Proverbs 22:28 ~ “Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.“

In his commentary, Matthew Henry explains that “the landmarks, or meer stones, are standing witnesses to every man’s right,” and to move or remove one of them would naturally lead to disputes and fighting.

I would like to make another application here.   

A few years ago I went back to visit my alma mater, for the first time in thirty years. I could not believe all the changes! The campus I’d called home for four years was now so unfamiliar I could barely find my way around. Old wooden buildings were gone, replaced by new, modern ones. Buildings still standing had been repurposed, now housing the library and different classrooms. The ladies’ gym now housed a large thrift store.

The old song by Ricky Nelson, “Down Home”, says it so well.

There’s no way to get down home; No, you can’t retrieve it,

’Cause once you leave it, Down home’s just a memory.

The magnificent Dominion Seed House with its fields of flowers used to dominate my own home town, and was a familiar landmark to all who ever lived there. That is only one landmark that lives on in the memories of us older folk who hate to see the town change so dramatically.

Change is inevitable. That’s just life. Old buildings deteriorate; populations grow, and needs evolve.

But when you do go back and try to find your way around, what happens? You have no starting point; you’ve lost your bearings; you can’t find your way. You will get lost unless someone points you in the right direction.

God has placed landmarks in His Word, to keep us rooted and grounded in the truth and focused on Him. The sovereignty of God; the atonement of Christ; the holiness of God; Christ as the only way of salvation; the inerrancy and sufficiency of the scriptures; just to name a few. If we step away from these landmarks, we will lose our way. There are plenty of voices whispering and tempting us down other paths, but those paths will lead us farther from our Lord and Master, into the realm of the enemy of our souls.

God has not changed. His landmarks remain fixed. In the chaos and confusion of our society today, we are more aware than ever, of our need for stability, which can only be found in the Rock of our salvation. Look around you. If you find you have strayed even a step from Him, return to Him. And if you have lost your bearings, ask Him to show you how to find your way back. He waits with open arms to welcome you.