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Bible Notes - Tabernacle Commentaries
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Proverbs 12:17
Comments
The witness, either for truth or falsehood, is an example of someone who takes a stance and promotes certain values. The true witness is committed to truth at all times and can be relied upon to speak the truth on every occasion when his testimony is called forth. He stands for righteousness; he champions it. From that true testimony comes righteousness. He himself brings forth righteousness from within, but his true testimony also produces righteousness all about him. The strong connection between truth and righteousness arises because righteousness can build on no other foundation. Righteousness starts with truth and a commitment to truth will not allow us to deviate to one side or the other from the narrow path of righteousness; there are no ways of righteousness that depart from the truth. The false witness however thinks that deceit is a useful tool and will bring him advantages which a commitment to truth will not be able to obtain. He is like an ambassador sent by a foreign king and as he speaks everybody knows he is representing his king. He has got his country’s flag, its ensign, to identify himself. If he lies, he may as well be carrying a flag saying: 'I represent deceit', because when people are liars, they may deceive some of the time, but on the whole people recognise somebody who has no integrity. Eventually he will earn himself a well-deserved reputation of falsehood, and the advantages he looked for will be even further away from him. The truthful on the other hand find that men and women place a steadily increasing trust in them. They have something which is rare and precious and very difficult to produce in any other way: they have integrity. This is the only basis for trust.
Application
In our place of business, wherever we are, everybody knows the kind of people we are. They get used to us, they know that we are reliable. They know that we are truthful and they know that means we represent righteous character. They may have their different ways of expressing it. He is a decent fellow, she is a good woman. They may not say it to you but you represent that by your language. It is the same with spiritual things. As soon as you witness, as soon as you speak for the Lord, you represent God and his righteousness. May our words in this coming week demonstrate integrity and fairness and spiritual truth to all those around us.
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