Proverbs 11: 9 Hypocrisy

Today’s verse covers the problems that neighbors can have when one or more of them have a problem with hypocrisy.

Proverbs 11: 9 (NKJV)

9 The hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor,

But through knowledge the righteous will be delivered.

The Thesaurus on the Free Online Dictionary gives these definitions of a hypocrite – 1. A person who professes beliefs and opinions that he or she does not hold in order to conceal his or her real feelings or motives 2. A person who is inwardly evil but outwardly professes to be virtuous 3. Someone who leads you to believe something that is not true.

These types of people live on lying and gossip, and the words that come from their mouths, can cause great harm and even destruction to those around them. In contrast, those that are lead by the Spirit of God through knowledge of His Word and His Ways can find ways to extricate themselves from the webs of lies the hypocrite has woven for them. Their character and the ways that they have lived will show others which one is telling the truth and which is lying.

Proverbs 11:1 Don’t Cheat Others!

Hi, fellow Wisdom Seekers! Today we will be starting a new chapter. Let’s see what the Lord has to teach us for today!

Proverbs 11:1 (NKJV)
1 Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD,

But a just weight is His delight.

The note in my NIV Bible says that, “In a culture with no bureau of weights and measures, cheating in business by falsification of standards was common…” God calls those that follow HIM to be very careful NOT to cheat others in any way! He says that cheating is an “abomination” to Him. The word, “abomination,” as defined in the Online Dictionary, means, 1. Abhorrence; disgust. 2. A cause of abhorrence or disgust. 3. an action that is vicious or vile; an action that arouses disgust or abhorrence.

This would be another form of lying, and John 8:44 (NKJV) says, that if you lie, 44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. Proverbs 6: 17 lists lying as one of the “Seven Deadly Sins” that God hates!

As we can see, God feels quite STRONGLY about cheating and lying, which go hand in hand. Revelation 22:14-15 (NKJV) makes this VERY clear! It says, 14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city [speaking of heaven]. 15 But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.

Lying and cheating are the exact opposites of everything the Lord wants of His people. This verse concludes with “a just weight is His delight” because God’s ways are ways of love, caring, help, and truth toward our “neighbors.” These things build up trust and confidence between His children (those that choose to follow Him), and eventually, we will all be living together in His kingdom, so we need to start building the type of relationships here that we will live with, forever, there!

Proverbs 10:19 & 20 Watch Your Mouth! Continued…

Today’s verses, like our last study, also speak of the importance of the words that come out of our mouths.


Proverbs 10:19 & 20 (NKJV)

19 In the multitude of words sin is not lacking,
But he who restrains his lips is wise.
20 The tongue of the righteous is choice silver;
The heart of the wicked is worth little.


I love the way that the New Living Translation, which is a paraphrase Bible, renders this verse! “ Don’t talk to much, for it fosters sin. Be sensible and turn off the flow!” I think that says it pretty well. It is when we get carried away while speaking, that we (or maybe I should say, “I”) have a tendency to add things that “exaggerate” a bit. If you look at it, “exaggeration” is, in essence, lying. Often, if I keep it simple and “just the facts…” then things will come out the way they need to for me to stay on track with what the Lord would want.


As we have seen in past verses that we have studied, God wants the words that we speak to be a source of “riches” to others. This verse says, like “choice silver.”


As we saw in our last study, the words we speak spring from our “hearts,” and Biblically speaking, that means from our inner-most beings… our true selves. Those words from Jesus are just so important that I am going to repeat them here again, for they are something that needs to take root in our “hearts” so that we will be deterred from getting carried away in our speaking.


Matthew 12:34b-37 (NKJV)

34b For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. 36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Proverbs 8: 4 - 11

Yesterday, we saw, in the first 3 verses of this chapter, “Wisdom” portrayed as a woman crying out to those that would listen. This is the theme in this chapter. Today’s verses go on to tell us some of the attributes of wisdom, and end with the admonition that earths riches “cannot be compared with her…”

Proverbs 8: 4 - 11 (NKJV)

4 “ To you, O men, I call,

And my voice is to the sons of men.

5 O you simple ones, understand prudence,

And you fools, be of an understanding heart.

6 Listen, for I will speak of excellent things,

And from the opening of my lips will come right things;

7 For my mouth will speak truth;

Wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

8 All the words of my mouth are with righteousness;

Nothing crooked or perverse is in them.

9 They are all plain to him who understands,

And right to those who find knowledge.

10 Receive my instruction, and not silver,

And knowledge rather than choice gold;

11 For wisdom is better than rubies,

And all the things one may desire

cannot be compared with her.

We know that all TRUE wisdom is of God, and in our first verses of this section, we are told that He calls out to men and the “sons of men.” Before we come to know God, we are “simple,” as in ignorant, or without understanding, and, as we have seen numerous times in Proverbs so far, we are “fools” in God’s sight. Remember Proverbs 1:7 says “The fear of the Lord is the BEGINNING of knowledge…”

When we choose to follow God and His ways through asking Jesus into our lives, then He comes to live in us by His Holy Spirit, and teaches us the things of God. I believe that this also means that He will help us to understand the things that He wants us to know as we read and study His Word.

Scripture tells us that “God’s ways are not our ways…” and so we NEED His Spirit to help us understand His ways. This gift of the Holy Spirit entering into our lives, comes when we are “born again.” Through sin, our spirits died and we need to be “made alive again” through a new birth. I want to make it clear that I am not speaking, here, about the different “gifts of the Holy Spirit” which sometimes gets people confused and can get controversial… I am simply speaking of God’s Spirit that is within us after we’ve decided to follow Him, and THAT is what helps us to understand God’s wisdom.

These verses tell us that God speaks of “excellent things…,” things that are righteous and true. Reminds me of Phil. 4:8 “8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” (NKJV)

There is no wickedness or perversity among the words of God. Many times, people accuse God of wickedness and doing perverse things, but they don’t take into account that there is not only a God, but a Satan… and his followers… in this world that hate mankind and do all in their power to turn us from following God. Between these evil forces and the way they have influenced so much in this fallen world, and our own “lusts of the flesh” we may find ourselves in bad situations, but they aren’t authored by the God that loves us and even “paid the price of our sins” Himself!

The last verses in this section teach us that God’s instruction, knowledge, and wisdom is better than silver, gold or rubies, and anything else that might be desirable to us. Nothing can be compared to what God has in store for those who give their lives to following Him and His ways!

Proverbs 3: 25 & 26

We will look at the next 2 verses today from Proverbs 3. They speak of the Lord’s protection and of not having to live in fear. Here they are:

Proverbs 3: 25 & 26

25 Do not be afraid of sudden terror, Nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes; 26 For the LORD will be your confidence, And will keep your foot from being caught.

Verses 25 and 26 tell us that we don’t have to be afraid of “sudden terror.” This is would be things that happen unexpectedly. Many people today are living under a cloud of fear. They are afraid of a drive by, or of their child being harmed in some way. They fear for their future with the uncertain economy. They can’t sleep for fear, and their bodies are experiencing the toll that fear costs… lowered immunity, stress related problems that make them turn to drugs or alcohol, weight gain, anxiety attacks, etc.

Jesus tells us that in the last days, this is the way that so many people will live:

Luke 21:25-27 (NKJV)

The Coming of the Son of Man
25 “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; 26 men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

We see so much of this happening today. The news is full of stories about the raise of heart attacks and stress related disorders.

Today’s verses, though, tell us that we don’t have to live in that kind of fear, or of fear of evil men causing us trouble. They may try to cause us trouble, but these verses tell us that “the LORD will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from being caught.” Remember, we have been talking about Godly wisdom, which is BASED on “seeking first the Kingdom of God and HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS…”

If our lives are based on these principles, then we won’t “fear” for we will have confidence that God has it all in His LOVING hands, and will not give us more than we can bear, but will bring us through, or protect us from (depending on what He knows we need to build our faith) all the problems the evil one throws at us.

I leave you with this verse from 1 John 4:18:

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

Proverbs 3: 3 & 4

A quick note: I wanted to let those of you who are following this Bible Study know that I will be trying to post at least every two or three days unless an emergency comes up. At least that is my plan at this time. We will see how the Lord leads. Trying to post everyday just didn’t seem to work out, but I don’t plan to quit at this time by any means… just cut back a bit.

Ok… Now, lets read today’s verses, and then we will take a closer look at them:

Proverbs 3: 3 & 4

3 Let not mercy and truth forsake you;
Bind them around your neck,
Write them on the tablet of your heart,

4 And so find favor and high esteem

In the sight of God and man.

There are so many verses in the Bible that talk about having "mercy." The online dictionary gives these definitions: mercy – 1. leniency and compassion shown toward offenders by a person or agency charged with administering justice; 2. a disposition to be kind and forgiving; 3. the feeling that motivates compassion 4. alleviation of distress; showing great kindness toward the distressed.

The Bible tells us that God has mercy on us, and that we should have mercy toward those around us. If we are Christians (trying to be Christ-like) then being merciful should be becoming a way of life for us. If we are in authority over others at work or at home, we should show leniency and compassion whenever it is not detrimental to the growth of the other person.

Sometimes, we are more merciful by disciplining than by “letting it go…” and not letting the person learn from their mistake. This is where weighing the truth and using wisdom (say from looking at the surrounding circumstances very carefully) is so often needed. Snap judgments to often lead to the need for us to apologize to God and to those that were hurt by them.

Our overall mindset should be one of kindness and forgiveness, remembering how much we have been forgiven through Christ’s sacrifice for us. By always keeping this in mind, we will have “the feeling that motivates compassion” toward others that we come into contact with as we travel through this life. Being “compassionate” means that we will “show kindness toward the distressed” and try to help them out of their problems.

True mercy DOES hinge on truth. They go together. Verse 3 says that these two should be “bound around our neck.” To me, I picture them as being hung like a necklace… a piece of adornment and beauty in a person’s life that shows what is written “on the tablet of your heart.” Mercy and truth should be what MOTIVATES us to do the good “works” that are a witness to the fact that God’s love is IN and A PART of our hearts.

We should also remember that Jesus said “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” I would really want God to show those attributes of mercy to me in my life.

Verse 4 tells us that both men AND GOD will see us with “favor and high esteem,” when we live a life that demonstrates mercy that is based on truth. The dictionary gives these definitions for esteem - 1. the condition of being honored; 2. an attitude of admiration; 3. a feeling of delighted approval and liking. Wouldn’t you want other people, and MOST importantly, God, to look on you with a “feeling of delighted approval and liking…” for what you are doing? I know I would!