1. “My son…”

a. He begins with words of affection and love—for his own son.

b. The message is an exhortation given out of love. It is not a scolding or a rebuke, but an exhortation.

c. Others may neglect these words, but he wants his own son never to forget them!

d. In fact, one of the strongest motivations to remember these laws, is the family tie… they came from dad…

e. Nobody wants this son to succeed in life and do well more than the dad!

f. Ex: A car salesman may give you advice on selecting a car. That advice may not be coming from the purest of motives. He may or may not have your best interest in mind. BUT—when the advice comes from your father—his motives are pure. He wants the best for you!

2. “My law…”

a. The law here refers to the counsel, advice, and commandments this father (Solomon) gave to his son.

b. No doubt, Solomon spent many hours with his sons teaching them truth… teaching them the Scriptures… passing on lessons he learned from life… and from his mistakes…

c. The section almost sounds like the words of a father to his older son as that son is about to strike out on his own…

d. By way of application, we should note that the wisdom Solomon passes on to his son here is MORE than just fatherly advice—in the Bible it becomes divinely inspired fatherly advice!

e. Thus, we could apply Solomon’s words concerning his laws to his son to GOD’S LAW to us.

3. “Forget not my law…”

a. Forget: to forget, ignore, wither; to cease to care…

b. A young son striking out on his own is going to be tasting freedom… making decisions on his own… no more parental oversight…

c. The father warns him: Don’t forget what I taught you!

d. We too need to be reminded not to forget Gods’ Word!
• Prov. 4:5 – get wisdom—and don’t forget it! We CAN forget!
• Deut. 4:23 – Take heed that you do not forget the covenant of your God! The Jews often forgot!

e. The Psalmist was concerned about forgetting God’s law! Ps.119:93
• We should resolve NOT to forget God’s Law! They are life and revival to our soul!
• cf. 119:16, 109,141, 153,176
• It should be a concern to us too…
• HOW do we prevent forgetting God’s law? Fill our minds with it daily!

f. Prov.31:4-5 – Strong drink causes men to forget the law… and pervert judgment… discernment level decreases.
• Any kind of intoxicant can cause men to forget God’s law…
• Strong drink… drugs… worldliness… materialism… there are a lot of intoxicants out there…
• They all have the same effect—they blur the mind and reduce our level of spiritual discernment—and cause us to forget God’s law. (A good reason to stay away!)

g. That young man or woman NEEDS good training under their belt BEFORE they get to that place of freedom!
• Solomon taught his son… now he says, “Don’t forget it.”
• The fact that he says “Don’t forget what I taught you” implies that he DID teach him! Are we?
• That son is going to need his dad’s wisdom and advice.
• But the important point is to make sure that we as fathers are TRAINING our children… teaching them important lessons about life… teaching them principles from God’s Word…
• The NT gives this responsibility to the FATHERS! (Eph. 6:4)
• Sooner or later those young lives are going to be out on their own, facing the world system with all of its intoxicants designed to cause us to forget spiritual things…
• Solomon was concerned that his son FORGET NOT his law!