Proverbs 10:9

Whoever walks in integrity walks securely,
but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.

David Skeel’s book about corporate scandals, Icarus in the Boardroom, could be regarded as an exposition of this proverb. A man rises into the sky through energy and innovation, only to eventually fall because his pride, ambition, and greed drive him to compromise his integrity and commonsense. Crooked ways will be found out, if only because the sinful impulses that take us along such ways blind us to the greatest danger of all – our own inadequacies. Always on the lookout for the dangers in our path, we neglect to look inside to see the dangers being fomented in our own hearts – pride, anger, greed, etc.

To walk in integrity, by definition, is to focus on the heart. A business man of integrity may desire to be successful, but because he knows the dangers of the heart, he acts with greater wisdom and thus walks securely.

That is the proverb from the perspective of human experience. The deeper and simpler truth is that the Lord protects the person of integrity and brings down the crooked person. The righteous Judge will see that justice prevails. We cannot hide our sins from God, but also know that our obedience to his commands are also seen and commended. And understand the greatest security that we have: we “by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:5).