Proverbs 8:20 (Mini Sermon)

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20. Pro 8:20 - "I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment:" A. I lead in the way of righteousness, i. "I" in this passage is wisdom personified (Pro 8:1, 12). ii. Wisdom is a leader. a. Lead v. - 1. trans. To cause to go along with oneself. a. To bring or take (a person or animal) to a place. b. Wisdom leads God's children by way of the word of God (Pro 6:22-23). c. Wisdom will lead Christians away from evil men and women (Pro 2:10-18). iii. She leads in the way of righteousness. a. Way n. - 1. a. gen. A track prepared or available for travelling along; a road, street, lane, or path. b. Righteousness n. - 1. Justice, uprightness, rectitude; conformity of life to the requirements of the divine or moral law; virtue, integrity. c. God leads His children in the paths of righteousness (Psa 23:3). d. The word of God will never lead you into sin or foolishness, but always into the way that is right and just. B. in the midst of the paths of judgment: i. Wisdom leads in the midst of the paths of judgment. a. Midst n. - 1. The middle point or part; the centre, middle. b. Path n. - 1. a. A way beaten or trodden by the feet of men or beasts; a track formed incidentally by passage between places... 4. fig. A course of action or procedure, line of conduct, way of behaviour; less commonly, a course or line of thought, argument, or the like. c. Judgment n. - 1. a. The action of trying a cause in a court of justice; trial. 7. a. The formation of an opinion or notion concerning something by exercising the mind upon it; an opinion, estimate. 8. a. The faculty of judging; ability to form an opinion; that function of the mind whereby it arrives at a notion of anything; the critical faculty; discernment. b. Good or sound judgement; discernment, discretion, wisdom, understanding, good sense. ii. She doesn't veer to the right hand nor to the left in judgment (Pro 4:25-27; Jos 1:7; Deut 17:11). a. She doesn't err in the extremes of legalism or unrestrained liberty. b. She doesn't make rules for her children which are too oppressive or too permissive. c. She doesn't blindly follow political theories on the right or the left, but rather walks in the truth as revealed in the scriptures. d. She stays right in the middle to make it through the strait and narrow gate which leads to life (Mat 7:13-14). iii. If we commit the scriptures to memory and hide them in our hearts, we will hear wisdom's voice leading us in the midst of the paths of judgment when we turn to the right or the left (Isa 30:21).