Proverbs 16

Guar. XVI. Ver. 1—33. Miscellaneous proverbs continued. —The first apothegm, though it is not an accurate translation. The Hebrew runs literally thus:— “To man (belongeth) the dispositions of the heart; But to Jehovah the answer of the tongue:” And this exactly corresponds to the doctrine of the 9th verse; The Scriptures would furnish many facts illustrative of this, as, for instance, to whom “folly is joy,” from ruin, the latter from despair. It admits of a pious interpreta- tion: “A man’s heart deviseth his way; But the Lord directeth his steps.” one of which we shall quote. Balaam’s heart was disposed to curse Israel for reward; but his tongue was not under his own control. “* How can I curse whom God hath not cursed ?” (See (Numbers 23:35); xxiv. 5—8.) The maxims in the former part of this chapter belong chiefly to the doctrine of providence, and their practical tendency is comprised in this verse, “Commit thy works unto the Lord, And thy thoughts shall be established.” This we consider as exactly parallel to (Psalms 37:5). “Commit thy way,” &c.; the doctrine is, that after all due prudence and consideration, we must leave the result of all our affairs in the hand of God, who alone can insure success. The 4th verse hath, indeed, stirred up some angry controversy, foreign to the text, of which, to us, the meaning appears in harmony with the context—“that the Lord hath wrought (or disposed) all things for his own glory,” and even the wicked for the day of evil; whereby we may understand either present affliction or future judgment; the evils of this world or of the next, to which the impenitent are certainly appointed, as it is much more strongly expressed, both by the patriarch Job, and by St. Peter. ((Job 21:30); 2 Peter ii. 9.)