The way of wisdom is next contrasted with the way of the wicked. “Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not into the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.”
Then we are told that “The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” Such will be the result of going on in faith, with the Lord. On the other hand “The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.”
“My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.”
Then in the last verses, of our chapter we are shown how the various members of our being should act in this path of faith—the ear, the eyes, the heart, the mouth, the lips, and the feet. There ought not to be that which the Lord Jesus found when He said: “This people draweth nigh unto Me with their lips; but their heart is far from Me.” Matt. 15:8.
“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.... Let thine eyes look right on,... Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.”
Chapter 5 brings before us moral corruption, and marks it out as being worse than the violence of the preceding chapter. The blessing of the Lord cannot rest on those going on in sin. He must have purity of ways in the lives of His people. It has been said that there is nothing in nature so lovely as affection, but how ruinous and defiling where the fear of the Lord does not guide it.
The enemy of our souls would use those who forsake the Lord, to entice others into the same paths of defilement. Fair words of flattery may in the beginning sound pleasant to the ear, but the end is bitterness and they leave deep wounds. The end of such a pathway is death. The counsel is to avoid such a path and go far from it. In the language of the New Testament we have: “O man of God, flee these things; follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called.” 1 Tim. 6:11, 12.
We must remember that there is the government of God as well as His grace, going on in the world at this present time. Selfishness reaps its sad consequences; none can yield to it without paying its cost. “For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He pondereth all his goings.” Verse 21. Heathenism was noted for its deities being jealous of human happiness, and we need not be surprised at this for the New Testament tells us that Gentile worship was sacrificing to demons and not to God (1 Cor. 10:20). Demons are the emissaries of Satan and it was their purpose to drag the human race down into sin and misery. Before the Lord Jesus went to the cross He spoke of Satan as the prince of this world (John 12:31; 14:30), but after His rejection Satan is called “the god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4). The child of God is seen as having been delivered from the power of darkness (Col. 1:13), but the unbeliever is still led captive by him (Satan) at his will.
ML 09/03/1961