The King's Scale

Proverbs 11:1King James Version (KJV)

11 A false balance is abomination to the Lord: but a just weight is his delight.

Proverbs has always been a tricky chapter to read. There is so much wisdom to be acquired but it requires a deeper understanding to unravel the goodness of each verse. With that being said, I hope the Spirit helps me bring out the true meaning of this text.

One of the symbols in law is the measuring scale. It represents justice and impartiality. This verse adapts this metaphor to convey a very important message; the importance of truth and not being misleading in our words and actions.

Soak in this imagery. You walk into a shop where everything measure purchased is weighed to quantify the value. The attendant welcomes you with a lovingly warm smile as you approach with your items for weighing. After she’s done, she quotes a figure that has you shocked because you have never paid this much, but she says new prices have been listed. After thinking about it, it doesn’t tally and after she lifts the produce of the scale you notice it has been set back to give you a false figure. Chances are that you would be highly annoyed and feel like you have been cheated, right? You can, then, imagine how the store owner or manager would feel if he finds out. He’d probably fire her. That’s the same disdain God has for falsehood.

Sometimes we are tempted to give a false impression of a situation we might be in to gain some leverage. Like a boy telling a girl how he has a mansion when indeed he still lives in a compound house or creating a Facebook profile with serious deviations from how you look like and who you are. Falsehood doesn’t only mean lying, it also means being partial and biased in judgement. As Christians, it is our responsibility to call something for what it truly is, even if it’s to our disadvantage.

Sometimes we do not realize how dangerous falsehood is.

1. .       It creates expectations or impressions for things that do not exist.
2. 2.       It clouds our other positive qualities we have been blessed with; since it breaks the trust of the people we lie to.
3. 3.       It can cloud of even sway other people’s judgement concerning a particular issue. Imagine a court sentence depended on your truth as a key juror and you said otherwise which altered the judgement of your peers and the judge, leading to someone’s wrongful incarceration.
4. 4.       It blocks opportunities to inspire and contribute positively to the person’s life to God’s glory.
5. 5.       Since we are children of God, it could give a false representation of His children to principled nonbeliever or even somebody who is new to the walk in faith.  They could fail to see the difference between a reformed Christian and someone who is in the world.
6. 6.       Although we are all human and we are prone to sin, falsehood arises from the need to cover up imperfections. Sometimes we as Christians kind of create the illusion of perfection when in actual fact, even the Bible shows us how we fall short of righteousness. Yes it is good to call out evil when we see it, but partiality sets in when we stop seeing the person as a human liable to flaw and as the sin he/she may have committed instead of helping him/her find their way because Lord knows we are not perfect ourselves.
7. 7.       We risk God’s displeasure. God will not be pleased with our partiality. It’s even an abomination and every abomination has serious implications.

Every time you might be tempted to bend the truth or your judgment for your own good, please be reminded of what you stand to lose, since these things listed are only a few consequences of partiality and you do not want to find out the hard way.

It is our prayer that God grants us discernment to choose our words carefully and truthfully. We pray for mercy for all the times we may have not told the truth and strength to stand by what is true a just for His glory, in Jesus name we pray. Amen.