To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things; From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness; Who delight in doing evil And rejoice in the perversity of evil; Whose paths are crooked, And who are devious in their ways; Proverbs 2:12-15 

Why is wisdom needed?  Well for many in the modern mindset, maybe it isn't.  They contend that the basic nature of man is good.  Yet the very reason for wisdom is the fact that evil exists.  But we are not being told about evil in theory - we are being told here that evil men exist.  The battle with evil in theory is one only in our minds - but a battle with evil that actually involves evil men - that is another story altogether.  

The first thing we learn is that there is a "way of evil" that exists in our world.  We are facing those who have developed lifestyles that embrace evil.  The facts are in - and those facts clearly deliniate for us that man is fallen.  The facts also indicate that being fallen, man has developed a whole way of life that is contrary to the will of God.  If we are not careful and wise - we will find ourselves following that path - that way of evil.  According to Solomon, we need to be delivered from the way of evil.  Maybe this is why we hear John telling us, "Do not love the world or the things of the world, if anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him."  

The way we are drawn into this way of evil is by men who speak perverse things.  This perverse speech involves saying things that distort and deviate from what God has said and what God wants.  It is deceptive, corrupt speaking that either denies the Word or twists it until it suits our fallen appetites.  That's why we need wisdom and discretion - the ability to distinguish between things godly and ungodly.  We need to know when an "evil man" is trying to decieve us and lead us astray.

The evil man leave the paths of uprightness to walk in their darkness.  Here it is again - the fact that there is an entire walk and path that is ungodly.  But we also learn that there is a corresponding walk that is upright and godly.  The evil man leaves God's ways and chooses those that are dark instead.  We learn again from John that the ungodly hate the light and does not come to the light.  That is the way of the evil man.  That is also why we need wisdom and understanding - to remind us that fellowship with the evil man means fellowship with darkness.  It seems that God is trying to get us to see that there is a light/darkness - good/evil - godly/ungodly situation in life.  

The evil man leave the paths of uprightness to walk in their darkness.  Here it is again - the fact that there is an entire walk and path that is ungodly.  But we also learn that there is a corresponding walk that is upright and godly.  The evil man leaves God's ways and chooses those that are dark instead.  We learn again from John that the ungodly hate the light and does not come to the light.  That is the way of the evil man.  That is also why we need wisdom and understanding - to remind us that fellowship with the evil man means fellowship with darkness.  It seems that God is trying to get us to see that there is a light/darkness - good/evil - godly/ungodly situation in life. 

Worldly wisdom equates the best of thinking and acting to mankind.  That is why they are shocked with evil rears its head.  They want to think the best of man - when the truth is man IS capable of the worst attrocities.  Proverbs tells us that there are those men who "delight in doing evil and rejoice in perversity."  We almost shrink from these statements - yet that is what is said here.

If there has been a "fall" of mankind into sin that has corrupted them utterly - then it really isn't that much of a stretch that man rejoices in evil and perversity.  To fallen man - evil is good and good is evil.  Isn't that what we see today?  In our world evil is called good and good evil.  They consider the things of God strange and His commandments as burdensome.  They see freedom as bondage and their current state of bondage as freedom.  Delight in doing evil then becomes the norm - and it should not be all that strange to see them devoting entire programs on television and articles in writing to rejoice in how they pervert the straight paths of God.  

Look at the sexual revolution of the 60's as an example.  The morals of the past were thrown off (possibly the biggest lie of that period was to deny that such things had always been happening - just that they were done far more secretly).  But I think that the shock was not that morals were cast aside, but that now those actin immorally were rejoicing openly in their perversity.  The movement was not just a desire to set aside what is right - it was a rejoicing in what heretofore was considered evil.  What is even more amazing to me is that several generations of this behavior has led to soceity adopting such actions as normal - and now even certain segments of soceity say we should rejoice in evil.  NOW we get why we need to cry out to God for wisdom, discretion, and knowledge to escape such a fate.

The final statement about the way of evil is that their direction in life becomes like their heart.  Their paths (again the word for lifestyle) are crooked.  Crooked is the Hebrew word 'iqqesh'.  It means something that is morally, religiously, and socially perverted.  This perversity comes from the source of an evil, deceitful, perverse heart.  No longer are certain actions perverted - but the whole direction and path of their life runs counter to the truth of God.

Their lifestyle is finally described as being devious.  This is the last straw.  It describes a person who has followed their perverse and wicked ways to the point where they now despise and reject God's ways.  They find them abhorant.  What is worse is that they are utterly blind to their condition.

What we have described for us is the natural degradation of fallen men.  They may begin with the remnants of God's image within them - but as they continue in their perversity they soon scald their conscience and harden it to the point where they no longer feel any shame in their sin.  By the way, this is exactly what is taught to us in Romans chapter one.  We learn that man begins with denying God and being ungrateful, but ends with those who cheer on the wickedness of man - preferring their own perversity to anything God has to offer.  In light of such an ignoble end - we see why Solomon impresses on his son the importance of crying out to God for wisdom and understanding.  There is too much at stake here to live and let live.  The fall of man guarantees that what starts as a mere snowflake will become a massive ball of snow that destroys all in its path.  May such a vision of the destrutive power of our core perverseness motivate us to a passionate cry for God's wisdom and a desperate search for His ways and paths.

Wisdom shouts in the street, She lifts her voice in the square; At the head of the noisy streets she cries out; At the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings: Proverbs 1:20-21

If you go to most wise men - you will find that they say that you have to get away from everything to gain wisdom.  Some sit on mountain tops - where you have to come and sit in silence so that you can gain their wisdom and perspective.  Others require you to come to a school - and there you receive your wisdom.  What is truly interesting to me is that the Bible does not have this view of where you can receive wisdom.  What is delightful about the biblical view is that it makes wisdom available where it is needed most - in the throes of everyday life.

Where do we find wisdom in this passage?  According to Solomon, wisdom is shouting to us in the streets and in the square.  Wisdom calls to us at the head of the noisy streets and at the entrance gate of the city.  These are not places isolated from everyone - but rather are places where you can find the greatest number of people - and they refer to the places where there is abundant activity taking place. 

The first place we see wisdom calling to us is in the street.  The street could be any street - but no matter which street is being referred to - it is still out where we live our lives each and every day.  God's wisdom is not made for ivory towers of high learning and inquiry - but for everyone.  It is accessible to the average every man - who walks the streets.  The way wisdom calls to us is with a ringing cry or shout.  There is no mere whispering of wisdom - we will find a ringing shout when God desires to give us His wisdom.  If we ignore it - that is our own doing - for wisdom's call is not a quiet thing that can be missed easily.  It is a loud, attention-getting shout.

The next place is more populated.  It is the square.  This was the public square or plaza.  This would be a very high density place to be - and was where most of the people met in the city.  Wisdom calls out to us here - for the public square is a place where most public conversation takes place.  If we will listen to the Spirit of God as He is seeking to teach us wisdom - we will know how to speak in the public place - as well as how to discern what is said there.  This word in the Hebew not only referred to one square - but also to a network of streets that would lead to it.  When you move from streets to the open square in a city - you are coming to a place of greater importance and influence.  It is imperative that when we come to greater and greater places of influence, that we have wisdom guiding us every step of the way. 

The next place wisdom meets us is at the head of the noisy streets.  This is the place where a fork in the road was usually found.  Once you came to the head of a street, you had a decision to make as to which way you were going to go.  What a great place to have wisdom from God guide us.  It is here that we see once again wisdom calling out to us.  Even more fascinating is that this word means to summon or to invite.  At the place where we have a decision to make as to what way we are going to take - it is there that wisdom offers an invitation to us to listen and learn.  Since this word was also used in places like Exodus 34:6 to introduce a section of Scripture that dealt with moral and ethical issues - we see that wisdom's invitation is to know our way both morally and ethically at the crossroads of our life.  How often have we faced a crossroad wondering which way to take.  If we will turn to God, we will find that His wisdom is freely offered to us so that we can know the way that we should go.

The last place where wisdom is offered to us in at the gates of the city.  This was the political arena - or the place where the elders of the city would sit to discuss not just political ideas - but also economic ones as well.  The gate was the place where they sat to make business decisions.  What a wonderful place to have wisdom available to us.  As we face decisions about morals and direction for not just our individual lives - but for our city, state, and nation - we can know that wisdom is there uttering her sayings.  As we walk in the business world and face a situation where wisdom would keep us from making a bad decision, we can know that wisdom sits wanting to utter to us the very things we will need to avoid a foolish decision. 

God's wisdom is not locked away in come castle or on some mountain top where the practical issues of every day life seem far far away.  God is waiting in all the places where we walk - waiting to give us wisdom to walk in the manner pleasing to Him.  He is also waiting to impart wisdom to us that will bless us and guide us in His way.  You will not have to become a monk or a seeker who has to walk to the ends of the earth to get an hour or two with a guru who gives you some obtuse saying you will have to parse to grasp any meaning from it.  God is in all the places you walk.  God is there wanting to shout out, call out, or simply utter His sayings.  These will guide us into His way - which is the way of blessing.  What a joy to know that our God is omnipresent and waiting with His glorious wisdom to lead us in every situation.  Turn to Him then in the streets, in the square, at every crossroad, and in all the affairs of life, business, and even politics.  What you will find is wisdom that will direct you in the way of His blessing and favor.  There is no better place to be!

Buy truth, and do not sell it, Get wisdom and instruction and understanding. Proverbs 23:23

Truth?  What is truth?  That is a question that Pilate posed to Jesus at His trial.  Today, truth is in the mind of the one currently thinking.  We live in a word deeply affected by post-modern philosophy.  This philosophy says that truth is whatever you want it to be.  Each man's truth is his own - and not to be frowned upon by anyone else's views.  This is the corollary to the current doctrine of truth, the doctrine of tolerance.  The effect of these two working together negates for the most part what the Bible says is truth.  Yet the Bible says that it is truth.  The Bible is God's revelation of Himself - and as the Author Himself is True - so anything He does to reveal Himself is truth by the very nature that He has said it.  This places the the Christian worldview at odds with the current views of post-modern truth and tolerance.  In the end though, everyone functions on the basis of truth.  This is especially the truth when we die and face God in judgment.  We might be able to deceive ourselves that whatever we want to believe is truth - but in the end, all men will stand before God and give an account of themselves to Him.  In that day there will only be one so-called version of the truth - God's.

Proverbs tells us to buy truth and do not sell it.  This world, since it is fallen, is not big on truth.  Romans 1 says that mankind rejects God and chooses instead to make gods of their own - deceiving themselves in the process.  The god of this world, Satan, is a liar and the father of lies.  Therefore the world system in which we presently live is far more based on lies than on truth.  Therefore whenever we encounter truth, we need to buy it and not sell it.  Those terms are terms that are used in stock and investments.  The only reason you would buy and not sell something is because it is constantly increasing in value.  The longer you hold it, the wealthier you become.  And according to Scripture here - you want to buy truth whenever you can and hold it forever because it will only make you richer every day you have it! 

The Word of God is truth!  Let's consider this for a moment.  The wise man who buys truth and does not sell it - has found a field that is filled with gold, diamonds, and jewels of every shape, size, and description - as he comes to the Word of God.  Knowing this it is amazing that we don't realize that time spent in the Word will make us eternally wealthy whenever we do it.  Buy truth - redeem any time you can in the Word of God - it's worth millions! 

There is more here - because God wants us to do more than just read His Word - although that is a good start.  He wants us to gain wisdom and instruction and understanding as we do.  Getting wisdom means getting an idea of how God views things.  Getting instruction means being open and teachable so God can teach us at any time through anything that He does.  It also means coming to God's Word to learn and to be instructed by Him.  Getting understanding means that we take the wisdom and instruction that we obtain and we learn how to apply it to how we live each and every day.  We learn how to walk with the Word that we read and understand and discern the difference between good and evil -between what is God and what is NOT God in this world and in our lives. 

It is vital that we take the time that we have here on earth and apply it to knowing God - and as we know Him - walking with Him in wisdom throughout our days.  The benefit to knowing truth - buying it and getting wisdom, instruction, and understanding is that we learn to live for the things that truly matter.  We also learn to steer clear of things that will harm us in the end.  That way at the close of our lives we will not spend our time regretting the things we've done and regretting the way that we've lived our lives.

The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage, But everyone who is hasty comes surely to poverty. Proverbs 21:5

Planning, to some this word is a blessing - to others (and honestly, I have to say I'm among this number) it is a difficult area of their lives.  Yet the Lord has some very pointed things to say here to us about the blessing that comes from diligent planning rather than hastily put together things that happen at the last minute.

We read first here that the plans of the diligent surely lead to advantage.  The word "plans" will help us to see what is meant here.  The word means a thought, purpose, or intention.  The idea is that we are thinking through things - considering their purpose and intention - and therefore laying plans that will not only plan an event - but also plan it with a sense of purpose in what it is to accomplish.  Here is something which every believer should seriously consider. 

God has given us the few years we have on this earth as a gift - but also as a responsibility and a trust.  How we use these years are important.  Do we have a purpose behind the things we are doing?  Are they working for us an eternal destiny and an eternal reward - or are we just committing "chonicide" (just killing time).  Too many times our lives are just being lived with no real purpose or intention behind what we are doing.  That leads to a wasted life. 

Solomon is telling us that the plans laid with a sense of purpose and intention to live for God's glory and purposes - are beneficial to us.  But they are not just haphazard plans - these are plans that are set in place with "diligence."  This word means something sharp and industrious.  It refers to those people who are living industrious lives that are sharp in their focus and intent.  The root word for this referred to a sharp threshing sledge.  This was used to cut the harvest - and was sharpened to make the job easier and more effective.  One might complain of the time spend with a wetstone or file sharpening the metal.  This is hard work after all - and it takes time to sharpen something well.  But if you are having to cut entire fields of grain - you know that the few moments spent sharpening your tool can save hours of time and much additional effort.  So plans laid by someone who thinks through purpose and intent can make living life much easier and more focused. 

These kind of plans lead surely to advantage.  Here is one of the times when I prefer the King James translation to the NASB.  The word here means an abundance.  It refers to an abundance of profit, materials, harvest, or whatever the word refers to and modifies.  It can also mean advantage or a more favorable position - a superior one to someone who has not planned and thought through their actions.  When you plan - you will have abundance and advantage over those who have not thought these things through well.  Planning does not negate labor and faithful effort at a task.  But it does halp ensure that the labor and effort invested is leading to a desired end. 

This way of living is compared to someone who is hasty.  The hasty man is the one who prefers reacting to life - than planning it.  The problem is that reacting to our circumstances can have us being led, not by our purpose and intent, but rather by whatever happens.  Circumstances begin being our leader - rather than us seeking to control many of our circumstances by moving in a planned direction and way.  When you live this way, the result is poverty.  Just as the plans of the diligent man will surely lead to an abundance and advantage - the lack of planning and diligent effort doing something well - will eventually lead us to poverty. 

God wants us to live on purpose.  He does not want us to spend our lives just reacting to whatever happens.  We can do much to guide our lives according to His principles if we will just spend time learning them and directing our lives according to them.  We will find that God's Word gives us a path - gives us counsel on how to live and how to plan to do things that God desires.  This will ensure that we live a life God blesses - not just one that He tries to guide through whatever emergency happens next.  To do this - with diligence and purpose . . . is wisdom indeed.

Righteousness guards the one whose way is blameless, But wickedness subverts the sinner. Proverbs 13:6

If you had a choice, which would you choose in life . . . to be guarded or subverted.  What we learn from today's proverb is that we can actually choose which one we experience from day to day.  Choose righteousness and you will be guarded - but choose wickedness and you will find your way subverted.  Let's take a look at these two choices and their outcomes.

It would behoove us to know what righteousness is from time to time in our journey through Proverbs.  Righteousness is the Hebrew word "sedaqah" which means to do what is right; to have blameless conduct; and to walk in integrity.  The one who embraces righteousness embraces justice, right actions and attitudes, and a lifestyle that will mirror the heart and character of God.  We are told here that righteousness will guard us.  The word guard means to watch over closely, to hide from evil, and to preserve.  When we choose righteousness - the blameless and godly way - the way that mirrors the heart of God, there is a protection and a watch that will be set over us just for doing this.  The rest of the Proverb says that righteousness will watch over "the one whose way is blameless."  The picture here is of a way or a path.  The literal phrase is "blamelessness of way" and it refers to a path that is blameless before God.  Choosing biblical and moral integrity will watch for us to keep us on the blameless way.  When we walk with God in this way - desiring and choosing righteousness - our very way will be guarded - and it will be a way that God approves and one in which He delights.  This is a pretty awful example - but it would be like having a cruise control that warns us when we are about to go out of a way that pleases and honors God. 

In the New Testament God tells us that He works marvelously in our hearts through the person of the Holy Spirit.  He instructs and leads us in the way we should go.  He teaches us - but He also rebukes and corrects us when we are about to go astray.  Here is the personification of this proverb.  God the Holy Spirit will guard us and make sure that we stay on a blameless path before God as we walk through our day.  How does He do this?  He does it as we focus on righteousness and holiness - when we focus on a lifestyle that will please and honor God.  This is the way to walk and have your footsteps guarded each step of the way.  You will receive warnings when you are about to misstep.  But do not think that this is a life merely of correction and constantly hearing a buzzer when you are about to mess up.  This is a life where God the Holy Spirit is changing and conforming us to God's image in Christ.  As He does this our heart is changed from stone to flesh.  Our desires are also changed and we long to please and to honor Him.  We learn to walk - not out of some slavish fear of God's punishment.  We learn to please God in all we do - because His transformation of our hearts results in us WANTING to do what He desires.  It is a life of joy as we follow Him with all our hearts.

The sinner has another path - one that is far less secure.  The sinner here is the "chattah" the one missing the mark.  The sinner is at fault with God and is failing Him in his choices and desires.  It is "wickedness" that is doing this to him.  This word describes wrong doing - but it refers to it in the context of rebellion against Yahweh.  The sinner misses the mark - because he doesn't even have the right target up when he is shooting.  The mark is God's way and God's Law - yet the sinner is in rebellion against God - and thus doesn't even want to obey His commands.  This rebellion is what subverts the sinner.  Subverts is the Hebrew word "salap" which means to overthrow something, to twist it and to pervert it.  It speaks of distorting and misleading someone from what is normal to what is foolish.  It refers to bribes that twist government officials to disregard the law.  As the foolish man rebels against God Himself - he is guaranteeing that everything will be twisted the wrong way in his life.  He misses the mark - and is sure to do nothing but miss it until his heart is changed by the work of God's salvation. 

Here we have two paths - the way of the one in rebellion against God - the way of the lost man.  His way is twisted even before he starts his day - because his days always begin with a heart in rebellion against God.  We also have the man who daily chooses righteousness - who chooses God's way.  As he does this daily - that very choice - that very mindset and path will protect him and keep him from dozens of wrong choices before his feet ever hit the floor in the morning.  God will guard him and keep him and protect him from great sin.  There is a way paved before him because he chooses the integrity of holiness and true godliness.  We will never know this side of heaven how often our way has been blessed and how many difficulties and sins have been avoided simply because of our salvation.  We will be protected simply because we have been saved - our hearts changed - and our paths set toward the blameless way.  Praise God for His glorious gift - and his wonderful protection that results from it!

Blessings are on the head of the righteous, But the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. Proverbs 10:6

Proverbs often compares the righteous and the wicked.  Here is no exception.  This passage speaks of what covers the righteous man and what covers the wicked as well.  Whereas we read that blessings are on the righteous man's head - the wicked have something far different covering them. 

The head of the righteous receives blessings.  Why the head?  The Hebrew culture viewed the head as the most important part of a person.  Cut off the head and the body is dead.  The head is also considered the leader.  It represents what truly is leading us in our lives.  So, when we read here that the "head of the righteous" has blessings poured out upon it, we see that when what leads us - what drives us in life is geared toward righteousness (just think simply - doing what is right in God's sight - doing what pleases Him).  There is wonderful blessing when we choose God's way.  We need to know this.  When our "chooser" (yes I know that this is not a word - but it works here) functions according to God's way and God's direction - blessings ensue!  Make your choices according to his Word and according to His ways.  You will never regret it - especially in light of the fact that these choices go beyond the grave - while others only last in this life (unless you consider punishment and hell for those who reject Christ altogether).  But there is actually even more to this.  There is blessings not just in eternity - there are blessings here and now.  The way of God may be difficult at times - but it is also filled with joy and peace.  The Scriptures warn us that it is the way of the transgressor that is hard.  Remember this when you get ready to set a direction with your head - with your "chooser." 

The second part of this proverb is a little more difficult to understand because it involves a hebraism - a saying that makes perfect sense to a Jewish person - but does not exactly transfer with words alone.  It is like us saying, "a stitch in time saves nine."  That won't make sense to most people unless they know something about sewing.  This hebraism says, "the mouth of the wicked conceals violence."  The meaning here has the idea of covering something or someone.  The words of the wicked - what comes out of his mouth - is both covered in violence - and due to what he says makes it inevitable that he himself will be covered in violence as well.  The simplest way to grasp what this means is when someone speaks violently to another with their words.  Not only are they speaking violence - but whan the other person responds, they are pretty much going to guarantee violence as a return for their violent words.

The wicked, due to their ungodly choices and ways, are using violent words - and in the process are guaranteeing a culture of violence that will surround them.  Take a look at our society for a moment or two.  I'll use two examples to explain this.  First is the abortion industry.  They use extreme violence to end the life of an innocent child.  They choose to execute the baby - who has done nothing wrong.  Those in the industry say that they are preventing child abuse by those who don't want an unexpected child (Interesting to me that they don't get that sex produces pregnancy - which by the way - makes a child - guess what they were expecting was sex without consequences and without the biological process of reproduction being a result - hmmm).  The fact though is that since we've begun throwing away children in this way - child abuse has risen exponentially.  Kind of looks like the violence with which they cover themselves with their words and actions - is now covering them too - just like God said.  The second example is the way that violence is glorified by our culture.  We see it everywhere.  The most obvious example is in television, movies, and the video game culture.  We are encouraged to deal with our problems with violence.  We've actually gotten to the point where we see violence and violent acts as a form of entertainment.  There seems to be no limit to how graphic and how grotesque we will get when it comes to these things.  The result of our violence?  We have watched an explosion of violence consume our culture and our relationships in society - just like God said.

Wisdom tells us very plainly here that what abounds in our words and with our choices is what is coming back upon us.  It is almost like God is saying here in the Old Testament what He says in the New Testament.  What a man sows, that he will also reap.  Sow righteousness - sow doing what is right in God's eyes - you receive blessings here - and even greater blessings in eternity.  Sow violence now - you will reap an ever increasing harvest of violence as well.  May God give us true wisdom that does not embrace the fullness of our culture - but the harvest of righteousness and blessing that comes from choosing His way at every turn.