17 Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise,
And apply your mind to my knowledge;
18 For it will be pleasant if you keep them within you,
[j]That they may be ready on your lips.
19 So that your trust may be in the Lord,
I have [k]taught you today, even you.
20 Have I not written to you [l]excellent things
Of counsels and knowledge,
21 To make you know the [m]certainty of the words of truth
That you may [n]correctly answer him who sent you?22 Do not rob the poor because he is poor,
Or crush the afflicted at the gate;
23 For the Lord will plead their case
And [o]take the life of those who rob them.
Solomon has been doling out a lot of wisdom, recording everything he can for his children, and for posterity (us). And here he tells us a little bit of the why, so “it will be pleasant” and we don’t have to learn the hard way. So that when someone disagrees, we have a solid foundation with an answer “ready on our lips”. And also, when we are working for someone else–Solomon likely had a lot of kids, hundreds maybe, and he knew only one would be king–that they and we would be able to give good advice to “the one who sent us”.
In the middle of all this, there is one reason that trumps them all. In v. 19, Solomon says, “I have taught you today, even you.” In so doing, implying that this wasn’t just written to his heir, but to even the lowest one in the pecking order, as he says “yes, even you!” So why did he write these excellent things, counsels, and knowledge?
“So that your trust may be in the Lord…” Not so that they could be sure of themselves, confident in their own wisdom, and their own abilities, but so that they knew to trust God. He was the source of all Solomon’s wisdom. Everything wise and good that Solomon ever did, was because of God, because he put his trust in the Lord.
God doesn’t give us wisdom and wise counsel so we can have the right answers in class, or impress our boss, or clients, or show off to our friends. It is so that we trust Him, follow Him, knowing that God is good, and He never changes. Sometimes our plans don’t work very well, but God’s plan is what is best for us, every time. So with Solomon, let us say, “I trust in God”. He is the source of every good and perfect thing. He will not let me down or lead me astray, but will guide me in the way that I should go (v. 6).