Proverbs 28:10

Whoso causeth the righteous to go astray in an evil way, he shall fall himself into his own pit.

Opposite characters and opposite destinies

I. Here are the opposite characters--the perverse and the upright.

1. Notice the perverse. Who are the perverse? “Whoso causeth the righteous to go astray in an evil way.” Two things are observable here.

(1) A sad possibility that the righteous should “go astray.” This possibility is implied in moral responsibility. Were it impossible for the righteous to go astray, they would be mere machines, not moral agents; there would be no virtue in their obedience, no guilt in their transgression. Moral beings are like planets, bound ever to roll in the orbits in which they were first placed, and move with the same speed and regularity; they can bound into another, and move at what rate they please. This possibility is demonstrated in facts. Righteous angels have fallen. Righteous men have fallen (Adam, Lot, David, Peter). This possibility is assumed in the appeals of Scripture.

(2) An infernal attempt. The attempt is to “cause the righteous to go astray.” Wicked men are constantly making the attempt in a thousand different ways. By suggesting doubts as to the existence of God, the immortality of the soul, the truth of the Bible, etc., etc.; and by insidious but potent appeals to those elements of depravity which linger to a greater or less degree in the souls of even the best men to the end of life. Society abounds with tempters.

2. The upright. The upright here stand in contrast to those who tempt the righteous to go astray. Who are the upright? The men of incorruptible truth, inflexible rectitude; the men, in one word, who “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with their God.” Job was an upright man, one that feared God and eschewed evil.

II. Opposite destinies.

1. The destiny of the one is self-ruin. “Shall fall himself into his own pit.”

2. The destiny of the other is a blessed inheritance. “The upright shall have good things in possession.” (Homilist.)