“Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
Then you will win favor and a good name
in the sight of God and man.”
“My son, keep your father’s command
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
Bind them always on your heart;
fasten them around your neck.
When you walk, they will guide you;
when you sleep, they will watch over you;
when you awake, they will speak to you.
For this command is a lamp,..
and correction and instruction
are the way to life,
keeping you… from the smooth talk of a wayward woman.”
“My son, keep my words
and store up my commands within you.
Keep my commands and you will live;
guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.
Bind them on your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
Say to wisdom, ‘You are my sister,’
and to insight, ‘You are my relative.’
They will keep you from the adulterous woman,
from the wayward woman with her seductive words.” Proverbs 3:3-4; 6:20-24; 7:1-5
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and strength. These commandments I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.” Deuteronomy 6:5-8
The figurative language in Scripture does much for emphasis and understanding. Binding love and faithfulness and the truth of God’s word around the neck secures it close to head and heart. Tying commands to fingers stays steady the hands and directs them in work, creativity, and affection. The teachings of Scripture, made alive by the Spirit and illustration, become a beacon of identity when worn and borne as a seal.
Blessedness is promised, but will is required. The let and put and fasten of binding and tying do not just happen. They are deliberate responses to the Word read, tasted, and believed to be good. When we cooperate in obedience to God’s commands, He does His part to guard, guide, fortify against temptation and folly. The power and righteous perfection of the Word convict, correct, instruct, and stand fixed as filter and fortress. (Psalm 19:7-11; Hebrews 4:12; 2 Timothy 3:16-17)
Do we desire favor, protection, and illumination? Do we study and thoughtfully apply God’s Word to know it well? How bound are we to its tenets? What can we practically change or implement to tie ourselves to it in devotion and dependence, to bind it to facets of everyday life? How does biblical truth affect strategic thinking and decisions? Availing ourselves of strong teaching at church and otherwise, and fellowship that reinforces truth and refines speech, habits, and behavior are crucial to living bound to Christ.
“O to grace how great a debtor
daily I’m constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here’s my heart; O take and seal it;
seal it for thy courts above.” ~Robert Robinson (1758)
Lord, keep me bound forever to Your blessed word, for Your name’s sake.
As the rain and snow 