School Assignment

Recently I had to write about the passage in Proverbs 3:1-8 for my class, Teaching the Scriptures. I thought I would share it here. Admittedly, the passage that gets the biggest highlight here is not the one in question, but Psalm 23, which had more of a story line to it.


Growing up, my mom would put me and my four roommate siblings to bed, tuck us in, say a prayer, recite a few Bible passages, and sing a song. It was like a liturgy, familiar, repeated, regular, comforting, something I envisioned as I drifted off to sleep.

“These six things doth the Lord hate, lying lips… feet that are swift to mischief, hands that shed innocent blood…”

“...Let not kindness and truth leave you, bind them on the tablet of your heart.”

“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want… Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever,” and she would sing a song with the ending lines of the 23rd Psalm.

Night after night, I would envision in my mind the green grass pastures, the still and calming waters, the valley of the shadow of death with the narrow path of righteousness stretched out ahead, the rocky red-orange cliffs on one side and a steep precipice descending on the other. I would envision a table spread before me in the grass, and Shirley Goodness following me. She didn’t teach on the passages, she just recited them with and to us.

As I grew older and read more of the Scriptures, I understood that binding kindness and truth on the tablet of your heart is much like binding the words of the covenant to your forehead, to your arm, and to your doorpost, in the Mosaic law and Jewish tradition.

When getting my husband’s suit tailored for our wedding, we were serviced by a Jewish tailor from Azerbaijan, who spoke at least five languages. On his doorpost was a part of the Talmud, perhaps a Psalm, rolled up into a small clear container attached to the door. He said it was for good luck, and I wondered if he knew it was for a reminder. It reminded me of the passages in Deuteronomy which talk about keeping the words of the covenant close, talking about them each day and passing them on to the next generation - just as my mom did in our nightly ritual.