Proverbs 2:12-15

Deliverance From Sinful Men (Proverbs 2:12).

The giving of wisdom, knowledge and understanding will deliver the young man from the way of evil. This is necessary for the second voice that speaks to the young man is that of ungodly men. In consequence the great need of the godly man is to be delivered from those who would lead him in wrong paths. This is important because the world is full of people who seek to lead astray those who are seeking to truly follow God. At first the descriptions might appear to be describing people who are obviously particularly evil, but that is to misinterpret them. The greatest danger comes from those who might outwardly appear to be respectable, but who nevertheless are pleased when they can corrupt a godly person. They can be very persuasive, and even appear good and rational, but their wisdom is not that of God but of the world. And the way of deliverance is to hold tightly to God's revealed wisdom which will be a shield to his mind and heart, to know God, and to understand the fear of God. ‘How shall a young man make his way clean? By taking heed to it according to Your word' (Psalms 119:9).

Proverbs 2:12

‘To deliver you from the way of evil,

From the men who speak perverse things,

Who forsake the paths of uprightness,

To walk in the ways of darkness,

Who rejoice to do evil,

And delight in the perverseness of evil,

Who are crooked in their ways,

And wayward in their paths.'

Note the chiastic pattern of ideas:

· ‘To deliver you from the way of evil -- who are crooked in their ways --paths'.

· ‘From men who speak perverse things -- and delight in the perverseness of evil'.

· ‘Who forsake the paths of uprightness -- who rejoice to do evil'.

· And centrally they ‘walk in the ways of darkness'.

Here then it is made clear that the ways of sinfulness are the ways of darkness. Men who walk in sinfulness, walk in darkness and do not know the way in which they are going. They have left the straight path, and follow crooked ways. Thus the purpose of the wisdom that comes from God is to deliver men from coming short of goodness. It is to ‘deliver them from evil' (Matthew 6:13), to deliver them from darkness. Men and women are constantly prone to allow their standards to slip, or even to allow them to disappear altogether, and they are constantly hampered by men who ‘speak perverse things', whether religious or secular. The New Testament is full of examples of this. But the point is that constant attention to God's wisdom, as revealed in His words, will prevent this happening.

‘To deliver you from the way of evil.' Evil is the opposite of good. It is that which is harmful rather than being helpful. In a sense it is the lack of good. Thus the evil man is not necessarily someone who seeks to cause great harm. He is rather someone who acts selfishly and thoughtlessly and without regard for good, and the good of others. And he seeks to justify himself in his own eyes by bringing others down with him. Thus he ‘hates' the godly man and has no greater delight than to trip him up. He wants to make others as selfish as himself. By this means he comforts himself. And his way can seem very attractive. Note that the deliverance is from ‘the way of evil'. This fits in with the overall emphasis in the chapter on the two ways, the way of good and the way of evil.

‘From the men who speak perverse things.' The young man is also to be delivered from the men who have chosen the way of evil. That is, in context, from those who speak contrary to God's wisdom. They distort the truth and seek to make wrongdoing and selfishness palatable. They try to tone down God's requirements. They misrepresent God's ways. In many cases they even seek to cast doubt on God's truth, sometimes subtly, sometimes more openly. They ‘delight in the perverseness of evil'. As James points out, ‘the tongue can no man tame, it is a restless evil full of deadly poison' (James 3:8), and not more so than when what it says seems sweetly reasonable, but takes men and women away from God's truth.

‘Who forsake the paths of uprightness.' Often such men have once had high standards. But they have allowed those standards to slip. They have forsaken the paths of uprightness. They can now do what once they would never have thought of doing. They have forsaken the way of the wisdom of God, and replaced it with the wisdom of the world. Their consciences have become dulled, and by their lives they encourage others to do the same.

‘To walk in the ways of darkness.' Such people walk in the ways of darkness. They have turned away from the light of God's word (Psalms 119:105). They stumble on trusting in worldly wisdom. They do not allow God to illuminate their darkness (2 Samuel 22:29). They ‘grope in the dark without light' (Job 12:25). They have toned down God's word, turning away from its light. They walk contrary to God's wisdom. They reject the light. As Ecclesiastes 2:13 puts it, ‘Then I saw that wisdom excels folly, as far as light excels darkness. The wise man's eyes are in his head, and the fool walks in darkness.' It is those who walk in God's wisdom who are truly wise and can therefore see. But those who turn their back on that wisdom walk in the ways of darkness. Their minds are full of the world's wisdom which is not illuminated by God (compare 1 Corinthians 2:20-25). That is why, when Jesus came as the light of the world, He promised that those who followed Him would not walk in darkness. They would have the light of life (John 8:12).

‘Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the perverseness of evil.' Such people delight in what they see as their own wisdom. They find it amusing, and rather daring, that they fall short of God's requirements as revealed in His wisdom and His word. They consider His standards too high. And rather than being ashamed of their failure and weakness, they enjoy what they see as their freedom from God's shackles. They delight in it. They laugh at what they see as allowable wrongdoing, dismissing it as rather amusing. They delight in the perverseness of evil.

‘Who are crooked in their ways, and wayward in their paths.' Instead of keeping to the straight path of God's wisdom, they walk a crooked way, which leads them into byways which come short of God's requirements (compare Isaiah 59:8). They deviate from truth, both morally and intellectually. They water down God's word, and deviate from its standards. They no longer listen to God when He says, ‘this is the way, walk in it'. They allow their consciences to become atrophied.