Proverbs 16: The LORD directs our steps
Begin in prayer
Before we set our plans before the LORD, let us remember who directs our steps. Ask Him to weigh our motives and teach us a humble trust in His purpose.
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is today, to save many people alive.
Genesis 50:20
Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Search the motives behind our plans. Show us Your wise purpose and the mercy You have given through Jesus, so that we trust You. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.
See where we're going
People make plans and think their ways are clean, while the LORD weighs their motives and directs their steps. His purpose reaches everything, including the wicked person’s day of evil. Pride will not go unpunished, and a throne is established through righteousness. Wisdom is better than gold, while humble trust is better than plunder shared with the proud. Wise words bring instruction and healing, while gossip and violence lead others into evil. Even the decision of a lot belongs to the LORD.
As you read Proverbs 16, look for the answers:
- Who directs a person’s steps? (verse 9)
- Who governs the decision of the lot? (verse 33)
Reflect together
Key truth
The LORD weighs our hearts and directs our steps according to His purpose.
Eight of the first nine verses of Proverbs 16 name the LORD, so the chapter keeps His rule in front of every plan. A man plans his course, but verse 9 says that the LORD “directs his steps.” Verse 2 says “Yahweh weighs the motives,” like a man who sets something on a pair of scales to learn its true weight. So a plan that looks clean in our own eyes can still be proud and wrong before Him (verses 2 and 5). In Israel a lot was cast to settle hard questions, such as dividing an inheritance. Even then, verse 33 says “its every decision is from Yahweh.” Verse 6 says that “by mercy and truth iniquity is atoned for.” God’s mercy is fulfilled through Christ’s sacrifice, rather than earned by our acts of kindness.
How does Proverbs 16 show us that the LORD weighs our hearts and directs our steps according to His purpose?
God sees more than our plans reveal.
A person can consider his own ways clean while God weighs the motives. Committing deeds to Him requires humble dependence. His direction reaches the steps themselves, beyond the course we intended.
God’s wisdom values righteousness above power.
A throne is established through righteousness, and pride goes before a fall. Ruling one’s spirit is better than taking a city. Gentle and truthful speech serves life where violence and whispering destroy it.
Memorise
A man’s heart plans his course, but Yahweh directs his steps.
Proverbs 16:9
Looking to Jesus in my life
Ask yourself in your heart, where am I proud of my plans, and will I ask Jesus to forgive me?
“Yahweh weighs the motives.” Our clean appearance cannot hide the pride beneath our plans. Sin reaches the heart, and kindness of our own cannot remove its guilt.
God’s wise mercy brought Jesus to the cross. He died for His people, carrying their sins under the judgment of God. He rose victorious from the tomb. His sacrifice accomplished all that was needed to reconcile them to God.
Turn from your sin and put your trust in Jesus. The God who sees the motives grants forgiveness through His Son to all who believe. Entrust yourself to the Savior who fulfilled God’s saving purpose. His mercy is a firmer hope than your best plan.
Parent's note
Tell your children that making plans never places their lives beyond God’s wise rule. Please do not mistake belonging to a Christian home for belonging to Christ. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.
Pray together
Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for directing steps and searching motives. Bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.
Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out!
Romans 11:33
Sovereign Lord, thank You that our lives rest under Your wise care. Please search our plans and expose selfish motives. Turn us from pride and lead us to trust Jesus. Help our family choose righteousness above gain and depend on You when our plans change. Amen.