6 For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. 7 He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, 8 for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.
The wicked don’t see how a broken tail light or a parking ticket will bring them down. The unfaithful will not see when the Lord appears suddenly. For the wicked and unfaithful His return will be like a thief in the night, they will be destroyed suddenly. They will be ashamed at His coming. There will be no shield and no protection for them.
9 Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. 10 For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. 11 Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.
When you first learn karate they don’t teach you to punch, they teach you how to stand. They train you how to move so that you always have a solid footing, a righteous stand. At any moment your standing is prepared if you are attacked. Little kids think karate is about learning how to punch and break boards. In reality it is about how to protect yourself and guard yourself from attacks.
12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, 13 who have left the straight paths to walk in dark ways, 14 who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, 15 whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways.
It is also about identifying wicked men. You will be alerted to them because their words are perverse. This will often be in the form of a “joke”. They don’t walk in the straight paths you were taught in elementary school. They seem to have “wisdom and insight” because they have dark ways. Maybe they know some secrets? But they delight in doing wrong, that should be a major warning to you. Consider Brionna Taylor and her death. From all accounts she was innocent of the drug trade and should not have been shot dead in her apartment by the cops. So why were the police there? They had seen a convicted drug dealer coming to her apartment to pick up packages, they had seen her car drive to the drug dealer's house, and this drug dealer was recorded on the phone saying she was holding $8,000 for him. Apparently the police are well aware that drug dealers walk in dark ways, their paths are crooked and devious. Her connection to this man was what caused her to be killed. That was the one thing she could control. She couldn’t control what he did, she couldn’t control what the cops surveilling him did, but she could control her own behavior. Her relationship to this drug dealer got her killed. As terrible and horrible a mistake it was for the police the fact is that gangs that sell drugs in our communities kill and destroy many people and society demands that the police put a stop to it.
16 Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman, from the wayward woman with her seductive words, 17 who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God. A very different form of death. Your word is your bond. Once you are seen to be unfaithful your name will be worthless. 18 Surely her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead.
Single mothers are the single largest group of poor in this country. Being raised in this situation is a curse.
19 None who go to her return or attain the paths of life.
The Lord is talking about the church. There are churches that have “married the world”, they have been unfaithful to the Lord. When He returns they will have weeping and gnashing of teeth. There are others who preach a “social justice” gospel that is a mix of hatred and self righteousness. They condemn others for something that happened 150 years ago while justifying themselves for something they are doing today. For example, the NBA is silent about the abuses of China where modern day slavery is taking place because they are profiting from this market. Yet they are condemning the police for Brionna Taylor’s death. The Police are trying to stop drug gangs from killing and destroying lives in the inner city. For every Brionna Taylor there are 100 kids in the inner city whose lives are destroyed by these gangs. So the NBA wants to take a stand for righteousness but is silent about the abuse in China and in the inner city drug gangs. That is why they can’t attain to the paths of life.
20 Thus you will walk in the ways of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous. 21 For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it; 22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be torn from it.
The Lord said “blessed are the meek they shall inherit the earth”. Wisdom teaches us to walk the paths of the meek.
