Are The Plans Of The LORD Right?

*Rich *schemes are in the *mind of a man, but the *will of the LORD *stands above *her. (MAST)

*[Rich] literally, many. But this is referring to the motive which lies at the heart of every natural man, great wealth and power. So it is referring more to what the schemes are inspired by than to the quantity of the schemes. So, when a man campaigns on a plan to make a people or nation ‘great again,’ the underlying motive is more power and riches for the schemers of those people (1Tim.6:9-10). Therefore, if we leave the word at its base meaning, great, then we can see the quantity of the schemes; but if we see the aim of Solomon’s wisdom, we find the motive of the quantity of the schemes. There are many schemes in one man because there are many schemers, and the battle is always who will be the greatest and most powerful of them all.

*[schemes] literally, thoughts. But these are purposeful thoughts with the will to carry out imaginations. The noun is even translated, according to the AV, twice as a verb, devised and invented, as an imagination worked out. So it is a plan carried out with a purpose and intent (motive) (1Tim.6:9).

*[the mind] literally, the heart. But in Hebrew it is the seat of reasoning and the factory of the will of man. It encompasses not only the will but also the emotions and motives of the will. Whatever controls the heart will control the mind that produces the will and intentions of itself. The spirit that sits in the throne or seat of the heart has dominion over its choices. Therefore these schemes are born out this factory of reasoning. The world observes itself through this lens, but this lens is insufficient to understand what it sees. It requires an interpreter. The schemes born out of this insufficiency, then, are not in the mind of God (Isa.55:8). Therefore the will of God is greater than man’s intentions, and these misguided reasonings are used of God to fulfill His greater purpose (Ex.9:16). While the will of God is not enthroned on the seat of a man’s heart, God’s purpose for his evil does not overrule the revealed will of God (Isa.14:24). All of God’s purposes and counsels will stand because they are fixed from before the foundation of the world (Acts 2:23;Rev.13:8).

*[the will] literally, the counsel of God. This ranges from God’s purposes in both good and evil into one theological thought, the will of God. Because the will (image) of God is not seated on the throne of every man’s heart, there remains a purpose for evil. A man may use the good counsel of God for his own imaginations which are imputed to him for evil (Gen.6:5), but it cannot change nor be victorious over the revealed will of God (Gen.6:13-14). The secret will of God cannot be known to us until it happens, but when it happens, whether good or evil, it happens that God’s revealed will would be understood (Jn.10:38;11:42;17:23;20:31; Lk.22:37;24:44). For example, we know that all men are born evil (Ps.51:5;Jn.9:24), but what that evil will be and how that evil plays out in their life is a secret to God alone until it unfolds (Rom.9:11); and the same is true for the sons of God, for we do not yet know who the sons of God will be, but those who believe eagerly groan in the revealed will of God for His eternal decree to be made known (Rom.8:18-19).

*[stands] literally, to stay fixed. But the verb is feminine in relation to the two distinct wills between the LORD and a man. Therefore with regard to a man’s will as it unfolds, it is referring to how God’s will rises above it because His will is fixed. The Hebrew voice is imperfect in relation to the will of a man, but in relation to the will of God, it presently stands over him. Therefore from the earthly perspective of the will of man, God’s will rises higher and higher as the man unfolds the evil nature of his heart in the predetermined will of God. So more literally, God’s will stands over him whether the evil man perceives God’s purpose or not.

*[her] literally, that, or which. But this is referring to the comparison of the will of the man who has rich plans for himself. While he is often given the impression of favor and success, God’s will is greater than the image he has created or carved out for himself. He has envisioned himself to be rich through the many schemes of his own intellect, but the reality of God still stands above him in judgment. It could equally be translated, “Great are the plans in the heart of a man, but it is the will of the LORD [which] stands,” illuminating the contrast of his own will. While it is a feminine pronoun, it is not generating femininity but subserviency to the sovereignty of God.