Proverbs 11                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Good morning son,

Some mornings in your life you will feel like the night has not ended. This is one of those mornings for me.

Recently I was told that I was not a man of integrity. That bothered me greatly. I guess that is why the following verses leaped off the page to me. In fact I found myself having a big difficulty getting past the very first one.

Proverbs 11: 1

“A false balance is abomination to the Lord: but just weight is his delight.”

Proverbs 11:3

“The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.”

I would like to just stop here and say – you go on with the Lord and deal with this one. They are difficult verses to work with and through. Remember the never ending night . . . well . . . on such days do you decide not to wake up and get going? No, you press forward into the day, no matter how dark it looks. In studying His word -- where we think we might not like where it takes us – we must still press on.

In homiletics (the study of preaching or proclaiming the word) class one day I told my interpretation of a passage which spoke about the people going up to Jerusalem. I spoke eloquently about how that symbolized the difficulty in life of reaching a goal. How Jerusalem was on a hill and the roads leading up to it were very hard. So therefore we could ascertain the hardness of the journey. My professor listened intently to what I was saying and then warned me to be careful trying to read into a verse or passage more than what is there – the writer there was simply saying they were going up to Jerusalem. Look at the context he would say.

Here is one of those times I would like to simply say the writer is referring only to what is written there – that he is talking about nothing but the scales and weights used in the market place of his time. And indeed an argument can easily be made for that. But considering the two verses which follow perhaps, an argument could equally be made that he is referring to more than commercial transactions.

You break the spirit of a child when the severity of the punishment does not match the severity of the wrong committed. There is a need for a just weight. (“Fathers do not frustrate your children” - look it up). No relationship can last where every wrong is treated with the same weight of offense. Indeed some wrongs are given greater weight in God's scales of offense just because of the position held by the person committing it. (Teachers are told they will be whipped with many a stripe if they miscommunicate the truth – hmmm, perhaps I may wish to reconsider these GW's? lol) . And the verse here is followed by two verses which deal more directly with heart issues than pure commercial matters.

Proverbs 11:2-3

“When pride comes, then comes shame: but with the humble is wisdom. The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.”

Hmm. Perhaps the writer means to look at more than commercial transactions, but dealings of a broader nature between individual's; i.e., how individual's weigh each other's actions out in relationships to the righteous standard.

In every scripture there are different players involved. In this one we have the merchant or seller, the buyer and the scales, or for the purposes of our analysis – God's word. Whoever is buying or selling a position, action, or belief must bring it to the scales, to God's word where the proper weights are, to weigh it out. Its 5:46AM, and it has been a long night – I hope that I am making sense. See we may wish to give something more weight than it is due in a relationship. Some offenses you simply forgive and go on, no discussion except with the Lord. Others require some discussion and others an intense let's work it through session or more. But in all instances the standard weights to be used is the word of God.

The writer makes it clear that some things will get in the way and cause different consequences – in particular "Pride" and "Lack of Integrity." Pride may make us want to lift up something of our doing as if it is the “cat's meow.” With pride we adjust the scales to make sure that we come out on top, we can not afford the pain of not getting the upper hand in the transaction. It would threaten our idol – whatever that may be. So we spare no tool in accomplishing our objective. We may “color the truth” with perceived motives. Wrong motives will always tip the scale in your favor – at least for a while. Our memory may be altered to protect or promote our position. As I get older and older I see more clearly the benefit of texting in the record it provides for me.

See God looks at the heart, He is the one who searches the heart's of others. We are only charged to search our own and are told to examine the “fruit” of ones life – “you shall know the tree by the fruit it bears” - “ask me of my faith and I will show you my works.” (you know the drill – look them up!). Is discernment thrown out – NO. It is however, not of motives but of spirit - “try the spirit by The Spirit” (look it up). The standard for discernment is by the Spirit of God, and as His spirit is embodied in His word, it is extremely important, ESPECIALLY when you know that the matter you are trying to win out on is close to your heart, and may easily hurt your pride if not acquired, that you examine things in light of His scales, His word. Attributing motives to others actions where the fruit is good, especially if you have been the beneficiary of the fruit – man you ate of it, enjoyed it, etc. – hmmm you might want to be very careful.

And what of integrity? How does integrity or lack of it mess up the scales in relationships?
Webster's describes integrity as: “uprightness of character; probity; honesty – undivided state; completeness. It lists as synonyms fidelity, justice, virtue and worth. A long time ago I heard a analytical working definition I liked – you can see a man's character by what he does when he has no choice. His integrity by what he does when he has a choice. So, for example – when I have only enough money for bills and necessities I do not have the choice as to whether to remain faithful, go drinking and carousing, go to bars and strip clubs – my actions in such a case shows forth my character; but when I have more than enough money, or a source of money unknown to the Mrs., I then have the opportunity to do all those things which are not wise at all and would violate my covenant with God and her – then my actions show forth my integrity. You can see in both character and integrity as defined by our actions, that the
passage would be easily interpreted:

“The integrity of the upright will guide them . . .”

See here our belief guides us in our actions and activities. But we must not forget that for that to constitute integrity it must be in accordance with the scales of God. See Websters would say that we are walking in integrity if our actions were in complete accord with our beliefs, an undivided state. But that could be the case and we could be pure evil. The scripture says integrity guides one, the upright and then it contrasts integrity of the upright with perverseness of transgressors. Although it does not clearly state – since they are contrasting statements – antithesis of each other – then the results, or fruit, of each action would be also. Thus if perverseness will lead to destruction, integrity would lead to salvation and life.

And indeed it does. But that is the easy part of our analysis. What about the scales? Is there such a thing as weighing the integrity of a person? Can someone have both integrity in one area and lack it in another. Could there be life and salvation in one area of your life and death and destruction in another?
In law school they taught us that oftentimes you will find the answer in the phrasing of the question. Here is an example of such. The answer is obviously yes.

You and I are charged to “workout your salvation with fear and trembling.” Is it saying that by works we would be saved. NO. What it is saying is that when standing before a Holy God we should see the areas in our life which lack holiness, which do not mirror His righteousness, which . . . lack integrity according to His scales, and allow him to, indeed partner with Him in the transforming of those areas to mirror his image. Oh, and about the fear and trembling part – recognize just how serious a matter this is. In Hebrews it warns us to not continue laying again repentance from dead works, God expects us to grow up.

Once told I had no integrity I heard myself saying “I am a good man. I am a good husband. I am a good father.” And indeed I am. This assurance I have from the Holy Spirit who convicts of righteousness.

Well if I stop there I can walk away feeling pretty good about myself. I can think of all the good fruit that is evidence of each of those affirmations. And yet, something would be missing. Let's step back to the scales for a moment.

The weights used in weighing items on the scales were very exact, they were not approximations. Neither can we, myself included, use “approximate” weights. In this case, to simply see the good without examining where there is bad, well that is not using His exacting scales and weights. See the Holy Spirit convicts of SIN and righteousness (I left this part out above quoting only the end of it for emphasis and understanding – now it may sound more familiar). Where is integrity NOT being the guide in my life. Where do I see death. Where is there no "good fruit"? Where are these things for you? Take a moment and jot them down. Then agree with Him. Covenant with Him to work out your salvation in that area. Let integrity be your guide and experience salvation and life!

See I both am and am not a man of integrity. That is true. The issue is whether I am willing to continue to do the work necessary in being perfected according to His Word, His scales and weights, in all those areas where I found pride interfering and/or integrity lacking. For me the answer is yes.

What about you?

There will always be areas of your life where the dark night seems to continue into the new day. Don't give up. Let the word of God wake you up and keep pressing on. Take yourself to the scales -- His scales. Beware of your pride and stand in His integrity.

Love yah,

dad