The Foundation of Trust: Receiving the Words of Truth Text: Proverbs 22:17-21
Introduction: The War for Your Ears
We live in an age that is drowning in words. We are bombarded, day and night, by an endless torrent of information, opinions, hot takes, and propaganda. The glowing screens in our pockets and on our walls are constantly whispering, shouting, and demanding our attention. Every voice claims to have the answer, the secret, the key. And in this cacophony, this digital Babel, the central lie of our age is that all these words are fundamentally equal. The lie is that you, as an autonomous individual, stand in the middle of this marketplace of ideas, and you get to decide what is true for you.
This is the foundational assumption of secularism, and it is a suicidal delusion. It assumes that man is the measure of all things, that his heart is a reliable arbiter of truth, and that his mind is a neutral, unbiased judge. But the Bible tells a very different story. The Bible tells us that the human heart is not a courtroom, but rather a throne room. And on that throne sits either Christ or chaos. There is no neutrality. You are either a slave to righteousness or a slave to sin.
The book of Proverbs is intensely practical, but it is not pragmatism. It is not a collection of folksy self-help tips for a better life. It is divine wisdom, grounded in the fear of Yahweh, which is the beginning of knowledge. The passage before us today is a formal introduction to a new section of the book, often called "the words of the wise." And it begins not with a clever saying, but with a demand for a particular posture. It is a call to submission. It is a summons to stop listening to the clamor of the world, to the deceitful whispers of your own heart, and to incline your ear to the words of God. This is a worldview battle, and the first shot is fired over the control of your hearing.
What you listen to will determine what you love, what you love will determine what you serve, and what you serve will determine your eternity. Therefore, this passage is not simply good advice; it is a matter of life and death. It tells us how to receive true knowledge, why we must receive it, and what the ultimate purpose of that knowledge is. The goal is not to make you a trivia champion of spiritual facts. The goal is to anchor your trust in the living God, so that you can stand firm in a world of lies.
The Text
Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise,
And set your heart on my knowledge;
For it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, That they may be established on your lips.
So that your trust may be in Yahweh, I have made you know today, even you.
Have I not written to you excellent things Of counsels and knowledge,
To make you know the veracity of the words of truth That you may respond with the words of truth to him who sent you?
(Proverbs 22:17-21 LSB)
The Posture of Reception (v. 17)
We begin with the foundational command, the necessary posture for receiving any wisdom at all.
"Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, And set your heart on my knowledge;" (Proverbs 22:17)
Notice the two-fold action required. First, "incline your ear." This is not passive hearing. This is not having the truth on in the background while you scroll through your phone. This is a deliberate, conscious act of leaning in. It implies humility. You cannot incline your ear if your head is held high in arrogance. To incline your ear is to admit that you do not have the answers, that your own understanding is insufficient, and that you desperately need to hear a word from outside yourself. The modern world tells you to "look within." God tells you to look up and listen.
Whose words are we to hear? "The words of the wise." In the context of Proverbs, this is not just any clever person. The wise man is the one who fears Yahweh. This is a call to submit to God's revealed truth, spoken through His appointed messengers. Ultimately, this points us to the Scriptures, the very words of God.
But hearing is not enough. The second command is to "set your heart on my knowledge." The ear is the gateway, but the heart is the destination. The word "heart" in Hebrew refers to the entire inner person, the seat of your intellect, your will, and your affections. This is a call to engage with the truth at the deepest level. It is not enough to agree with it intellectually. You must apply it, wrestle with it, meditate on it, and love it. You are to treat this knowledge not as a disposable commodity, but as the central organizing principle of your entire being. This is what it means to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. The battle is for the heart, and it begins with what you allow through the ear-gate.
The Internalized and Expressed Word (v. 18)
Verse 18 describes the result of this kind of receptive hearing. The word does not remain an external object, but becomes an internal reality that shapes our outward expression.
"For it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, That they may be established on your lips." (Proverbs 22:18 LSB)
When God's truth is received into the heart, it is "pleasant." This is not the superficial pleasure of entertainment or the fleeting pleasure of sin. This is the deep, settled joy of a life that is aligned with reality. As Jeremiah said, "Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart" (Jer. 15:16). There is a profound satisfaction in knowing the truth and living in it. Sin promises pleasure but delivers bondage and death. God's commands are not burdensome; they are the pathway to true and lasting delight.
The second half of the verse shows the outward fruit of this inward reality: "That they may be established on your lips." The word that has taken root in your heart will inevitably come out of your mouth. Jesus said, "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" (Matthew 12:34). A man whose heart is filled with God's knowledge will be a man whose speech is seasoned with grace, truth, and wisdom. His words will be "established," meaning they will be ready, firm, and reliable. He will not be grasping for answers or spouting foolish opinions. He will have a ready defense for the hope that is in him. What you treasure in your heart, you will talk about with your mouth. This is the pipeline of discipleship: from God's mouth, to the ear, to the heart, to your mouth.
The Ultimate Goal: Trust in Yahweh (v. 19)
Verse 19 gives us the ultimate purpose, the grand telos, of all this hearing, learning, and keeping. It is not about becoming smart; it is about becoming faithful.
"So that your trust may be in Yahweh, I have made you know today, even you." (Genesis 22:19 LSB)
Here is the central point. The goal of all biblical knowledge is not knowledge for its own sake. The goal is trust. God reveals Himself to us, He gives us His law, His wisdom, and His promises, for one primary reason: so that we will stop trusting in ourselves, in our own wisdom, in our own strength, in princes, or in chariots, and place our entire, confident reliance on Him. Faith is not a blind leap in the dark. Biblical faith, or trust, is a well-founded reliance on the character and promises of a trustworthy God. And how do you know He is trustworthy? Because He has spoken. He has "made you know today."
This is a direct assault on the autonomy of man. We are created to be dependent creatures. The only question is what we will depend on. The world system is designed to make you trust in it, in money, in government, in technology, in your own resume. But all of these things are sinking sand. God gives us His Word as solid rock. He gives us knowledge so that our trust will have a firm foundation. Notice the personal nature of it: "even you." This is not a generic, abstract truth. God is speaking to you, personally, through His Word, calling you to abandon your flimsy idols and to trust wholly in Him.
The Divine Source and Purpose of Truth (v. 20-21)
The final two verses reinforce the divine origin of this wisdom and its practical, missional outworking.
"Have I not written to you excellent things Of counsels and knowledge, To make you know the veracity of the words of truth That you may respond with the words of truth to him who sent you?" (Proverbs 22:20-21 LSB)
The speaker here is the voice of wisdom, ultimately the voice of God Himself. He has not given us flimsy suggestions or questionable opinions. He has written "excellent things." The Hebrew implies something of noble, princely quality. This is royal truth, fit for the courts of the King of kings. This is not just true; it is majestically, gloriously true. It is a treasure of "counsels and knowledge."
And what is the purpose of this excellent revelation? "To make you know the veracity of the words of truth." God does not ask for blind credulity. He gives us a sure and certain word. The word "veracity" here means certainty, reliability. We are not dealing with myths or "cunningly devised fables." We are dealing with the bedrock reality of the universe. This is a presuppositional claim. God's Word is the standard of all truth. It is not true because it corresponds to some other standard. It is the standard. All other claims to truth must be tested against it.
But this knowledge is not meant to terminate on us. It has a missional purpose. We are to be equipped "that you may respond with the words of truth to him who sent you." In the immediate context, this might refer to a messenger or an employer. A man equipped with God's truth is a reliable employee, a faithful ambassador. But in the broader covenantal context, this applies to all of us. We have been sent into the world by our Master. We are His ambassadors. And we are sent with a message. Our task is to give a true report, to "respond with the words of truth" to a world that has sent us questions, challenges, and accusations. We are to give an answer, a defense, for the hope that lies within us. We receive the truth not to hoard it, but to report it.
The Gospel of Trust
As with all of Scripture, we must read this passage through a redemptive-historical lens. Where does this point us in the story of salvation? It points us directly to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the ultimate "wise" one, the very incarnation of the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:30). He is the one to whom we must incline our ear. To hear Him is to hear the Father. He is the one whose knowledge we must set our hearts upon, for "in Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:3).
And what is the central word of truth that He brings? It is the gospel. It is the announcement that though we have all turned a deaf ear to God, though our hearts have been set on foolishness and rebellion, God has acted in Christ to save us. Christ perfectly kept the words of God in His heart and on His lips. He perfectly trusted His Father, even unto death on a cross.
The ultimate goal of the gospel is the same as the goal of this passage: "that your trust may be in Yahweh." Salvation comes not through our own wisdom or our own works, but by grace through faith, through trusting in the finished work of Jesus Christ. He is the "veracity of the words of truth." He is the Truth incarnate. When God saves us, He performs a miracle. He unstops our deaf ears so we can hear the gospel. He gives us a new heart, a heart of flesh, so we can receive His knowledge. He fills us with His Spirit, so that keeping His word becomes pleasant, not a burden.
And He commissions us. He sends us out as His messengers, to respond to a dying world with the words of truth. The gospel is the ultimate "excellent thing" that has been written to us. It is the knowledge that saves. Our job is to incline our ear to it daily, to set our hearts upon it constantly, and to establish it on our lips, so that we might be faithful witnesses who can give a true report to the one who sent us.