Text: “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand” (Pr 19:21). 

Context: When you read Proverbs 19-20, you see a kind of blueprint that emerges. The blueprint uses the Hebrew poetic form known as parallelism. The first part of the verse expresses an image or idea, and then the second verse accentuates the principle taught, either by repetition or by contrast. An example helps: “All a poor man’s brothers hate him; how much more do his friends go far from him!” (Pr 19:7a). The first verse teaches the principle of how people flee one in need, and the second verse emphasizes the same idea via repetition. 

Connection to today: I perused the headlines this morning after I awoke. To state the obvious, they were troubling. America’s a nation without borders; Haitians and others are being flown into the nation by our government; Fulton County, GA’s corrupt justice system is once again in the world’s spotlight; twin NYC girls are stabbed, one of whom dies; and more and more stories of men playing in girls’ sports and running the tables, etc. It was just more of the same. It seems as if, to quote Dylan, 

Broken lines, broken strings

Broken threads, broken springs

Broken idols, broken heads

People sleeping in broken beds

Ain’t no use jiving, ain’t no use joking

Everything is broken

Doctrine & application: The second half of Proverbs 19:7 is synonymous parallelism, which just means it’s another way of saying the same things as the first verse; it emphasizes a principle via repetition: “He pursues them with words, but does not have them” (Pr 19:7b). The idea is simple but powerful: Money attracts but poverty repels. But look at the verse with which I began, Proverbs 19:21. It’s antithetical parallelism that’s used in that verse. The second verse teaches a principle via its contrast—”but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.” See the contrast? 

The first half of Proverbs 19:21 appears to be taking you a direction where you might think that man’s corrupt machinations will win, but then the second verse puts the kibosh on that idea. The purposes of God will stand, that’s the point. 

When the wheels are coming off the train; when words are forcibly stripped of their clear and historical meanings; when truth is on the scaffold; when we’re told, “All is well; everything’s secure,” but then you see with your own eyes murders and assaults and robberies, know that God’s purposes will stand. Why? Because God is not mocked. When you spit in the wind, it comes back twice as hard and is rather nasty. Theology is not just for the academy; it undergirds every worldview. When we see the harvest of mayhem, may we have the wisdom to repent and return to the Lord whose plans will stand.