Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause, And do not deceive with your lips.  Do not say, "Thus I shall do to him as he has done to me; I will render to the man according to his work."  Proverbs 24:28-29

How important is it for a soceity to value telling the truth?  One might argue that without this the ability of that soceity to function with any sort of justice is completely comprommised.  There has to be a basic level of trustworthiness and honesty for a soceity to function.  That is why our proverb for today is so important.  It urges us to tell the truth - and not to be a witness against our neighbor without cause.  Don't lie about your neighbor is what we are being told.  This is especially the case when any kind of bitterness of thought of revenge comes into our minds. 

There is a basic level of honesty that must be prevelent for a soceity to function.  Think for a moment about the number of transactions that take place every day that are based on the premise that we are being told the truth.  Now consider the number of ponzie schemes that have been exposed recently in our financial system.  This undermines everyone's confidence in the system itself.  It is only when honesty and truth prevail that one can feel even remotely safe in a society.  When that breaks down, the soceity itself breaks down.  Unless there is the rule of law - and the most basic levels of truth in what we do - our society will wind up looking like a banana republic where almost everything you do will have to be accompanied by a bribe to be done.  There will be no justice - and security will have to be maintained by how well you are armed. 

All this starts with the breakdown of honesty and truth between neighbors.  This is why God tells us NEVER to be a false witness against our neighbor.  We are not to give deceitful testimony - but rather to speak the truth.  The breakdown of decency is not the fault of Washington.  Decency broke down because we abandoned it toward our neighbors.  What we have in Washington is what happens when a society in general leaves honesty and accepts growing levels of dishonesty in itself and in its leaders.  We would not have the pack of dishonest, money-hungry, power-hungry fools leading us in our capitol accept for the fact that we ourselves did not DEMAND that our leaders be better than that.  When faced with dishonesty in office, we should have DEMANDED RESIGNATIONS - and if that did not happen - they should have been told plainly that this is the last term they would ever serve as our representatives in government.  Instead we traded truth for government hand-outs in the form of projects, grants, and every other way one can say government bribery without using the word bribe.  Without honesty, truth, and integrity - we are doomed as a nation.

Our proverb warns us in verse 29 that the worst way that dishonesty raises its ugly head is as a means of revenge.  We are presented with a situation in which someone has been a false witness.  We are warned not to decide that we will do to them what they have done to us.  When we choose to fight fire with fire - everything and everyone gets burned.  Scripture teaches us to turn the other cheek.  We are informed to allow the proper government authorities to deal with these matters.  We are also told that we are to treat others as we would have wanted to be treated ourselves.  Know this . . . God is keeping track of all wrongs and His justice will prevail in the end.  In the meantime - use every opportunity to show forth grace and mercy - so that you will also have opportunity to share the gospel - even with your enemies.  Avoid revenge.  It may give you a brief moment of pleasure at their pain - but in the end it will rot your soul.  Give your offendedness to God for Him to heal - then embrace the very Spirit of Christ - Who will enable you to be gracioius to those who mistreat you, and will strengthen you to pray for those who abuse you.  Then all will see that you are a son of your Father in heaven.  Speak truth - be an honest witness - and leave judgment to God. 

The way of a guilty man is crooked, But as for the pure, his conduct is upright. Proverbs 21:8

How do you know whther you are dealing with someone who is criminal and crooked in his ways - or whether you are dealing with a man who is pure in his motives and ways?  Here is an excellent question.  I am sure that many a man who has been conned would love to know the answer to this question.  That is what we will learn today as we open the book of Proverbs to verse 8 of chapter 21.

First we see the "guilty man."  What Solomon is describing to us though is the way of this man - the roads he takes and the lifestyle that is developed as a result.  This man is described to us as the guilty man.  The word used here for this designation is the Hebrew word, "vazar."  This word means a man who lacks innocence.  He is guilty because his behavior and choices reject God's law and ways.  In this regard he is a criminal - because his consistent choice is to break the law.  Solomon tells us that such a man is "crooked."  Crooked here is "haphak" which refers to someone who is very perverse and devious.  This guy is constantly perverting this - being devious - and lacking in honesty.  He is filled with a dishonesty that makes you wonder about his integrity.  

Note this when trying to determine whether someone is godly or ungodly in their dealings.  If you catch them making statements that are being twisted and fundamentally dishonest - most likely you are dealing with someone who is crooked and should be avoided at all costs.  You are going to pay dearly if you continue to do business and allow this man into your life.  The best thing you could do is cut and run.

The other man - the godly one - is pure.  The word here means someone who is clean - like pure water or pure oil.  This man is a godly man - and his godliness is verified by the honestly and integrity with which he speaks and acts.  This man's conduct is described as "upright."  This is the word "yashar" which means something that is straight, just, and right.  This word usually refers to things in an ethical and emotional sense.  These are men who are very concerned with being right in the eyes of the Lord.  They want a godly integrity in their dealings with others.  They do not want to deceive or to mislead. 

Wisdom tells us to be mindful of the character of those with whom we deal in life.  It is not enough that a good offer is on the table - or that someone is offering the best price.  We need to know that a man is also placing good character on the table as well.  Then we know whether we are dealing with a thief or not.  See behind the offers and see into their lives or the "way" that they live.  Do this and you will be much less likely to be caught in the schemes and the deception of the ungodly.

A just balance and scales belong to the LORD; All the weights of the bag are His concern. Proverbs 16:11

When it comes to how we live - and how we do business - God is concerned with how we proceed in integrity.  Thus we find today's proverb.  It deals with the call for a just balance and scales.  Since this was an agricultural society, most if not everything was sold by weight.  Thus the scales that a person used was the most important part of the transaction, since a false weight and scales would be a deceptive business owner who was trying to cheat his customers.

God desires a just balance and scales.  The Lord wants us to be honest in business - to be fair and equitable.  The "weights" mentioned later were actually rocks that were a standard of measure.  These rocks needed to be a certain weight.  The way that they maintained measurements was by having the temple regulating them.  This is why the statement is made about all the weights of the bag being God's concern.  There was the shekel of the sanctuary - as well as the various weights that were used there.  These weights were considered the official weights of the society.  If someone thought that a weight was being skewed in its true weight - the official sanctuary weights would be the place where they would be checked.  If there was cheating going on, they would be punished for their unjust and ungodly standards. 

What we are told here though goes beyond that.  We are told that all the weights of the bag are not just kept at the temple - they are kept in the thoughts of God Almighty.  They are his concern.  That takes the whole idea of integrity in the workplace to another level.  The Lord is keeping track of our weights and measurements.  He knows the work ethic that we seek to maintain - and He knows every time that we use an unjust weight or measure.  Surely in our society as well as in theirs, there were men who sought to bend the rules to their adantage.  And, like in our society, we cannot catch everyone who seeks to be unjust in their business dealings.  But we do have a God who can see eery transaction - every time we weigh out our time, our efforts, and our produce.  He sees and knows what we are doing - and He also realizes that in the end - the place of judgment will be His throne.  Oh that we might learn this - and walk through this world with the appropriate fear of God - and respect for His commandments.  Yes there will be those who think they can "get away" with it as they cheat others.  But the reality is that those who do such things never get away with it.  The Lord holds all the weights of the bag - and the judgment for not just religious works - but for how we operate in business as well - will be before Him.