Proverbs 3:23 Commentary and Bible Study

There are two ideas here. The first part of the verse speaks of major errors of ignorance. The way is the pathway, the road, the route of this great journey, and the first half of the verse means that you will safely and securely keep to the intended route. Now it is possible along the ancient roads to be misdirected, or to take a wrong turning. It could be that you would mistake the route, and with these hot dusty walks and no compasses, you could find yourself after days and weeks in a completely different city from that which you intended to go to, and the journey could be a complete calamity. You may end up at a city which is hostile to you and your particular tribe or group, instead of getting to where there would be your relatives and people who were friendly and well-disposed to you. And what is this but a picture of the major division of routes in life. There is a route and a road, which leads away from God, and there is a route and a road which leads to God, and the very earliest mistake on the journey of life is to get on to the road that leads away from God, and to pain and to destruction, and the death of the soul. And then there is the second part of the verse – ‘And thy foot shall not stumble’. It is possible even to be getting on to the right route, and yet your foot goes into a pot-hole, when you were looking at the landscape or something else that attracted your attention. It seems such a small accident, but you may he so harmed, suffer such a strain or breakage that you cannot walk, and so your journey is a disaster. If your party is small and you happen to be an adult and the group cannot take you, it would be very difficult for you to reach your destination in time before your food runs out. This is the hazard of an ancient journey, and a tremendous calamity may come to pass, because of a seemingly small fall.