Proverbs 1:20-23, Standing at the Crossroads

January 11, Proverbs 1:20-23

Luke 7:35, 1 Cor. 1:30, Col. 2:3 “…but know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment” (Eccl. 11:9).

Standing at the Crossroads

Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly speak with opposing voices. There are those who seek to point youth to the Lord, and those who would seduce them for the Devil. In a very real sense we all stand here. It is not enough to listen to those nobler voices. We must say No to the baser, often the loudest voices. To be weak is usually to be wicked.

1. The Pulpit: Wisdom crieth without. “The world is my parish,” said John Wesley. “The World is my pulpit,” says Wisdom. Her Voice is ever public. There is nothing secretive in her appeals. She is heard crying aloud in the streets, in chief place of commerce, in the entering of the gates, in the city-centre. “Earth is vocal with it. It echoes in every man’s soul.” Wisdom goes public, while folly is secretive and slippery, never out in the open (1:10). Make no mistake, Dame Folly is busy in her many guises to take the unsuspecting captive. Truth has nothing to hide and nothing to fear (Ps. 19:3).
2. The Preacher: The Voice of Wisdom cries aloud (8:1, 9:3). Its appeal is most urgent. How long! Turn Ye! None can deny the Bible is urgent, and that Christ’s message is urgent, a heart-affair, not merely a head riddle (4:21b). Christ is the personification of Wisdom earnestly, urgently pleading with sinners, but also passing sentence (my reproof). He is the Centre of all Revelation. He is the Eternal Word by whom God speaks to men. Wisdom cries through nature, the Bible, through history and conscience, but supremely and finally through Jesus Christ (Heb. 1:1-3). Listen to this Preacher of heavenly Wisdom! Pray that your souls may hear and live. “You cannot love what you should loathe, without loathing what you should love” (Maclaren).
3. The Proclamation: There are three sorts of persons, and three sobering questions: First, the weak, the simple (v.4). When will they awake to their danger? Like weather vanes, they are light of head and turned by every wind. They may be guileless, easily led astray, but if they go that route, they will not be guiltless. Bunyan shows him ending up as the companion of Sloth and Presumption. Second, are the disdainful, the superior. They are hardened in their self-sufficiency. They sneer at truth and holiness as fanaticism and cant. Once Simple beings to do wrong, it won’t be long till he too sneers at the right. They are leaders in evil deeds. One can be a fool without trying, but the scorner works hard at his scorning. Third, are the malignant, the gross. This is the common word, for fools. What pitiful excuses they make for themselves! What evil natures they display! Only a miracle of grace can turn simple, scorner and the fool around spiritually. What an audience! What a Book! Should I put it down because it sometimes offends me or read it because I need it? Let every reader answer this soul-searching question before God.

Thought: “Search the Scriptures; and let them search you.”

Prayer: Lord, guide me past the crossroads unto the narrow way.