- Albrecht…Trinity 9…Aug. 2nd 2026…Prov. 16:1-9…Dependence on the Lord Makes the Man…
1 The preparations of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the LORD. 2 All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, But the LORD weighs the spirits. 3 Commit your works to the LORD, And your thoughts will be established. 4 The LORD has made all for Himself, Yes, even the wicked for the day of doom. 5 Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; Though they join forces, none will go unpunished. 6 In mercy and truth Atonement is provided for iniquity; And by the fear of the LORD one departs from evil. 7 When a man’s ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. 8 Better is a little with righteousness, Than vast revenues without justice. 9 A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.
To the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever, Amen.
INJ Who lives and reigns over all things so that He can direct our lives to His glory, DFR:
A parent holds a toddler’s hand while crossing a busy city street. The toddler violently pulls away, wanting to walk completely alone to prove independence. The child views the parent’s grip as an annoying restriction, unaware it is actually saving their life. We often view dependency on God as a limitation of our freedom. In reality, demanding total independence from the Creator is a dangerous illusion that leads straight into traffic.
We are very much like children. By nature, we think whole-heartedly that we can do life on our own, independent of God. But, much like a child who wanders recklessly into traffic, there is so much we don’t know about life and its variables that being independent from God is the most foolish thing we can do. Rather depending on the Lord makes our lives complete. All fear, stress, and uncertainty be gone, for we know if God be for us, who can stand against us? This morning, we consider our theme: Dependence on the Lord, Makes the Man of God Complete. May the Holy Spirit bless our study of His Word this morning, Amen.
King Solomon, who wrote this Proverb has one common theme that runs throughout these 9 verse: the name of the Lord. He wants to emphasize just how vital the Lord’s presence is to every part of our lives so that we whole-heartedly depend on Him. This morning, we will walk verse by verse so that we may see the full picture of what a treasure it is to be dependent on the Lord.
1 The preparations of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.
To man belongs the thoughts and intentions of his own heart. God created us with knowledge and intellect – part of being created like God. We have also been given free will. He doesn’t control our inward thoughts and plannings on what it is we will do. We may think, consider, contemplate that I will do such and such a thing. But the outcome of whether or not we achieve our plan, that belongs to the Lord. This may not appeal to us, as we often like to manifest our own destiny. But a godly man whose heart depends on the Lord’s outcome, even if our decisions lead us to stumble, we will not fall, for the Lord upholds us with His hand.
2 All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, But the LORD weighs the spirits.
The idea here is that man carefully considers his ways, and as Christians we ought to do so in view of God’s will for us. But the judgments of man’s heart over his own intentions and actions is skewed heavily and unreliable. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 4:4, “ For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted.” Everything might appear pure and right in our own eyes, but the judgment of my actions belongs to the Lord. The Lord weighs more than just actions, but also the spirit. He searches the innermost intentions of the heart – some of which might even be hidden to ourselves. His judgment is trustworthy.
To the Lord belongs the outcome of our decision. That is good because we may not see how one outcome could be bad for us, or another outcome can be better. God can see these things and offers verse 3 as a promise for us to depend on Him.
3 Commit your works to the LORD, And your thoughts will be established.
Verse 3 is the therefore to the first two verses. Because the outcome of our intentions belongs to the Lord and because He judges our actions even in the heart, commit our intentions and its outcome to the Lord that He may bless the results and bring it to pass. The promise that our thoughts will be established is not a guarantee of outcome as we may see it, for our vision is limited. But that the outcome is God’s will, whose thoughts are higher than our own; whose vision sees far more than what we can. Thus, the promise is the Lord will give us the success which His wisdom and goodness deem best. Though it may appear to others we have failed, we know that we cannot fail – for the Lord establishes our way.
4 The LORD has made all for Himself, Yes, even the wicked for the day of doom.
The Lord establishes the outcome of our plans, judges our spirits, blesses what we entrust to Him because He governs all for His purposes – even the wicked. From creation, God set His purpose for all mankind that they should be made in the image of Himself – pure, holy, and righteous. When sin entered the world, His purpose did not change, but rather the means to fulfill His purpose did. As sin corrupted human nature, destroying the image of God we had, His purpose came to us by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus, as we will see in verse 6, atoned for our sins. Christ restores us to a right relationship, in perfect unity with God, through His suffering and death on the cross. This, God’s purpose, to save us by His grace extends to all people.
But not everyone receives this grace. Many reject it and turn away. In one form or another, they fall into a false idea of independence from God. Yet, even these, the wicked, serve God’s purpose. If they, by their own choice don’t glorify God by His grace, they must glorify His justice and receive the just punishment for their rejection.
5 Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; Though they join forces, none will go unpunished.
Pride is the essence of sin. It rebukes God’s law and claims to be under no authority except self. It is clear why the Lord calls it an abomination. Pride can keep the Gospel from taking root in one’s heart and pride can lead one away from the salvation Jesus has won. Pride is what you and I are by nature. Our sinful flesh rebels against the Lord, claiming no responsibility to Him. Pride shouts that the Lord is unjust and unfair; the Lord does not love, but only judges.
Notice, however, how the prideful heart may claim all these things against God, but are truly blind to reality. The prideful heart doesn’t see God directing outcomes for the benefit of His people. The prideful heart ignores that God might see hidden dangers and can rightfully judge the intentions of the spirit. The prideful heart refuses to look to Christ as the manifestation of God’s great love for us and His desire to save and not condemn. The prideful heart can ignore all it wants, but the Lord is just and will execute His justice in condemnation of the wicked.
Yet, so long as the wicked one is on this earth, the Lord delays His judgment that the wicked one might be delivered, depart form evil, and be saved. Thus verse 6: 6 In mercy and truth Atonement is provided for iniquity; And by the fear of the LORD one departs from evil.
By whose mercy and truth is iniquity atoned for? God’s. Mercy, perhaps better translated here as grace, is God’s removal of all sin and guilt from wicked men who are utterly unworthy. This is the central truth of all of Scripture that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them. God has chosen to show grace towards all through His Son. Not just for past sins, nor only for future sins, but for a wickedness and evil that we have ever or will ever commit. That is how committed the Lord is in His saving purpose. He has purged your sin, making you perfect in His sight. How joyful it is to be dependent on God for free salvation!
But, by His grace, we are filled with the fear of the Lord. This fear is not terror of God’s judgment, but true godliness. It is the spirit which God gives us that abandons the former life of sin and death and pledges a new life to God through Christ Jesus. Dependency on the Lord does not mean weakness; it means finding our strength in Him who can supply both the strength and the will to do according to His good pleasure. The blessings that come from the fear of the Lord and our dependency on Him are in verses 7 and 8:
7 When a man’s ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
Remember back to verses 3 and 4. The Lord promises good outcome when we commit our ways to Him and also controls the wicked. When we abide in the fear of the Lord and His grace leads us to do His will, the Lord can work miracles we never would expect. We can expect a hostile life as Christians, and here, the Lord isn’t promising every enemy will turn peaceful because we walk rightly. There will always be dire enemies of God who strive to harm His people. But, when the Lord does cause hearts to turn peaceful towards us, we ought to thank Him for His providence and grace towards us in making it so.
8 Better is a little with righteousness, Than vast revenues without justice.
Just a few weeks ago, we covered 1 Timothy 6 on how devastating greed can be and true godliness with contentment is great gain. Solomon says the same here. The man of God may leave this life poor in the eyes of those around us. The Lord has certainly blessed each of us materially, but the far greater blessing we have received is immaterial, or spiritual. It is the gift of faith in Jesus that makes us rich eternally. It is the gift of His gracious presence every day of our lives so that we can always depend on God, even when we fail. We may not have vast revenues pouring in, but we have God’s justice resting favorably upon us.
Verse 9 ties the whole of these verses together in a nice bow. 9 A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps. Man does the calculating of his course of action. The problem, like in verse 1, with this calculating is that so many factors in our problems escape us and others we do not estimate correctly. It’s like a criminal who might plan his crime, yet miss one detail and ends up getting caught. But, for the godly man (to whom Solomon is writing), the Lord is the one who directs the outcome. The Lord sees all factors, misses no details and His outcome is often far greater than what we could ever expect or deserve.
What does dependency on the Lord look like for the godly man? Unlike the thinking of a child who might view their parent’s hand and restricting their independence, faith is wrapped firmly in the hand of its heavenly Father. Faith walks through life calm and confident for in its possession is God’s promise of grace and providence. We know that the decisions we make will be blessed by Savior Jesus who is almighty over all things. Even if the outcome isn’t what we thought, we can know God always acts in love for those He loves. Amen.
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