Contrast the Upright and the Wicked

1The plans of the heart belong to man,
         But the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.

2All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight,
         But the LORD weighs the motives.

3Commit your works to the LORD
         And your plans will be established.

4The LORD has made everything for its own purpose,
         Even the wicked for the day of evil.

5Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD;
         Assuredly, he will not be unpunished.

6By lovingkindness and truth iniquity is atoned for,
         And by the fear of the LORD one keeps away from evil.

7When a man’s ways are pleasing to the LORD,
         He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

8Better is a little with righteousness
         Than great income with injustice.

9The mind of man plans his way,
         But the LORD directs his steps.

10A divine decision is in the lips of the king;
         His mouth should not err in judgment.

11A just balance and scales belong to the LORD;
         All the weights of the bag are His concern.

12It is an abomination for kings to commit wicked acts,
         For a throne is established on righteousness.

13Righteous lips are the delight of kings,
         And he who speaks right is loved.

14The fury of a king is like messengers of death,
         But a wise man will appease it.

15In the light of a king’s face is life,
         And his favor is like a cloud with the spring rain.

16How much better it is to get wisdom than gold!
         And to get understanding is to be chosen above silver.

17The highway of the upright is to depart from evil;
         He who watches his way preserves his life.

18Pride goes before destruction,
         And a haughty spirit before stumbling.

19It is better to be humble in spirit with the lowly
         Than to divide the spoil with the proud.

20He who gives attention to the word will find good,
         And blessed is he who trusts in the LORD.

21The wise in heart will be called understanding,
         And sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness.

22Understanding is a fountain of life to one who has it,
         But the discipline of fools is folly.

23The heart of the wise instructs his mouth
         And adds persuasiveness to his lips.

24Pleasant words are a honeycomb,
         Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

25There is a way which seems right to a man,
         But its end is the way of death.

26A worker’s appetite works for him,
         For his hunger urges him on.

27A worthless man digs up evil,
         While his words are like scorching fire.

28A perverse man spreads strife,
         And a slanderer separates intimate friends.

29A man of violence entices his neighbor
         And leads him in a way that is not good.

30He who winks his eyes does so to devise perverse things;
         He who compresses his lips brings evil to pass.

31A gray head is a crown of glory;
         It is found in the way of righteousness.

32He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty,
         And he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city.

33The lot is cast into the lap,
         But its every decision is from the LORD.

NASB ©1995

American Standard Version
The plans of the heart belong to man; But the answer of the tongue is from Jehovah.

Douay-Rheims Bible
It is the part of man to prepare the soul: and of the Lord to govern the tongue.

Darby Bible Translation
The purposes of the heart are of man, but the answer of the tongue is from Jehovah.

English Revised Version
The preparations of the heart belong to man: but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.

Webster's Bible Translation
The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, are from the LORD.

World English Bible
The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from Yahweh.

Young's Literal Translation
Of man are arrangements of the heart, And from Jehovah an answer of the tongue.April 27. "The Sweetness of the Lips" (Prov. xvi. 21).
"The sweetness of the lips" (Prov. xvi. 21). Spiritual conditions are inseparably connected with our physical life. The flow of the divine life-currents may be interrupted by a little clot of blood; the vital current may leak out through a very trifling wound. If you want to keep the health of Christ, keep from all spiritual sores, from all heart wounds and irritations. One hour of fretting will wear out more vitality than a week of work; and one minute of malignity, or rankling jealousy or envy …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

June 13. "The Sweetness of the Lips Increaseth Learning" (Prov. xvi. 21).
"The sweetness of the lips increaseth learning" (Prov. xvi. 21). Life is very largely made up of words. They are not so emphatic, perhaps, as deeds. Deeds are more deliberate expressions of thought. One of the most remarkable authors of the New Testament has said, "If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man." It is very often a test of victory in Christian life. Our triumph in this often depends on what we say, or what we do not say. It is said by James of the tongue, "It is set on …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

April 17. "He that Ruleth his Spirit is Better than He that Taketh a City" (Prov. xvi. 32).
"He that ruleth his spirit is better than he that taketh a city" (Prov. xvi. 32). Temperance is true self-government. It involves the grace of self-denial and the spirit of a sound mind. It is that poise of spirit that holds us quiet, self-possessed, recollected, deliberate, and subject ever to the voice of God and the conviction of duty in every step we take. Many persons have not that poise and recollected spirit. They are drifting at the impulse of their own impressions, moods, the influence of …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

What I Think of Myself and what God Thinks of Me
'All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits.'--PROVERBS xvi. 2. 'All the ways of a man'--then there is no such thing as being conscious of having gone wrong, and having got into miry and foul ways? Of course there is; and equally of course a broad statement such as this of my text is not to be pressed into literal accuracy, but is a simple, general assertion of what we all know to be true, that we have a strange power of blinding ourselves as to what is wrong …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

A Bundle of Proverbs
'Understanding is a wellspring of life unto him that hath it: but the instruction of fools is folly. 23. The heart of the wise teacheth his mouth, and addeth learning to his lips. 24. Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones. 25. There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. 26. He that laboureth laboureth for himself; for his mouth craveth it of him. 27. An ungodly man diggeth up evil: and in his lips there is as a …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Unsound Spiritual Trading
A sermon (No. 849) delivered on Lord's Day morning, January 10th, 1869, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, by C. H. Spurgeon. "All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits."----Proverbs 16:2. During the last two years some of the most notable commercial reputations have been hopelessly destroyed. Men in the great world of trade who were trusted for hundreds of thousands of pounds, around whose characters there hovered no cloud of suspicion nor even the …
C.H. Spurgeon—Sermons on Proverbs

Trust in God --True Wisdom
A sermon (No. 392) delivered on Sunday Morning, May 12th, 1861, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, by C. H. Spurgeon. "He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he."--Proverbs 16:20. Wisdom is man's true path--that which enables him to accomplish best the end of his being, and which therefore gives to him the richest enjoyment and the fullest play for all his powers. Wisdom is the compass by which man is to steer across the trackless waste …
C.H. Spurgeon—Sermons on Proverbs

A Wise Desire
I remember once going to a chapel where this happened to be the text, and the good man who occupied the pulpit was more than a little of an Arminian. Therefore, when he commenced, he said, "This passage refers entirely to our temporal inheritance. It has nothing whatever to do with our everlasting destiny: for," said he, "We do not want Christ to choose for us in the matter of heaven or hell. It is so plain and easy that every man who has a grain of common sense will choose heaven; and any person …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 1: 1855

Of Predestination
Eph. i. 11.--"In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will."--Rom. ix. 22, 23.--"What if God, willing to show his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction, and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy which he had afore prepared unto glory." In the creation of the world, it pleased the Lord, …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Conflict.
"Therefore let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the Cross, despising shame, and hath sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him that hath endured such gainsaying of sinners against themselves, that ye …
Thomas Charles Edwards—The Expositor's Bible: The Epistle to the Hebrews

Of Self-Surrender
Of Self-Surrender We should now begin to abandon and give up our whole existence unto God, from the strong and positive conviction, that the occurrence of every moment is agreeable to His immediate will and permission, and just such as our state requires. This conviction will make us resigned in all things; and accept of all that happens, not as from the creature, but as from God Himself. But I conjure you, my dearly beloved, who sincerely wish to give up yourselves to God, that after you have made …
Madame Guyon—A Short and Easy Method of Prayer

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