Proverbs 6.23
“For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life.”
I encourage you to commit this verse to memory. Read it and re-read it. Meditate on it. Pray about it. Inscribe it on your heart.
God’s word is a lamp that illuminates. It clarifies and enlightens. It is our light in the midst of the darkness of a broken world. It shows us the path we should follow, and it corrects us when we are off-path.
As we have seen throughout our study of Proverbs, in order to live the life to which the Lord calls us, we must listen, learn, and be equipped. We must commit to the process of disciplined training … that is, musar.
In 5.23 Solomon tells us that a person “dies for lack of disciplined training (musar).” Here Solomon says that the instruction and correction we learn from the process of musar is “the way of life.” The message is clear: your attitude toward disciplined training is a matter of life and death!
The point he is making is that being trained in God’s truth is not an occasional program or periodic initiative. For the Christian, musar is how we learn the way of life to which the Lord calls us. And we should be constantly learning and growing throughout our lifetime.
Solomon emphasizes the corrective and reproving aspect of being trained in God’s truth. Being trained means being instructed, and a key part of the process is being corrected and reproved. If you do not submit to the corrections and reproofs of God’s word and God’s Spirit, then you are rejecting the process of musar.
In clear and simple terms, the book of Proverbs says that to embrace the reproofs of musar is the way of life. To reject the reproofs of musar is the way of death.
In 2 Timothy 3.16, the apostle Paul gives us more insight: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
Like Solomon in Proverbs, the apostle Paul lays out the process for being trained by God’s truth; the process whereby we are equipped with the knowledge and skill necessary for living the life to which God calls us, which includes doing effective, productive work.
Teaching = the word gives instruction on the path to follow.
Reproof = the word tells us when we are off-path.
Correction = it tells us how to get back on-path.
Training in righteousness = it teaches us how to stay on-path.
Again like Solomon in Proverbs, the apostle Paul tells us that the process includes instruction and correction; teaching and reproof. Failure to submit to correction and reproof is a failure to grow.
Proverbs 6.24
“…to preserve you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adultress.”
In verse 24, Solomon gives one of the key purposes and benefits of disciplined training. It gives you the discernment and discipline to reject the seductive lies of the Enemy. It protects you from being led off-path by the distortions and temptations of the fallen world.
In summary: The process of musar — being trained in God’s truth — includes being corrected by the Word of God and reproved by the Spirit of God. In what specific area of your life is the Lord reproving you? How are you responding to the Lord’s correction in your life?
“For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life.” (Proverbs 6.23)
