Meditationen am Gnadenstuhl: Wednesday, July 13, 2022 - Proverbs 4:10-19

Wednesday, July 13, 2022

Proverbs 4:10–19

[10] Hear, my son, and accept my words,

that the years of your life may be many.

[11] I have taught you the way of wisdom;

I have led you in the paths of uprightness.

[12] When you walk, your step will not be hampered,

and if you run, you will not stumble.

[13] Keep hold of instruction; do not let go;

guard her, for she is your life.

[14] Do not enter the path of the wicked,

and do not walk in the way of the evil.

[15] Avoid it; do not go on it;

turn away from it and pass on.

[16] For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;

they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.

[17] For they eat the bread of wickedness

and drink the wine of violence.

[18] But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,

which shines brighter and brighter until full day.

[19] The way of the wicked is like deep darkness;

they do not know over what they stumble. (ESV)

Wisdom Teaches the Difference Between

The Righteous and the Wicked

We all like to talk about life as being “on a path,” and we frequently wonder about the path God has placed us on. Solomon comes today with wisdom and answers to “the path.” Early Christians called themselves followers of The Way, from Jesus’ teaching that He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). The Didache or “Teachings of the Twelve Apostles” said there are two ways, the way of life and the way of death. Discerning the righteous, those on the path of life, from the wicked who are on the path of death is a useful skill. This mortal life is short, but those who walk the way of the righteous have eternal life at its end, while the way of the wicked ends in hell.

“That the years of your life may be many” refers to this eternal life of the world to come. This is the path of wisdom that the father has taught his son. This same path is one of true freedom in life because it is the path of the Gospel, a life lived in faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for our salvation. On this path, the sojourner will not stumble. "For freedom, Christ has set us free; stand fast, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." (Galatians 5:1). We are to hold fast to this faith, guarding against the other “way,” for the path of the righteous is our very life.

That other path, the way of the wicked, is always standing there like a tempting fork in the road. It will seem like a shortcut to all the good things you think you want or need, but it leads to a very different destination than the path of the righteous. Solomon stresses that the wise will avoid it, turn away from it, and pass on from it. Then he describes the pathetic state of those on the path of the wicked. The wise must understand this because the temptations of the way of death are so seductive those upon it may no longer know they have left the path of the righteous. Those on the path cannot even sleep, eat, or drink unless they engage in sinful activity. They have succumbed to the way of the wicked and become enslaved to the sinful life they have chosen. Jesus said, “Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the Son remains forever. Therefore if the Son sets you free, then you shall be free indeed.” (John 8:34–36).

Solomon closes this section by switching to the metaphor of light and dark. The way of the wise, the path of light, increases in brightness as it is walked upon because Christ is the light. This is not to say that if we walk the path of light long enough, we become sinless in this life. Rather, Christians walk this path secure in the knowledge that they are robed in Christ's righteousness, which declares us holy before God, freeing us from the judgment of the law. And yes, on the last day at the resurrection of the dead, we will be raised perfectly holy and sinless. All darkness will, at last, be banished. Until then, we remain sinners who can be tempted by the path of darkness. The wise discern between the two.

The path of the wicked is the opposite of this, the way of darkness and death. Those on this path do not hold one another up when they stumble but rather constantly make one another stumble further (v.19). Jesus taught this same contrast when He raised Lazarus from the dead: “If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles because the light is not in him.” (John 11:9–10). So also, Solomon calls on his son, and on all of us that read and take his wisdom to heart, to walk the path of this life illuminated by God’s light so that he can walk through to everlasting life, with wisdom as his guide.