24 Man’s steps are ordained by the Lord,
How then can man understand his way?
25 It is a trap for a man to say rashly, “It is holy!”
And after the vows to make inquiry.
26 A wise king winnows the wicked,
And [o]drives the threshing wheel over them.
27 The [p]spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord,
Searching all the [q]innermost parts of his being.
28 [r]Loyalty and truth preserve the king,
And he upholds his throne by [s]righteousness.
29 The glory of young men is their strength,
And the [t]honor of old men is their gray hair.
30 Stripes that wound scour away evil,
And strokes reach the [u]innermost parts.
What does it mean that your steps are ordained by God? It means that He has a plan for your life, set out from the day you were born. And of course He does, since God is a good father and wants what is best for His children. If He can see the future, and He can, then naturally God knows the best route for your life. Doesn’t mean we’ll do it right, or even pay attention to it, and that’s where the rest of the proverb goes.
First, we often don’t understand God’s plan, and we don’t need to. But oh how we want to understand it, our brain refuses to let go of that, like a dog and his chew toy. Rather, we need to find His plan, and do it. Since we cannot see or know what is coming, the steps God puts in front of us can seem downright strange. But follow them we must, if we want what is best.
Another easy trap for us is found in v. 25. It’s tempting to look at a situation, come up with a plan, and say, “of course this is what God wants, it makes perfect sense to me!” Then after we’ve committed to it, put the plan into motion, let’s just pray over it to make sure God blesses it… Talk about carts before horses, if we want a plan blessed by God, perhaps we should ask Him first, and see where He wants to take us.
It’s not easy to rely on guidance from One you cannot see, but the alternatives are forthcoming. In v. 26, would you rather have a threshing wheel run over you, to separate the good stuff from the bad? Or how about “stripes that wound” (v. 30), or more bluntly, a whip across the back? God won’t hesitate to discipline those He loves, and He loves you.
We can learn the hard way, or the better way. It’s not comfy cozy either direction, but the old adage is a load of garbage, “better to ask forgiveness than permission…” That’s simply lazy, and when it comes to God’s way, it is always better to ask permission and negate the need for forgiveness and everything else that comes with it. The “honor” of old men isn’t really their gray hair, it’s the wisdom of God that they’ve gained over many years, and the sooner we seek Him first, the better.