Proverbs 16v9
The Lord establishes his steps. . .
Proverbs 16:9 The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.
A little background: I was post-call today, and relatively un-tired at the time, so I decided to try to get in a bike ride. I spent about an hour on Google maps, plotting out my route, trying to avoid the mid-week traffic. After I decided on a route, I wrote out the legs of the route on an index card to carry with me, since it was too many turns to remember. All this to say, it took a while to plan this out. The ride was scheduled to take about 1h45m. About 30 minutes into it, as I’m cresting a hill, I can see clearly across the countryside a storm cloud and the thick streams of rain pouring down. I decided to turn around at this point, hopefully to avoid the storm. Well, about 5 minutes after turning around to head back, the rain is driving. The ride was otherwise uneventful, but it made me think of all of my planning, and how easily my plan was diverted. It is not my intention to spiritualize my bike ride today into minute detail, but I think it brought a good illustration to mind, allowing me to reflect on other areas of my life that this verse applies to.
How quick my heart is to make plans based on selfish desires, unaware that it is the Lord who is in control of them coming to fruition. [James 4:13-16] Where do the desires of my heart fit in with the rest of my life, and more importantly, with Scripture? The Bible clearly says that I can have desires [Psalm 37:4], but I don’t think it’s talking about the same ones I frequently have. There are so many verses that direct me to desire things that are pleasing to the Lord, I feel overwhelmed to list them all here. As far as other things that I desire that are not necessarily spiritual (like the bike ride), I can desire these things, but I am not to cling to them. I can sit down to read the Word and pray about wanting to please the Lord, only to get up, and immediately leave Him out of the rest of my day’s plans. It scares me how short-sighted my heart is and how prone to wander I am.
Desires
O Thou that hearest prayer,
Teach me to pray.
I confess that in religious exercises the language of my lips and the feelings of my heart have not
always agreed, that I have frequently taken carelessly upon my tongue a name never
pronounced above without reverence and humility, that I often desired things which would
have injured me, that I have depreciated some of my chief mercies, that I have erred both on the side of my hopes and also of my fears, that I am unfit to choose for myself, for it is not in me to direct my steps.
Let thy Spirit help my infirmities, for I know not what to pray for as I ought.
Let him produce in me wise desires by which I may ask right things,
then I shall know thou hearest me.
May I never be importunate for temporal blessings, but always refer them to thy fatherly goodness,
for thou knowest what I need before I ask;
May I never think I prosper unless my soul prospers,
or that I am rich unless rich toward thee,
of that I am wise unless wise unto salvation.
May I seek first thy kingdom and its righteousness.
May I value things in relation to eternity.
May my spiritual welfare be my chief solicitude.
May I be poor, afflicted, despised and have thy blessing, rather than be successful in enterprise,
or have more than my heart can wish,
or be admired by my fellow men,
if thereby these things make me forget thee.
May I regard the world as dreams, lies, vanities, vexation of spirit, and desire to depart from it.
And may I seek my happiness in thy favour, image, presence, service.
Proverbs 16:9 The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.
A little background: I was post-call today, and relatively un-tired at the time, so I decided to try to get in a bike ride. I spent about an hour on Google maps, plotting out my route, trying to avoid the mid-week traffic. After I decided on a route, I wrote out the legs of the route on an index card to carry with me, since it was too many turns to remember. All this to say, it took a while to plan this out. The ride was scheduled to take about 1h45m. About 30 minutes into it, as I’m cresting a hill, I can see clearly across the countryside a storm cloud and the thick streams of rain pouring down. I decided to turn around at this point, hopefully to avoid the storm. Well, about 5 minutes after turning around to head back, the rain is driving. The ride was otherwise uneventful, but it made me think of all of my planning, and how easily my plan was diverted. It is not my intention to spiritualize my bike ride today into minute detail, but I think it brought a good illustration to mind, allowing me to reflect on other areas of my life that this verse applies to.
How quick my heart is to make plans based on selfish desires, unaware that it is the Lord who is in control of them coming to fruition. [James 4:13-16] Where do the desires of my heart fit in with the rest of my life, and more importantly, with Scripture? The Bible clearly says that I can have desires [Psalm 37:4], but I don’t think it’s talking about the same ones I frequently have. There are so many verses that direct me to desire things that are pleasing to the Lord, I feel overwhelmed to list them all here. As far as other things that I desire that are not necessarily spiritual (like the bike ride), I can desire these things, but I am not to cling to them. I can sit down to read the Word and pray about wanting to please the Lord, only to get up, and immediately leave Him out of the rest of my day’s plans. It scares me how short-sighted my heart is and how prone to wander I am.
Desires
O Thou that hearest prayer,
Teach me to pray.
I confess that in religious exercises the language of my lips and the feelings of my heart have not
always agreed, that I have frequently taken carelessly upon my tongue a name never
pronounced above without reverence and humility, that I often desired things which would
have injured me, that I have depreciated some of my chief mercies, that I have erred both on the side of my hopes and also of my fears, that I am unfit to choose for myself, for it is not in me to direct my steps.
Let thy Spirit help my infirmities, for I know not what to pray for as I ought.
Let him produce in me wise desires by which I may ask right things,
then I shall know thou hearest me.
May I never be importunate for temporal blessings, but always refer them to thy fatherly goodness,
for thou knowest what I need before I ask;
May I never think I prosper unless my soul prospers,
or that I am rich unless rich toward thee,
of that I am wise unless wise unto salvation.
May I seek first thy kingdom and its righteousness.
May I value things in relation to eternity.
May my spiritual welfare be my chief solicitude.
May I be poor, afflicted, despised and have thy blessing, rather than be successful in enterprise,
or have more than my heart can wish,
or be admired by my fellow men,
if thereby these things make me forget thee.
May I regard the world as dreams, lies, vanities, vexation of spirit, and desire to depart from it.
And may I seek my happiness in thy favour, image, presence, service.
posted by Frank Bob at 10:00 PM
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