Proverbs 2: 7 -22

7He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.

The same Lord who gives wisdom, provides enough for the righteous so that they ought never despair of its plenty. He protects the person who walks with integrity and truth. To be righteous has two meanings in light of Paul's comments in Romans 3:10 that there is no one who is righteous.

That is to say that none, of his or her own accord or effort is righteous and every person comes to God in an unrighteous state needing to be made righteous. The two meanings are (1) Rightly related to God. The relationship is created through the grace-faith connection by and through Jesus Christ. That becomes the spiritual reality of our lives. We have been made right with God. (2) Moving in the right direction. Salvation does not perfect our behavior. That is a process. The righteous "liver" is such because of a directional reality.

Thus, the righteous person is right with God and moving in the right direction. That person might also be considered in the context of the Proverbs, wise.

To walk uprightly is the opposite of walking bent over. The upright walker, (NIV calls him "blameless.") has shaken loose his/her shame with its defeatist attitude and can stand tall in God-confidence.

8He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.

Wise living is about paths and ways. These are directional concepts that denote progress and lifestyle. "Saints" is better translated in the NIV as "faithful ones." The idea here is that those who follow God and His ways avoid slippery slopes and dubious directions. They are guided by the Way Maker and Path Manager. The road will never drop off for the God-follower. There will always be a way. It may not be apparent, but it will be there when it is needed. Sometimes, amidst profound perplexity, we wonder if there is any direction that we can take. It seems that all roads are blocked and all options closed. We may not be able to discern what the right choice might be in a given situation. This Word from the Lord assures us that whatever the scenario may be, there is a just path and it has been preserved for us.

9Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.

The sequence is not set in stone, but some things come before others - acceptance, heart application , earnest seeking, and reverence all precede understanding. Trust comes before confidence; a willingness to follow before an ability to articulate. We are promised new understanding and clarity as we follow.

10When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;

Here is how it happens: Wisdom gets inside us. It nourishes us. It delights us. It is something pleasant and joyful. When we embrace it with such enthusiasm, understanding flows naturally.

11Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:

Wisdom is our friend because nothing has its potency to protect, preserve, and defend us. The growing sense of right and wrong inside our souls that we cherish informs our choices. We reject the paths of destruction in favor or the paths of righteousness. We avoid some significant and meaningless dangers (Note - not all danger, just the useless danger of stupidity).

12To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;

The useless danger of stupidity is summed up as (1) wicked ways and (2) perverse words. If we can bring our ways and our words into compliance with godly wisdom, we will avoid pitfalls that trap countless souls on a daily basis. Need I be specific? How much suffering is useless? It has no meaning unless and until it becomes redemptive through redemption. How much trouble is directly resultant from stupid choices. I use the word, "stupid" intentionally because such choices are made in a stupor of mindless cravings and godless thinking. We are not called to live "safe" lives for safety sake, but how embarrassing it is to fall into a pit because of our own willful ignorance and compulsive arrogance.

13Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;

Here is what we do - and we have all done it. We choose wrongly. We leave the path. We do it with our eyes open (even though we may have entered into a stupor). The path we leave is the one provided by a wise and loving God. It is the wise path - the only one that makes a lick of sense. It is the way of light. So, we love darkness as Jesus said and are drawn to its mysteries because we are too spiritually and intellectually lazy to explore the vaster mysteries of light. Light is abundant. Darkness is abandoned. Light fullness. Darkness is absence. So we choose to stagger and stumble and unwittingly accept the consequences and then complain about them. "God's not fair," we declare. God is fair; we just ignored Him.

14Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked;

Evil we know. We just don't like to think that we would embrace it, much less rejoice in it. But we all have at some moment. Frowardness is perversity. Literally, that is anything that is not vertical, straight, lined up with truth, and thus, honest with God and self. Proverbs says that when we stray from the path, we do so whole-heartedly with a perverse delight in the distortions of truth that seem, for a moment, more exotic than the straight truth.

15Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:

So we wander. If we aren't moving straight, then it is crooked. If we are perverse, we deviate and the NIV says we become devious. We start engaging in the great cover-up all the while meandering down a path to nowhere but destruction. All of this comes from rejecting wisdom.

16To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;

For many, this perversity manifests itself as sexual deviation - no one sort in particular, although Solomon zeroes in on basic adultery and prostitution. It is one of many symptoms of letting one's fleeting desires do all of ones thinking. There are other terms for it on the street that I will not mention except to say that even in the world of people who hold no regard for God, this truth is validated and acknowledged.

17Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.

The adulterous woman (or man) has forgotten/forsaken two promises - one to a mate and the other to God. He/she has not been able to fully accomplish this betrayal alone so has employed seductive words to bring a partner along. It never ceases to amaze me how a couple can sit across the room from me to be married - whose relationship was forged in the midst of another covenant. One is the adulterer and the other is the "home-wrecker." What is their basis of trust in each other? How is it different from the last time they pledged fidelity? Why would she trust a man that could be seduced by her deceptive words? Why would he trust a woman who had no regard for covenants between people and covenants with God? Of course, the breach can be crossed by grace, but there must also be recognition and repentance or both are doomed to a cyclical pattern or relativism and hormonal ethics.

18For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.

It is a path to death. One may survive physically - or one may not, but there will be a great deal of death in the path - dead relationships, spiritual morbidity, cold heartedness, putrid moral decay - and death will characterize the fruit of such choices. A many a man and woman has been sent to an early grave in a jealous rage. Just because some avoid that fate does not lessen this truth. It is dangerous stupidity to compromise sexual ethics.

19None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.

She takes something from those to who she "gives" herself. The boy does not "become a man" through her good offices. He dies. The little girl does not emerge a woman from a clutches of a seducer; she loses herself in a way that she can never recover apart from a miraculous work of grace in her life. The little boy and little girl can be born anew, but the reality is that sexual promiscuity is deadly and life-sapping. The wise avoid it.

20That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.

Back to the point: These teachings are our safeguard against the pitfalls around us. Not everyone buys into every lie. There is a way of recovery. There is a path of righteousness. We can choose it.

21For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.

There are some marvelous promises for those who can hold their heads up high. One is ongoing participation in the covenants of God.

22But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.

With every promise, there is a warning. For every positive choice, there is the potential of a negative choice with its awful consequences. If you intend to choose the way of life, keep reading and do so with an open heart.