A new section begins in the Book of Proverbs, signaled by the last verse in Chapter 15:

Wisdom’s instruction is to fear the Lord,
    and humility comes before honor. (15:33)

The first 9 verses of Chapter 16 set out the principle that God reigns over human activity. The section has this theme emphasized in verses 1 and 9 and developed in 2-8. If we look at these verses, they can seem at first to be rather disjointed, each standing entirely on its own. Yet, if we think of them as bullet points for an outline, they come together in a structure that is almost the structure of an essay: Thesis, supporting points, conclusion. First, the 9 verses:

¹ To humans belong the plans of the heart,
    but from the Lord comes the proper answer of the tongue.

² All a person’s ways seem pure to them,
    but motives are weighed by the Lord.

³ Commit to the Lord whatever you do,
    and he will establish your plans.

⁴ The Lord works out everything to its proper end—
    even the wicked for a day of disaster.

⁵ The Lord detests all the proud of heart.
    Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.

⁶ Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for;
    through the fear of the Lord evil is avoided.

⁷ When the Lord takes pleasure in anyone’s way,
    he causes their enemies to make peace with them.

⁸ Better a little with righteousness
    than much gain with injustice.

⁹ In their hearts humans plan their course,
    but the Lord establishes their steps.

Proverbs 16:1-9

Let’s take the first three verses as an example, Proverbs 16:1-3:

• To humans belong the plans of the heart,
      but from the Lord comes the proper answer of the tongue.
• All a person’s ways seem pure to them,
      but motives are weighed by the Lord.
• Commit to the Lord whatever you do,
      and he will establish your plans.

Now, let’s make this into the beginning of a narrative (paraphrased):

Humans hold within their hearts the ability to conceive ideas and to plan great things in this life, but only God can give humans the ability to explain their hearts’ plans to the world (cf. Matt. 10:19).  Each person with grand designs believes that he or she is acting in everyone’s best interests, yet the final judge of our motives will be made by God alone. To stay on the right track, we must commit our plans to God, so that He may guide us to bring our plans to fruition.

I will freely admit that my paraphrase isn’t perfect and can probably be written better, but that really isn’t the point of the exercise here. The point is that in certain cases, such as this one, there is more in the Proverbs than we might notice if we just look at the proverbs on the page as standing all alone.

With that said, why not take a few minutes and look at these verses carefully and continue the paraphrase into narrative form, being careful to choose words that retain the message of the original and see how everything comes together. You’re welcome to share… see you next time!