16
📚The plans of the heart belong to man,but the answer of the tongue is
from the LORD.
16:1 Verse 9; Prov 19:21; 20:24; Jer 10:23. A person plans what he wants to do but without God’s working he cannot even utter those plans, let alone fulfill them.⚜
2 📚All the ways of a man are
clean 📖 in his own eyes,
but the LORD weighs the spirits 📖.
3 📚Commit your works to the LORD,
and your thoughts will be established.
16:3 Prov 3:5-6; 2 Chron 20:20; Ps 1:3; 20:4; 37:5-6; 90:17. Only God can give true and lasting success, and bring about the fulfillment of our plans and hopes. This verse makes it clear what we must do to see this.⚜
4 📚The LORD has made all things
to answer for his purpose; 📖 yes,
even the wicked for the day of disaster.
16:4 There is no purposeless activity with God. He infallibly fulfills His plans including the eventual punishment of the wicked.⚜
5 📚Everyone who has a proud heart
is an abomination to the LORD;
though hand join in hand,
he will not be unpunished.
6 📚By mercy and truth wickedness is
atoned 📖 for, and by the fear 📖
of the LORD people depart from evil.
7 📚When a man’s ways please the LORD,
he makes even his enemies to be
at peace with him.
16:7 Prov 3:17; Gen 39:21; 2 Chron 14:6-7; 17:10; Rom 12:18; Heb 12:14. Such a person will be seeking peace with others and will find it. But with some kinds of enemies this will not be easy (compare Matt 10:21-22, 34-36; John 15:18-21).⚜
8 📚Better is a little with righteousness
than great income without righteousness.
9 📚A man’s heart plans his way,
but the LORD directs his steps.
16:9 God can and does control the activities of men to fulfill His will. The freedom of individuals and whole nations is only within the bounds of God’s purposes.⚜
10 📚A divine sentence 📖 is
in the lips of the king;
his mouth must not transgress in judgment.
16:10 Rulers are appointed by God, and in some measure are His representatives (Rom 13:1-5). They should be very careful in giving judgments that affect the people (Prov 17:7).⚜
11 📚A just weight and balance are
the LORD’s;
all the weights in the bag are
his business.
12 📚It is an abomination for kings
to commit wickedness,
for the throne is established
by righteousness.
16:12 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of God’s throne – Ps 97:2. He will bring down any throne based on unrighteousness and injustice. History shows this again and again.⚜
13 📚Righteous lips are the delight
of kings,
and they love him who speaks
the right thing 📖.
14 📚The wrath of a king is like
messengers of death,
but a wise man will pacify it.
15 📚In the light of the king’s
countenance is life,
and his favour is like a cloud
of spring rain.
16 📚How much better it is
to get wisdom than gold!
And to get understanding is
to be chosen rather than silver!
17 📚The highway of the upright is
to depart from evil;
he who keeps his way preserves his soul.
18 📚Pride appears before destruction,
and a haughty spirit before a fall.
19 📚It is better 📖 to have
a humble spirit with the lowly,
than to divide the plunder with the proud.
20 📚He who handles a matter wisely
will find good,
and happy 📖 is the one who trusts
in the LORD.
21 📚The wise in heart will be called discerning,
and sweetness of speech
increases persuasiveness.
22 📚Understanding is a fountain
of life to him who has it,
but the instruction of fools is folly.
23 📚The heart of the wise teaches his mouth,
and adds learning to his lips.
24 📚Pleasant words are like
a honeycomb, sweet to the soul,
and health to the bones.
16:22-24 Prov 24:13-14; Ps 19:10. Certain types of instruction should be given in a pleasant manner rather than in a stern, forbidding one.⚜
25 📚There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end is the ways of death.
26 📚A labourer’s appetite works for him,
for his hunger urges him on.
27 📚An ungodly man digs up evil,
and his lips are like a burning fire.
28 📚A perverse man sows strife,
and a talebearer separates chief friends.
29 📚A violent man entices his neighbour
and leads him into a way that is
not good.
30 📚He shuts his eyes to plot perverse things;
moving his lips he causes evil to take place.
31 📚The gray head is a crown of glory,
if it is found in the way
of righteousness.
32 📚He who is slow to get angry 📖
is better than the mighty,
and he who rules 📖 his spirit than
he who takes a city.
33 📚The lot 📖 is cast into the lap,
but each one of its decisions is
from the LORD.