Hearty Preparations

(Proverbs 16:1 KJV)  The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.

Look at verse 9. 

(Proverbs 16:9 KJV)  A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.

They have a similar flow.  Both begin with the idea that men have ideas.  God’s action is different in each one.  That is not inconsistency.  It is richness of understanding.   The NASB uses “plan” in both places but they are different words and different parts of speech.  The KJV shows the difference.  Here it has “preparations” (4633) as a noun.  This is the only place the word is used in the Bible.  In verse 9 it has “deviseth” (2803) and it is a verb.  Both translations use “heart” (3820) in this verse and the same Hebrew word in verse 9 with different translations.

God has given us free will.  He has not given us freedom of planning the future of the destiny or the results of our actions.  Here He is promising to help us mold our responses.

So?  When I make my plans and follow my trains of thought I do my best to base them on what I know about the expectations God has.  I trust Him to tailor the final product.