I. SEVEN EXCELLENT GUIDES 

The following seven counselors, or guides, are those who will prepare and protect you, not only for effective living in the capital, but also for life outside and after the capital. 

A. GOD 

First, notice how you inure God’s protection over your path if you choose to honor Him: 

He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice, and He preserves the way of His godly ones (2:7-8). 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight (3:5–6). 

I have directed you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in upright paths (4:11). 

For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He watches all his paths (5:21). 

The way of the Lord is a stronghold to the upright, but ruin to the workers of iniquity (10:29). 

Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the counsel of the Lord will stand (19:21). 

God and His Word should be your counsel, your guide. 

B. WISDOM 

A steady diet of the Word of God leads one to a proper fear of the Lord which is the foundation of wisdom, the skill at living life for God’s glory. Notice these proverbial descriptors of wisdom related to our subject: 

To deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perverse things; from those who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness (2:12–13). 

Her ways are pleasant ways and all her paths are peace (3:17). 

Then you will walk in your way securely and your foot will not stumble (3:23). 

“I walk in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of justice” (8:20). 

Conversely, those who have not wisdom, Proverbs says, live foolishly, that is to say, without skill or dexterity. 

C. WISE COUNSELORS 

Building on God’s Word (point A) and personal skill (wisdom, point B) is the addition of close, wise confidants whom you have grown to trust, who provide you with good counsel. 

So you will walk in the way of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous (2:20). 

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel (12:15). 

The righteous is a guide to his neighbor, but the way of the wicked leads them astray (12:26). 

Without consultation, plans are frustrated, but with many counselors they succeed (15:22). 

A plan in the heart of a man is like deep water, but a man of understanding draws it out (20:5). 

Prepare plans by consultation, and make war by wise guidance (20:18). 

For by wise guidance you will wage war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory (24:6). 

D. PARENTS 

Your parents are special, additional guides. They know you best, and often have the greatest context (relative to your long past display of strengths and weaknesses) to provide appropriate, wise, insider counsel. Herein Solomon speaks to his son Rehoboam: 

I have directed you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in upright paths. When you walk, your steps will not be impeded; and if you run, you will not stumble (4:11–12). 

Listen, my son, and be wise, and direct your heart in the way (23:19). 

Give me your heart, my son, and let your eyes delight in my ways (23:26). 

Too many young people in our culture resist their parents’ counsel, only to appreciate their wisdom years later, often after much chagrin. To reject these insider guides is foolishness. What a treasure from God our parents are! 

E. ANTS 

Ants are used in Proverbs as an illustration of industriousness. They provide quite an illustrative guide! Have you ever sat by an ant pile and just watched them? 

Go to the ant, O sluggard, observe her ways and be wise (6:6). 

The backslider in heart will have his fill of his own ways, but a good man will be satisfied with his (14:14). 

The way of the lazy is as a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway (15:19). 

The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage, but everyone who is hasty comes surely to poverty (21:5). 

The point about ants, as it pertains to industriousness, is that they have no chief, officer or ruler (6:7). 

They are self-starters who can govern their own lives. Industrious persons possesses a measure of self-control (Galatians 5:23) over their sin nature and can get up and go; they determine their emotions, not vice-versa. These people enjoy the fruits of personal discipline imposed from within. In this way they are much like the example of the ants! 

F. PERSONAL INTEGRITY 

It is important to see how each of the aforementioned points build on one-another as we build a “guide theology” herein: with the fear of the Lord, His ensuing skill, good counselors, insiders, and habits of industriousness, a man or woman holds the manifest ingredients for a life of integrity and personal righteousness or “right-way-ness.” The word “integrity” stems from the Latin root “integer,” which means a whole number, versus a fraction. Integrity then refers to wholeness, or in essence, a lack of “fractionalization” in one’s life, i.e., hypocrisy. Everything about them comports! 

He who walks in integrity walks securely, but he who perverts his ways will be found out (10:9).

The righteousness of the blameless will smooth his way, but the wicked will fall by his own wickedness (11:5). 

In the way of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death (12:28). 

Here then are six guides to a smooth ascent in life (in or out of office). There’s one more. 

G. INFORMED PERSONAL JUDGMENT 

The following are powerful Proverbs on the virtue of having built personal integrity into one’s life via the aforementioned building blocks. From a rock-solid, concrete and rebar footing flow wise personal judgments: 

The wisdom of the sensible is to understand his way, but the foolishness of fools is deceit (14:8). 

A wicked man displays a bold face, but as for the upright, he makes his way sure (21:29). 

Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse; he who guards himself will be far from them (22:5). 

Summing Up Excellent Guides 

Watch the path of your feet and all your ways will be established (4:26). 

The highway of the upright is to depart from evil; he who watches his way preserves his life (16:17). 

The word established is used throughout Proverbs relative to what God does in the life of those whose hearts are totally His. The other word here in the second Proverb, preserves, relates to the man-side of the equation and what occurs as a result of taking personal responsibility for recruiting and contracting with the right guides in one’s life. 

II. FIVE TERRIBLE GUIDES

A. UNRELIABLE GUIDES 

The Hebrew word for treacherous can also be translated as “traitorous” or “perfidious, unfaithful.” These are those who people follow, who end up being untrustworthy, leaving one in a lurch. 

Good understanding produces favor, but the way of the treacherous is hard (13:15). 

He who walks in his uprightness fears the Lord, but he who is devious in his ways despises Him (14:2). 

Devious means “to turn aside or depart.” In the following Proverb a devious person is also crooked, which means “twisted, distorted, or perverted.” In old English (KJV) this person is said to be froward. 

Whose paths are crooked, and who are devious in their ways (2:15). 

“Bad, bad,” says the buyer, but when he goes his way, then he boasts (20:14). 

The way of a guilty man is crooked, but as for the pure, his conduct is upright (21:8). 

Woe to the man or woman who walks, stands, or sits with such unreliable guides (cf. Psalm 1). 

B. VIOLENT GUIDES 

Violence in Hebrew has the idea of dishonest gain via plunder. This is someone who takes by sheer force. Further, notice in all of the following Proverbs the repeated use of the word ways. It refers to the overall course of a person’s life: what one is given to doing. 

So are the ways of everyone who gains by violence; it takes away the life of its possessors (1:19). 

Do not envy a man of violence and do not choose any of his ways (3:31). 

A man of violence entices his neighbor and leads him in a way that is not good (16:29). 

Do not associate with a man given to anger; or go with a hot-tempered man, or you will learn his ways and find a snare for yourself (22:24–25). 

C. WICKED GUIDES 

Wickedness carries the broad idea in the Hebrew language of the OT of describing someone who is harmful, selfish, unpleasant, threatening, and wild. Not the kind of guy you want on your rope team as you attempt to ascend hugely challenging mountains as a public servant. The following is picturesque of a pre-dawn climb wherein the guide has no flashlight, providing you, his client, with no value or aid whatsoever. 

The way of the wicked is like darkness; they do not know over what they stumble (4:19). 

Are you following any such guides right now, guides who provide you with little or no value? 

In chapter six of Proverbs, there is a listing of seven sins which the Lord especially hates. Notice that the one who plans wickedness is one of them. 

A heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil (6:18). 

Here’s a sure way to fall during your climb, listed once more: 

The righteousness of the blameless will smooth his way, but the wicked will fall by his own wickedness (11:5). 

Righteousness guards the one whose way is blameless, but wickedness subverts the sinner (13:6). 

One who plans to do evil, men will call a schemer (24:8). 

D. SEDUCTIVE GUIDES 

Her feet go down to death, her steps take hold of Sheol. She does not ponder the path of life; her ways are unstable, she does not know it (5:5–6). 

The way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship in the middle of the sea, and the way of a man with a maid. This is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth, and says, “I have done no wrong” (30:19–20). 

Men, do not go near this woman, not to mention any outings. Solomon is firm on how to deal with her: 

Keep your way far from her and do not go near the door of her house (5:8). 

Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, do not stray into her paths (7:25). 

While Proverbs is written by a father to his son, it is important for women to heed this passage as well. There are many smooth-talking men in the Capitol with seductive power. Remember that power is an aphrodisiac. Do not fall prey to their ways—avoid seductive male and female guides lest you take a huge fall during your ascent. 

E. ARROGANT, MOUTHY GUIDES 

Many years ago when I climbed the Matterhorn, I hired a local guide in Zermatt. He cussed me out the whole way up the mountain; what a fun day that was! Elite Swiss guides have this attitude: they feel like they own the Alps and do not have a high view of Americans climbing in their backyard. I thought to myself all day long, “And I paid for this?” Here then is the last of five kinds of guides you should avoid. 

“The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverted mouth, I hate” (8:13). 

The perverse in heart are an abomination to the Lord, but the blameless in their walk are His delight (11:20). 

Summing Up Terrible Guides 

These are the people, who, if followed, end up leading you right into a crevasse—just about the time when you think the route is going well. 

There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death (14:12). 

The naive believes everything, but the sensible man considers his steps (14:15). 

Also it is not good for a person to be without knowledge, and he who hurries his footsteps errs. The foolishness of man ruins his way, and his heart rages against the Lord (19:2–3). 

III. KEYS TO CHOOSING THE RIGHT GUIDES

A. ASK GOD TO ASSIST IN THE SELECTION 

For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light; and reproofs for discipline are the way of life (6:23). 

Grievous punishment is for him who forsakes the way; he who hates reproof will die (15:10). 

B. GOD WANTS YOU TO CHECK YOUR GUT 

A key to spiritual maturity is to do gut-checks. Check your motives, as motives lead to actions, both right and wrong. Put your emphasis here versus pursuing a legalistic approach to outward actions of “dos and don’ts.” 

All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, but the Lord weighs the motives (16:2). 

Every man’s way is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts (21:2). 

C. GOD WANTS YOU TO TRAIN YOUR KIDS TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT GUIDES 

Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it (22:6). 

Do not hold back discipline from the child, although you strike him with the rod, he will not die (23:13). 

IV. FOUR VISTAS PROVIDED BY EXCELLENT GUIDES

A. BLESSINGS 

“Now therefore, O sons, listen to me, for blessed are they who keep my ways” (8:32).

B. LIVELINESS 

“Forsake your folly and live, and proceed in the way of understanding” (9:6). 

The Hebrew root for live means “to be alive!” Have you ever noticed how energized Spirit-filled believers are, and how much fun they are to be around? 

I just love being around all of you senators, representatives, and former cabinet members in our growing Members Bible studies! You are great people to be with! We have such great fun studying God’s Word together—liveliness to the max! 

C. FAVOR 

The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but He loves one who pursues righteousness (15:9). 

D. PEACE 

When a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him (16:7). 

Who doesn’t desire blessing, liveliness, favor, and peace! Choosing the right guides results in these virtuous vistas! 

V. THREE DISASTROUS TRIPS LED BY TERRIBLE GUIDES

Bad advisors wreak havoc on the less-discerning, those who follow along with them on their destructive journeys. 

A. THE TORRID TREK TO REAPER’S ROCK 

In the same way that the physical universe contains inviolate laws, so does the moral world, created similarly by God. One such law is that of reaping and sowing. Generally, “what goes around comes around.” Proverbs 22:8 and 1:31 state this principle quite vividly: 

He who sows iniquity will reap vanity, and the rod of his fury will perish (22:8). 

“So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way and be satiated with their own devices” (1:31). 

One of the virtues of older life is to have experienced the truths of Proverbs. In this case we have seen many times how one’s sins eventually come around to bite them. 

B. THE NO-RETURN RAMBLE UP EGO MOUNTAIN 

Judges 17:6 summarily depicts God’s chosen people, Israel, when they had turned their back on God’s ways: Every man did what was right in his own eyes. Similarly, anyone void of God’s revelation, counsel, and integrity will one day face due consequences: 

There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death (16:25). 

Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the counsel of the Lord will stand (19:21). 

C. THE WILDERNESS WANDERINGS AROUND SIMPLETON SLOPES 

A man who wanders from the way of understanding will rest in the assembly of the dead (21:16). 

Finally, Solomon states the outcome for terrible counselors themselves:

He who leads the upright astray in an evil way will himself fall into his own pit (28:10). 

VI. SUMMARY 

The direction of your life from a human perspective has much to do with character and your choice of counselors or guides along the way. 

At the same time, from a divine perspective, God remains sovereign over the affairs of men. This tension in Scripture (from a human perspective—not God’s) is seen in the following conclusive Proverbs: 

The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord (16:1). 

Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established (16:3). 

The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps (16:9). 

The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord (16:33). 

Man’s steps are ordained by the Lord, how then can man understand his way (20:24)? 

It is incumbent upon you and me to responsibly choose the right guides in life. Scripture, Proverbs, is clear as to who those guides are and where each one will lead you. Blessings to you as you gain discernment in this area, my friend.