10/1/2023
Turn with me to Proverbs 16:16-19. These are our verses to continue studying and memorizing.
Proverbs 16:16-19 How much better it is to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen above silver. 17 The highway of the upright is to depart from evil; He who watches his way preserves his life. 18 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling. 19 It is better to be humble in spirit with the lowly Than to divide the spoil with the proud.
Introduction
This four verse introduction opens up our next section of proverbs which goes from here until Proverbs 17:6. The focus of this section is on pursuing the right pathway of life. The first thing that we absolutely must get straight with this is the all surpassing value of wisdom. Verse 16 piercingly declares that wisdom is better than gold. Getting understanding should be chosen before silver. If we are not valuing God’s Word accurately then we will not prioritize knowing its wisdom or applying it. We will simply look at it as a possible suggestion rather than the most important treasure that we could ever have. We will not earnestly pursue it. We will not really base all our life, our words, or our actions on it. This verse starts off telling us that what we are holding in our hands is a treasure worth more than all the contents of Fort Knox, than all the contents of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, or all of the gold that Solomon accumulated in all of his life. Given how wealthy he was, this proverb is saying a lot.
Once we begin to value wisdom this highly, then we will eagerly and carefully examine the proverbs that are being taught. Are you valuing wisdom this way? Do you realize and truly believe that this wisdom of God is more important than your job? Than whatever you might have in the bank or retirement? Than everything else you own all put together? Than everything else you might spend your time on? Than whatever TV show or sport that you might like to binge-watch? May we value God’s Wisdom this highly each and every day and throughout the day. If we do, it will affect what we spend time on and what we focus our minds on. Then it will visibly bear fruit in our desires, words, and actions.
After expressing this foundational truth our four verse introduction continues by laying out a few more overarching, essential truths to have in mind as we study and apply these upcoming proverbs. Verse 17 focuses on what the highway of the upright is like and what it protects us from. Then verses 18 and 19 highlight the foundational character trait of humility that is necessary for traveling on this highway of the righteous.
With this reminder of where we are at let’s take a look now at verse 17 more closely.
17 The highway of the upright is to depart from evil; He who watches his way preserves his life.
The path of the righteous leads them away from side paths to evil. Watching out for your soul will protect you from those dangerous derailments.
Last time we noted how verse 16 was essentially a one verse reminder or encapsulation of the wisdom that was taught in Proverbs 4:1-9. Verse 17 follows that up by being a one verse encapsulation of the following verses in Proverbs 4:10-19. Listen to how it more expressively explained our current verse.
Proverbs 4:10-19 Hear, my son, and accept my sayings And the years of your life will be many. 11 I have directed you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in upright paths. 12 When you walk, your steps will not be impeded; And if you run, you will not stumble. 13 Take 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 proceed in the way of evil men. 15 Avoid it, do not pass by it; Turn away from it and pass on. 16 For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; And they are robbed of sleep unless they make 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, That shines brighter and brighter until the full day. 19 The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know over what they stumble.
Like Proverbs 16:17 these verses gives us the importance of following the righteous way of wisdom and the danger of the way of the wicked. This is something that we need to keep in mind throughout our lives, no matter how young or old we may be. We need to stay on the highway of righteousness by departing from evil. We need to watch our way carefully so that we do not end up entering into the path of wickedness and end up overthrown by it. As we do walk by wisdom, our life will be like the light of dawn, shining brighter and brighter. Is that not what we would all like our lives to be? It can be. Let’s think this through more carefully and see how.
A NET Bible note on this verse points out, that “to depart from evil” is an infinitive which gives us a purpose of the upright person.1 One of their main goals is to keep away from evil. They are pursuing righteousness and holiness. Sin is incompatible with that. To be righteous and holy we must not allow evil into our lives. Any evil that is there must be departed from. If we are on the highway of the upright this will be something that we have as a purpose which characterizes our life. We depart from evil. As has been said, followers of God are repenting people. This includes in both our actions and our thoughts. Jesus made this very clear in the Sermon on the Mount when He talked about the thoughts of hatred and the thoughts of lust being sin (Matthew 5:21-30). When sin occurs or we discover it in our lives we repent. We turn from it to truth and holiness. We make restitution as much as is possible. We deal with issues. We seek reconciliation. We pursue righteousness. This is what followers of God do.
According to Bruce Waltke’s commentary on Proverbs2 the ancient highways at this time in Israel generally did not go through the cities, but rather bypassed them. Thus a side road, that diverged from the highway, would need to be taken to go directly to them. This would be very similar to how we would take 207 off of the main I-95 highway to come here to Palatka or to go to St. Augustine. That being the case, the picture that we get in this verse is of the righteous way of life being the highway that the upright are on. They turn aside from the temptations to get off that highway and enter the way of evil. They ignore the billboards calling for them to stop. They keep going and leave the evil that is calling out to them in the dust. They keep their eyes on the way of righteousness and doggedly keep going on that highway. They have purposed in their hearts and minds not to be sidetracked by evil. They will walk in holiness and righteousness. This is a characteristic trait of the upright. They have determined that in pursuing what is right they will not give in to evil. When it come with its siren call of temptation they keep moving. They depart from it. They pass it by. They keep their eyes on the road of righteousness. Or as Paul put it in Philippians 3:14 they keep their eyes on “the prize of the upward call of God in Jesus Christ.”
In addition to that picture, the second half of the proverb gives more insight towards explaining how this all occurs. In the Hebrew word order of how it is written it says “one who guards his soul watches his way.” Thus the first and last word of this proverb focus on one’s “way” of living. The middle two parts then focus on our actions: departing from evil and guarding our soul. That is a bit disjointed in English, so you can see why it is switched around in translation. But that structural design of the proverb helps us see that these two aspects must go closely together. It helps us see that if we are serious about departing from evil we must guard our souls. If we would guard them from what would destroy them then we need to very carefully watch out for the way we live! Dangers are all around us and may come at any time. Those on the path of the upright are vigilant about their lives. They are not naïve about the deception of sin, nor the power of temptations. They are not carefree and lackadaisical about sin and the dangers of evil.
Those on the highway of the upright are alert to keep an eye on the road and what is coming up. They know where temptations, trials, and challenges might occur. They prepare for them. They determine how they will deal with them. They are not caught unawares. Because of that they are able to deal with things appropriately. Their hearts and minds are fortified to bypass the calls of evil. They protect their lives from the pitfalls that have ruined the lives of so many others.
How do they do it? They watch where they go, what they do, what they think, and who they are with. But this is not just a watching what not to do and where not to go. This is also watching to make sure they are where they should be and doing what they should do. One definitely watches where they should not step when a path is treacherous, but the wise person also look to where they should step. Then they make sure to step in that spot. Thus being aware and watching out for things is not just keeping on top of what not to do and where not to go, but also on what we should be doing and pursuing.
Simply avoiding certain sins does not make us righteous. Nor does it mean we are on the highway of the upright. The righteous are specifically going somewhere and intentionally doing something good and right. They pursue and meditate on “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise” then those are the things that they dwell on (Philippians 4:8).
We have to value the wisdom of God as the priceless treasure that it is, and we have to see sin and evil for the dangerous, destructive pitfall that it truly is. These two truths need to come together in our hearts and minds.
Scriptural Example: In Scripture we see an example of this in the life of Joseph. He treasured the wisdom of God’s way of righteousness more than the allurements and pleasure of sin which came from Potiphar’s wife. He was on the highway of the upright. Then the temptations of sin came. He departed from them. He knew their danger. He knew that committing adultery would be a dangerous, destructive, evil sin against God. It would go against God’s perfect design for marriage between one man and one woman. It would be helping break a covenant made before God. So what did he do? Genesis 39 tells us.
Genesis 39:7-10 It came about after these events that his master’s wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me.” 8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge. 9 “There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?” 10 As she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her.
Verse 12 also records that when she cornered him one day he literally and physically fled. He left. He had directly refused the enticements of Potiphar’s wife, and then he did whatever was necessary to avoid the sin when she kept pursuing him. Joseph was intent on remaining on the highway of the upright. So he departed from evil whenever it presented itself and tempted him. Because he wanted to guard his soul he was vigilant to watch his way of life. That vigilance is what protected him from giving in. He had thought through the situation and was ready to do whatever was needed, whether that was to reason and explain, whether it was simply to refuse, or whether it was to flee and get out of there altogether.
How did he have the fortitude to do this? He treasured and valued God’s wisdom as more than gold. He kept it forefront on his heart and mind. He valued it more than pleasure or anything else. Because of that he kept on pursuing the path of the upright, and departing from the path of evil. He maintained a careful vigilance over his way of life.
Proverb in Comparison: When we compare this with the rest of Scripture we see that this is also what Psalm 119:9 tells us to do.
Psalm 119:9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word.
How do we remain pure from sin and stay on the path of the upright? Follow the wisdom of God’s Word. Live by it. Staying vigilant in the truth, valuing it, loving it, and living by it will keep us from destroying our lives by detours into sin. This then is something we ought all to determine beforehand about our way of life. We will not lie. We will live the truth. We will not steal. We will work and live honestly. We will not think or live immorally. We will live out and exalt God’s plan for purity, marriage, relationships, and our thoughts. We will not dishonor our parents. We will honor and respect them. We will not worship and live for anything in God’s creation. We will worship and serve God.
At the foundational level of our lives we must learn to know God so well that His love overwhelms and controls us. As we truly know Him we will then desire to walk in His good, perfect, righteous way. We will know and trust that it is best. We will remember Jesus’ great love for us while we were yet sinners and the enemy of God. We will continually be humbled by His gift of salvation that we could not earn or ever deserve. We will yearn for His way of life that He originally created us for. We will seek His help and strength to walk in it. As we do this our way will be safeguarded. His peace will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. His truth will protect us from the deception of Satan, the world, and even our own flesh. His Spirit inside us will comfort, encourage and help us in walking by love in the truth. This is the way of life that God made us for. As we see and dwell in this way of life, or to put it in other scriptural terms, as we abide in Christ, we will walk on the highway of the upright, departing from evil, guarding our souls, and bearing the fruit of righteousness. Notice how all of this fits together in John 15:4-11.
John 15:4-11 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6 “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. 7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. 9 “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. 10 “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. 11 “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
That is the highway of the upright. Those on it have lives focused on Jesus. They abide in Jesus by having His Word abide in them. As it does it produces much fruit. As they abide in His Word they abide in love. They keep His commandments. That leads to fullness of joy.
When we come to God humbly, trusting Him and obeying Him, there is no area of our life where we cannot expect God to free us from chains of sin. Continuing on in failure is not okay for our Christian life. It is not “normal.” It is not right. It is not what God expects of us. It is not what God saved us for. Jesus did not die on the cross for us to continue on in our sin. He did not rise from the dead to allow us to wallow in our sin. He did not give us His Word, His Spirit, His resurrection power for us to continue to be enslaved by our sin. He died to set us free. He took our sin and gave us His righteousness to make us righteous—starting right here and now in this life. We all do have struggles. None of us are perfect. Yet we can all move forward from those areas where we have sinned and struggled. We can become more holy. We can have victory over even sin that may have been entrenched in our lives in the past. How? Look to Christ, the author and completer of our faith. That begs the question, though.
What is looking to Christ? It is abiding in Him. It is allowing His Word to dwell in us richly. It is meditating on His Word day and night. It is remaining in fellowship and communion with Him, praying without ceasing, rejoicing always in Him, letting His peace guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. In short it is walking with God like Enoch did. It is living in the fear of the Lord. It is letting the love of Christ control us. It is being filled with the Spirit. It is living in light of Him in every area of our lives. It is continually running to and depending on Him for everything. It is trusting God enough to actually and truly seek Him and His wisdom and then obey what it commands us to do. When we do this we will experience victory over our sin. We will experience the reality of faith being the victory that overcomes the world.
Truth in Connection: When we are living this way we will leave sin behind. We will watch out for where its temptations occur. We will see it coming and leave it behind. We will do whatever it takes. That is guarding our souls. We must not allow ourselves to be deceived by sins deceptive enticements.
If you have a sin or temptation that keeps getting the best of you, then do whatever it takes to deal with it. Do not make excuses. Do not give up. Find the lie in it. Compare it with Scripture. See what is truly of value and best for you. See the utmost importance and value of God’s Word, God’s Way, God’s purpose for your life. The more we see the glory of God and know Jesus the more we will delight in following Him and doing whatever we need to do to deal with situations and protect ourselves from evil. Because of this we must get new habits that push our hearts and minds to the truth and to Jesus—whether that is Scripture memory, Scripture reading, Scripture study, sermon listening, journaling, additional fellowship or church services, accountability, etc. We must learn to delight in God and treasure His wisdom.
Then, if you need to cut out some activity from your life because it leads to sin for you, just do it. In God’s power keep fighting sin. It is a war. We must not let up or go soft. If TV or certain social media use is continually leading you towards evil, then remove that temptation. Cut it out completely and do not give yourself an open door to go back. If alcohol is your problem, then do not fool yourself into thinking you will have just a little bit. Do not tantalize yourself by dallying with the things that tempt you—whatever it might be. In the case of Christian liberties it may be that it is just for a time that we really need to restrict ourselves from certain things. Or, it may be that we see it is just something that we need to permanently avoid in our specific situation. Either way, we need to do whatever it takes to avoid sin. That is what Jesus meant when He said in Matthew 5:29-30 that:
Matthew 5:29-30 “If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 “If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.
He is speaking metaphorically that we must see sin as so dangerous that we will do whatever is needed to keep from living in it. In regard to the liberty that we have in Christ, Paul gave us this additional warning:
Galatians 5:13 For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
We must not deceive ourselves into allowing our freedom in Christ to become an excuse or opportunity for us to engage in sin. Our flesh is devious. It will make all kinds of excuses for continuing on in certain behaviors which inevitably end up in our sinning or leading others into sin. This command tells us to not give opportunities for our flesh to lead ourselves or others into sin. Instead, love—which biblically is always guided by God’s truth, holiness, and righteousness—should guide all of our uses of our Christian liberty. If it leads to sin in our lives then it ought not to be done.
In Ephesians 4:27 we are also warned about certain behaviors which can give the devil an opportunity to gain a foothold in our lives and wreak destruction. It gives this command:
Ephesians 4:27 and do not give the devil an opportunity.
In the context this is talking about laying aside our old manner of life and putting on our new lives in Christ. We are to be renewed in the spirit of our mind. Thus we must not continue on in our old way of life with the lies, anger, sensuality, greed and other sin which characterized us. We must not let Satan have an opportunity to deceive us, to again lead our lives, and to wreak havoc through us. By not departing from evil as soon as it presents itself, and by not watching over our way that is exactly what we open up our lives to: the devil’s influence. 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 sums up what we are called to do while we are in this world.
1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; 22 abstain from every form of evil.
That is being vigilant to watch over our way of life as we travel on the highway of the upright. Compare everything to God’s Word, to God’s righteous standard. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil.
With all of this we might be tempted to just go off into some remote place and try to avoid all people and all technology. But that is not an option according to God. That itself would be getting off the highway of the upright because that would conflict with God’s command for us to make disciples in all the world. It would also conflict with His commands to be part of a local church and to use our gifts and abilities for the benefit of one another. It also could push us to avoid honoring our parents and to avoid working to provide for the needs of our own families, etc.
Instead of having a knee jerk reaction and secluding ourselves off we ought to intentionally pursue the good works that God has prepared beforehand for us. We ought to do the soul-searching work of being vigilant and allowing God to do His work of sanctification within us. The things that we do for voluntary entertainment, the people that we choose to spend time with as friends, and the things that we choose to do should all be regularly assessed as to whether they are helping us grow in our holiness and service to God, or whether they are leading us towards evil and deceiving us. We must not give up or look for some easy way out. God has a better way: get to know Him with all of His wisdom better. Abide in Him.
Pursue Christ, or as the preceding verse talked about treasure wisdom. That will end up pulling us away from sin. Helen Lemmel’s hymn “O soul, are you weary and troubled” really captures this. Unfortunately we only have the chorus in our hymn book, but listen to what the first couple stanzas and refrain says:
1. O soul, are you weary and troubled? No light in the darkness you see?
There’s light for a look at the Savior, And life more abundant and free!
Refrain: Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.
2. Thro’ death into life everlasting, He passed, and we follow Him there;
O’er us sin no more hath dominion-- For more than conqu’rors we are!
Refrain: Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.3
Pursue the highway of the upright by continually looking to Christ. As we keep our eyes on Him, valuing His wisdom as the greatest treasure there is, we will depart from evil. We will watch our way and preserve our lives from the dangers of sin.
Are you looking to Jesus? Are you valuing His wisdom? You will know the answer to that by how you are doing with sin. If you are departing from sin, growing in holiness, and persisting in your pursuit of serving God and others then you are treasuring God’s wisdom.4
O the other hand, if from all of this you have realized that you have some sin that you need to leave behind, then I would urge, challenge you, and exhort you on the authority of God. Turn to Jesus. Confess it. Trust Him that His way is best. Keep looking to Him so that you see Him clearly enough with His love and truth that you do not want your sin any longer. Make whatever changes you need to your patterns and habits to continue to get to know Him better and to vibrantly grow in your relationship with Him. Do not settle for being some lukewarm Christian that God wants to spit out of His mouth like the book of Revelation talks about with the church of Laodicea. Strive to know Jesus more. Let Him have victory over your sin and give you purpose. Let His living waters flow through you. Live for more than the endless cycles of half-hearted repentance and continual, hopeless struggles with the same sin. If you are not already on it, may this be the day when you earnestly take up walking on the path of the upright with your whole heart, mind, and soul with a renewed vigor and strength in Jesus.
If you have not trusted in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then that is where you need to do. He is our only hope. He is the only way that we can get on that pathway of the upright. On our own we are all enslaved sinners who are separated from God and under His judgment. Jesus is the only way of victory over sin. He is the only one who can truly free us from our slavery to it. He went to the cross to bear our sin, punishment, and judgment. He rose victorious over sin and death and brings life to all those who will come to Him in faith. Trust Him today as your Lord and Savior.
Conclusion
If you have any questions on any of this or want help in coming to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior please come talk with us. We are available. Let’s pray.
© 2023, Kevin A. Dodge, All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB),Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org
English (US) · 