Fair Dealing
Commonplace –
“A false balance is abomination to the Lord: but a just weight is his delight” (Proverbs 11:1).
It doesn’t take much to make me happy when it comes to being a homeschool teacher. I simply want my students to do what they are being asked to do. If I lay out a schedule, I expect them to follow it. If they have homework due, I expect them to turn it in. The online schools where they take classes also lay out expectations in the form of a student manual, and they are expected to read the manual and follow the rules. Their teachers provide them with syllabi that lays out all the course expectations, with which they must read and familiarize themselves. Yet, there are times during the year when the student falls short of those expectations: being tardy to class, missing a homework deadline, etc.
In Proverbs 11, we hear about an expectation the Lord has for us. He wants us to deal fairly with others. The writer uses the example of a balance to give us a picture of this expectation. Before weighing anything, we must ensure that the balance is set properly, so the result is fair. Was the balance intentionally set incorrectly or was it due to lack of attention? It doesn’t say. It simply tells us that the Lord hates a false balance. We should treat others with careful attention and a genuine intention to act justly. This attitude delights the Lord. As Matthew Henry notes in his Commentary on Proverbs 11:1,
“A false balance is here put for all manner of unjust and fraudulent practices in dealing with any person, which are all an abomination to the Lord, and render those abominable to him that allow themselves in the use of such accursed arts of thriving. It is an affront to justice, which God is the patron of, as well as wrong to our neighbor, whom God is the protector of” (695-696).
Works Cited
Henry, Matthew. “Proverbs 11:1.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3 and Volume 6, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.
Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.
© 2026 Angela Hormberg
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