Shannon Bond, Pastor of Cherokee Baptist Church
Proverbs 2:20–22 (ESV) 20 So you will walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous. 21 For the upright will inhabit the land, and those with integrity will remain in it, 22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the treacherous will be rooted out of it.
Notice that the word, “will” appears five times. It can be used in an authoritative way, such as, “You will root for the Aggies, not for the Red Raiders!” In this instance “will” is more of a command. Here in Proverbs, it’s used to describe what “will” happen when a person walks in the way of the wise.
(side note: Walking in wisdom never puts God in debt to you. Job walked in wisdom before God and God let Satan take everything from him. Job eventually learned that God’s wisdom is deeper than his feeble mind can process. In other words, in letting everything be taken from him, God demonstrated a wisdom that is far above our pay grade. What happened to Job doesn’t give us room to charge God with wrongdoing or failing to act in accordance with wisdom. Our task is to do what the writer of Ecclesiastes said no matter what: “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.”) When Solomon says, “So you will walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous,” he’s not saying that walking in wisdom will eventually get you to the way of the good and to the paths of the righteous. He’s saying that wisdom and those paths are the same thing. It’s not rocket surgery. Walk in wisdom, and you will be walking in the right way and the correct path.
In vv. 21-22, Solomon speaks of how God will vindicate himself (prove himself to be in the right) before those who walk in wisdom. “For the upright will inhabit the land, and those with integrity will remain in it,” v. 21 says. Solomon is telling his son that no matter how things look around you (the wicked may prosper, the good/wise may suffer), God will ultimately prove himself to be right and glorify himself and his people. God will divide the sheep from the goats. The upright will inhabit the land and those with integrity will remain in it. Just them…no one else. That’s what v. 22 says: “but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the treacherous will be rooted out of it.”
Walking in wisdom requires faith. Even if you walk in wisdom and get a little jaded like the author of Ecclesiastes when he sees bad things happening to the wise and the prosperity and arrogance of the wicked, you must keep walking in wisdom. One day—one day!!!!—God will vindicate himself and you in the sight of all men.
Walk in wisdom!!!