The Way of Wisdom

GOLDEN TEXT: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” —Proverbs 3:5,6

PROVERBS 3:1-6; 4:10-15, 18, 19

OUR Golden Text is an admonition and a promise that has applied to the Lord’s people in every age, and will continue to apply in the age to come, the Millennium. There is no other satisfactory or proper course for any servant of God than to “trust in the Lord” with all his heart. And how many bitter disappointments the Lord’s people have experienced as a result of leaning on their own understanding!

Truly we should “acknowledge him” in all our ways, and in doing so we can have full assurance that he will direct our paths. There can be no greater joy in life than to realize that the Lord is directing our paths. There are many uncertainties along life’s pathway; many times when it is most difficult to know which way to turn, but the promise of God is sure that if we acknowledge him and do not seek stubbornly to follow a path of our own choosing, he will direct, and we will hear a “voice” behind us saying, “This is the way, walk ye in it.” (Isa. 30:21) This is the voice of the Word of God.

But the first four verses of the 3rd chapter, leading up to our Golden Text, are not so universal in their application.

It is not always true, for example, as verse 2 states, that those who keep the commandments of the Lord and observe his ways, are rewarded with “length of days and long life”—at least, not in the sense that these expressions ordinarily would imply. This was, however, a promise to the Jewish nation with whom the Lord was dealing under the terms of the Law Covenant. God’s promise under that covenant was to bless the faithful “in basket and in store,” and to give them health and life—even everlasting life to the one keeping the Law inviolate.—Deut. 28:5; Lev. 18:5

None gained everlasting life under the Law because none of the fallen race could measure up to its perfect requirements. But those who sincerely tried did benefit along temporal lines, besides being blessed with a sense of having God’s blessing in a measure upon them. In addition, their earnest effort to keep the Law prepared them in great measure to receive the fuller, richer blessings which will be made available under the New Covenant, when they are raised from the dead.

Those who accept Christ during the Gospel age, and who keep his commandment to love one another as he loved them, receive everlasting life upon the basis of faith, and actually in the resurrection. First, however, these are required to lay down their human lives in sacrifice, even as Jesus did. They follow in his steps, suffering and dying with him in order that they might live and reign with him.

To these, “mercy and truth” are delight. With joy they “bind” these qualities about them. They recognize that these are qualities of their Lord whom they serve, and whose image they desire to have reflected in their lives.

Chapter 4, verse 10, promises that “the years of thy life shall be many.” “Hear, O my son,” the text begins. It seems reasonable that this is the Heavenly Father speaking to those who are his sons during the Gospel age. One of the New Testament references to these speaks of them as seeking “glory and honor and immortality, eternal life,” through “patient continuance in welldoing.”—Rom. 2:7

Patiently and zealously these seek to know the right way, and to walk in it. They have learned that it is a “narrow way,” a way of sacrifice. They have learned, also, that this way ends only when they have been faithful even unto death. But they are encouraged to press forward in this “right way” by the promise that if they are faithful to the end they will receive a “crown of life.”—Rev. 2:10

This “way” is described in our lesson as the “path of the just,” and we are told that it “shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” (Prov. 4:18) This is true in the individual experience of all the Lord’s people. Day by day, as they follow on to know the Lord, the way shines more brightly for them in the sense that they learn to know him better and to understand his will more clearly.

It is also true in a larger sense when applied to the Lord’s people as a whole throughout all the ages. Not much light was given to righteous Abel and faithful Enoch in the world before the Flood. The “seed” of the woman was to bruise the serpent’s head, but they did not understand very clearly what that meant. After the Flood, it was revealed that this same “seed,” as the “seed” of Abraham, was to bless all the families of the earth. The light pertaining to that “seed” has continued to increase until now we see its near fulfillment in the establishment of the messianic kingdom through which all nations will have an opportunity to enjoy peace and to receive everlasting life.

QUESTIONS

To whom do the words of our Golden Text apply?

Do the Lord’s people at the present time experience an increase in the length of their lives by obedience to the Lord?

To whom was the promise of temporal blessings and life promised if they were obedient to divine law?

Upon what conditions do Christians receive eternal life?

What name did Jesus give to the pathway in which Christians walk, and where does that “way” end?

Explain Proverbs 4:18, which speaks of the “path of the just.”

| Home Page | Table of Contents |