Proverbs 19:2 - Walk With God And You Won’t Stumble. updated

Pro.19:2: Walk With God And You Won't Stumble. updated

Prov 19:2 (KJV)  Also, that the soul be without knowledge, it is 
not good; and he that hasteth with his feet sinneth. 

Prov 19:2 (NIV)  It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, 
nor to be hasty and miss the way. 

Prov 19:2 (NRSV)  Desire without knowledge is not good, and one 
who moves too hurriedly misses the way. 

Prov 19:2 (NCV)  Enthusiasm without knowledge is not good. If 
you act too quickly, you might make a mistake. 

Prov 19:2 (AMP)  Desire without knowledge is not good, and to be 
overhasty is to sin and miss the mark. 

Zeal here means inner drive or vitality. It refers not so much 
to ecstatic exuberance as to ambitious drive which without adequate 
knowledge may lead to hasty blunders. Such haste (cf. 21:5; 29:20) may 
result in a person missing the way, that is, making mistakes. As the 
modern-day proverb puts it, "Haste makes waste." [Bible Knowledge 
Commentary] 

Hasting with the feet' is acting "without knowledge," (Jamieson, 
Fausset, and Brown Commentary) 

Makes haste with his feet. I.e., to proceed without caution and 
direction. [Ryrie SB] 

Ignorance and precipitancy are close akin. (Jamieson, Fausset, 
and Brown Commentary) 

Ignorance and haste are common causes of mistakes and sometimes 
of sin. [SDA Commentary] 

He sins who will not take time to ponder the path of his feet. 
[Matthew Henry Commentary] 

A child does nothing cautiously, because it is uninstructed; a 
savage is also rash and precipitate, till experience instructs him. A 
man who has not the knowledge of God is incautious, rash, 
headstrong, and precipitate: and hence, he sinneth-- he is continually 
missing the mark, and wounding his own soul. (Adam Clarke Commentary) 

We often move hastily through life, rushing headlong into the 
unknown. Many people marry without knowing what to expect of their 
partner or of married life. Others try illicit sex or drugs without 
considering the consequences. Some plunge into jobs without evaluating 
whether they are suitable to that line of work. Don't rush into the 
unknown. Be sure you understand what you're getting into and where you 
want to go before you take the first step. And if it still seems 
unknown, be sure you are following God. [Life Application SB] 

The soul was made for God; and to be without his knowledge, to 
be unacquainted with him, is not only not good, but the greatest 
evil the soul can suffer, for it involves all other evils. (Adam 
Clarke Commentary) 

These are strange words to try and apply to our lives in the 
'90s!  No one waits for anything or anyone!  We are all in the fast 
lane doing our own thing! To wait upon Him takes strength and 
courage: strength of character to "will" to wait, and courage to do what 
others do not. To do something that has eternal significance, it must 
be done through the power of the Holy Spirit, not logic or emotion. 
 To move out in service of any kind, and do it in the flesh will 
profit us nothing. When we come to understand that His ways are not our 
ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts, it will become easier to 
wait for the Lord. Have you experienced times in your own life when 
you should have waited for the Lord and didn't?  Did you learn the 
lesson well, or will you have to suffer again?  Most of us will not 
come to an understanding of this vital truth without many failures.  
But be encouraged to keep on trying, and WAIT FOR THE LORD!  [In His 
Time; Walk With Wisdom] 

Remember that prayer is the source of your strength.  A worker 
cannot gain success while he hurries through his prayers and rushes 
away to look after something that he fears may be neglected or 
forgotten.  He gives only a few hurried thoughts to God; he does not take 
time to think, to pray, to wait upon the Lord for a renewal of 
physical and spiritual strength.  He soon becomes weary. He does not feel 
the uplifting, inspiring influence of God's Spirit.  He is not 
quickened by fresh life.  His jaded frame and tired brain are not soothed 
by personal contact with Christ.  7T243 

Keep close to God and to your duty. Wait on the Lord by faith, 
and prayer, and a humble resignation to his will; wait, I say, on 
the Lord; whatever you do, grow not remiss in your attendance upon 
God. Keep up your spirits in the midst of the greatest dangers and 
difficulties: Be of good courage; let your hearts be fixed, trusting in God, 
and your minds stayed upon him, and then let none of these things 
move you. Those that wait upon the Lord have reason to be of good 
courage. (Matthew Henry's Commentary re ?) 

A young and successful executive was traveling down a 
neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. He was watching 
for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when 
he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no children 
appeared. Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag's side door! He slammed on 
the brakes and backed the Jag back to the spot where the brick had 
been thrown.  
The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest 
kid and pushed him up against a parked car shouting, "What was that 
all about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing? That's 
a new car and that brick you threw is going to cost a lot of 
money. Why did you do it?" The young boy was apologetic. "Please 
mister, please, I'm sorry but I didn't know what else to do," He 
pleaded. "I threw the brick because no one else would stop..."  
With tears dripping down his face and off his chin, the youth 
pointed to a spot just around a parked car. It's my brother," he said. 
"He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't 
lift him up." Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned executive, 
"Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt 
and he's too heavy for me."  
Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly 
swelling lump in his throat He hurriedly lifted the handicapped boy back 
into the wheelchair, then took out a linen handkerchief and dabbed at 
the fresh scrapes and cuts. A quick look told him everything was 
going to be okay. "Thank you and may God bless you, "the grateful 
child told the stranger.  
Too shook up for words, the man simply watched the boy push his 
wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk toward their home. It 
was a long, slow 
 walk back to the Jaguar. The damage was very noticeable, but the 
driver never bothered to repair the dented side door. He kept the dent 
there to remind him of this message "Don't go through life so fast 
that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention!" God 
whispers in our souls and speaks to our hearts. Sometimes when we don't 
have time to listen, He has to throw a brick at us. It's our choice 
to listen or not. [source unknown]