The Holy Spirit keeps bringing this verse to my remembrance.
3 Let not mercy and truth forsake you;
Bind them around your neck,
Write them on the tablet of your heart,
4 And so find favor and high esteem
In the sight of God and man.
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.
(bold for emphasis)
Proverbs 3:3-6
(Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.)
Mercy and truth are attributes describing God’s character.
For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting;
and his truth endureth to all generations. (Psalms 100:5 KJV)
Binding mercy and truth around our neck is strong language emphasizing the importance of seeking truth (pure motives, pure thoughts) and being merciful (being kind and not judging).
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:14 KJV)
Giving grace and discerning truth are exemplifying Jesus’ character. (John.1:14) If we write mercy and truth on our heart, we take them wherever we go. This seems to be important to God. I’m picturing mercy and truth being written on my heart to take them wherever I go. What about you? The Holy Spirit will convict us when we are not being kind to others. The Spirit will convict us when we lie and then lead us to be truthful. He will empower us to have mercy and a forgiving heart. How do we accomplish this? We don’t! What? The next sentence gives us a clue.
Proverbs 3, Verse 6 instructs us to acknowledge the Lord and He will direct us in the way we should go. What does that mean? We need to submit to the Holy Spirit, acknowledge God and depend on Him to guide us and show us the right path to follow. So crowding out T.V. news might be something our flesh would guide us to do (i.e human reasoning) but sitting at God’s feet in prayer is a better and more spiritual way to spend my time.