Audio Download

Pro 16:1-10 “The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy”

(Aired on July 17, 2025)

Pro 16:1  The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.
Pro 16:2  All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.
Pro 16:3  Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.
Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Pro 16:5  Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.
Pro 16:6  By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.
Pro 16:7  When a man’s ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
Pro 16:8  Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right.
Pro 16:9  A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.
Pro 16:10  A divine sentence is in the lips of the king: his mouth transgresseth not in judgment.

God is working a desire in the hearts of His children to be pleasing in our Lord’s sight (Heb 13:20-21) who is “full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy”, and the road toward the completion of God’s workmanship is being accomplished through His judgement upon us (Heb 12:6, 1Pe 4:17) as Christ works in us both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure (Php 2:12-13, Col 1:24). Giving the kingdom of God to us in earnest is God’s good pleasure to do today through Christ, as we are raised in heavenly places (Luk 12:32, Eph 2:6).

Heb 13:20  Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
Heb 13:21  Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

In this chapter of proverbs there is a lot of instruction on how the Lord is working in the lives of His children to develop within us this gracious, full of compassion, slow to anger and of great mercy, mind, that is the very nature of our Father in heaven and Jesus Christ.

This is eternal life, “that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent”(Joh 17:3).

When we know someone we understand them and we perceive that they know us, or rather in the case of our Father and Christ, we are known of them as a result of having their life within us (Gal 4:9, Joh 14:20).

Gal 4:9  But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

Joh 14:20  At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

What replaces the weak and beggarly elements within our hearts and minds is accomplished through a life that is being matured through ordained works that we are admonished to be careful to patiently keep in God’s service (Tit 3:8). The works of faith that God accomplishes in us through Christ create a foundation that stands up against the iniquity that will abound at the end of this age and produce nothing but dead works that don’t acknowledge God’s complete sovereignty over all things (Heb 6:1, 1Ti 6:19).

Tit 3:8  This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God (Joh 6:28-29) might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.

Heb 6:1  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God (Heb 6:1-3, Joh 8:31-32, Joh 8:36-37,  Jas 2:19)

1Ti 6:19  Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come (These verses Mat 24:8-12, 2Ti 3:1-4, describe the time to come and has already come for those who are dead in their graves, awaiting the first resurrection), that they may lay hold on eternal life. [through patient continuance in well doing Luk 21:19, Heb 10:36-38, Rom 2:6-7, Luk 8:15].

Luk 21:19  In your patience possess ye your souls.

Heb 10:36  For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
Heb 10:37  For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.
Heb 10:38  Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

Rom 2:6  Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
Rom 2:7  To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:

Luk 8:15  But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

The preparation of the heart of God’s children is what is first and foremost in the mind of the Creator who is preparing our hearts so that we can worship Him in spirit and in truth (Joh 4:23-24). That right relationship is something that only God can form within us through Christ, and we rejoice in knowing that what He seeks out by the counsel of His will, He will find (Isa 14:27, Job 23:13, Rom 5:10).

Pro 16:1  The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.

What part of this proverb leaves room for us to say that we have free will? It takes a miracle from God to have our eyes open and see this straightforward statement from Him that tells us that all things are being worked according to the counsel God’s own will, both to will and to do. “The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue” (Eph 1:11-12, Php 2:12-13), is what He has determined to do in the lives of His creation, “and who can turn him?”

Job 23:13  But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.

Pro 16:2  All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.

Our sins are being purged and cleansed by God, and many of them are hidden, and some are overt, which we express with the saying, sins of omission and sins of commission (Psa 19:12). Some men’s sins (Lord willing us today if we are being judged and dragged to Christ 1Pe 4:17,  Joh 6:44, Heb 12:6) “are open beforehand [commission], going before to judgment; and some men they follow after” (1Ti 5:24). This sinful flesh is a means to an end and as the carnality is burnt out of us (Tit 2:12-13), then the good works become manifest, “Likewise also the good works of some are manifest beforehand; and they that are otherwise cannot be hid”(1Ti 5:25).

Psa 19:12  Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.
Psa 19:13  Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous (Rom 11:20) sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.[self-righteousness Php 3:9]

1Ti 5:24  Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.
1Ti 5:25  Likewise also the good works of some are manifest beforehand; and they that are otherwise cannot be hid.

If we judge ourselves in this age, it is because the LORD is working that work within us and “weigheth the spirits” within us today. God’s judgements in our lives bring us to see ourselves for what we really are, leading us to repentance (Rom 2:24), and that is the only way we can receive a reward: from that ground of a broken and contrite heart that is being saved in this life and learning of His righteousness as a result of His judgements in our earth (Isa 26:9), otherwise our judgement will be in the great white throne judgement (1Co 3:14-15).

Pro 16:3  Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.

We commit not just our good works unto the LORD, but we also confess our faults and go humbly before our advocate in time of need and in doing so our “thoughts shall be established” (1Jn 2:1, 1Pe 5:6-9).

1Jn 2:1  My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

1Pe 5:6  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
1Pe 5:7  Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
1Pe 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
1Pe 5:9  Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

Committing our good works to the LORD requires much tribulation in this life (Act 14:22), that we must go through in order to be those who first trust in Him (Eph 1:12, 2Co 1:9).

Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

2Co 1:9  But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:

Our flesh naturally wants to supersede God’s will and not trust him or commit our ways to him (Pro 14:12, Pro 3:5-9), and to whatever degree we are yet conformed to this world, (1Jn 2:16), the Lord is in the process of daily burning those things out of our life little and by little (Tit 2:12-13, Exo 23:30) as we look to the Lord (these are the thoughts that God is establishing within the body of Christ Heb 12:1-2, Rom 12:1-2).

Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

Sin, and the sinful flesh that we are in is a means to an end that God created for himself, so that all of His creation would be in a position of needing to be redeemed of God. The initial day of evil for Adam and Eve was the day that they were created [omission, hidden sins] in marred vessels of clay (Jer 18:4-6, Rom 9:1-3), and their inability to rightly divide God’s word when tempted of the devil was the predestined failure and overt sin of commission that all flesh must experience, the “the wicked for the day of evil”. The judgement of this marred vessel is the one event that is common to all men, and each man will be judged in the order God has ordained within His plan of the salvation of all men. The master Potter has devised a means to save all this banished wicked flesh, that is as spilt water, through those who will be the first to be redeemed by the precious blood of Christ (2Sa 14:14, Oba 1:21).

Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
Jer 18:5  Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Jer 18:6  O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

2Sa 14:14  For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.

Pro 16:5  Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.

Pro 16:5 An abhorrence to Yahweh is everyone haughty of heart; A hand upon hand, he shall not be held innocent.”(CLV)
Pro 16:5 Every one proud in heart is an abomination to Jehovah. Though they unite they will all be punished.(NSB)

The ecumenical world of religion that all of God’s elect have come out of, is represented by this ‘hand in hand’, proud spirit that takes God’s silver and gold and wraps it around the idol of our hearts, which actions are “an abomination to the LORD”. This wrapping around our hearts at that time in Babylon is inevitable and leaves us unknowingly with no stay of bread or water (Isa 3:1, Luk 8:18).

Isa 3:1  For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,

Luk 8:18  Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.

Pro 16:6  By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.

It is God’s mercy and truth that purges the iniquity (Heb 9:22, 1Pe 1:18-19) in our lives if He is working with us in this age, otherwise we will have no fear of God resulting in our inability to “depart from evil”.

Heb 9:22  And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

1Pe 1:18  Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; [wrapped around the idol of our hearts]
1Pe 1:19  But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

Only Christ can bring us to that point where we are not a foolish virgin leaning unto our own understanding, not departing from evil, which is what we do when our confidence is in our own flesh (Eph 1:12, 2Co 1:9) and not trusting in the living God (Php 3:3, 1Ti 4:10).

Php 3:3  For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

1Ti 4:10  For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.

Pro 16:7  When a man’s ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.

We see that enemy in the mirror every morning, and God is encouraging us with this proverb that we can be more than conquerors through Christ over this inward enemy of the cross, by dying daily and by being granted to be cursed to hang on the tree through the power of God’ holy spirit (Gal 3:13), that keeps us on that cross where we find life through death (Gal 2:20).

Gal 3:13  Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.(Joh 12:24)

We can only save ourselves from this untoward generation by being on the cross with Christ, acknowledging that we are the first generation to come to see that we are guilty of all (Mat 24:34), learning that our victory over sin comes by being bound to the altar which is the cross (Mat 27:40, Mar 15:30, Psa 118:27), this is what brings us peace that passes all understanding “he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him”.

Mat 27:40  And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.

Mar 15:30  Save thyself, and come down from the cross

Psa 118:27  God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.

Pro 16:8  Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right.

Whether we have a little or a lot, if Christ is not in the center of our life, we have nothing, even if we gain all the riches of this world (Mar 8:35-38, Mat 25:29).

Mar 8:35  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.
Mar 8:36  For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

Mat 25:29  For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

Great revenues is what this world is all about, and yet God’s elect are the wealthiest people on this planet unbeknown to the world. We are that wealthy because we acknowledge that Christ must be in the center of our lives accomplishing our Father’s will for us at all times (Jas 2:5, Heb 13:5, Rom 8:28). We have peace that passes all understanding in this life as a result of God’s judgements upon us in His house (Psa 84:10-11)

Jas 2:5  Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?

Heb 13:5  Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Psa 84:10  For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
Psa 84:11  For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

What some may see as ‘little’ God calls ‘precious and abundant’ in his sight, as we are dragged to His son (Joh 6:44) and present our widow’s mite that represents our weak unprofitable flesh, that by God’s grace becomes a living sacrifice with Christ’s spirit that has power to go without the camp with our Lord, as an acceptable living precious sacrifice through Christ (Heb 13:13, Psa 116:15).

Heb 13:13  Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.

Psa 116:15  Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

Pro 16:9  A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.

It is not in the heart of man to direct his steps, and the way that seems right to our flesh will lead to death (Pro 14:12). The LORD is the one who directs our steps out of the darkness and into the light of a right relationship with Him as His bride symbolized by Christ’s relationship with the carnal nation of Israel (Leah) to then have a relationship with the Israel of God (Gal 6:16), typified by (Rachel)(Gen 29:16-29).

Gal 6:16  And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

Pro 16:10  A divine sentence is in the lips of the king: his mouth transgresseth not in judgment.

If we are blessed to not be offended in Christ (Mat 11:6) our mouths will not transgress in judgment, because it will be the judgement of Christ working within us, both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure, which is to give us the kingdom of God.

Mat 11:6  And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.

A ‘divine sentence’ can only come about by our lips being burnt with hot coals (Isa 6:6-7) that symbolize the word of God, and Peter who thought he had a divine sentence on his lips said this to Christ, “Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended”(Mat 26:33) .

Isa 6:6  Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
Isa 6:7  And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

Christ’s answer to Peter represents the hot coals that in time were going to deeply burn Peter’s then self-righteous lips that represent all of us in our appointed time, “Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.”(Mat 26:34)

These actions of Christ toward Peter demonstrate what it means when we read, “The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy”, and as was the case with Peter it is our own iniquities, our own self-righteousness that so often corrects us, to then bring us to see our gracious LORD, who is full of compassion, slow to anger, and a very merciful Father who is ready to forgive all our sins and transgressions if we will only be granted to confess our iniquities to him (1Jn 2:1-2).

1Jn 2:1  My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
1Jn 2:2  And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.