Proverbs 22:17-21--Words of the Wise

Proverbs 22:17-21
English Standard Version

Words of the Wise
17 Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise,
    and apply your heart to my knowledge,
18 for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you,
    if all of them are ready on your lips.
19 That your trust may be in the LORD,
    I have made them known to you today, even to you.
20 Have I not written for you thirty sayings
    of counsel and knowledge,
21 to make you know what is right and true,
    that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?

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Solomon tells those that have ears to hear to listen to the words of the wise people around them, and, furthermore, to apply those words because anyone who is simply a hearer of instruction and not also a doer is a fool.  Meditate on these words and chew on them like a cow chews the cud to get everything out it that you can.  These words that you hear should become a part of you so that you are ready to repeat them from your own heart.

These words of wisdom come from the LORD Himself, so when we trust in His words, we are trusting in Him.  This is what He wants, for us to wholly and completely trust on Him and His Name for everything we need, and He will supply all of our needs according to His riches in glory.  Solomon's job was like that of a prophet, to make known the Word of the LORD.

Solomon didn't just tell the people the truth orally (though he did that too), he also wrote these sayings down so that everyone in future generations (like us) could benefit from the wisdom that the LORD had given him.  It was too important for someone to be able to remember the wrong words, be able to claim Solomon said something he didn't say, or for the people to forget the words and never be able to remember them because they had no copy for future generations to learn from if the previous generation was unfaithful to pass the Word along.  Solomon's goal in writing these things down was so that the people would know what was right and true (we see how things that are right and true align with God's character and nature).  Solomon also wanted people to be able to take these words back to all the peoples of all the nations of the world (as everyone was sending envoys to him to hear what wisdom he had for them).  The truths that Solomon was teaching were not just for the Jews, but also for the Gentiles.