Neighbors (Proverbs 11:12)

It is important for us to live at peace with everyone around us. Even more so to be at peace with our neighbor.

"He who belittles and despises his neighbor lacks sense, but a man of understanding keeps silent." Proverbs 11:12, Amplified

If we are to at odds with our neighbor then we may as well invite destruction upon ourselves. Our neighbor may be the only earthly protection that we have. To love your neighbor as yourself is the second most important commandment. We do so that we may dwell safely here on the earth. A good an friendly neighbor will ward off any thieves or other dangers in our absence. To endanger that by openly despising our neighbor is unwise. A wise man, however, nurtures that relationship no matter the heart of his neighbor. Who knows, we may be the only link to the Lord that they will ever experience.

Life of the Righteous and Wicked (Proverbs 11:7-11)

In the next few verses, Solomon gives to us different examples of the lives of the righteous and the wicked.

"When the wicked dies, his hope [for the future] perishes, and the expectation of the godless comes to nothing." Proverbs 11:7, Amplified

The wicked and godless man have nothing going for them on the other side of this life. They may have all their money invested, their portfolios in line, their wills updated; but death brings all that to nought. We all have an eternal future; we either live eternally with God or have a life of eternal separation in Hell. Any hope of expectation that a wicked man has will be cut off from him at his last breath.

"The [uncompromisingly] righteous is delivered from trouble, and the wicked gets it instead." Proverbs 11:8, Amplified

Trouble comes upon us all, it is just the way that life works. Everyone must go through trials and tribulations. However, the righteous man will be delivered from his troubles. Don't interpret this verse just as it reads. I do not believe that Solomon was trying to convey that the Lord gives our troubles to the wicked. The picture being painted here is that the righteous are delivered but the wicked are not. It is the end that trouble brings that the righteous man is delivered from. For the wicked man, that end will never be taken from him, lest he change his ways.

"With his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge and superior discernment shall the righteous be delivered." Proverbs 11:9, Amplified

Gossip and rumors have destroyed many men. "And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell." (James 3:6, NKJV) Though the world be set on fire by the tongue of the wicked, there will be deliverance for the righteous man. If the tongue of the wicked man be turned toward the righteous, it is the knowledge that we have in Jesus Christ that shall be our salvation. Without Him, we would never be delivered.

"When it goes well with the [uncompromisingly] righteous the city rejoices, but when the wicked perish there are shouts of joy." Proverbs 11:10, Amplified

King David, in the Psalms, always noted that the wicked seemed to thrive in this world, but the righteous always seemed to get the short end on the stick. What Solomon is saying here is when the righteous man does well or prospers, people are genuinely happy for that man. Though we are a sinful and selfish people, we still enjoy watching other people prosper. There is always happiness when the righteous man prospers. But when the wicked man comes to his end, there will be shouts of joy in the streets. When the wicked dies so does his oppression. I remember watching the news as Sadam Hussein was captured. The people were elated, the toppled his image and pulled down his statue. Though we are a sinful and selfish people, we still enjoy when a wicked man perishes.

"By the blessing of the influence of the upright with God's favor [because of them] the city is exalted; but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked." Proverbs 11:11, Amplified

This spiritual truth can be verified through the reading of the books of history in the Old Testament. The Lord made the nation of Judah prosper when it had a righteous king at the helm, but He came against it when a wicked king was in rule. Just look at our nation of America. The same spiritual principals can be applied. Our politicians were once God fearing men. This nation was once built upon the Bible. But as a nation we are slowly leaving those convictions behind. Mark my words, if we do not go back to our roots, then we will be lead away captive by our own undoing.

Righteousness & Integrity (Proverbs 11:3-6)

Righteous men and women have the Lord to fall back on. He is their fail-safe. But the wicked man has nothing to fall back on, no safety net. In the end there is only death for the wicked man.

"The integrity of the upright shall guide them, but the willful contrariness and the crookedness of the treacherous shall destroy them." Proverbs 11:3, Amplified

It has been said that integrity is what a Christian's actions are even when he knows he is not being watched. The Lord's eyes are upon us all the time, however, those around us and the rest of humanity are not always watching. What a Christian does behind closed doors in the privacy of his own home, describes his integrity.

The antithesis of this is wickedness. There are those who are blatantly evil in every action that is taken. These actions could be private or public, either way it is a willful disobedience to the Lord. There is no glory awaiting the willful and contrary man at the end of his life.

"Riches provide no security in any day of wrath and judgement, but righteousness - uprightness, and right standing with God - delivers from death." Proverbs 11:4, Amplified

Riches provide so much for a man here on earth. They can even buy a temporary happiness. Bribes might even relinquish the judgement of man. But what about when it is time for the Lord to judge the earth? Will riches win out against the holiness of the Lord? No. "Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath..." (Zephaniah 1:18a, NKJV) Riches, in any form, are still of this fallen world and have no part with God. The Lord is not bound by the bounty of this earth. Man's vision is so hindered by his financial status that he tends to forget that the Lord says, "For every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills." (Psalm 50:10, NKJV)

But the righteousness of the righteous shall deliver them. For their righteousness of Jesus Christ. When our righteousness is truly not our righteousness but someone else's, then we are truly righteous. What I am saying is that nothing in and of ourselves is truly righteous. Man is a sinful being from the day that he is born. It is not till we come to a saving knowledge of the grace of Jesus that we become righteous and saved from death.

"The righteousness of the blameless shall rectify and make plain his way and keep it straight, but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness." Proverbs 11:5, Amplified

The path of the righteous is pretty simple and straight. The most important commandment the Lord said was to, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength." (Mark 12:30, NKJV)

It is only when we begin to practice the sin of lawlessness that we enter onto a path that is difficult. Now do not get me wrong, I am not trying to take away from the Sermon on the Mount where the Lord spoke about the narrow gate. In truth, being a Christian is one of the hardest lifestyles that I have ever lived, everyday is a choice to live for Him and not myself. The plainness of the the path of the righteous is is this: follow God, do His will. There is no having to come up with a story to cover lie after lie after lie when you are following your Lord.

It has been said that a tangled web is woven when we begin the practice of deception. When living a life of sin we begin to deceive ourselves into thinking that we are deceiving God. This is the complication of a life of sin.

"The righteousness of the upright - their rectitude in every area and relation - shall deliver them; but the treacherous shall be taken in their own iniquity and greedy desire." Proverbs 11:6, Amplified

Do not misunderstand Solomon. As I stated earlier, there is nothing righteous within man that makes him righteous. It is that plain path and righteous decisions that we will make on that path that will be our deliverance. For every decision brings us closer and closer to our Lord. Every decision should have Jesus in the forefront.

In the end, we all fall into the same fate, death. Christians nor sinners can escape the inevitability of death. Our deliverance comes from the second death, Hell. The treacherous and the wicked will have no deliverance from death when this world is gone. They heap upon themselves more and more sin because their lust is insatiable. We have a choice to either live like kings today or to live like king sin the after life.