Proverbs 21:1 - Lord Over the Hearts of Men

Proverbs 21:1 - The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes. 

Message: The Lord turns the king's heart wherever He wishes

Time: It seems that Proverbs was written and then compiled sometime between the tenth and sixth centuries B.C. Proverbs was probably written during the reign of Solomon, 971-931 B.C.

What the Lord is Saying:

How much does God control and direct our lives? And not just our lives, as believers, as those following the Lord, but what about those like a king that may or may not be following after God.  

Romans 13:1 states, "Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God." The Christian has a responsibility to subject oneself to the government. Why? Because God establishes authority. 

This idea or rather the doctrine that there is divine sovereignty, whereby God is directing all things, is a doctrine of comfort, but it is also a doctrine of confusion. When events are favorable to our interpretation, divine sovereignty makes sense, but when events are seen as unfavorable, I must admit being a little confused over the same doctrine. 

Conversion
From the idea of conversion, there are two different views: monergism which is the belief that God’s grace alone is able to raise dead, rebellious sinners to spiritual life without their cooperation, and synergism, the concept that God’s grace is incapable of accomplishing salvation without the assistance and cooperation of man. Those ideas are very sharply distinctive. I do believe in monergism, but I also think that God uses man and sometimes the works of man to draw people to Himself. By doing this, man could then think that he has a part in this action. To me, that is what is often challenging for me to comprehend; that man doesn't have a part. Can man affect change? And while this doctrine is necessary to discuss, I don't believe that people must be on a certain side in order to be saved.

Let me clarify, I definitely don't believe that man has anything to say about his own salvation. Man is not trying to work his way to God. He is incapable. He is a sinner and the moment he sins, he is imperfect and incapable of gaining God's acceptance.

But, can a man, living as a disciple and follower of Christ be involved in the conversion of a person, and if so, at what level is that involvement?

Beyond conversion
Beyond conversion, I have also wondered to what extent God, in general, order the events of the day. I do think God creates laws and rules in society and by setting those rules up, man's choices follow a normal path because of those laws.

And then there is this verse, that is really more specific, in that it states that the Lord is guiding or directing or turning a King's heart.

Psalm 78:15-16 - He split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them abundant drink like the ocean depths. He brought forth streams also from the rock and caused waters to run down like rivers.

He split - He gave - He brought - He caused.  

Once again, here is the text - Proverbs 21:1 - The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes. I notice here that Solomon is using the picture of channels of water. Per TableTalk, farmers in the anticent world--and even today--had to redirect the natural flow of rivers and streams to supply their gardens with life-giving water. This was a difficult task. God ordered this in the world. The Lord redirects and directs the king's heart so that it turns wherever he wishes. 

John Piper says, "God "works all things after the counsel of his will (Ephesians 1:11)." This "all things" includes the fall of sparrows (Matthew 10:29), the rolling of dice (Proverbs 16:33), the slaughter of his people (Psalm 44:11), the decisions of kings (Proverbs 21:1), the failing of sight (Exodus 4:11), the sickness of children (2 Samuel 12:15), the loss and gain of money (1 Samuel 2:7), the suffering of saints (1 Peter 4:19), the completion of travel plans (James 4:15), the persecution of Christians (Hebrews 12:4-7), the repentance of souls (2 Timothy 2:25), the gift of faith (Philippians 1:29), the pursuit of holiness (Philippians 3:12-13), the growth of believers (Hebrews 6:3), the giving of life and the taking in death (1 Samuel 2:6), and the crucifixion of his Son (Acts 4:27-28).

I think what I conclude is God directs the hearts of kings and their outcomes can be good or evil. God is not tempted by evil, but he is also sovereign over wickedness. His sovereignty is not limited to our defined good outcomes. 


Promise: Though God exercises his providential rule, man remains accountable to his actions. His grace does not mean that we do not restrain sin.