Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.

Proverbs 16

• Wisdom is to weigh two options one against the other. Upon being weighed, to choose the one with the most value.
• God already sees the end; He would not have created men if He did not have His own plan.
  Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that NO ONE can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.
  It’s called “faith”.

Wisdom Is Better Than Gold

Proverbs 16:¹ The preparations (plans) of the heart belong to man,
But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ).

Proverbs 16:² All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,
But the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) weighs the spirits.

• God weighed the King of the Babylonians in His balances against the Persian King and Belshazzer was found “wanting” (He came up short. He did not meet up to God’s expectations).
  • Daniel 5:27 TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting;
• That very night Belshazzar, the King of the Babylonians, was slain.

Proverbs 16:³ Commit (Lit. Roll) your works to the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ),
And your thoughts will be established.

Proverbs 16:⁴ The Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) has made all for Himself,
Yes, even the wicked for the day of doom (Lit. evil).

• Note: The wicked – God has made, even Satan.

Proverbs 16:⁵ Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ);
Though they join forces (Lit. hand to hand), none will go unpunished.

• The proud in heart prey on others to meet their own needs.

Proverbs 16:⁶ In mercy and truth
Atonement is provided for iniquity;
And by the fear of the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) one departs from evil.

• When a person fears God, he behaves differently. The evil neither fear God nor consider the consequences of their actions.
• Atonement is provided… Jesus the Passover Lamb for the past, present, and future.

Proverbs 16:⁷ When a man’s ways please the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ),
He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

Proverbs 16:⁸ Better is a little with righteousness,
Than vast revenues without justice.

Proverbs 16:⁹ A man’s heart plans his way,
But the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) directs his steps.

• Before the beginning, God had already picked out the end He wanted. Yet, men still have a choice as to how they want to play their part in God’s pre-written curtain-dropping smash hit.
  It doesn’t make sense how this can be by man’s understanding, because we can’t. And yet … it is called faith. The past, present and future are all the same to God.
  
  • I Corinthians 2:11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.
  • Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

Proverbs 16:¹⁰ Divination is on the lips of the king;
His mouth must not transgress in judgment.

Proverbs 16:¹¹ Honest weights and scales are the Lord’s (Yᵊhōvâ‘s);
All the weights in the bag are His work (concern).

• Honesty on the right and Justice on the left is a balance for men and society.

Proverbs 16:¹² It is an abomination for kings to commit wickedness,
For a throne is established by righteousness.

Proverbs 16:¹³ Righteous lips are the delight of kings,
And they love him who speaks what is right.

Proverbs 16:¹⁴ As messengers of death is the king’s wrath, but a wise man will appease it.

• In one case, it was Abigail who appeased David when he was about to kill Nabol, whose name means “fool”.

Proverbs 16:¹⁵ In the light of the king’s face is life,
And his favor is like a cloud of the latter rain.

• The latter rain is Strong’s H4456, the March and April rains which mature the crops of Palestine. The root meaning for latter rain is H3953 to gather, glean, or despoil by taking everything.
  
• The former rain is Strong’s H4175, the early rain. It also means teacher (or archer).
  • Literally, The faithful rain is the Messiah. An archer with a bow is He who makes a covenant. (Like a “Rain” Teacher, and “bow” covenant. A “Rainbow” is the Messiah’s Covenant.)
    
• Joel 2:23 Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God; For He has given you the former rain-faithfully (the Messiah), and He will cause the rain to come down for you—The former rain H4175, And the latter rain H4456 in the first.
  
• Pattern: The Former and the Later Rain is Jesus coming to earth twice: the first time as a sacrifice and the second time to rule.

Proverbs 16:¹⁶ How much better to get wisdom than gold!
And to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.

• The lack of wisdom and understanding will deplete a man of his gold and silver.
  • Adage: “A fool and his money are soon parted.”

Proverbs 16:¹⁷ The highway of the upright is to depart from evil;
He who keeps his way preserves his soul.

• The “way” of Jacob, after meeting with his brother Esau was to go to a place meaning “booths” (tabernacle with God)
• But Esau went to Mt. Seir, a place of demons.

Proverbs 16:¹⁸ Pride goes before destruction,
And a haughty spirit before a fall (stumbling).

• The root meaning of Esau’s stew is “pride”.

Proverbs 16:¹⁹ Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly,
Than to divide the spoil (plunder) with the proud.

Proverbs 16:²⁰ He who heeds the word wisely will find good,
And whoever trusts in the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ), happy is he.

Proverbs 16:²¹ The wise in heart will be called prudent,
And sweetness of the lips increases learning.

Proverbs 16:²² Understanding is a wellspring of life to him who has it.
But the correction of fools is folly (hopeless).

• The fool cannot give a straight answer. He gives so much information the listener will drown with nonsensical data.
  • He manipulates others for his own needs pretending to give something in return.
  • He will nod “yes” with his head but do as he wishes.
  • Authority is to be out maneuvered. He will agree not to do something and then add “I will just…(do this one thing I said I would not do).”
  • He will procrastinate until the subject withers and goes away.
  • He will feign sleepiness.
  • He has a dump truck brimming with excuses.
  • He will ceaselessly correct you because he knows more than you.
  • He has a chip on his shoulder and walks like he is the cock of the walk, or pretends to be just a “dumb ol’ boy” as his left hand empties your pocket.
  • He loves to tell you why he does what he does when he does it.
  • A fool will kill a fly with a cannon, and confront a king with a stick.
  • A fool is a balloon of air ready to puff himself up like a loaf of bread when it is exposed to heat.
  • The fool wants everything from everybody for nothing. He is proud, greedy, needy, and seedy.
  • He is an “actor” who is a hypocrite.
  • He is a predator to the naive.
  • His mouth is open, his ears are plugged.
  • There is also a fool who will spend a dollar to retrieve a penny.

Proverbs 16:²³ The heart of the wise teaches his mouth,
And adds learning to his lips.

• Proverbs 19:11 The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, And his glory is to overlook a transgression.
• The heart of the fool is to let his mouth run like a motor without a steering wheel.

Proverbs 16:²⁴ Pleasant words are like a honeycomb,
Sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.

• Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

Proverbs 16:²⁵ There is a way that seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.

• Such is Vengeance.

Proverbs 16:²⁶ The person who labors, labors for himself,
For his hungry mouth drives him on.

• II Thessalonians 3:10 For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.

Proverbs 16:²⁷ An ungodly man (Lit. A man of Belial) digs up evil,
And it is on his lips like a burning fire.

• When all is at peace, the skies darken, and a tornado appears on the horizon.

Proverbs 16:²⁸ A perverse man sows strife,
And a whisperer separates the best of friends.

Proverbs 16:²⁹ A violent man entices (manipulates) his neighbor,
And leads him in a way that is not good.

Proverbs 16:³⁰ He winks his eye to devise perverse things;
He purses his lips (Lit. compresses) and brings about evil.

• The wink of the eye makes evil look fun.

Proverbs 16:³¹ The silver-haired head is a crown of glory,
If it is found in the way of righteousness.

• The wisdom of experience is found within the lives of the aged.
• Godly wisdom takes youth to new heights.
  
• ^(a) Reference: a little humor about the aged at the bottom.

Proverbs 16:³² He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty,
And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.

• It is better to march than to kick.

Proverbs 16:³³ The lot is cast into the lap,
But its every decision is from the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ).

• “Let Go, Let God.”
• Manipulation is the art of Satan. Being “crafty” is like basket weaving, the manipulation of reeds to create one’s own way.
  • The Temptation and Fall of Man – Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more cunning (crafty) than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (He tells a lie as fact to see if the listener believes it.)

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(a) Humor for the silver-haired: Proverbs v31

• The aged are worth a fortune, with silver in their hair, gold in their teeth, stones in their kidneys, lead in their feet, and gas in their stomachs, but it is their wisdom that is priceless.
  
• I’m not old, I’m just well-seasoned with “Thyme”.
  
• The young prophet was impressed with his master; everywhere they went, his master spoke of the hereafter, “What are we here after?”
  
• People read the Bible more when they get older because they’re cramming for that final exam!
  
• “If I don’t die pretty soon!” an elderly lady said, “all my friends are going to think I went to the wrong place!’
  
• After many years of missing church, an elderly woman decided to go.
  A man at the door stopped her, explaining that they have a strict dress code and her clothes must be sharp and pristine to show respect to the Lord.
  Dejected and embarrassed, she sat down on a bench in the back and cried.
  Suddenly, Jesus sat down next to her, put His comforting hand on her shoulder, and said, “Don’t worry, they didn’t let me in either.”
  
• An elderly Jewish rabbi and an elderly Catholic priest had always been good friends. One day, they met at a park for lunch. The priest brought his favorite, a ham sandwich. “You know,” he said to his friend, “We’ve been meeting for lunch for years. When are you going to finally try a ham sandwich?”
  The old Rabbi slowly looked up and replied, “At your wedding.”
  
• “Was that last surgery scary?” An angel asked an old man who had just arrived in heaven.
  “Well,” he replied, “just as the anesthetic was administered, I heard the surgeon say, ‘Don’t worry Sam, this is just a routine operation. There’s nothing to worry about.”
  I panicked. My last words were, “My name isn’t Sam!”
  Before I was out, I heard his nervous whisper, “I know … I’m Sam.”

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