The Master of Wisdom Ben Sira taught in his sapiential book about the different attitudes of man towards the spiritual law of Moses, men can accept or reject the law in their hearts, and from there the paths of life, righteousness ("Do to no one what you yourself hate" Tobit 4:15) or sin. In the Bible, the fool and the wise are contrasting figures due to their way of discerning, of choosing, and the Bible teaches that the wise should be imitated and the fools avoided: "Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm" Proverbs 13:20.
And the paths that the wise and the fool choose are very different, while righteousness is a safe path, sin is an uncertain path full of destructive unforeseen events (stumbling rocks), that is why Ben Sira taught: "The man who is wise does not hate the law, but the one who is a hypocrite about it ends up being around like a boat in a storm" Ben Sira 33:2. And the righteous man, continued with his teaching Ben Sira, with his gift of fear of God (constancy, firmness, devotion, and equanimity), puts his trust not in his own cunning or prudence but in the mercy of the Lord and in the fulfillment of the law: "A sensible man will trust in the law, regarding it as dependable as an oracle" Ben Sira 33:3.
And in the Bible there are many cases where the acceptance or rejection of the law translates into blessings or curses. David, the son of Jesse, put his trust in God and his law and thus emerged victorious in all his actions, defeating Goliath, a powerful Philistine warrior, with only a slingshot and a stone. David was also crowned king of Israel and founded the Davidic dynasty with the Lord Jesus as one of his descendants.
Rehoboam, who was to succeed his father Solomon on the throne of Israel because of his pride and contempt for the law of the Lord, lost half of his kingdom, producing a political schism between the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, which persisted until the end of both kingdoms. David was a wise man and Rehoboam was a foolish man, their paths were very different, and these paths are a reminder of what men must choose and avoid if they want to achieve well-being and happiness.