Category: Devotions

We have attempted to show in our last study that all things are to God and for God (Rom. 11:36). He made all things according to His perfect will and purpose. All things must fulfill His designs, and they will, without fail. The wicked, while they live, glorify Him not, but He will still be glorified upon them. He surely foresaw their wickedness. Try to understand this explanation from Jonathan Edwards. “Infinite foreknowledge proves the necessity of the event foreknown, yet it does not cause the necessity.” God permits evil by not stopping it. He hates all evil, yet permits it for the greatest possible good. He manifests His own glory through it. “It is the greatest praise of his (God’s] wisdom that he can turn the evil of man to his own glory” (Bishop Hall). This is what we would expect in a Sovereign God, that He is both the Author of All and the Finisher of all.

On first reading this Proverb it seems to raise a question about the character of God. Closer study will remove any such thought. Its message is simply, “There are no loose ends in God’s world.” When we are told that God hath made all things for himself, it means that the final end of everything answers to God’s intended purpose. This is what we would expect from the Sovereign God of Scripture!

God’s command joins hands with God’s promise. He keeps His promises! We began with personal surrender, Commit! This led to practical instructions, Commit thy works unto the Lord. Now, the promise pronounced: Thy thoughts shall be established, but “guard well your thoughts, for they are heard in heaven.”

Have you asked, in a moment of trial, “Can God really care about my problems or my needs?” Note carefully what our Proverb says. Commit (roll) thy works unto the Lord. That’s our personal surrender first. Then thy thoughts (plans) shall be established. That’s the practical outcome. The sequence is vital. First, surrender; then your thoughts will be established. Proverbs distinguish between the thoughts of the wicked (15:26), and the thoughts of the righteous (12:5; 21:5).

God has a plan for all His redeemed children. Man is not left to grope for truth on his own, nor can he! Ps. 37 affirms, The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. Jesus said, He that follows me shall not walk in darkness (Jn. 8:12).

Jeremiah, in dealing with the sins of Judah, asks, How canst thou say I am not polluted? For though thou wash thee with nitre, and make thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord God. (2:22-23). Outward cleansing cannot remove the stains of the heart. Many in Judah, when confronted with the evidence of their sins denied the charges. So it is with us today, but our scales are not the same as God’s!

In the Hebrew word order man is first, setting him in sharp contrast to the Lord. Is man free to plan, and thus he advances God’s purposes? Man’s best plans come to naught unless the Lord guides his tongue, so some interpret this. This is true, but is it what our verse says? It does not say, “The preparations of the heart are in man, but that the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.” New versions generally favour this. RSV reads, “The plans belong to man” (so NIV, NKJV, et al). Kidner says, “AV distorts the Hebrew, in which man and God stand in contrast.” Holden, a century earlier, anticipated this. His “minute and critical examination substantially vindicated the received translation.” This proverb is not parallel to 16:9, 19:21 (devises). This is a military term for the marshalling of an army (1 Sam. 4:2). The thought is that all our fitness and successes are from the Lord.

As we have observed before the fear of the Lord, the motto of Proverbs, means true reverence for God. Where there is perfect love there will be no slavish fear (1 Jn. 4:17-18). “The fear of man weakens; the fear of God strengthens,” or, we might say, the fear of terror “kills” while the fear of reverence “thrills.”

Who or what does the unteachable person despise? He despises his own soul. How true are the words of Thomas Brooks, “Vices are more costly than virtues”! It was a common saying where we grew up, that “a nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse.” Since he can see nothing at all truly, it matters not where you might seek to lead him. Many men are exactly like that blind horse!

How hard it is to take reproofs! Thus it is a frequent topic with Proverbs. The reproof of life speaks of God’s reproving sinners. Though we give many reproofs that are undeserved, or given in ill-temper, this is never the case with God. Our consciences confirm our guilt and also the justice of God. His rebuke is to bring us to conviction and lead to salvation. Our rebukes are often unkind, but God’s never! Paul reminds Titus of the goodness and kindness of God our Saviour (3:4). He writes, Behold, therefore, the goodness and severity of God (Rom. 11:22).