Paul Tripp on Psalm 119:101-102

“I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep Your word. I have not departed from Your judgments, for You Yourself have taught me.” (Psalm 119:101-102)

The psalmist says, “I have restrained my feet from every evil way.” He wants to stay away from evil for the benefit of his heart. He is doing whatever he can to avoid it and he knows that divine wisdom from God’s Word is his safety net. He doesn’t even want the smallest of compromises. He knows that wisdom – true wisdom – equals obedience to God’s Word.

Wisdom keeps us from sin. It protects us from violating God’s law.

Let me give you an illustration from a book called Whiter Than Snow: Meditations on Sin and Mercy written by counselor Paul Tripp. He is illustrating the deception of sin in the backdrop of one whose life is void of any wisdom.

He writes, “Sin lives in a costume; that’s why it’s so hard to recognize. The fact that sin looks so good is one of the things that make it so bad. In order for it to do its evil work, it must present itself as something that is anything but evil. Life in a fallen world is like attending the ultimate masquerade party. Impatient yelling wears the costume of a zeal for truth. Lust can masquerade as a love for beauty. Gossip does its evil work by living in the costume of concern and prayer. Craving for power and control wears the mask of biblical leadership. Fear of man gets dressed up as a servant heart. The pride of always being right masquerades as a love for biblical wisdom. Evil simply doesn’t present itself as evil, which is part of its draw. You’ll never understand sin’s sleight of hand until you acknowledge that the DNA of sin is deception. Now, what this means personally is that as sinners we are all very committed and gifted self-swindlers. … We’re all too skilled at looking at our own wrong and seeing good.” (pg. 32)

How can we reverse the trend? How we do see what is good and what is wrong? By seeing how the Bible defines it. That is true wisdom. Sin will keep you from wisdom or wisdom will keep you from sin.