Proverbs 24:8-12

Proverbs 24:8-12
English Standard Version
8 Whoever plans to do evil
    will be called a schemer.
9 The devising of folly is sin,
    and the scoffer is an abomination to mankind.

​10 If you faint in the day of adversity,
    your strength is small.
11 Rescue those who are being taken away to death;
    hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.
12 If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,”
    does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it,
    and will he not repay man according to his work?

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Solomon warns his son not to be the kind of person who dreams of doing evil against other people.  Not only will he receive the reputation of a "schemer," but planning such foolishness is also sinful and will separate a man from God and from other men.  Willful sin like this too puts a man at risk of being separate from God forever in the place we usually refer to as "hell," but is more correctly known as "the lake of fire."  This kind of behavior is an abomination to the LORD.  He hates it because it is destructive to the person committing the sin and harmful to those that are their victims.

If we rely on our own strength, our strength will be insufficient in the day of adversity.  We must have the strength of the LORD living inside of us and rely on His strength to help us make it through the most difficult times.  Only God is mighty to save, even the souls that are ready to die.  He is their only hope for eternal salvation, safety and security.  He is also able to save us from ourselves and from the traps that have been set by sinful men and the forces of evil that are out to destroy us.

The LORD is the Righteous Judge who knows the truth in all situations.  You will not be able to claim ignorance before Him, for He knows what you know, your thoughts, feelings, motives, and intentions.  Nothing that you think is secret is hidden from Him.  He sees it as if it is as clear as day.  In this way, He rightly judges and reward man according to the books of:
1) The finished work of Jesus if they are in Christ and their names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life, or
2) The books of the deeds of all men whose names are not written in the Lamb's Book of Life.

Those who choose to try to make it on their own merits will be judged on their own merits and weighed and found wanting.  Our righteousness is insufficient because any sin is able to separate us from God and His holiness and perfection forever and ever.  Only Jesus could take away our sin and give us His righteousness so that we could be acceptable to God once again.