A Lamp Unto My Feet Bible Study Website
PROVERBS 11:1-15
Lesson #16
THE INTEGRITY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
- Memory Verse: Pro 11:3
- The young man just starting out in life and in business receives teaching by lady wisdom to help him gain success in skillful living in every area of his life.
- In other words, he learns that true religion is not just attendance in church on Sundays, but occurs every day of the week and encompasses every area of life including business. Business is just one example of the various areas of life.
- Read Pro 11:1-15
- Business:
- “False balance is abomination to the Lord: but a just weight is his delight.” (1)
- Key words: abomination (hate).
- The parallels:
- False balance/just weight
- Abomination/delight
- In the United States, the standard of weights and measures throughout the country has been regulated by law for many years. Because of that we don’t even think about weights and measures when we buy a product. In the world this has not always been the case nor is it necessarily true today.
- God is concerned about honest business practices. In fact, God hates dishonest business dealings! Why?
- The poor usually suffer the most with dishonest business dealings.
- God’s character is truth and honesty. Dishonesty violates the character of God.
- The believer in Christ should have a reputation for honesty because it is his testimony to the world that he has the fear of God in him.
- The way a person acts in business will reveal his character that he exhibits in all areas of his life.
- “False balance is abomination to the Lord: but a just weight is his delight.” (1)
- Integrity of Character:
- “When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom” (2)
- Key words: pride (conceit); shame (dishonor); lowly (humble); wisdom (skillful living).
- The parallels:
- Pride/lowly
- Shame/wisdom
- The word pride means to be puffed up to such an extent that you are boiling over with conceit.
- Read 1Tim 3:6
- Why is pride bad?
- All that we are and all that we have accomplished is because of what God has allowed, permitted, or directly caused.
- We are nothing without God.
- Why does shame probably come with pride?
- When man does things his way, pride is the natural result because he looks at all that he has accomplished for himself.
- “When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom” (2)
- Business:
The unique thing about pride is that it blinds a person to the true realities of life.
Eventually the prideful person will discover that he does not control everything.
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- The lowly, humble person has a teachable spirit and lets God direct his life.
- “The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.” (3)
- Key words: integrity (moral soundness); upright (just); perverseness (corrupt/disobedient); transgressors (lawbreaker).
- The parallels:
- Integrity/perverseness
- Upright/transgressors
- Guide/destroy.
- The moral soundness that the believer in Christ has built into his life as he walks in justice and righteousness with God will be an automatic guide in his decision-making process. He will automatically know which actions are right and which actions are morally wrong.
- On the other hand, corruption begins small but like all sin it grows and becomes deeply ingrained in the character of the non-believer so that he does not even think about whether he breaks man’s laws or God’s laws. He does what he thinks is best for him.
- This becomes automatic in his decision-making process.
- As a result, as we have continually seen in Proverbs, God will eventually judge the life of a non-believer at the Great White Throne judgment.
- “Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death. (4) The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way: but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness. (5) The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them: but transgressors shall be taken in their own naughtiness.” (6)
- Key words: righteousness (pure life); perfect (mature); wicked (lawless evil); upright (just); transgressors (lawbreaker)
- These verses should remind us of the story in Luk 16 about the rich man and Lazarus that both died and reaped what they sowed in life. (Luk 16:19-31)
- The righteous:
- In these verses, the word “righteousness” abounds. This word means to be in right standing with God and therefore to live a pure life pleasing to God.
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The only way a person can be in right standing with God is to surrender his life to Jesus Christ where His righteousness is placed over us; where God sees Christ’s perfection and not man’s sinfulness.
The believer in Christ is the only person that can escape the “day of wrath”, which is God’s final judgment at the Great White Throne, (Rom 2:5). The believer will have the Holy Spirit inside of him. (1 The 1:10) (1The 5:9) The Holy Spirit is the seal or guarantee of eternal life. (Eph 1:13)
“The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way… The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them…” (5-6)
In Jesus Christ, God sees us as perfect when we are not because we still have a sin nature.
However, the Biblical word “perfect” as it relates to man actually means mature because as long as we have the sinful flesh nature, we will never be “perfect” as God is perfect.
But Paul uses the word in reference to humans to mean mature. (Phil 3:12, 15)
Therefore, in this proverb, it is Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit that is directing the believer’s path.
Only through the blood of Jesus Christ is a person delivered from the penalty of sin which is death, from the power of sin which is temptation, and from the presence of sin when the believer is present with God for eternity.
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- The wicked:
- The non-believer living his life in lawless evil will fall by his own evil deeds.
- Wealth will not save him in the end. (Luk 12:16-21) (Jam 5:1-3)
- Rom 1:20 tells us that all men are without excuse before God and that none seek God.
- The wicked:
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Therefore in the final judgment, the non-believer will be judged by his own works. (Rev 20:12)
Those works will be sadly lacking in contrast to God’s holy perfection.
It is for this reason that Proverbs says he will fall by his own wickedness and taken in his own naughtiness. (5-6)
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- “ When a wicked man dieth, his expectation shall perish: and the hope of unjust men perisheth. (7) The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked cometh in his stead.” (8)
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Key words: wicked (lawless evil); perish (loss of life); unjust (non-believer)’ righteous (pure life).
These two verses can remind us of Haman, the evil man, and Mordecai, the righteous man delivered out of trouble in the book of Esther.
The non-believer that has the hope of an eternal life with God when he stands before God in the final judgment will be disappointed. In his own eyes he thought he lived a good life.
However, he will discover that his expectation and hope are unfounded because he will reap what he sowed in life. (“cometh in his stead”).
Therefore the unbeliever has no hope.
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- Reflection in Society:
- Individual integrity has its repercussions in society in general beginning in the immediate neighborhood and extending to the larger community.
- “ An hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbour: but through knowledge shall the just be delivered.” (9)
- Key words: knowledge (power to know truth); just (righteous believer).
- The parallels:
- Hypocrite/just
- Mouth/knowledge
- Destroyeth/delivered.
- The word “hypocrite” means = to answer back as used in Greek plays.
- It came to mean a “phony playing a part”.
- The person in the Bible that fits this proverb is Potiphar’s wife that destroyed Joseph’s reputation, but God delivered him.
- The nature of gossip is often hypocritical in that a person is judged and condemned by another when he himself is not perfect.
- However, God fights these battles for the believer on a spiritual level. The truth eventually comes out to vindicate the wronged believer.
- “When it goeth well with the righteous, the city rejoiceth: and when the wicked perish, there is shouting. (10) By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted: but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked. (11)
- Key words: righteous (pure life); wicked (lawless evil); perish (loss of life); upright (just).
- King David and King Saul are examples of these two proverbs.
- Jerusalem became a great city under King David.
- When King Saul died, not many mourned sadly for him.
- When the culture of a community exhibits and rewards people that live a pure life, the standards of the community are raised to a higher level and people live peaceably.
- When God blesses righteous believers, all those in the community are blessed.
- For a community to live peaceably a government must exert authority to punish evil and crime.
- Read Rom 13:1-5
- In the exercise of righteous government, the people are pleased and blessed when evil is dealt with justly.
- “ He that is void of wisdom despiseth his neighbour: but a man of understanding holdeth his peace.” (12)
- Key words: void (lacking); wisdom (skillful living); understanding (discernment of good from evil = [tabuwn 8394 = intelligence]).
- This proverb also reminds us of King David for he held his peace when his enemies accused him.
- The person that does not know how to live skillfully with his neighbors will constantly have problems with those around him. Why?
- The Christian knows that God loves all people; He just does not love their sin.
- God gives the believer the capacity to know good from evil and to discern it in other people.
- God gives the believer the capacity to love others who are unlovable.
- God gives the believer the capacity to guard his tongue, to speak when the Holy Spirit directs and with the words the Spirit tells you.
- “A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.” (13)
- Key words: talebearer (gossip).
- The word “talebearer” speaks of a person that has a lifestyle of gossip.
- The reputation of a person can be easily destroyed by a person that engages in gossip.
- If someone tells you something negative about a third person, whether true or not, he is placing a weight on the scale in your mind about that third person. Then when you meet that third person, the scale in your mind is already tilted against him.
- With this thought, I want you to notice the verse we started with in this chapter about weights and measures.
- Reflection in Society:
Whether it is business practices or social gossip, these things are all related and exhibit the level of integrity of character that a person displays in every area of his life.
In other words, it means that if we have integrity of character, we must deal honestly with other people.
Read 1Cor 13:4-7
As a believer in Jesus Christ, you have the “faithful spirit” of God in you and He enables you to deal with people in love. Love means that you “conealeth the matter”.
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- “ Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.” (14)
- Key words: counsel (advice).
- Daniel is the example of this proverb. He was the counsel to many unbelieving leaders. When he counseled the king, the nation prospered.
- Personally, of course, it is assumed that you get counsel from other believers and that those believers are mature in the faith.
- In the community of believers you can obtain good counsel based on the word of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit.
- If you obtain counsel from believers and non-believers both you are mixing light and darkness. According to 2Cor 6:13-15
- “ Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.” (14)
- “ He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it: and he that hateth suretiship is sure” (15)
- Key words: surety (to co-sign).
- We have discussed previously that signing a legal document guaranteeing another person’s debt is foolish. (See Proverbs 6:1 Lesson #08).
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- Application:
- In the last proverb we learn that one should not be a surety for another.
- However, if we think about it, Jesus Christ became the Surety for us who are sinners.
- He took our spiritual debt on himself.
- This is a debt we could not pay.
- He paid it for us with his life.
- Read 2Cor 8:9
- However, if we think about it, Jesus Christ became the Surety for us who are sinners.
- In the last proverb we learn that one should not be a surety for another.
Homework
Proverbs 11:16-31
- Application of Pro 11:1-15
- What happens when pride comes to a heart? (2) Why?
Shame will result because one day the non-believer will stand before God and be ashamed of how far his life was from God’s standard. - How do you think integrity guides the believer? (3)
Integrity is the strength of character built from childhood and on. He will automatically rely on what is right and wrong in making his decisions. - What is the day of wrath? (4)
The day of judgment. - Find a verse that tells you something about Jesus Christ.
Verse 5 mentions the word “perfect”. Only Jesus is perfect. When the person has Christ in his heart, God sees that person as perfect in Christ. - Pick one verse from Pro 11:1-15 and describe what it means and why you picked that verse.
- Which of the proverbs in this first part of chapter 11 was most surprising to you why?
- What changes are you making in your perspective and/or in your life to conform to what you are learning in Proverbs?
- What happens when pride comes to a heart? (2) Why?
- Preparation for Pro 11:16-31
- Read Pro 11:16-31
- Extending mercy to someone produces good for whom? (17)
- A beautiful woman that does not know how to act properly (with discretion) is like what? (22)
- What do you inherit if you cause trouble in your own house? (29)
- Besides being rewarded with eternal life, what does the righteous Christian have to look forward to on this earth? (31)
- Read Pro 11:16-31
- Memory verse: Pro 11:18
