#PROVERBS 21 1 FULL#

The Septuagint and Arabic versions render it to this sense,īut the Lord pondereth the hearts: weighs them in the balance of righteousness and truth considers them, having a perfect knowledge of them, and all the springs of action in them and knows that every way of man is not right, though they may seem so to him. This is repeated, from Proverbs 16:2 for the confirmation of it and that it might be observed and taken notice of, and men be brought under a conviction of it which is not easily done, it being what affects all men: every man is conceited of himself and his own way, and is not easily persuaded off of it his sinful ways are agreeable to him promising him pleasure, profit, or honour and his self-righteous ways suit with the vain opinion he has of himself, whereby he promises himself eternal life and happiness. 158.Įvery way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.Every way of a man is right in his own eyes. The Heathens very wrongly call one of their deities Verticordia (o), from the power of turning the heart they ascribe to it however, this shows their sense, that to turn the heart is the property of deity. And so, in conversion, the Lord can turn the hearts of men as he pleases their understanding, will, and affections, are in his hands: he can make the understanding light which was darkness, and so turn it from darkness to light he can take off the stiffness of the will, and turn it from its bias and bent, and make it willing to that which is good in the day of his power: he can turn the channel and course of the affections from sinful lusts and pleasures, to himself, his son, his truths, word, worship, ordinances, and people he can take out of the heart what he pleases, its ignorance, hardness, enmity, unbelief, pride, and vanity and he can put in what he pleases, his fear, his laws, his Spirit, and the gifts and graces of if he can change and turn it just as he will he that made the heart can operate upon it, and do with it as seems good in his sight. He turneth it whithersoever he will contrary to their first designs, and to answer another purpose oftentimes towards his people, and for the good of his cause and interest, which they never designed and to bring about such things as were out of their view. The heart of a king is as much at the dispose of the Lord, and can be turned by him as easily as such canals may be made, or the course of a river turned for it follows: The allusion is to gardeners, that make channels for the water to run in, to water their gardens or to husbandmen, that cut aqueducts from rivers, to water their fields or to the turning of the course of rivers, as Euphrates was by Cyrus, when he took Babylon.

#PROVERBS 21 1 FULL#

And which are as 'rivers of water' for so the words may be rendered, as rivers of water is 'the heart of a king', which is 'in the hand of the Lord' unstable, fluid, and fluctuating and yet the Lord can stay and settle, and fix them, and keep them steady and within bounds: or which, like a torrent of water, comes with force and impetus and so the Septuagint render it, 'the force of waters' and bears all before it, as do the wills of despotic kings and yet these the Lord can stop and bound, and rule and overrule: or like rivers of water, reviving and refreshing, so is the heart of a good king, full of wisdom and prudence, of integrity and faithfulness, of clemency and goodness the streams of whose bounty and kindness flow among his subjects, to their great pleasure and profit so Christ, the King of kings, is said to be as 'rivers of water', Isaiah 32:2. The heart of every king, and all that is in it, his thoughts, counsels, purposes, and designs the hearts of bad kings, as Pharaoh, whom the Lord hardened and softened at pleasure the antichristian kings, into whose hearts he put it to give their kingdoms to the beast, Revelation 17:17 the hearts of good kings, as David, Solomon, Cyrus, and others: and if the hearts of kings are in the hands of the Lord, which are full of things of the greatest importance with respect to the government of the world and which are generally more untractable and unmanageable and who are more resolute and positive, and will have their own wills and ways, especially arbitrary princes then much more the hearts of other persons. The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water.

Proverbs 21 1