“A false balance is an abomination to the Lord,

    but a just weight is his delight.”

Proverbs 11:1 ESV

A common thread throughout the book of Proverbs is integrity. Although the word integrity doesn’t appear in this verse the concept is certainly present. Notice the contrast between false and just.

Here, the writer uses imagery from the market. Imagine yourself as a day laborer, working some days, but not every day. The wages are meager at best, and with those few coins you enter the market to get some food for your family. You search diligently to get the most for the least because that is the only way you can feed your family.

This is the context of this verse. Of course, this is not to say that the rich are not within the scope of this verse, but a false balance that unfairly increases the price of necessities by pennies will not destroy the rich. A few extra pennies, though, may decimate the poor.

Readers should extend this verse to themselves. Do not say, I don’t work in the market, so this doesn’t apply to me. Integrity matters to God. Thus, it should matter to us, regardless of where we work.

How are you guarding your integrity?

“A wise son makes a glad father,

    but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother.”

Proverbs 10:1 ESV

So often we dismiss or are unaware of the way we affect others, particularly our parents. This verse may feel strange because we more naturally consider the parents’ influence on the children? Was he an abusive dad? Was she a nurturing mother?

Here, the writer flips that and reveals the influence that children can have on their parents. This is an important word for children because children typically think only about the parents’ responsibility to protect and provide for them.

So, here’s the message to children: Wisdom brings joy to your parents and folly brings sorrow to them.

She [Wisdom] has sent out her young women to call
    from the highest places in the town,
⁴ “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”
    To him who lacks sense she says,
⁵ “Come, eat of my bread
    and drink of the wine I have mixed.
⁶ Leave your simple ways, and live,
    and walk in the way of insight.”

Proverbs 9:3-6 ESV

Here, Wisdom is personified as a woman. Note that she sends her young women to proclaim the availability of wisdom. In other words, Wisdom isn’t hiding in a secret location. From the highest places in town, they call the simple to come partake of the blessings that wisdom has prepared. The promise for those who leave the “simple ways” is life and the way of insight.

Can you hear Wisdom’s call? If you are reading this, you are within the sound of Wisdom’s voice.

“Does not wisdom call?

    Does not understanding raise her voice?

² On the heights beside the way,

    at the crossroads she takes her stand;

³ beside the gates in front of the town,

    at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud:

⁴ “To you, O men, I call,

    and my cry is to the children of man.”

Proverbs 8:1-4 ESV

In this passage we see that wisdom is not as elusive as we might sometimes think … or suggest. Notice that wisdom is not something you need to trek to the Himalayas to find. Wisdom hangs out in the open, at the crossroads and the city gate (8:2-3). We walk past wisdom not because she is tucked away out of sight, but because we want to walk past her. How can I say that? Notice that wisdom cries out to us (8:1, 4), as if to say, “Hey, look over here! Here I am!”

Lord, please give us ears to hear wisdom, eyes to see wisdom, and hearts that desire to gain wisdom.

And now, O sons, listen to me,

    and do not depart from the words of my mouth.

⁸ Keep your way far from her,

    and do not go near the door of her house,

⁹ lest you give your honor to others

    and your years to the merciless,

¹⁰ lest strangers take their fill of your strength,

    and your labors go to the house of a foreigner,

¹¹ and at the end of your life you groan,

    when your flesh and body are consumed,

¹² and you say, “How I hated discipline,

    and my heart despised reproof!

¹³ I did not listen to the voice of my teachers

    or incline my ear to my instructors.

¹⁴ I am at the brink of utter ruin

    in the assembled congregation.”

Proverbs 5:7-14 ESV

In the preceding verses (3-6) the writer warned of the dangers presented by the forbidden woman. Here in verses 7-14, he continues that warning.

By going near her door you risk much. For example, you risk giving “your honor to others and your years to the merciless” (5:9). The second part of this couplet describes the risk as letting “strangers take their fill of your strength” and letting “your labors go to the house of a foreigner” (5:10). In other words the risk of going near her door is giving the rest of your life – time, energy, and resources – to someone else.

Is the risk worth the moment of forbidden pleasure? The writer answers that question like this: “… at the end of your life you groan, when your flesh and body are consumed” (5:11). I think the groaning is the result of three things. First, groaning comes from the fatigue and futility of laboring your life away, knowing that the reward of your labor is consumed and enjoyed by strangers, and not by you. In other words when you work overtime a stranger’s kid gets new sneakers, not your kids. This is a groaning of futility.

Second, groaning comes from the realization of how you got into this spot – being a fool – and how you could have avoided it had you walked the path of wisdom. Notice how the writer describes this realization: “… and you say, ‘How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof! I did not listen to the voice of my teacher or incline my ear to my instructors'” (5:12-13). This is a groaning of frustration. Why didn’t I just listen?

The third groan comes from a desperate sense of finality. “I am at the brink of utter ruin …” (5:14). In other words, “It’s over.” And this is what the fool can not see waiting for him at the end of the path of folly.

Like the writer of this passage, I also implore you to choose wisdom. “My son, be attentive to my wisdom; incline your ear to my understanding” (5:1).