“The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord.
All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits.
Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.
The Lord hath made all things for himself: yea even the wicked for the day of evil.
Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.
By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil.
When a man’s ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
Better is a little with righteousness, than great, revenues without right.
A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.
A divine sentence is in the lips of the King: his mouth transgresseth not in judgment.
A just weight and balance are the Lord’s: all the weights of the bag are his work.
It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness.
Righteous lips are the delight of kings; and they love him that speaketh right.
The wrath of a king is as messengers of death: but a wise man will pacify it.
In the light of the king’s countenance is life; and his favor is as a cloud of the latter rain.”
(Proverbs 16:1-15)
We have and make plans for ourselves all the time, but we need to remember the Lord is the one who actually, eventually decides on all those plans we make.
According to our own conscious we justify all our actions. The Lord, however, weighs the moral character of every action we take. The actions we take are ultimately submitted to His judgment whether we like it or not.
The Lord is always ready to receive our troubles and concerns, or to take charge of them and carry them through to a successful completion for us. The beauty of our relationship with the Lord is that we can have such intense confidence in Him that we will never have to worry about the troubles and concerns we gave to Him to solve for us.
The Lord hath made all things for Himself, that is to serve His own purpose. Even the wicked are subservient to His eternal plans. The wicked are still destined to experience the day of wrath and receive their well-earned punishment.
The Lord tells us in the Bible, a proud heart is repulsive to the Lord. Those of a proud heart attempt to resist the Lord’s judgment through the power of confederation. They will be broken asunder. One can only avoid such a judgment with God’s wrath by living life being faithful with mercy and truth in our lives. Mercy and truth will always lead us to fear the Lord, which will allow us to escape the compelling attraction of evil. The ways of such a faithful person will be a cause of delight to the Lord.
This fact has far reaching implications. What I mean by this is if a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord, his enemies will be unable to assail his character. They might even hate him, but they will ultimately be compelled to admit that God is with him.
Keep in mind the Lord is directing both the righteous and the unrighteous in this world. He is leading the righteous toward Heavenly rewards, and the wicked He is leading inexorably toward their appointment with divine judgment.
A just weight and balance are a great concern to the king, for they are indispensable as instruments for the proper advance of commerce.
Wisdom’s ideal king realizes that no evil thought or deed can be tolerated in his life, for the establishment of the throne depends upon his total commitment to righteousness. The righteous king will appreciate those in his kingdom who share his commitment to righteous lips.
All glory to God
His humble servant Lee M Buchanan