Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father,
And attend to know understanding.
For I give you good doctrine,
Forsake ye not my law.
For I was my father’s son,
Tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.
He taught me also, and said unto me,
Let thine heart retain my words:
Keep my commandments, and live.
SOLOMON’S own early training here touchingly alluded to. His mother’s only son, tenderly loved and cared for; the object of his father’s heart, he had been solicitously instructed in the law of the Lord, and had profited thereby.
It is only necessary to read the unhappy history of his half-brother Adonijah, whose father had never displeased him in saying, “Why hast thou done so?” to realize how much Solomon was indebted to his mother’s counsel and his father’s instruction.
The value of parental discipline cannot be overestimated. To be brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord is a blessing beyond our ability to appreciate.
Strange that David could so differently treat two sons as in the cases instanced above!
But it is not the responsibility of the parents that is here dwelt on. It is that of the children rather, who are thus nurtured and cared for. He who, whatever his aberration, knew so well the value of wise and godly instruction, says:
(Commentary by H.A. Ironside)