Chapter 16

Heart in man

The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord (Proverbs 16:1).

God prepares the heart of a child of God to face ordeals in this world. When we surrender our life completely to God in all areas, He guides our heart so as to speak the right word to the people who seek our counsel. It is the Lord who uses our tongue which needs to be consecrated for His use. You have to listen to the voice of the indwelling Holy Spirit to speak His message.

Ways of man

All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits (Proverbs 16:2).

Whatever we plan or propose to do, it may appear clean in our own eyes. But the Lord may not consider our ways clean or right because He weighs what is in our spirit. Our intention has to be pure in His sight. When we sit in His presence to analyse our ways, the indwelling Holy Spirit reveals our intentions. If our intentions are not right in His sight, He gently rebukes us so that we may not proceed further in our path.

Your works and thoughts

Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established (Proverbs 16:3).

Whatever we propose to do in this life, we have to commit the same unto the Lord and our thoughts for doing our work shall be established. Our thoughts should proceed from the Lord. The indwelling Holy Spirit gives us His thoughts for doing any work. In our business place or office, we have to listen to Him before undertaking any assignment. The great misfortune with the children of God today is that they do not listen to the voice of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Wicked for day of evil

The Lord hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil (Proverbs 16:4).

All things have been made for the Lord for Himself. The earth, the heaven, the seas, the cosmos, the animate and the inanimate things, etc, are for the Lord. The earth is for the habitation of animate things. The wicked people are ordained of the Lord for the day of evil. They are not for the day of good. The wicked people are judged by God for their evil deeds. If they have escaped the sword of the ruler, God would destroy them in mysterious ways. There are influential people in this world who, by virtue of their influence with the law enforcement authorities, escape the law but God catches them by surprise and punishes them. Their entire generation becomes cursed in the eyes of God. God visits their sins unto many generations.

Pride in heart

Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished (Proverbs 16:5).

Pride affects all people including children of God. “Pride cometh before a fall”. Even if a proud person is condoned by his or her friends, God would punish him or her. Many Christian leaders have been judged by God for their pride but they have not known this truth. The pride is an abominable sin hated by God but is not discernible by the proud person. The people who witness the life of the proud person are able to discern the prideful spirit who operates through the life of the person concerned. Pride is the prime sin of the devil.

Reproof is the best antidote for this sin. If you want to get rid of this spirit, you should always open your heart to reproof or rebuke by others. The spirit of pride is of the devil. It comes from him. This is a powerful spirit that deludes even a saint. It takes the place of the Holy Spirit, little by little.

There are many servants of God who operate the gifts of the Spirit but have not discerned the spirit of pride that has taken a small space in their heart. "I know the truth. I need not listen to anyone" will be his or her reaction.

Mercy and truth

By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil (Proverbs 16:6).

By the grace of God and by the truth of the gospel, iniquity is purged. For the backsliding children of God, the knowledge of the word of the truth purges their iniquity.

Men depart from evil when they come to know the saving knowledge of Lord Jesus which creates fear of the Lord in their hearts.

Men commit crimes in society and believers commit sins because there is no fear of the Lord in their hearts. Iniquity is purged when men committing crimes repent and accept forgiveness of their sins through the atonement made by Jesus on the Cross. Iniquity is purged when believers committing sins repent and return to the Lord with sack clothes.

Enemies at peace

When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him (Proverbs 16:7).

How does a man's ways please the Lord? A man has to be born again in the Spirit of God through the blood of Jesus and then he will be led by the Holy Spirit to walk in His ways. If he or she is led by the Holy Spirit to walk in His ways, his or her ways would then please the Lord. The Lord makes even his or her enemies to be at peace with him/her.

A little with righteousness

Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right (Proverbs 16:8).

Righteousness, being right with God in all aspects of life, though with a little treasure, is better than great revenues being earned through illegal and unrighteous means. Even though we possess a little money or bank balance, we would be blessed of God if our ways are righteous before Him. This small worldly possession would be more than a great amount of illegal money earned through unrighteous means.

Today many servants of God own palatial bungalows, luxurious cars, assets earned through the sacrificial offerings of the people of God. These are great revenues without right. These are possessions earned by unrighteous means. If they had a little with righteousness, they would have been blessed by God in diverse ways. They would have enjoyed good health and their children would have been obedient to them.

Lord directing steps

A man's heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps (Proverbs 16:9).

The book of Proverbs is applicable to the children of God, though some verses are applicable to all including the children of the world.

Today, many of us devise our own ways or makes our own plans but the Lord does direct our steps in the right direction. We may not know how our Lord directs our steps. We may be led of the Lord to do something but it may not give us immediate results. But we should know that that it is the Lord who has directed our steps though our hearts devise our plans.

Divine sentence

A divine sentence is in the lips of the king: his mouth transgresseth not in judgment (Proverbs 16:10).

A king or a ruler has to be a born again child of God so that God's law emanates from his lips. He does not err in his judgment and his mouth shall never transgress.

Nowadays, many rulers of this world are not men or women of God. In USA, there were some Presidents who were men of God.

Just weight and balance

A just weight and balance are the Lord's: all the weights of the bag are his work (Proverbs 16:11).

There should not be any kind of deceit in measurement of goods or services for the people. Those who use an unjust weight and balance would bring disaster to their organizations, though they may earn rewards from their unrighteous employers. Such organizations would perish in the long run. Employees or businessmen indulging in such deceitful practices would invite divine wrath in their own lives. All the tools of measurements in the bag are His work. If we try to replace such tools with our own tools to cheat our clients or customers, we would become enemies of God.

Overcharging of services or inflating of bills also come under this category of deceitful weight and balance.

People in authority

Verses Proverbs 16: 12 to 15 deal with kings or those who are in authority heading organizations or governments.

It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness (Proverbs 16:12).

Those who are in position of authority to rule or administer should be fair in their profession or career. They do not represent God in their places of authority as all power is ordained of God. The throne on which they sit is established by righteousness. They may be children of God or children of the world. Both of them would be judged by God for their wickedness.

Righteous lips

Righteous lips are the delight of kings; and they love him that speaketh right (Proverbs 16:13).

The leaders should speak righteous things, things which are righteous in the sight of God. They should not use their lips to defame, threaten or malign their opponents. Though they are supposed to use their lips for conveying their orders, they should not speak arrogant words.

They should support those people under their authority to speak right things. They should not encourage others to flatter them but to speak truth.

Today many leaders covet praises from the people under their authority by way of flattery or by way of lies.

Wrath of king

The wrath of a king is as messengers of death: but a wise man will pacify it (Proverbs 16:14).

Those who are in leadership should not get angry at all even if their subordinates commit mistakes. They should hold their peace even if they are slandered or charged falsely. A wise man in leadership will pacify the volatile situation by his words of wisdom.

If leaders show their fury, their fury will become a messenger of death to their organization. The words of the mouth would be misunderstood by the employees, the customers and the public. One wrong word by the head of an organization or a state would imperil the whole organization or the whole state, as the case may be.

King's countenance

In the light of the king's countenance is life; and his favour is as a cloud of the latter rain (Proverbs 16:15).

The leader of an organization or a state has to impart life to the organization or the state as the case may be. It is his personal righteousness that gives prosperity. If the leader of the king is unrighteous or immoral in his own personal life, he cannot influence the entire organization or the nation. We need men of integrity at the top echelon. The countenance of the leader has to radiate light, the truth always. When he does favour for the people under him, it comes as a cloud of the latter rain. The organization or the state will prosper materially and financially. It is not the investment or the material resources but the very character of those in leadership that sharpens the organizational machinery or the state machinery.

If a despot rules a nation, there will be short-term prosperity by regressive and retrograde measures. People may work as robots and produce goods and services. In the long-run, they will be worn out and their output will descend. But if a highly dedicated work-force under the visionary leadership of one who has the highest standards of integrity and who bestows favours on the work-force, produces goods and services, it will be always steady and ascend. The chart will never show a declining trend at all.

Wisdom than gold

How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver! (Proverbs 16:16)

Wisdom comes from above. Wisdom is not knowledge acquired merely through study. Christ is the wisdom. One who has accepted Christ in his or her life has already received the gift of wisdom too. How to speak, how to act in a given situation, how to face a volatile situation peacefully, etc, are all taught to us by the indwelling Holy Spirit. We do not listen to His inner voice but does to different preachers to know His will. We tell the whole world that our God is living but we do not recognize this truth. "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you". (Psalm 32:8)

"If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind". (James 1:5,6)

If we do not believe that the Christ of the wisdom indwells us, then you can ask God specifically for wisdom as exhorted by Jemes in the above verses.

Wisdom is more than gold or money. Wisdom helps us when money fails. Wisdom gives us understanding of any subject, technical or complicated.

Wisdom has to be chosen in place of gold or understanding that comes from wisdom has to be preferred to silver. For getting mere knowledge through money (gold and silver), we send our chileren to overseas nations. They may get good jobs. But they may not get wisdom which guides them in the life. Many highly learned people after becoming depressed have ended their lives by way of suicide. Their education had not helped them overcome the adversity of this life. If they had received Christ in their lives, they would have loved this life and would be living today. Many of them had chosen gold because they were rich enough to afford costly education. Some of them had chosen silver because they were moderately rich to afford higher education.

Highway of upright

The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keepeth his way preserveth his soul (Proverbs 16:17) .

An upright person is one who walks in the highway in his or her life. He or she does not want to be drawn into the path down the highhill. While traversing this highway, he or she has to depart from evil at first sight. If he or she keeps walking in this highway, he or she will preserve his or her soul as the case may be. Such a highway walk is possible with Christ only. Many philosophical persons have miserably failed in their highway walk. Philosophy has taught them certain good doctrines but they could not apply such doctrines to their lives practically. Philosophy without it's source, i.e. Christ has no meaning. Philosophers cannot preserve their souls from the decay of sin. They do not consider the sin as the rootcause of all evil. They just deal with the symptoms of the sin but do not deal with the rootcause of such symptoms.

At its simplest, philosophy (from the Greek or phílosophía, meaning 'the love of wisdom') is the study of knowledge, or "thinking about thinking", although the breadth of what it covers is perhaps best illustrated by a selection of other alternative definitions: ... (Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy). The term "philosophy" meant the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, and comprised ALL areas of speculative thought, including the arts, sciences and religion.

According to the above definitions, philosophy is the love of wisdom or the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake. We can definitely love the wisdom and can pursue knowledge if we abide in Christ and He abides in us. It is the very character of Jesus Christ we have to show to this world by being comformed to His very image.

Ill effects of Pride

(Proverbs 16:18 & 19 are clubbed).

Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall (Proverbs 16:18).

Any arrogant ruler or any superior authority falls down due to sheer pride. History is replete with such fallen rulers. In the Christian world also, many of the evangelists and pastors used of God mightily have fallen by the roadside due to spiritual pride as they had not read the warnings written on their walls; they had not hearkened to the voice of other children of God. They do not know how they had fallen. But in the eyes of God, they are fallen. The spiritual pride is the first weapon used by the Devil against God's servants.

Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud (Proverbs 16:19).

Those people who consider themselves lowly have an humble spirit. We should always look for such people for our friendship instead of friendship with the proud in order to partake of their spoil. Our business partnership should be with those who have the humble spirit, though they may not have much capital to offer. Nowadays, we are tempted to have partnership with the rich people who are arrogant. If your business partner is a humble person who may not have much money, then your business will fly to great heights. The rich people with a prideful heart may have unaccounted black money but the poor people with a humble spirit may not have much money but a good character.

Wisely handling matter

He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he (Proverbs 16:20).

We have to handle a matter wisely. For this, we have to be patient and think many times before handling that particular matter. We have to carry our requests to the Lord in prayer and to trust Him with all our heart. If we do so, we will definitely find good results or good things. We will be happy when we find the good result after a patient wait on the Lord.

Wise in heart

The wise in heart shall be called prudent: and the sweetness of the lips increaseth learning (Proverbs 16:21).

If we are wise in our heart, we would be called prudent. Everything proceeds from our heart with a humble spirit. We would speak excellent and edifying words which would really help the learning of those who listen to us for wisdom. We have to be patient in teaching to others. Our sweet words have to impart joy, hope and comfort.

Understanding

Understanding is a wellspring of life unto him that hath it: but the instruction of fools is folly (Proverbs 16:22).

Understanding has to come from a humble heart yielded to God. The humble heart yielded to God gives you words of wisdom. This spiritual state is a blessing of God. A man or a woman of God who has completely surrendered to God does have a wellspiring of life which would bless others.

When the wise people minister life to other people, the foolish people give instructions to others which lead to death or destruction. We do find such foolish people in our nation's administration who by virtue of their instructions cause disaster in the lives of people. Such instructions go against equity, justice and righteousness.

Heart of wise

The heart of the wise teacheth his mouth, and addeth learning to his lips (Proverbs 16:23).

This verse is a repetition of verse 21. If you are a humble person who teaches wisdom, you would add more knowledge to your lips. It is a wellspring of life. People will flock to you for learning wisdom and knowledge. You will have wonderful knowledge of things which you have never learned before. It is the Spirit of wisdom who indwells you and ministers life to others.

Pleasant words

Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones (Proverbs 16:24).

We should always speak pleasant words to those who come to us for counsel. Our words should edify others like honehycomb gives strength to frail bodies. We should speak words of healing to those who are sick. We need not preach the gospel but can speak words of healing through our lips.

At times, we shout at those telemarketing staff who perturb us frequently. We can speak pleasant words to them.

We can no doubt give pleasant words to those who are sick or who are heart-broken.

Way seeming right

There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death (Proverbs 16:25).

In this world, the children of the world walk in ways that lead to their death as such ways seem right unto them. Many of them go to godmen to seek tantra but the counsels of such religious leaders have led them to suicide or loss of money.

Even children of the kingdom also do not seek God's will in every matter but do things that appear to them right. Ultimately, their actions result in disappointments or loss of money.

Labour

He that laboureth laboureth for himself; for his mouth craveth it of him (Proverbs 16:26).

One who works with his own hands meets all his needs. His biological physiological needs drive him to earn money. Hard work is needed for all the people, young or old. If you have a family to support, you should not depend upon charity. Today I find that many poor saints look for monetary support from their churches or from unknown saints in other churches. If they work for their livelihood, God will definitely bless them financially. Many pastors do not earn their livelihood by their own hands but depend upon the offerings or the tithes of their churches. Let them take salaries from their churches for their livelihood. They have to work hard from morning to evening either in their church offices or elsewhere conducting prayer meetings or Bible studies. They have their own physical needs to be fulfilled like any other people. They have to pay school fees, car loans or house loans. They are expected to work with their own hands expecting God to meet their needs. Many of them do not work hard but simply covet offerings and tithes. Seeing their hard work, God will definitely increase their income through their church offerings. They need not appeal for money to their congregations.

Ungoldly man

An ungodly man diggeth up evil: and in his lips there is as a burning fire (Proverbs 16:27).

An ungoldly man is one who does not know God personally through Jesus Christ. An ungoldly man is also one who has accepted Christ in his or her life but does not walk in His ways. A believer becomes ungodly when he behaves like an ungodly person. There is no difference between a believer and an unbeliever when their behaviour is the same.

The ungodly person digs up evil. He or she cannot do anything good but evil. If anyone digs up a pit for others to fall, then it is an act of evil. His lips utter words of destruction which destroy the lives of others.

Froward man

A froward man soweth strife: and a whisperer separateth chief friends (Proverbs 16:28).

A froward man sows strife. A child of God may become froward and sow strife. A child of God should always guard his or her life so that he or she may not become froward in his life. He or she needs to be straightforward. There should not be any double standard. He or she should not have two faces. No hypocrisy should be seen in his or her life. If a believer sows strife in any situation, then he or she is a froward person in the sight of God. He or she becomes a whisperer who separates chief friends. A straightforward person speaks the truth openly and does not play a role in separating good friends. He or she unites contentious friends by his or her words.

Violent man

A violent man enticeth his neighbour, and leadeth him into the way that is not good (Proverbs 16:29).

A violent man is one who has no self-control and who is easily provoked to anger and violence. He or she entices his/her neighbour with baits to deceive and thus leads the latter into the way that is disastrous. A person who is not led by the Lord becomes violent and he or she easily cheats others who believe the former. Such acts of violence are not visible but deceptive. You have to be very careful while dealing with the children of the world who are not in Christ or who are not led of His Spirit. Do not seek their counsels. many children of God have ruined their lives as they had followed advices of these violent men.

Devising froward things

He shutteth his eyes to devise froward things: moving his lips he bringeth evil to pass (Proverbs 16:30).

The violent man referred to in the preceding verse closes his eyes just do devise froward things for others or you. He does not see any reason or justification for his evil ways. He is self-righteous and through his lips, he brings evil to pass. The self-righteous, violent man gives instructions so as to destroy you. He is a deceiver putting on the cloak of righteousness. Move away from such people. Do not believe their false promises. These people suggest ways that may appear good but are froward in the sight of God.

Hoary head

The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness (Proverbs 16:31).

The hoary head is of a spiritually mature person. He or she need not be an old person in age. A spiritually mature person, an old disciple of the Lord has indeed a crown of glory in himself or herself. This crown is hidden in the way of righteousness. Only those who seek such a crown of glory can find it out if they walk in the way of righteousness. You have to discern it in those servants of the Most High God if you walk in the way of righteousness. This crown of glory will be a source of blessings to you and your family. I did find this crown of glory in an old disciple of the Lord who is not popular in the Christian world. He is an old person but he is an old disciple who has grown much in his spiritual life. Our Lord was in early thirties but had a crown of glory. Apostle Paul, in the middle age, had become very mature with the hoary head.

Slow to anger

He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city (Proverbs 16:32).

As children of God, we should be slow to anger. Even if provoked to anger, we should not lose our peace of mind and temper. Let the anger go away. Act when your mind is at peace. You can win over a mighty city by patience. You have to control your spirit with the help of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Lot into lap

The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord (Proverbs 16:33).

You may get a lot of material blessings either by your own hard work or by the mercies of God. At times, God blesses us more than we ask. But you have to share the same with the needy people as led by the Lord. Whatever comes into your lap does not belong to you but to the Lord. The lot is cast into the lap by the Lord so that you may bless the poor and the needy.

Next....Chapter 17