Verse 9. An _upright walk_ is Christian, not sinless, perfection (Job i. 8); "walking before God," not before men (Gen. xvii. 1). Impurity, indeed, defiles the holiest exercise. But if the will be rightly bent, the integrity will be maintained. "Show me an easier path," is Nature's cry. "Show me," cries the child of God, "a _sure_ path."--_Bridges._ To walk uprightly, or to walk in integrity, means to act according to one complete scheme: not as the fool does (verse 8), behaving one way and believing another. It means to aim for "something stable" (chap. ii. 7); and hence, of course, not to lay our plans so that we ourselves know they must ultimately fail. He walks surely or _securely, i.e.,_ must certainly succeed.--_Miller._ The dissembler walks in crooked paths. Like Judas, who put on a cloak of charity to hide his covetousness (John xii. 6), he conceals the selfish principles which regulate his behaviour under the appearances of purity, prudence, and other good qualities. But he cannot hold the mantle so tight about him as to conceal from the wise observer his inward baseness. It will occasionally be shuffled aside, it will at length drop off, and he shall be known for what he is, abhorred by all men, and punished with other hypocrites.--_Lawson._ TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: While Dr. Wardlaw may think Proverbs an exception, II Tim. iii. 16 tells us that "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." _Walking uprightly_ stands opposed to all duplicity, all tortuous policy, all the crooked arts of _manœuvering,_ for the purpose of promoting reputation, interest, comfort, or any other end whatsoever. He who walketh thus, _walketh surely._ He walks with a comfortable _feeling of security,_ a calm, unagitated serenity of mind. This springs from the confidence in that God whose will he makes his only rule. In the path of implicit obedience he feels that he can _trust._ And further, the way in which he walks is the _surest_ for the attainment of his ends. Proverbs are generally founded in observation and experience, and express their ascertained results. Hence, even though not inspired, they have generally truth in them. It has become proverbial that "honesty is the best policy." The meaning is, that acts of deceit very frequently frustrate the object of him by whom they are employed, and land him in evils greater than the one he meant, by the use of them, to shun.--_Wardlaw._