Proverbs 16:1-16

Today’s Scripture:

People make plans in their hearts.    But the Lord puts the correct answer on their tongues.

2 Everything a person does might seem pure to them.    But the Lord knows why they do what they do.

3 Commit to the Lord everything you do.    Then he will make your plans succeed.

4 The Lord works everything out to the proper end.    Even those who do wrong were made for a day of trouble.

5 The Lord hates all those who have proud hearts.    You can be sure that they will be punished.

6 Through love and truth sin is paid for.    People avoid evil when they have respect for the Lord.

7 When the way you live pleases the Lord,    he makes even your enemies live at peace with you.

8 It is better to have a little and do right    than to have a lot and be unfair.

9 In their hearts human beings plan their lives.    But the Lord decides where their steps will take them.

10 A king speaks as if his words come from God.    And what he says does not turn right into wrong.

11 Honest scales and balances belong to the Lord.    He made all the weights in the bag.

12 A king hates it when his people do what is wrong.    A ruler is made secure when they do what is right.

13 Kings are pleased when what you say is honest.    They value people who speak what is right.

14 An angry king can order your death.    But a wise person will try to calm him down.

15 When a king’s face is happy, it means life.    His favor is like rain in the spring.

16 It is much better to get wisdom than gold.    It is much better to choose understanding than silver.

Prayer Transcript:

Lord, we do want understanding, we do want wisdom and we know and acknowledge that those come from You. I particularly pray for those who need wisdom and understanding tin a broken relationship today. Lord, sometimes You call us to walk away, sometimes You call us to stay in there and continue to engage. Sometimes You call us to create boundaries around ourselves so that we have limited contact with those who harm us and sometimes You ask us to get on our knees and pray for provision for our enemy or provision for someone that’s driving us crazy. Lord, You have looked down on all of us and You send rain to all of us. Help us to remember that You have created all of us in Your image and so Lord, help us to carry that with us today. That the person who we are frustrated with carries Your image, the image of God within them. Help us to have mercy and compassion on those folks who drive us crazy. Lord, there is a lot in chapter 16 about plans and making plans and entrusting our plans to You Lord, so Lord, we do just that today. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring, we can only kind of guess and usually our guessing is wrong, but You hold the future in Your hands, You hold tomorrow beautifully in Your hands and we have to get to that place where we realize we are not in control, but You are and we can either surrender to You or fight against You. We can surrender to the passage of time or fight against it and so Lord today we choose to surrender. Verse 4 says “The Lord works out all, to the proper end”, so we pray for that today, that You would work everything out today, You are out there willing and working for Your good pleasure and for Your glory and You work to make everything work out according to Your will. We just thank You for that Sovereign Lord for what You are doing. Lord, as I conclude this prayer, I do just confess my own pride and what I mean by that Lord is so simple,