Proverbs 16:11 ESV A just balance and scales are the Lord’s; all the weights in the bag are his work. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+16%3A11&version=ESV] We suffer under a delusion of sufficiency. Our minds, our hearts, they are enough to carry us through, or so we think. We traipse around, forgetting God in deed if not word, and we…
Proverbs 16:10 ESV An oracle is on the lips of a king; his mouth does not sin in judgment. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+16%3A10&version=ESV] Kings and judges alike are corrupt, evil men. James II, Nero, Stalin, and Genghis Khan: all these kings (for they were all kings) were men of vile passions and evil deeds, men who slaughtered…
Proverbs 16:9 ESV The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+16%3A9&version=ESV] Why does life happen the way it does? Why do some acts brings one result and some another? Why do we hurt or love or enjoy or despair? Life has a thousands bits and pieces in it, and…
Proverbs 16:8 ESV Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues with injustice. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+16%3A8&version=ESV] Envy lives strong in mankind’s heart. Envy, the strong right hand of greed, topples empires and slaughters innocents; envy brings first seeming justice and then damning evil; envy finds a pretext for every deed, so long as its victim…
Proverbs 16:7 ESV When a man’s ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+16%3A7&version=ESV] This proverb is one which the world seems to flat out contradict. We try our best, it seems, and our enemies still persist in being our enemies, still assault us. It doesn’t…
Proverbs 16:6 ESV By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the Lord one turns away from evil. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+16%3A6&version=ESV] Reconciliation doesn’t come easy. When my brother sins against me, I will struggle with how to handle the problem- where the lines are, what forgiveness means, what it doesn’t…
Proverbs 16:5 ESV Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+16%3A5&version=ESV] Man’s arrogance really lacks bounds. We are sure of ourselves in all sorts of ways, from controlling the world to controlling how the next day will go to controlling our own hearts.…
Proverbs 16:4 ESV The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+16%3A4&version=ESV] Men do horrific evil every day. Every day, people made in God’s image murder, enslave, kidnap, rape, torture, and every combination thereof, and they do it to other people made in God’s image. The…
Proverbs 16:3 ESV Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+16%3A3&version=ESV] The plans we make go, in the words of the Scottish poet, ‘aft agley,’ which (translated from the original) means ‘often awry.’ Sometimes, looking back, this is a remarkably good thing. Sometimes those plans weren’t just practically flawed…
Proverbs 16:2 ESV All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+16%3A2&version=ESV] What does God judge? Every action has three parts: what’s intended, what’s done, and what results. We humans have an inconsistent standard for using these. We tend to choose which one to…