I walk in the path of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment
Wisdom has just said what she is worth: better than gold, better than choice silver. Now she says what she does. She takes a road, and she keeps to it. Two questions follow: whose road is it, and where does it end?
Some translations read "I lead in the way of righteousness." One writer says the verb matters. Wisdom walks the road herself, and it costs something.
Wisdom from Him secures riches and honour — for the Christian, not the material kind, but something far better: lasting wealth and righteousness. Its fruit is better than pure gold or choice silver. Wisdom walks in the way of righteousness. Not "leading" but "walking" is the point here. To reason, to common sense, it may look like sheer foolishness, because it often brings loss, sacrifice and suffering. But "whoever does the will of God abides forever." Christ to us is the way; and Him we follow whatever the case.
The second half of the verse names "the paths of justice" — "the paths of judgment" in some translations. That is not where wisdom often goes. It is the only place she goes.
Nor does wisdom ever get out of these paths. She is found only in "the paths of judgment." In every situation where a person has to walk, a road built in righteousness is the only one wisdom can walk in. She is always found in the midst of them (that is, she cannot be outside the paths so formed and marked out). These are God's, these are wisdom's.
So how does anyone find the right thing to do when a situation is tangled? Not by clever calculation. One writer points to two plain things: conscience and the word.
Wisdom walks in the path of righteousness. Through conscience and the word, it discerns how men are to walk and to please God. It discerns what is right in all the complicated scene of this world, and gives a sure path in it according to God. Seeking only to please Him, it gives motives above the circumstances and so a path through them. We do what is right in them. We walk in firmness and on a plain path where the circumstances would offer none. This is a great comfort... There is light, divine light, on the path, where all is dark around, for divine wisdom knows its path here by righteousness.
Commentators read the wisdom who speaks in this chapter as pointing to Christ. On that reading, the verse is not an ideal. It is a record of a life that never left the road.
Thus wisdom, personified in Christ, walks in the way of righteousness (v. 20), and His whole life on earth showed it. He could say, "Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment" (John 7:24), because He Himself did this perfectly, always keeping to the paths of justice. In doing so, He caused those who love Him to inherit wealth, spiritual wealth, to fill their treasuries (v. 21).
Other voices in Proverbs call out to the same listener: the "strange woman" and the "foolish woman." Only one of the three can promise anything that lasts.
We have seen that the "strange woman" led to poverty, and that both she and the "foolish woman" led to death and destruction, but Wisdom leads into the path of righteousness and to a life filled with substance and treasure. The first two women cannot boast of substance, for they will lose everything they seem to own in the end. Death is stamped on everything here.
The same wisdom that laid out the universe now offers to lay out a life:
The One who ordered creation rightly for the pleasure of the Godhead presents that same wisdom to us. He gives it so that we might walk rightly in that creation, for the pleasure of the Godhead.
- One road. Righteousness is the only ground wisdom walks on. She is never found outside it.
- One walker. Wisdom does not just point down the road. She walks it, and commentators see that walk lived out in Christ.
- One light. Conscience and the word light the road, so a person stands firm where nothing else offers a way through.
- One cost. To ordinary reasoning the road looks foolish. It often means loss, sacrifice and suffering. Christ is the way, and we follow Him.
- One end. The other voices lose everything they seem to hold. This road fills the treasuries of those who love wisdom.
that I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasuries.
Wisdom has just described her walk in righteousness. Now she names the result: those who love her become heirs. Two questions follow — who is speaking, and what wealth does she hand over?
In this chapter wisdom speaks as a woman. One commentator explains why, and then turns to the New Testament:
The speaker here is a woman, and that need not trouble us. Whenever Scripture uses a woman as a picture, it is to set out divine principles in their inward character. No honest mind taught by God can doubt that this chapter sets Christ before us. Some say we cannot apply abstract principles to Divine Persons, but Luke 11:49 clearly disproves this. "Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, I will send them prophets and apostles." Here we have a divine Person speaking... God has made divine wisdom available to us in Christ, as we read, "And because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God." 1 Cor. 1:30.
Verse 20 speaks of walking in righteousness. One writer sees that walk in the earthly life of Christ, and the inheritance as its result:
So wisdom, personified in Christ, walks in the way of righteousness (v. 20), and His whole life on earth showed it. He could say, "Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment" (John 7:24). He could say it because He did this perfectly Himself, always keeping to the paths of justice. In doing so, He caused those who love Him to inherit wealth, spiritual wealth, to fill their treasuries (v. 21).
Talk of an inheritance and full treasuries sounds like money. One writer rules that out, and notes that wisdom walks the path instead of pointing to it:
Wisdom from Him secures riches and honour. For the Christian they are not material. They are far better: lasting wealth, and righteousness... Wisdom walks in the way of righteousness. Not "leading" but "walking" is the point here. To reason, to common sense, this may look foolish. It often brings loss, sacrifice and suffering. But "whoever does the will of God abides forever." Christ to us is the way; and Him we follow whatever the case... You enjoy blessing there and nowhere else. For the Christian it is not in the food basket or the storehouse, in the bank or in stocks. It is higher and unchanging.
Proverbs sets two other women beside wisdom: the "strange woman" and the "foolish woman." Older translations call this inheritance "substance," and one writer weighs that word against what the other two leave behind:
We have seen that the "strange woman" led to poverty, and that both she and the "foolish woman" led to death and destruction, but Wisdom leads into the path of righteousness and to a life filled with substance and treasure. The first two women cannot boast of substance. In the end they will lose all they appear to own. Death is stamped on everything here, and the Lord told His disciples that nothing in this world was their own. Material riches on earth belong to Israel, and they will have them in the world to come. Our true riches are spiritual and heavenly. These our Lord said are "your own," Luke 16:10-12.
So where does this fullness come from? One writer looks first at everything the world offers:
Turn where you will "under the sun" and you will not find anything on which the heart can rest. You must rise on the strong, steady wing of faith to the regions "above the sun." There you find "a better and an enduring substance." The One who sits at the right hand of God has said that He walks in the way of righteousness and in the paths of justice, so that those who love Him inherit substance, and He fills their treasuries... None but Jesus can give "substance." None but He can "fill." None but He can "satisfy."
The promise is for those who love Him. One writer shows what that love looks like day by day, and what it produces:
Every step we take in real obedience to Christ is a victory over the flesh and the devil. Every fresh victory supplies fresh power for the fight that follows. That is how we grow... The man whose heart is truly devoted to the Lord will have power to teach and power to worship. He will increase in substance, for Christ causes those who love Him to inherit substance. (Prov. 8)
- The Speaker. Commentators hear Christ in the voice that promises this inheritance. He became to us wisdom from God.
- The Condition. Love for Him is the condition, and obedience is how that love grows into increase.
- The Wealth. Not money or property, but durable riches — spiritual and heavenly, tied to righteousness.
- The Contrast. The other two voices end in poverty and death. Wisdom's path ends in substance that lasts.
- The Filling. Nothing under the sun satisfies. Christ alone gives and fills, and what He gives the Lord calls "your own."