Proverbs 16 explained: Our Plans and God's Direction

Plans and motives (vv. 1-3)

People make their plans and usually think their own motives are clean, but the LORD sees what is really going on inside and has the final word. The word for "commit" in verse 3 literally means "roll," like rolling a heavy load onto someone stronger.

Hard sayings about justice (vv. 4-9)

Verse 4 says the LORD fits everything to its purpose, even the wicked to a day of disaster; interpreters take this to mean either that wrongdoing meets a fitting end, or that God can use even wicked people in his larger plans without making them wicked. Verse 6 says wrongs are covered by steady love and faithfulness, though it is unclear whether that means God's love, a person's own, or both.

The ideal king (vv. 10-15)

These sayings picture a king whose rulings carry great weight, so he must love honesty and fairness, just as the LORD cares that merchants' stone weights, carried in a bag for measuring goods, are honest. A king's anger could mean death, while his favor was like the spring rain that ripened crops just before harvest.

Wisdom over pride (vv. 16-24)

Wisdom is worth more than gold, and pride sets a person up for a fall, a word that pictures someone slipping. Kind, carefully chosen words are compared to honey, sweet to the mind and good for the whole body.

People who cause harm (vv. 25-30)

A path can look right and still end in disaster, and these verses sketch people who spread trouble through gossip, bad influence and scheming. The winking eye and pressed lips were gestures of someone quietly plotting harm.

Patience and the lot (vv. 31-33)

Gray hair is honored as the reward of a good life, and controlling your temper is called greater than capturing a city. Casting lots meant tossing small marked objects into the fold of a robe to make a decision, yet the saying insists even that outcome rests with the LORD.

Key verse: Proverbs 16:9

Where Christians differ

Christians genuinely differ on how far the LORD's direction of events, as described here, determines human choices and outcomes, and how much room it leaves for real human freedom.

Something to think about

When has something you carefully planned turned out very differently, and how did you make sense of it?