Proverbs 12:3 (NKJV) — 3 A man is not established by wickedness, But the root of the righteous cannot be moved.

No stability in wickedness. As a continuing development of the theme begun in Proverbs 12:2, this verse declares that wickedness will never establish a person. As Asaph realized at last, though the wicked may seem to prosper for a time, their feet are in slippery places. (See Psalm 73, especially verse 18) But righteousness roots people so that they cannot be moved. It may take some time before the evidence of a deep root is visible. The wicked may, during that time, appear to be accomplishing more than the righteous, for the wicked spends little time developing a root system. What they do is on the surface, visible only to the human senses.

This truth is illustrated in the story Jesus told of a foolish man who built his house directly on the sand, while a wise man took the time to build on a solid foundation. While the house of the wicked may have gone up quickly, it was destroyed just as rapidly. (See Matthew 7:24-27.)

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