApocryphaApocrypha refers to a collection of writings that, in the judgment of a particular group, are not to be considered as part of the established, authoritative books of the Bible. Several books that Protestants consider apocryphal, such as Judith and Bel and the Dragon, appear... More in Bible in the World, particularly Sirach 24 and Baruch 4:1).
