The first four verses of chapter seven are saying the same thing each time with a different illustration. The first part of each verse speaks of the outward actions and the second part of each verse addresses the internal heart affections and desires.
The word keep used in verses one and two means to guard. But this keeping is not like the keeping of prisoners so they do not escape. It is more like the keeping of sheep in the sense of promoting their wellbeing. Wise words and commandments call for action, not passive acceptance, and this kind of action is only possible when the commandment and law is cherished. This cherishing is what it means to lay them up, not in the sense of putting them on a shelf but in the sense of holding them close to your body in an embrace. But what is the apple of the eye? It is the pupil of your eye, the black dot of your eye that receives the light and through which you see. How quickly do your eyes blink when something approaches them? How careful are you to protect your eyes from harm? The words and commandments of wisdom should be as important to you as your eyesight.
How do we bind words and commandments and laws on our fingers? Do we do it by wearing rings and bracelets that contain God’s commandments? No, it doesn’t mean that. It means that the wisdom of God’s words guides our actions. Does writing them on our hearts mean that we should have open-heart surgery so that the surgeon can tattoo them on our heart? Of course not! It means we should hold them dear and cherish them in our heart. They should be our heart’s desire.
Finally, verse four reinforces how we should cherish wisdom’s words, commandments and laws as we would our own sisters. What is the action in verse four? It is this. Our attitude and actions towards wisdom’s words, commandments and laws should not be only a silent witness, but we must be willing to speak of them and declare our affection for them and commitment to them.
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