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Pro 11:1-3 “A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight”

[Study Aired February 20, 2025]

Pro 11:1 A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight.
Pro 11:2 When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.
Pro 11:3 The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.

This opening verse sets the stage for this eleventh chapter, as we’re shown throughout these proverbs in many various ways why “A false balance is abomination to the LORD” and what makes up “a just weight” which is “his delight“.

One of the most basic needs of all humans is to be accepted of others, and in our own carnal way we seek out a way that seems right unto us to be accepted of others, and to fit into society (Gen 3:7-9). That way that seems right to mankind, and may even result in our saving our Adamic souls in this age, in the end leads to spiritual death (Pro 14:12).

Gen 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
Gen 3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden (Pro 14:12).
Gen 3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou (amongst the trees of the garden Mar 8:24)?

Pro 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death (amongst the trees of the garden Mar 8:24, Rev 18:4).

God has hidden from the world what “a just weight” means because we naturally weigh things with our Adamic carnal mind, “Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man“(Joh 8:15), that leans unto its own understanding (Pro 3:5-11) as opposed to looking to God as Christ did so that our judgement with God’s spirit within us (Rom 8:9), our weighing of matters, is always “a just weight“, and not a “false balance” (Joh 8:12-19, Joh 5:30). Our lifetime goal that we are pressing toward is to bring every thought into subjection to Christ (2Co 10:5), as we experience God’s goodness and mercy toward us, that makes it possible for us to strive toward those just weights and balances (Php 3:13).

Pro 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Pro 3:6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths (Joh 8:31-32).
Pro 3:7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

Joh 8:15 Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man.
Joh 8:16 And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me.

Joh 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

God’s elect are called unto this high calling in this life to find our acceptance in Christ and none other (Eph 1:6), even at the expense of losing our life (Mat 10:39, Luk 12:5). God has made provision for us through our high priest to obtain this greatest of goals of losing our life in this age as a kind of first fruits of God’s creation who are pressing toward a mark of excellence that can only be found in Christ (Php 3:13). When we die daily, and lose our life, by not leaning unto our own understanding, we are being grafted into the Vine where true life resides, where we can now bring forth fruit unto everlasting life (Rom 6:22-23).

Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved (Eph 2:8).

Mat 10:39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

Luk 12:5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.

Rom 6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The proverbs we’re looking at are written for our benefit as ensigns (banners Son 2:4) along the way as we seek a new country (Heb 11:14) and look unto the glorious hope of His return (Tit 2:13).

Tit 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; (Eph 1:14)
Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
Tit 2:15 These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.

The proverbs are written in a double edged sword manner showing us both the delight that God has in the new creation being formed in Christ as well as showing us how this is accomplished by our being able to recognize that we have all the negative qualities of these proverbs lingering within us (1Co 9:26-27, Luk 18:19) that are only able to be overcome daily by the grace of God and through the faith of Christ (Eph 2:8).

1Co 9:26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
1Co 9:27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

Luk 18:19 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.

Flesh, including Christ’s flesh, can only learn obedience by the things that we suffer (Heb 5:8, 1Jn 4:17). That is how God made us, and when we put off our flesh and remain yielded to God’s purpose it will be through the much tribulation of this life (Act 14:22) that God has ordained for His children, that we will learn how His power can rest upon us (2Co 12:9), as we go through our tailor made trials (1Co 10:13) that bring us to be convinced that we are more than conquerors through Christ, who will faithfully see His children through this process (Heb 2:6, Tit 2:11-12) of losing none, that the Father has given him to accomplish (Rom 8:37, Joh 17:12). The man of perdition is represented by that negative part of the proverb that needs to be burnt out of us by the brightness of Christ’s coming into our heavens (2Th 2:8).

Eph 2:8 For by grace (2Co 12:9) are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast (Joh 5:30, Joh 15:5).

Pro 11:1 A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight.
Pro 11:2 When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.

What creates a “false balance” in the heart of any man is acting upon (Jas 1:14-15) the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life of (1Jn 2:16). Those are all the sins of the world categorized for us, and found within all of humanity. It is only when we act upon this sin in our members that we lose our spiritual “balance“. Christ had all the sins of the world within His flesh, and yet never sinned (Heb 4:15). He was in temptable flesh that He ruled over by the grace of God (Joh 5:30), so “pride” never manifested in His heavens. He was our example of humility and being abased and ruling over the flesh, and always saying not my fleshly will, but your will be done (Luk 22:42, Luk 13:33). It is God’s will that we will be as Christ (1Jn 4:17) and die daily and see our old man perish in Jerusalem above the mother of us all (Gal 4:26).

Luk 22:42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

Luk 13:33 Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.

Gal 4:26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all (where we are raised in heavenly places and die daily Eph 2:6, 1Co 15:31).

The “just weight” in Christ’s life was only consistently made possible because of the work that the Father did in Him (Php 2:12-13, 1Jn 4:17) as the first of the first fruits who would be delivered from sinful flesh for the sake of those who would not just need to be delivered from sinful flesh, but also from the sins committed in this flesh that only Christ’s life in us can set us free from (Joh 8:36). God the Father was the anchor for Christ’s soul, and it is the same exceedingly great and precious promises that we hold onto by the life of Christ within us that are the anchors of our souls today (Heb 6:18-20).

Heb 6:18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
Heb 6:19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
Heb 6:20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

Christ’s life in us is what produces that lowliness. He was like a lamb to the slaughter (Isa 53:7, 1Jn 4:17), and with God’s spirit within us we are growing to become like Him in this life, a living sacrifice that is presented and accepted through Christ (Rom 12:1, Eph 1:6). He gives us victory over our pride-filled ways that He causes to manifest in our lives that cause shame, “When pride cometh, then cometh shame“, so that we intimately learn that we are His workmanship who are fulfilling His will on earth, as it is done in heaven, both the light and the darkness, the peace and the evil (Isa 45:7). We are also being shown that any future shame that may come upon us due to a proud heart will also be conquered by the love of God if we are those who God has blessed to be humbled in this life through judgement (1Pe 4:17) and built up through Christ who is our wisdom, becoming a holy habitation in the Lord “but with the lowly is wisdom“(Isa 66:2, Eph 2:21-22).

Isa 66:2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

Eph 2:21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
Eph 2:22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

Pro 11:3 The integrity^H8538 of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness^H5558 of transgressors shall destroy them.

Boasting is excluded by the law of faith (Rom 3:27), and we are of the generation who have no confidence in the flesh (Php 3:3), and it is Christ doing the work within us as stated in (Php 2:12-13). Knowing those truths and that Christ himself took no credit for the works that He did on earth (Joh 5:30), we can give all glory to God for any qualities of being honest and having strong moral principles that refuse to change, which is the definition of integrity.

It is Christ who holds us and gives us the power to maintain integrity, making it a gift from God (Joh 10:29). What would naturally happen if not for God’s intervention in our hearts and minds is stated in the following part of the proverb, “but the perverseness^H5558 of transgressors shall destroy them“. In both instances it is the Lord who is causing these conditions (Isa 45:7, Gen 45:5) and that is the ongoing lesson that we are learning as the bride of Christ who is being washed by the blood of the lamb and being granted the righteousness of Christ in this age (Rev 19:7-8).

Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Gen 45:5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.

Rev 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
Rev 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

Our integrity comes from God through Christ our hope of glory within (Col 1:27) even as the broken and contrite heart of (Isa 66:2) is from God and not something that we have innately within us, but still something our carnal minds want to try to acknowledge in others and ourselves as being something that I have of my own supposed free will that makes it possible for me to be a better man (Php 3:9). Christ himself tells us plainly to acknowledge flesh for what it is, and give glory to where that glory belongs, to God (Mar 10:18).

Mar 10:18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.

Mar 10:21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: (Php 3:9) and come, take up the cross, and follow me.

It is that self-righteous spirit of Job that had him believing he was a man of integrity that had to be burnt out of him as a type of the elect who are learning that there is none righteous, no one with integrity, except it come from God, and therefore all credit is His for the workmanship that we can become through Christ (Eph 2:8-10, Rev 4:10-11).

Rev 4:10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
Rev 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power [Zec 4:6, Mic 6:8]: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

It is the harlot and the publican that Christ says are further along and go away justified because they can more readily see there pitiful condition and confess it and be forgiven (Rom 7:24-25), as opposed to the self-righteous man in me that wants to maintain my integrity and think that I’m somehow more deserving, or a better human being than someone else, demonstrated by my own ability to live a life that appears to others from the outside to be one that is full of integrity, doing many wonderful works, but still not knowing and acknowledging that we must, in time, fulfill the will of God through a lifetime of confessing our faults and not despising His goodness that is leading us unto repentance through His judgements in our life today, which is given to very few to do in this life (Mat 21:28-31, Luk 18:10-14, Rom 2:4).

Mat 21:28 But what think ye? A certain man had two sons [two sons old man and new man within me]; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard.
Mat 21:29 He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented [acknowledgement of sin], and went.
Mat 21:30 And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not [no acknowledgement of sin].
Mat 21:31 Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you [Mat 12:48-50].

Luk 18:10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
Luk 18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
Luk 18:12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
Luk 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
Luk 18:14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Rom 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

From God’s perspective, which is the only perspective that we need to have, we are to let God be true and every man a liar as far as our understanding of the deceitful nature of flesh. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags unto him (Isa 64:6).

The conclusion of the matter is that only Christ can be Christ as our hope of glory within and we can, God willing in this age, become more that conquerors through him as we acknowledge our wretched condition that He is able to deliver us from (Rom 7:24-25).

Let us therefore continually offer up the sacrifice of thanksgiving to Him (Heb 13:15) for showing us who and what we really are, praising God for a process that is completely dependent on the author and finisher of our faith, and has nothing to do with our supposed integrity, or righteousness, or fabled free will (Php 3:9). Instead we pray that God will grant us to fulfill these verses throughout our very temporary life: (Act 10:35, Ecc 12:13), and grant that we always acknowledge that the integrity of our life comes from God alone who leads us into right paths for His name sake (Psa 23:3).

Psa 23:3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Job 2:3 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.

Job 2:9 Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.

Job 31:5 If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit;
Job 31:6 Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity.

Pro 11:3 The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.

H8538 tûmmâh toom-maw’
Feminine of H8537; innocence: – integrity.
Total KJV occurrences: 5 (integrity, 5)
Job 2:3, Job 2:9, Job 31:5-6 (2), Pro 11:3

Job’s prayer was answered (Job 31:6), as he typifies God’s elect who must experience the seven last plagues of God’s judgement upon our old man in order to enter into the temple of God (Rev 15:8).

Rev 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.