Digging Deep into Proverbs 16:1

The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.

Proverbs 16:1

"The preparations of the heart in man - The Hebrew is לאדם מערכי לב leadam maarchey leb, which is, literally, "To man are the dispositions of the heart; but from the Lord is the answer of the tongue." 

 

Man proposes his wishes;

--but God answers as He thinks proper. 

The former is the free offspring of the heart of man; 

--the latter, the free volition of God. 

 

Man may think as he pleases, and ask as he lists; 

--but God will give, or not give, as He thinks proper. 

 

*This I believe to be the meaning of this shamefully tortured passage, so often vexed by critics, their doubts, and indecisions. God help them! for they seldom have the faculty of making any subject plainer!" Adam Clarke