That thou mayest walk in the way of good men,
and keep the paths of the righteous.
For the upright shall dwell in the land,
and the perfect shall remain in it.
But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth,
and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.
It is not the heavenly but the earthly hope that here comes before us. The book of Proverbs, like all the rest of the Old Testament, speaks of earthly things.
The heavenly things were as yet unrevealed. So it is the portion of the godly Israelite that is here presented to us. He shall dwell in the land in the day when the lawless Gentiles and the transgressors among the chosen people shall be rooted out of it.
Ours is a far better portion. We have an inheritance reserved for us in heaven, where Christ the Forerunner has for us entered! How much greater is our responsibility to see that our steps are ordered according to the Word of the living God!