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Are We Determined to Remain Dependable, Faithful, Reliable, and Trustworthy In Our Relationship with God Come What May?

Proverbs 3:3-4 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
³Let not loyal love^[2] and faithfulness forsake you;
bind them around your neck;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
⁴So you will find favor and good insight^[3]
in the sight of God and man.

[2] Or steadfast love, kindness
[3] Lit understanding

What does it mean to be loyal or steadfast (Heb. checed)? It means that one is dependable, faithful, reliable, and trustworthy. Loyal love is an unfailing kindness, a devotion, that is, a love or affection that is steadfast based on a former relationship (Ex. 34:6-7), which is often used in reference to God’s love that is based on one’s faithfulness to his covenant. If we are truly a friend of God, then we must stand by him regardless of what our human imperfections, this wicked fallen world, or even what Satan and his demon horde might throw at us. The same holds true for our brothers and sisters of the faith. Are we looking to draw close to them, to remain faithful to them, even in trying times, regardless of their imperfections?

We are to bind steadfast or loyal love and faithfulness around our neck, which is where people of the Ancient Near East wore beautiful and precious jewels. “Perhaps the neck is here mentioned because disobedience is elsewhere described as a stiffening of the neck (e.g., Jer. 7:26; 17:23).”^[4] We are to write steadfast or loyal love and faithfulness on the tablet of our heart, meaning that we are to make them a part of who we are as a person. In other words, our steadfast or loyal love and faithfulness should be pure.

[4] John H Walton, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary (Old Testament) Volume 5: The Minor Prophets, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, 474 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009).

We should deeply value loyal love and faithfulness and visibly display them as we would a priceless necklace around our neck. In addition, we also need to inscribe these qualities on our heart, making them an essential, indispensable part of who we are. The wisdom that we attain will make us more attractive to others as we display it. It does us no good to simply hear instructions, take in knowledge; then, grasp or understand, to then forget what we heard, like the young man, we do need to have it inscribed on our heart. Loyal love and faithfulness should become our internal values, not just some external rules and principles that we sometimes live by. God has promised us through Jeremiah the prophet (31:33) that “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.”