Proverbs 4:19 Commentary and Bible Study

That district gang has gone out at night – ‘they know not at what they stumble.’ Here is the imagery of ignorance. They may be very proud, they may be very clever at what they do, they may execute people with great swiftness, and know which traders to pick and how to overpower them, how to transport them into the desert and bury them where no-one will find them; they may know how to get rid of their ill-gotten gains and where the fences are. They may be very clever at this, but they operate under cover of darkness, and the imagery says that the worldling for all his cleverness, for all his swift pursuit of gain, for all his breaking of the laws of God, is an ignorant man. He knows nothing of why he is here. He knows nothing of the ways of God, and he operates in darkness. The picture is that the district gang may are out at night and subject to the dangers of the night – they may fall into a rut in the ditch, and their horses or camels crash to the ground and down they go breaking their limbs, and in those days that could be fatal. They will not even know what brought them down.The clever worldling does not know that Satan is at work, he does not know the weakness of his own fallen heart, he does not know the influences that are going to plunge him into misery in life, and he certainly does not know God, who at the end of life's journey will be the greatest pitfall of all when he says, ‘Come to judgment’, and the life is withdrawn from the body. And here are the contrasting illustrations. As Solomon pleads, in picture after picture, argument after argument. Come, he says, and listen to the kindly instruction of Almighty God. Come, men and women, young people, come to the salvation which is like a tender bride, where you will be protected and loved and cared for as you pledge yourself to the salvation of God. Come and take the perfect road, which is like a dawning light shining, full of promise. It is going on throughout life, and then throughout eternity. This is the superior way of the salvation of God, and here are the beautiful arguments that are presented for the life and the love of God.