Slideshow image

Proverbs 27 through 29 lays down two pathways, two different options. One ends in ruin and the other guides us to a secure destination. The first verse of chapter 28 tells us how we can differentiate between the two paths.

"The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, but the righteous are bold as a lion."

When we are on the pathway to destruction, no one has to tell us. Take note how no one is chasing the wicked, and yet still they run. That's key to determining where you stand. Guilt manufactures its own avoidance of accountability. When our conscience carries hidden sin or unresolved sin it never really rests. It flinches at shadows. It sleeps with one eye open.

But when we stick to the righteous path there is a peace that passes all understanding. We can be bold as lions. Not because we are better than everyone else. We too have stumbled and will stumble. Solomon points this out a few verses later in Proverbs 28:13,

“He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion.”

The key to the whole section is found in the word conceals. The Hebrew כָּסָה (kāsâ) means to cover, to hide, to spread a cloth over the thing you don't want seen. It is the first and oldest instinct we have. It’s what Adam and Eve did in the garden. They sinned and realized they were naked and so they hid and covered themselves with fig leaves. If you’re covering up, you’re on the wrong path.

So, the righteous path is not the road of people who never sin. It's the road of people who stop hiding. On that road they become bold knowing they are not in danger of being found out, but are experiencing God’s grace through forgiveness.

Can you see it? The wicked path and the righteous path don't divide neatly between perfect people and failures. The pathways divide between one with many hiding places and one that is straight and open along the route. One provides us with a carefree journey while the other is riddled with anxiety.

Takeaway: So, the question this passage puts to you is a simple one. Are you covering? If so, bring it into the light. If you are experiencing that peace that passes all understanding, invite others to join you on the righteous path. Openness and transparency is not the end of our security—it’s the beginning of it.