Verse 1 is father-to-son talk. It’s comprised of 2 commands: “pay attention to my wisdom” and “listen well to my words of insights.”
It’s all about listening — and learning — from someone who might know a bit than I do!
Verse 2 is a promise – “that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge.” These same 2 qualities — “discretion” and “knowledge” — are listed together, among the major purposes for the whole book of Proverbs (1:4). This is important stuff!
We define “discretion” as “the ability to made good plans.” “Knowledge” is defined as “the ability to see things as they really are.”
The idea here is — if I’ve paid attention and listened well — I’ll be in a position to clearly see what’s going on and be able to make good choices on a daily basis.
Most of us will agree that it’s hard for sons and daughters to “pay attention” or “listen well” to parental directions. But we’d also agree that it could really help them if they would.
12 Step groups like to refer to their principles of recovery as “suggestions.” That might make it a bit easier to receive but, either way, it’s pretty important that we get this — sooner rather than later!