Meditationen am Gnadenstuhl: Thursday, July 14, 2022 - Proverbs 4:20-27

Thursday, July 14, 2022

Proverbs 4:20–27

[20] My son, be attentive to my words;

incline your ear to my sayings.

[21] Let them not escape from your sight;

keep them within your heart.

[22] For they are life to those who find them,

and healing to all their flesh.

[23] Keep your heart with all vigilance,

for from it flow the springs of life.

[24] Put away from you crooked speech,

and put devious talk far from you.

[25] Let your eyes look directly forward,

and your gaze be straight before you.

[26] Ponder the path of your feet;

then all your ways will be sure.

[27] Do not swerve to the right or to the left;

turn your foot away from evil. (ESV)

Advice for Living a Righteous Life

The heart expresses its power through the tongue. Jesus said, “it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” (Matthew 15:11 ESV). In this final section of Proverbs chapter four, the father gives advice to his son on how to live a righteous life. Solomon entreats us to be attentive to his words, calling our attention to ten parts of the body: ears, eyes, heart, the whole body, mouth, lips, eyelids, foot, left side, and right side. Wisdom enters through the ears and the eyes, dwelling in the heart. The heart is not the organ that pumps blood through the body, but the seat of understanding is the mind, the "center of conscious intellection," as the great Hebrew poetry scholar, Robert Alter, terms it. It becomes "the repository of the wisdom the young person will imbibe, and it needs to be zealously guarded. (Alter, Wisdom, p.211).

From the heart flows "the springs of life," literally "the ways out to life." As we mentioned yesterday, the Didache speaks of the two ways, one of life and one of death. Psalm 68:21 speaks of the ways out from death." The life of a Christian is beset with opportunities to stray off the path of life, either to the left or right (v.27), onto the path of death.

Keeping our eyes focused straight ahead (v.25) with our "eyes on the prize," as it were, is wisdom's response to receiving the Gospel in faith. In so doing, we read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the Word of God, believing it and thus be saved and preserved in our mortal lives until that time when those who hear and believe enter the fullness of everlasting life (v.22-23).

What goes into us cannot harm us, only what we do with it. It sounds strange, doesn't it? Of course, if we pollute ourselves with sinful images and words, it will corrupt us internally. But Jesus was literally speaking of Jewish dietary laws, which will not apply under the new covenant. In Mark 7:14-23, Jesus says foods go in, and they are digested and come back out. Rather, Jesus was saying it is what lurks in the hearts of men that defiles them. What comes out of the heart are sinful faults and deeds. It is our fallen human nature. Therefore the heart must be guarded above all things – both what we allow to go in and what comes back out. The wise focus on the word of God, which teaches us how to love God and neighbor.

The fool looks at the world's behavior, internalizes it, and makes it his guide. The wise take in the behavior of the world, lament it, and reject it. What comes out of the heart of the wise is the betterment of the world through his righteous works for the benefit of his neighbor, not himself. The temptations to stray right or left off the path of righteousness are legion. No man can resist their allure perfectly. Only Christ was able to do so. Wisdom understands this, trusts that his sins are forgiven for the sake of Christ’s death and resurrection, and repents. Eyes forward, he continues to consume the Word of God, which enters the heart and works renewal and strengthened faith. Here is the sustenance and strength to remain on the path that leads to life.