Pastor John,
In my “journey” through Proverbs,⁷ I’ve gotten to chapter 16 this morning, and after reading verse 1, I had to stop right away. It says:
“The plans of the heart belong to man, but the response of the tongue is from the Lord.”
It seems obvious to me that Solomon here was talking about “the tongue” figuratively, but I just can’t get away from the thought that, without him being aware of it, he was also prophesying about the sound of the Spirit coming off of the tongues of men from the day of Pentecost on; confirming, ahead of time, that the “response of the tongue” (or “the answer of a good conscience”, in Peter’s words) is “from the Lord”.
The Hungarian translation I’m reading says, “The thoughts of the MIND belong to man, but the response of the tongue is from the Lord”. And reading that, I was reminded of another scripture in 1Cor 14:14-15, where Paul discusses praying “in the Spirit” vs praying “with the understanding”, explaining that “if I pray in a tongue, my spirit is praying”. That, I feel like, echoes Solomon’s statement: “The response of the tongue is from the Lord”, because, as we know, “the Lord is that Spirit”.
It is possible that I am projecting something into Proverbs 16:1 that is not there, but (using an image from one of Darren’s songs) these are the thoughts I was feeling while reading it.
Zoli
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Hi Zoli.
Ancient men of God often spoke beyond themselves, being moved by the Spirit to do so. And it was all about the hidden Son of God and his future work. That verse from Proverbs could well be an example of it.
Paul said that when he prayed in the Spirit, his mind was not involved, which goes along with what you are saying. There is a praying with the mind, which is good, even though from us, and there is a praying in the Spirit, which is better because, as Solomon said, it is given to us from the Lord.
Thank you for sending that. Thought provoking. Keep feeling your thoughts!
Pastor John