Proverbs 4:26 Ponder the path of thy feet
Every path and every road leads somewhere. We know that. It is an obvious fact, but sometimes we are not thinking about the road we are on and where it may lead. I remember years ago I was supposed to be preaching in the panhandle of Florida. I was leaving from my home in Tennessee on Wednesday morning to preach there that night. As I was driving, I was daydreaming and missed my exit by about thirty miles. Well, I kind of panicked. I looked at the paper map I had back in those days and found a back road in Alabama that I could take. I was so flustered that I turned the wrong direction on that road. I made it to church on time, but barely because I had lost my focus, once because of inattention and once because of panic.
Proverbs 4:26 says, “Ponder the path of thy feet.” In other words, focus. A good finish requires good focus. If I am going to end up at the right destination, I need to be following the right kind of people. That is what Proverbs 4 is about. Proverbs 4:1 says, “Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father.” That is how you get understanding. Proverbs 4:10 says, “Hear, O my son, and receive my saying; and the years of thy life shall be many.” There is a benefit to this. Proverbs 4:20 says, “My son, attend to my words; incline thine ears unto my sayings.”
So, a good finish requires good focus. How do I do that? First, I need to listen to the wisdom of experience. This father says in verse 3, “I was my father’s son.” He says, “Listen to me, son, just as I listened to my father when I was his son.” Every mistake I can make today has probably already been made. I would much rather learn from other people’s mistakes than my own.
I could make the argument that I learn better when I learn from my own mistakes. That may be true, but if I need to learn that ovens are hot, I would far rather see you burn your hand than burn my hand. I know, that is very selfish. What I am saying is that I don’t want to learn about hot stoves from touching it and burning my fingers. I would rather learn that from the history of people I know. So, listen to the wisdom of experience. A good finish requires a good focus. Listen to the wisdom of experience.
Second, don’t be distracted. That is what much of this chapter of Proverbs is about. Verse 14 says, “Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.” He is saying, “Hear my words. Don’t hear their words. Don’t go their way.” “Avoid it, pass not by it,” he says. Verses 23-24 say, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.”
I could be wrong, but I don’t think he is talking about one’s own lips. Have you ever tried to put your own lips far from you? He is talking about the words of other people. He says, “Listen to me; focus; pay attention; don’t get off track. Don’t listen to people with a crooked mouth and perverse lips. Attend unto my words.” “My words” are contrasted to “crooked words” from people who would lead you astray and get you off the path. Don’t be distracted.
Verse 25 says, “Let thine eyes look right on, and thine eyelids look straight before thee.” Stay on the right path. Focus. “Ponder the path of thy feet,” says verse 26. Then verse 27 says, “Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.” He is talking about distraction. We are in a world of distraction. I have lots of big books for when I am trying to study the Bible for a sermon. I have several books the size of a suitcase that have been passed down to me, and now I have those same books on my smart phone. That is good and concise, much easier to access. The problem is there have been many times I have been looking for a word of insight about the Bible and the next thing I know I am doomscrolling because the same phone that has my Bible and study tools has the world that is distracting.
Sometimes drama can distract us from the right path, things in our home or church. We may get involved in contention that maybe doesn’t belong to us or we kind of enjoy the drama of it instead of being focused on the right path. Amusement can do that to us. I think your brain needs a rest sometimes, and that is fine. To muse means “to think” and to amuse means “to not think.” No one’s life should be characterized by mindlessness and not thinking.
So, ponder the path of your feet. Think about where you are going. A good finish requires a good focus. Listen to the wisdom of experience and do not be distracted. Think about where you should be going this summer and follow the right people who follow the Word of God in the right direction. This requires purposeful deliberate attention. If we will do that, we will be on the right path and end up in the right place.