#916 Proverbs 11 Ring of Fodder

A false balance is an abomination to the Lord,

but a just weight is his delight.

2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace,

but with the humble is wisdom.

3 The integrity of the upright guides them,

but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.

4 Riches do not profit in the day of wrath,

but righteousness delivers from death.

5 The righteousness of the blameless keeps his way straight,

but the wicked falls by his own wickedness.

6 The righteousness of the upright delivers them,

but the treacherous are taken captive by their lust.

7 When the wicked dies, his hope will perish,

and the expectation of wealth perishes too.

8 The righteous is delivered from trouble,

and the wicked walks into it instead.

9 With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor,

but by knowledge the righteous are delivered.

10 When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices,

and when the wicked perish there are shouts of gladness.

11 By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted,

but by the mouth of the wicked it is overthrown.

12 Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense,

but a man of understanding remains silent.

13 Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets,

but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered.

14 Where there is no guidance, a people falls,

but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.

15 Whoever puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer harm,

but he who hates striking hands in pledge is secure.

16 A gracious woman gets honor,

and violent men get riches.

17 A man who is kind benefits himself,

but a cruel man hurts himself.

18 The wicked earns deceptive wages,

but one who sows righteousness gets a sure reward.

19 Whoever is steadfast in righteousness will live,

but he who pursues evil will die.

20 Those of crooked heart are an abomination to the Lord,

but those of blameless ways are his delight.

21 Be assured, an evil person will not go unpunished,

but the offspring of the righteous will be delivered.

22 Like a gold ring in a pig's snout

is a beautiful woman without discretion.

23 The desire of the righteous ends only in good,

the expectation of the wicked in wrath.

24 One gives freely, yet grows all the richer;

another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.

25 Whoever brings blessing will be enriched,

and one who waters will himself be watered.

26 The people curse him who holds back grain,

but a blessing is on the head of him who sells it.

27 Whoever diligently seeks good seeks favor,

but evil comes to him who searches for it.

28 Whoever trusts in his riches will fall,

but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.

29 Whoever troubles his own household will inherit the wind,

and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart.

30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,

and whoever captures souls is wise.

31 If the righteous is repaid on earth,

how much more the wicked and the sinner! Proverbs 11 ESV

Proverbs 11

A false balance is an abomination to the Lord - Fallen man has pride, and can therefore justify practices that God has deemed unfair. Just as lady justice should be blind, judging the weight of the act, looking at behaviors rather than who it is, so should the scales of business be under the law. You should not have a weight for the rich and another for the poor, for those you like, are your friends, and another for those who you think you can fool. Men are greedy, and therefore we have to have outside, third party, regulators, to calibrate fuel pumps and test to see that they are accurate. When I buy a pound of meat at the store, I like to get a pound, but because of human depravity men will justify what God has called an abomination, tipping the scales in favor of their greed. If we are all made in His image, then the departure from equality is an affront to God Himself.

You shall not have two differing weights in your bag, one heavy and one light. 14 You shall not have two differing measures in your house, a larger and a smaller. 15 You must maintain accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.…

16 For everyone who behaves dishonestly in regard to these things is detestable to the LORD your God. Deuteronomy 25: 13-16

But a just weight is His delight - The simplest things; a foot is a foot, a pound is a pound, and He will not chastise you for giving extra, but He hates deceit. In the light of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we find that God's word may also clash with our culture, what we have come to accept and expect, but His word has not changed. As an enemy of God, He has given me redemption in His Son, not justice, not my due, but mercy beyond my measure. It should be a small thing for me to be fair to others, but how marvelous a notion to want for them better than they have done to me. 

…29 Jesus replied, “This is the most important: ‘Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. 30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”… Mark 12: 29-31

When pride comes then comes disgrace - "I want this, and by-golly I deserve this, so since I deserve this then the end will surely justify the means." God said, but we decide that it does not apply to us. We lower our standard, but God has not, and so we disgrace ourselves, our fellow man, and stoop below the image of God by trying to assert ourselves above. Pride comes before a fall. It is treason to reason, to others, to God; we are traitors.

You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every kind of precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald. Your mountings and settings were crafted in gold, prepared on the day of your creation. 14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for I had ordained you. You were on the holy mountain of God; you walked among the fiery stones. 15 From the day you were created you were blameless in your ways—until wickedness was found in you.

By the vastness of your trade, you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mountain of God, and I banished you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. 17 Your heart grew proud of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor; so I cast you to the earth; I made you a spectacle before kings. 18 By the multitude of your iniquities and the dishonesty of your trading you have profaned your sanctuaries. So I made fire come from within you, and it consumed you. I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the eyes of all who saw you.…

19 All the nations who know you are appalled over you. You have come to a horrible end and will be no more.’” Ezekiel 28: 13-19

…9“All this I will give You,” he said, “if You will fall down and worship me.” 10“Away from me, Satan!” Jesus declared. “For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’” 11 Then the devil left Him, and angels came and ministered to Him.… Matthew 4: 9-11

…43 Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you are unable to accept My message. 44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me!… John 8:43-45

All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. 29 At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 30 and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” 31 While the words were still in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you, 32 and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.” 33 Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles' feathers, and his nails were like birds' claws. Daniel 4: 28-33

But righteousness delivers from wrath - What riches could not do. 

…5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. 6 For the LORD guards the path of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. Psalm 1: 5-6

…5 You welcome those who gladly do right, who remember Your ways. Surely You were angry, for we sinned. How can we be saved if we remain in our sins? 6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like a polluted garment; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind. 7 No one calls on Your name or strives to take hold of You. For You have hidden Your face from us and delivered us into the hand of our iniquity.… Isaiah 64: 5-7

…20 Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5: 20-21

By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted - Pray not just for the city, but for the people of the city, that their hearts be turned to God so that they will walk upright. Pray that those who profess God will live worthy to the Name, and bring light to where they live. 

But by the mouth of the wicked it is overthrown - They slander, they lie, promise what cannot and often should not be delivered. Their appeal is to wantonness, to the sin that so easily besets, to greed, lust, and they approve of that which God warns against. They promote what will destroy the city.

But in an abundance of counselors there is safety - I have known too many men in the corporate world who are always "right", and to whom others opinions do not matter. They make costly mistakes and still pat themselves on the back, still cannot hear wisdom, no matter how much it hurts others. I am just a talent scout. I know that I do not know everything, and what will keep my people safe is that I listen, I pick good foreman and I own all our mistakes.

Like a gold ring in a pig's snout - We pick upside down, we make appearance the highest priority, but the most beautiful woman by the world's standard, the trophy wife without discretion, makes her husband a pig. She is a gossip, her worth is set upon that which is fading, and she speaks volumes to her own husbands lack of discernment. 

…24 Then she went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” And Herodias answered, “The head of John the Baptist.” 25 At once the girl hurried back to the king with her request: “I want you to give me the head of John the Baptist on a platter immediately.” 26 The king was consumed with sorrow, but because of his oaths and his guests, he did not want to refuse her.… Mark 6: 24-26

The people curse him who holds back grain - I think an example of this I have seen is when people influence the market, holding back until the demand inflates the price. The same would never understand the giving man in the verses before. It is not that he does not get, he does, for that is where he gives from, but he isn't greedy. He sees he has much, and he sees his fellow image bearer in lack, and he cannot leave him that way. It is also his joy to do so.

And whoever captures souls is wise - This is not the place the pig looks. It is where love goes searching, the place of eternal consequence, accessed not by pride.

“God himself wins not souls without wisdom, for the eternal plan of salvation was dictated by an infallible judgment, and in every line of it infinite skill is apparent…. There is as much wisdom to be seen in the new creation as in the old. In a sinner saved, there is as much of God to be beheld as in a universe rising out of nothing.” (Spurgeon)