Proverbs 10:9
"He who walks in integrity walks securely, but he who perverts his way will be found out."
walks
This is the Hebrew word halik, which means to walk, to travel, to move, in general. Clearly in this case it is a word that means to live one's life. Solomon is saying that if you live your life with integrity, you will be fine. But if you do hidden and deceitful things in order to profit personally at the expense of others, you will eventually be found out.
integrity
This is the Hebrew word tom which means integrity, complete, and completeness. Solomon is trying to point out a crucial lesson that will tempt everyone. The temptation is to live the majority of one's life with honesty, fairness, kindness, righteousness, faithfulness, etc., and just in one small insignificant area indulge a sinful, selfish pleasure. The idea will always be: no one will notice and will look at all the other parts of your life – this is such a small thing.
Solomon wants to warn us that no matter how small and seemingly insignificant your little dip into unethical or illegal behavior is, it will eventually come out. He is wanting to make sure that you know that these little compromises will be found out so that you will walk on by when these temptations are offered – temptations to pad your expense account, to cheat on your timecard, etc.
perverts
This is the Hebrew word maaqas, which means crooked or twisted or perverse. The idea is to live your life like everything will one day be written in a newspaper for all to see. If you can handle this level of scrutiny, then you will be fine.
Remember, the joy in life does not come from the hidden or sinful stuff. It comes from the depth of relationships that you build throughout your life. Work on the relationships. In this case be honest with yourself. If you are concerned about some things that you are doing, ask someone to see if it is okay to do what you are doing. If you know that it is not, then stop and do the right thing. Live a life that you do not have to look over your shoulder about anything.
Until tomorrow,
Gil Stieglitz