Welcoming all, wishing for you a wonderful day. Let's consider verses 6-10 of Proverbs 11. For commentary on verses 1-5, search "Oct 11".

"6 The righteousness of the upright will rescue them, But the treacherous will be caught by their own desires. 7 When a wicked man dies, his hope perishes; And expectations based on his power also perish. 8 The righteous one is rescued from distress, And the wicked one takes his place. 9 By his mouth the apostate brings his neighbor to ruin, But by knowledge the righteous are rescued. 10 The goodness of the righteous makes a city rejoice, And when the wicked perish, there is a joyful cry"

Prov 11:6 The keeping of God's laws and standards rescues us from much that causes harm, and standing for what's right by God brings his spiritual protection. Nurturing wrong desires, however, breeds disloyalty to God and treachery, allowing one to be caught in traps laid by evil ones, which pull one away from God's love.

Prov 11:7 A "wicked man" has no claim to the reward of immortality bestowed upon faithful anointed ones. They have no immortal soul, or spirit. Such is a concept of Greek philosophy--not rooted in God's word. The Scriptures reveal everlasting life to be a GIFT from God, not a curse, as one suffering eternal torment. Roma 6:23 says "For the wages sin pays is death, but the gift that God gives is everlasting life by Christ Jesus our Lord."

Prov 11:8 The wicked one, causing distress to the righteous, may well fall into the very trap that he has laid for others. (Prov 26:27) Prov 28:10 says "The one misleading the upright into an evil course will fall into his own pit, but the blameless will inherit what is good." May we be careful not to be persuaded by evil ones, pursuing a selfish, ungodly course in life. We should guard our associations, including that which we watch and listen to on TV, in movies, and in music. Look for the treasures in all such media, that are agreeable to the path of life--there are still many!

Prov 11:9 May we be among those rescuing the righteous, by using truthful knowledge aright, and avoid the snares laid by selfish apostate liars.

Prov 11:10 Goodness goes beyond the minimum of what's required before God, often by exceptional kindness and gifts of knowledge and charity. Such goodness of righteous ones brings true contentment and joy to a city, and such persons should certainly be appreciated by governors and kings for their upright conduct. (Roma 13:1-7).

Psal 52 (Book 2, 11th psalm) speaks against those who "love evil more than what is good, lying more than speaking what is right." (Psal 52:3). Such unrepentant ones will not be allowed to continue their evil course indefinitely. God will uproot them "from the land of the living" (Psal 52:5). Psal 52:6,7 adds "The righteous ones will see it and be filled with awe, And they will laugh at him. 7 “Here is a man who did not make God his refuge, But he trusted in his great riches And relied on his own evil plots.”"

Galatians 1 also encourages caution regarding our association. Gala 1:6-8 shows the Scriptures are what we should hold to regarding our faith, our trust and our belief system, not being persuaded by unrighteous ones: "I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away from the One who called you with Christ’s undeserved kindness to another sort of good news. 7 Not that there is another good news; but there are certain ones who are causing you trouble and wanting to distort the good news about the Christ. 8 However, even if we or an angel out of heaven were to declare to you as good news something beyond the good news we declared to you, let him be accursed." May we continue to grow in our understanding of God's word of truth, trusting and clinging to God as our refuge in a world still promoting unrighteousness.