Proverbs 16:1-33

SPOTIFY

Audio

Manuscript

Let’s take our Bibles together and turn to the Book of Proverbs. Throughout our study of this book, I have said repeatedly that “the fear of the Lord” is a central tenet woven throughout Proverbs. And an inexperienced reader of this book might see more of a man-centered emphasis than is actually there. 

For instance, some might think, “O I’ll read the book of Proverbs and I’ll get some money advice and some relationship advice and some good commonsense principles for my life.” That’s not untrue, but of course that’s incomplete. Because everything in this book rises or falls on the fear of the Lord. That’s the central ingredient for wisdom. 

And Proverbs 16 is going to emphasize that in these first few verses. But it’s going to go beyond that. It’s going to emphasize the fear of the Lord, but also the sovereignty of the Lord. Solomon is going to do some big picture theologizing in the first nine verses of Proverbs 16, and then everything else in this chapter flows from that. 

And to show you that emphasis, let me just do some data analysis. The book of Proverbs has a total of 915 verses. And the word “Yahweh” or “the Lord” is used 87 times in this book. So that’s roughly a reference to Yahweh every ten verses. But look at verses 1–9. “The Lord,” “The Lord,” “The Lord,” “The Lord.” Yahweh, Yahweh, Yahweh, etc. That covenant name for God is used in every verse except verse 8. Do you think Solomon is trying to emphasize something? At least one thing that Solomon is emphasizing is this—“The Lord Reigns.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here’s your outline for today. I want to show you in the text, 1) The Sovereignty of the Lord, 2) The Purpose of the King, 3) The Wisdom of Humility, and then finally 4) The Fragility of Mankind. Sovereignty and Fragility. Are those good words to sum up the differences between God and man?

Let’s start with this. 

1) The Sovereignty of the Lord (16:1–9)

Solomon writes in verse 1, 

1 The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

What in the world does that mean? It means that “man proposes, but God disposes.” It means that the Lord has the last word on everything. It means that God sovereignly orchestrates everything in this world, even the very words that come from our mouths. 

The illustration that comes to mind with this is Balaam in the book of Numbers (cf. 22:1–24:25). He had plans to curse the nation of Israel. He was hired to do so. But every time he went to curse them, a blessing came out of his mouth. The guy who hired him, Balak, was furious. But Balaam couldn’t do anything without the Lord’s consent. It’s like the Lord put a governor on his mouth that kept him from saying anything other than what the Lord wanted him to say. 

To that you might say, “But sometimes people are allowed to say wicked things about the Lord and his people.” Yes, that’s true. And that’s verse 4 (“The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble”). We’ll get to that in a second.

Look at verse 2.

2 All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit. 

Now this is a truism, so don’t absolutize this for every man in our world. What Solomon is saying here is that, generally speaking, man is oblivious to his own sinful patterns and ways. He thinks he’s fine. It’s embarrassing even when you see some men and women on TV who are absolutely convinced that their wicked way of seeing things is correct. It’s a kind of delusion.

In fact Paul says in 2 Corinthians, “The god of this world has blinded the eyes of unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ” (4:4). And Solomon is clear here that it’s not man who ultimately judges a man or weighs men’s hearts. The Lord weighs the spirit.

There’s that great moment in Daniel 5, when the disembodied hand writes “Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin” on the wall, and King Belshazzar was so scared, that he practically soiled himself. And Daniel gives the interpretation—you have been weighed and found wanting! Weighed? Weighed by whom? Weighed by the real King of the world! The Lord weighs the spirit.

And that’s why Solomon says in verse 3, 

3 Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established. 

Don’t be wise in your own eyes. Don’t weigh things on your own. Don’t live a godless, prayerless, man-centered life! Solomon’s dad, David, said it best in the book of Psalms, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (14:1). And an atheist is a fool. Only a fool makes plans and fails to acknowledge the sovereign God of the Universe. 

And David submitted to the Lord too. If you remember, David had plans to build a temple for the Lord. Those were good plans. But in 2 Samuel 7:1–17, the prophet Nathan told David that God did not want David to build a temple for him. Instead David’s son would build the temple. David subordinated his plans and even his desires to the Lord. 

And speaking of atheists and foolishness, now we are ready for verse 4.

4 The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.

You might wonder, “When these wicked people in our world deny God and do evil, why doesn’t God just take them out? Why doesn’t God just zap them with lightning?” That would be great! And that would take care of a lot of problems in this world!

But be careful what you wish for. Most of you wouldn’t have made it past the age of five if God decided to just instantaneously destroyed evildoers. God has a long view with these things. God has long nostrils. And in some mysterious way, that humans don’t understand, God has a purpose even for evildoers in this world. 

Yahweh says this in the book of Isaiah, “I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things” (45:7).

Look at verse 5. 

5 Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished. 

The Lord is slow to anger, but he’s not devoid of anger. He’s got long nostrils, but he’s still got nostrils. And he’ll sort out the evil and the good in his perfect timing. 

You might say, “Tony, I’ve don’t some wicked things in my life. What hope is there for me?” Well, look at verse 6.

6 By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the Lord one turns away from evil. 

Here’s a question for you. Whose “steadfast love and faithfulness” atones for sin? Is it my steadfast love and faithfulness? Or God’s? It’s God’s. Those two words in Hebrew (חֶסֶד and אֱמֶת) are typically (but not always) attributed to God. 

We know by the fuller revelation of the NT that God’s steadfast love and faithfulness caused him to send his son to die on a cross for our sin. How is your sin atoned? How is your wickedness atoned? How might you make peace with the God of the Universe. It’s not by compensating for your evil by doing good works. “That ain’t gonna cut it.” You do it through faith in Christ.

Look at verse 7, 

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 great revenues with injustice. 

9 The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. 

Some of you might ask, “Should we plan our ways, Pastor Tony? If the Lord is sovereign over everything, should we even bother?” Yes, you should. The Bible doesn’t allow for a philosophical or theological fatalism where people just throw up their hands and do nothing because the Lord is sovereign. That’s not biblical. 

But in our planning, we acknowledge the Lord. In our hearts, we pray, and we submit and we turn everything over to the Lord. 

I think the Apostle James said it best. This is biblical planning. He said, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that” (4:15). I call that the “Deo volente” verse. The Latin Deo meaning “God” and volente meaning “wills.” Yes, you make plans. But you are always deferring to God’s sovereignty. 

You are always acknowledging that…

9 The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. 

You might say it this way… Mankind proposes, but the Lord disposes. Mankind formulates, but the Lord validates. Mankind forms, but the Lord performs. We devise; he verifies. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Write this down as #2. There’s the sovereignty of the Lord in this chapter, but there is also…

2) The Purpose of the King (16:10–15)

Now keep in mind, this is an ancient book with an ancient context. And this book, Proverbs, was written primarily by a king. And the king has a part to play in the nation of Israel. Let’s assess these verses from that vantage point, and then we can talk applicational thrust for our own world. 

Solomon writes in verse 10.

10 An oracle is on the lips of a king; his mouth does not sin in judgment. 

Now what’s Solomon saying here? Do kings sin? Yes. Solomon is a perfect example of that. So was his father, David, despite his positive traits as Israel’s leader. But the King was supposed to function as the idealized leader of the people. He was anointed and was thus called to mediate between God and his people. Therefore his lips authoritatively declared the judgments of the land. 

So consider King Solomon when he had to adjudicate between the two mothers who were arguing over a baby. Solomon said split the baby and give one part to one mother and one to the other. And when Solomon said that, the true mother protested. She agreed to give the baby to the other woman. And Solomon used that ruse to expose who the true mother was, as well as the imposter (see 1 Kgs 3:16–28). That’s the nature of wisdom and kingship in the ancient world. There was no constitution. There was no congress. There was no political process involving the passing of a bill. There was just the king and his word. 

And the king’s word was the law of the land. He mediated between God and his people. And the people had to obey him. For their own benefit, they had to obey the king, even if that was disadvantageous to them.

You might say, “What happens when the king failed as mediator?” Well, the Lord judged him. That’s why every king is recorded as doing, “what was right in the eyes of the Lord” or “what was evil in the [eyes] of the Lord” in the books of 1 and 2 Kings (e.g. 1 Kgs 15:11; 16:24). The Lord judges his mediators on behalf of the people. 

Look at verse 11.

11 A just balance and scales are the Lord’s; all the weights in the bag are his work. 

12 It is an abomination to kings to do evil, for the throne is established by righteousness.

See, the kings can do evil. And that’s an abomination. A throne should be established by righteousness not evildoing. That’s true of the king, but that’s also true of those who serve the king. Because look at verse 12.

13 Righteous lips are the delight of a king, and he loves him who speaks what is right. 

Again, think of an idealized king in a perfect world. We know that Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, delighted in those who did not speak right. His righteous advisers told him to be merciful to the people. His foolish, younger advisers told him to be harsh with the people. Rehoboam listened to his foolish advisers, and he split the kingdom (1 Kgs 12:1–24). King Ahab, similarly, listened to lying prophets instead of truthful prophets, and that brought disaster on himself and the people of Israel (1 Kgs 22:1–40).

14 A king’s wrath is a messenger of death, and a wise man will appease it. 

15 In the light of a king’s face there is life, and his favor is like the clouds that bring the spring rain. 

In the ancient world, your status could rise or fall in an instant based upon the whims of the king. I’m not saying that’s good, that’s just the way it was. And God sanctioned the role of the king to rule the people.

You might say, “I’m so glad we don’t submit to kings in this country, Pastor Tony.” I agree. Although democracy has its glitches. I agree with Winston Churchill who called Democracy the worst form of government in the world… except for all the rest. 

But what if we had, not just an idealized king, but an ideal king? What if we had a King that balanced truth and grace perfectly and never issued a bad edict? What if we truly had a king, a mediator, whose “mouth does not sin in judgment?” [And by the way, I’m not talking about the President of the United States who some countries believe is a de facto king in America.] A truly, perfect king would be better than democracy. A perfect monarchy is better than an imperfect democracy. 

Incidentally that never happened in the OT—a perfect monarchy. It never even came close. And it definitely never happened in the NT with the Roman Empire. But we will get a perfect King someday. What Solomon idealizes here will become reality someday in Jesus’s Millennial Kingdom. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Write this down as #3. Solomon now transitions to the wisdom of humility. 

3) The Wisdom of Humility (16:16–24)

Notice that Solomon doesn’t mention the king at all in verses 16–24. And he only mentions Yahweh once (cf. 16:20). The focus of this section switches to human interactions with one another. And the focus becomes wisdom exercised through persuasive speech and humble hearts. 

And this is the logical response to what precedes it. If God is truly sovereign over our world, then we should fully embrace humility. If God has appointed kings to rule, then our response to that should be humility too. 

Look at verse 16. 

16 How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver. 

Lady Wisdom said in chapter 8, “My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my yield [is better] than choice silver” (8:19). And then she threatened those who ignore her! “Hell hath no fury as Lady Wisdom scorned.” 

And by the way, the option isn’t get wisdom or just stay happy in your foolishness. The option is wisdom or death. It’s get wise or get wrath. 

Look at verse 17. 

17 The highway of the upright turns aside from evil; whoever guards his way preserves his life. 

18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. 

The church father, John Chrysostom, said that the tyranny of pride estranges us from God’s mercy. And that’s because God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. And pride goes before destruction!

When I played high school basketball, I would tell my teammates, “Pride goes before a fall.” That was one of my catchphrases. [And that was rich coming from me because I wasn’t always the paragon of virtuous humility in high school]. And one of my teammates would playfully mimic me with that phrase. “Pride goes before a fall.” But I think he valued the wisdom of that statement, even in the context of basketball. And that’s because prideful people are unteachable. They are uncoachable. And the higher you climb in your own estimation of yourself the harder you fall.

And that’s why, look at verse 19.

19 It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud. 

Remember Jesus’s “parable of the wedding feast” in Luke 14? Jesus said, “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you” (14:7–10).

And then Jesus said this. Tell me if this sounds like the book of Proverbs! “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:11). It’s as if Jesus studied his Bible or something! 

And speaking of the Bible, look at verse 20.

20 Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord. 

Do you know why I give thought to this word? Do you know why I trust in the Lord? Because I know how wicked and sinful and weak and pathetic I am apart from the God of the Universe and this revelation! Lord knows what kind of ridiculous stuff I would dream up in my head if my thoughts weren’t informed by this Book. 

And I want to know God. And want to know what God’s Word says. That takes humility. That takes teachability. That takes a willingness to turn from self and turn to God. “Blessed is he who trusts in the LORD.” The Lord treasures and loves [and blesses] the one who treasures and loves him. 

Look at verse 21.

21 The wise of heart is called discerning, and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness. 

“Lord, please help us with that. Give us more sweetness of speech.”

22 Good sense is a fountain of life to him who has it, but the instruction of fools is folly. 

That’s an ironic statement by the way… “the instruction of fools is folly.” That’s like saying the intelligence of the unintelligent is unintelligent. Translation: there is no intelligence among the unintelligent. And there is no instruction — not good instruction anyways — among fools. 

23 The heart of the wise makes his speech judicious and adds persuasiveness to his lips. 

24 Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body. 

There’s that “sweetness of speech” talk again. It’s almost like the Lord wants us to be more tactful with the use of our tongue! More gracious with it. More judicious with it. More persuasive with it. Less abusive with it.

And by the way, an ancient Hebrew would never say, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” No, words can hurt. And they can also give health to the body. Literally, Solomon says at the end of verse 24, “health to the bones.” Gracious words give you healthy bones! 

And Solomon compares those “gracious words” to honey from the honeycomb. Do you know the fascinating thing about honey? Honey is one of the rare commodities in this world that is both good tasting and healthy for you. 

Squash, from what I’ve been told, is very healthy for you. But squash tastes like death. I keep trying to convince Sanja that squash was never meant to be eaten. I think it was meant to go directly into the compost pile after being harvested. But it’s good for you… so I’m told… if you can stomach it. But honey is good for you, and it tastes good too. 

I have a good friend who is an amateur apiarist in Illinois. He’s the president of a beekeeper’s association. And he will wax poetic about the health-giving benefits of honey. It’s not like refined sugar or all those artificial sweeteners that will kill you. Honey is good for you. 

And Solomon uses this ancient, proverbial commodity for goodness and sweetness to describe what? What’s like honey? Gracious words! They are sweet and health-giving to your soul and to your bones. 

By the way, the word “gracious” is the Hebrew נֹעַם (nō·ʿǎm). It means “pleasantness.” The name “Naomi” comes from this word. Remember what Naomi said in the book of Ruth? she said, “Don’t call me ‘Naomi,’ call me ‘Mara’ (which means bitter).” And that’s because when she returned to Israel, her husband was dead, and her sons were dead. So she said, “I’m not Naomi (pleasant) anymore, I’m bitter!” That all changed at the end of the book (see Ruth 4:13–17). 

But you know what is pleasant and not bitter? Gracious (נֹעַם) words.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, let’s look at... 

4) The Fragility of Mankind (16:25–33)

Solomon says in verse 25, 

25 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. 

We’ve seen that sentiment before in the book of Proverbs (see 14:12). In the words of Rich Mullins, “We are not as strong as we think we are.”

26 A worker’s appetite works for him; his mouth urges him on.

Why do we work in this world? Why do we endure those thorns and thistles? It’s not because we get an endless amount of enjoyment from work. Even brain surgeons get tired of brains. Even lawyers get tired of the law. Even pastors get tired of Greek and Hebrew. Even professional golfers get tired of golf! So why do we stay at it? Because if you don’t work, you don’t eat! If we don’t eat, we die. We’re weak.

 Look at verses 27–29. Verses 25–26 are pretty innocent. But now fragile man becomes wicked man. Because in the next few verses you got 1) a worthless man (16:27), 2) a dishonest man (16:28), and then 3) a violent man (16:27). And then, in verse 30, you’ve got a winking man. This is humanity at its worst. 

And these aren’t antithetical parallelisms either. These are synonymous parallelisms. In other words, Solomon is not contrasting good with bad here. He’s just giving you the bad. If there is a contrast to be found, it’s between the evil of man at the end of the chapter and the sovereignty of God at the beginning of the chapter. 

Look at verse 27,

27 A worthless man plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire. 

28 A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends. 

That’s true. I’ve seen it happen. I’ve seen even strong brothers in Christ part ways because of rumor-mongering and gossiping. It’s like Iago from Shakespeare’s “Othello.” He gets in there and whispers wicked, deceitful lies to Othello, and pretty soon Othello thinks his wife is his enemy. 

Look at verse 29, 

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

30 Whoever winks his eyes plans dishonest things; he who purses his lips brings evil to pass. 

I don’t know what those gestures mean in the Hebrew world, but I know that they aren’t used for good. And men have always had their ways of using body language to deceive or bring about some evil deed.

And then Solomon says this in verse 31. And this isn’t a statement about the evil in mankind. But it is a statement about fragility. 

31 Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life. 

Ladies of VBVF, gray hair is your tiara. Wear it proudly! Men of VBVF, gray hair is your crown of splendor. Wear it proudly. Don’t be proud. But wear that proudly. 

32 Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. 

Having long nostrils is better than having great strength. Controlling your emotions is a tougher task than conquering a city. Czar Peter, the King of Russia, once said, “I can govern my people, but how can I govern myself?” Good question.

Look at verse 33. Now Solomon brings everything full circle. Now he brings together man’s fragility and God’s ultimate sovereignty. 

33 The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord. 

Translation—God is sovereign over everything… even the lots that we cast to make decisions. 

By the way, our English word “allotment” is derived from this word. We even speak of someone’s “lot” in life. And what Solomon says in Proverbs 16:33 is that even those lots are determined by God.

33 The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.

This means that even those seemingly random events in human life, and even those seemingly inconsequential elements of life are controlled by a sovereign, all-powerful God. 

Does that make you uncomfortable? Does that make you uneasy to think like that? It shouldn’t. Charles Spurgeon said this: “No doctrine in the whole Word of God has more excited the hatred of mankind than the truth of the absolute sovereignty of God. The fact that ‘the Lord reigneth’ is indisputable, and it is this fact that arouses the utmost opposition of the unrenewed human heart.”

I know that sometimes people have a negative visceral reaction to this truth about God’s sovereignty. And that’s because we like to think of ourselves as controllers of our own fate and masters of our own destiny. But thinking like that leads to despair. Because there are so many factors in this world that are outside of our control! When you really grasp the size and the scope of our universe and how miniscule we are in it and how little control we have over it all (even our own faculties), it should humble us. And it should comfort us to know that even though we aren’t in control, God is in control. 

God’s sovereignty shouldn’t disturb us. It should comfort us. It should comfort us because even though we aren’t in control of our own fate or this massive universe, we can know the person who is! Is that a comfort to you? 

You might say, “But what about all the evil in this world, Pastor Tony?” “What about all the bad things that happen?” Look again at verse 4.

Proverbs 16:4 – The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble. 

However you parse the intersection of God’s sovereignty and human responsibility, you’ve got to take these passages into account. I think a full comprehension of these things is beyond our grasp, humanly speaking. But that doesn’t mean we can’t search them out. 

I will tell you this. Even though it’s difficult to understand why a sovereign God allows the evil things in this world… I admit that’s difficult… I’d rather believe in a God who is sovereign over those things than believe in a God who is caught unaware by the evil in this world, or a God who is powerless to stop it. 

And ultimately, it’s not about what I’d rather believe in. It’s about believing in the God who reveals himself to us in the Scriptures. And that God is a sovereign God. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And here’s what’s amazing. I’ll close with this. It’s remarkable when you think about it. This amazing cosmic God of the Universe, who is so majestic and so otherworldly... He created the universe… He’s sovereign over everything… and yet he loved us so much that he came to earth and died on a cross to extend mercy to us. And he wants to have a relationship with us. 

And he wants to talk with us. And he wants to meet with us. He wants us to know him and love him and fear him and read his Word. He calls us his children. 

Do you know him that way? Do you communicate with him that way? Let’s just take a moment to pray and talk with him and ask him for help to understand better who he is.

Taught by Tony Caffey

Senior Pastor of Verse By Verse Fellowship

Proverbs