Fail to Ponder - Prepare to Wander - Proverbs 4

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

Proverbs 4:26 (ESV)
Ponder the path of your feet;
then all your ways will be sure.

Fail to Ponder - Prepare to Wander

This proverb follows the KISS method ... Keep it Simple Stupid!!!   When we read a verse like this we should be immediately drawn to the simplicity that is found in God's truth.   God has a simple system to "establish" us (keep us firm and secure).  The first line of this proverb outlines God's simply plan for us ... "watch" (which in our proverb is a real action word that actually means make the path of your feet level.)   God's simple plan is to "watch" our journey - make the way level - and if we do, we will be secure; stand fast; have safety.  The ESV uses the word "ponder." The word in the Hebrew actually means to "roll flat." When we go into rugged and slippery places we are not keeping the path of our feet "level" - we are not "watching" out, we are not "pondering" our path.   In Psalm 119:5 we read the same thing but David tells us a little more than his son, Solomon, does.  David tells us that God's Word keeps us on level ground.  So, God's simple truth is to follow God's Word and believe and we will find firmness at our feet ... our walk in life.   Of course, God's system is simple, but we are not.  Our desire for the slippery; the rugged; the full schedule! The rough and the edgy causes us to lose track of our feet and be led into places that are not firm or secure.   That is where faith in God's Word comes in.   We have to not only be "in" God's Word we have to obey it.   That is how we keep "watch" of our path.  God's Word is a light unto our path.  That is what gives us the ability to "watch" the path.  God's Word is what we watch.  When we do that our feet simply walk in firm places.

Th word “ponder” (watch) in the above verse is a Hebrew word that means “to make level.”  It is referring to our mind and it carries the sense of “sorting out your thoughts.”  When we hear the phrase, “level headed,” we get a good understanding of what this word means and how it is applied to the text.  When we “ponder” (using God’s Word) we are sorting out our thoughts and using God’s word to give us new thoughts.   We “level” our thinking due to the truths of God’s word.   When we fail to ponder we can prepare to wander.   We have no basis for our thoughts when we reject God’s Word.  If we want to ponder the path of our feet we have to sort out the thoughts in our mind.