At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16: 11)
“He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction: But he that refuseth reproof erreth” (Prov. 10:17).
A teachable man is walking in the path of life. He keeps instruction. He pays attention. He draws on the wisdom of others. He sorts through counsel. He weighs what he hears from various sources.
He obviously doesn’t do what absolutely everybody else says because there are disagreements between “everybody else.” The Bereans were good examples of this mentality. They received the Word with great eagerness, and searched the Scriptures to see if these things were so (Acts 17:11). They were eager for the good news to be true, but they didn’t just accept it blind. They cross-checked it against the Word. Because the message lined up with Scripture, it was sound, and so they “kept instruction.”
Another kind of person is set up by way of contrast. He is the person who refuses to accept correction from outside himself. He knows what he wants, and he is going to have what he wants. Well, he is going to have what he wants in the abstract. He insists upon having what he wants, which is why he is not going to get what he wants.
The proverb here says that such a foolish person “errs.” Because he insists upon winging it, he meets with disaster.
The other contrast that is implied is the difference between life and death. The prudent man, the one who receives instruction, is one who walks the way of life. The implication is that the fool who follows his own way is walking in the ways of death. This is the way in which he “errs.” This is the foundational error.
