The Sovereignty of God

Proverbs 16:6-9

God must pour out his wrath on sin, but he also makes atonement for sin. All evil breaks his heart and must be judged, but he graciously judges human sin at the cross so we can escape hell. Proverbs 16:6 says, “Iniquity is atoned for by loyalty and faithfulness, and one turns from evil by the fear of the Lord.” All sin is evil and an affront to God, but God graciously turns his wrath away from our sin by the blood of a substitute in our place. In the Old Testament, atonement was made by the blood of an animal, but all of the animal blood of the old covenant points to the final sacrifice of Christ on the cross for the sins of the world. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world ( John 1:29). Proverbs 16:6 indicates that atonement reveals God’s covenant love—his loyalty and faithfulness—toward us (Murphy and Huwiler, Proverbs, 80).

We know that atonement leads to being made more like Jesus because the end of verse 6, after atonement has been made, references the fear of the Lord and turning away from evil. After you are saved by the atonement, you are then made wise and holy through fear of the Lord—dependence on him. Verse 7 says that salvation includes the defeat of your enemies. In the new covenant our enemies are not flesh and blood but rather sin, Satan, and death. Jesus has defeated them all in his death and resurrection, and we get to share in that. God’s sovereignty is good news because it means that he saves us from our sin, makes us wise (see Rom 8:28-29), and defeats our enemies.

The cross of Christ clearly reveals the supreme sovereignty of God. The cross is the ultimate example of God using evil to accomplish his good plan. Acts 2:23 states, “Though [Jesus] was delivered up according to God’s determined plan and foreknowledge, you used lawless people to nail him to a cross and kill him.” The cross was God’s plan, but lawless people hung Jesus there because they wanted him dead. Acts 2 holds both man’s responsibility and God’s sovereign plan together. Acts 4:27-28 says,

For, in fact, in this city both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together against your holy Servant Jesus, whom you anointed, to do whatever your hand and your will had predestined to take place.

God predestined the cross, but men freely and wickedly chose to kill Jesus. These work together. Pontius Pilate, Herod, the Jews, and the Romans were not kicking and screaming with their hands tied behind their backs saying, “We don’t want Jesus to die, but we are being forced to do this.” God used the wicked choices of man to bring about his glorious, sovereign plan.

God’s sovereignty is good news because it means he can take evil and use it for good. His sovereignty means that the suffering and chaos in your life is not meaningless or ultimate. You may not see how in the world what is happening to you could ever be a good thing, and you may never understand it until eternity, but you can trust that a God who did not remain distant from your suffering—but rather entered into your world, suffered even beyond what you are suffering, and died in your place—has a good reason and plan for why he is allowing all these things to happen in your life. Plus, one day he will do away with evil and suffering forever. Revelation 21–22 is on the way!

God makes sure that things work out in the end. Proverbs 16:8 is the only verse in 16:1-9 that does not mention God. We think there is a reason for that. We take Waltke’s argument that the absence is intentional because he seems absent in a “morally upside-down world” (Proverbs, Chapters 15–31, 16). It says, “Better a little with righteousness than great income with injustice.” It is better to be poor and righteous than to be rich having gotten your money in a sinful way. This verse is a qualification. Generally in Proverbs the righteous get rich and the wicked become poor, but Solomon says it doesn’t always work out that way. There will be times when the wicked become enriched because of their wickedness, and there are times when the righteous will be poor because of their righteousness. In those times, you will be tempted to think God is absent and not involved, but he is still working all things together for his good purposes. There may be a season where it looks like evil is winning and things are not working out the way they should. But even though it may seem that God is not there, he is working and superintending the process. Evil can succeed temporarily and the righteous can suffer, but in the end God turns the tables.

Proverbs 16:9 ends this section on God’s sovereignty by saying, “A person’s heart plans his way, but the Lord determines his steps.” Verse 9 caps Solomon’s argument with a final statement on God’s ultimate sovereignty. We make plans, but God orders our steps. He ordains all things.

Proverbs 16:10-15

Proverbs 16:10-15 gives the picture of the ideal, messianic king who rules as God’s vice-regent on earth (see Waltke’s great discussion on this in Proverbs, Chapters 15–31, 16–22). The word “king” is prominent, appearing in every verse but verse 11 ( just as God appeared in every verse in 1-9 except 8). These verses are deliberately paired with the sovereignty of God in verses 1-9 to show that Messiah’s reign mirrors the sovereign reign of God.

In the Old Testament, God’s sovereignty is mediated to the people through the human king. Let’s walk through this description and see God’s rule through the Messiah. Verse 10 says that God’s verdict is on the king’s lips so that he can make infallible judgments. When the king judges, he judges rightly. He does not do anything that is unjust. When he judges, he literally speaks for God. So the Davidic king reigns and judges on earth in God’s stead, upholding and executing justice. This is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus (see Acts 2:25-36).

Proverbs 16:11 gives an example of Yahweh’s justice, which is mediated through the king, when it talks about honest scales. This advises against an unethical business practice where sellers would cheat the buyer by changing up the weight system, perhaps by having heavy counterweights for buying and lighter ones for selling (Deut 25:13). Solomon says that God oversees that and is concerned about people not being cheated. The way God oversees it on earth is through the human king. The messianic king will make sure there is equity in his kingdom. The church, as an outpost of the kingdom, should model fairness, equity, and righteousness to the world.

Verse 12 shows how and why the king must uphold justice. Similarly to verse 11, it indicates that wicked behavior is detestable to any king. Those who practice wickedness—like the merchants with unfair weights—are abhorrent to the king ( just like the wicked of v. 5 are repulsive to Yahweh). It is detestable to the king because his dynasty—his throne—will only last if he reigns in righteousness and justice. This is the point of Proverbs. Solomon attempts to train his son to be the ideal king who sets up the messianic kingdom by righteousness. Solomon wants to be a Deuteronomy 6 parent who trains his son in the law so that his son can become a Deuteronomy 17 king who is a man of the law. The problem is Solomon and all of his descendants fail, and this leads to the hope in Israel for a king who embodies the wisdom of Proverbs (Isa 11:1-5) and who can finally establish the eternal, Davidic kingdom. This is fulfilled in the Messiah Jesus.^[24]Jesus sets up a kingdom where there is no wickedness or injustice. He establishes his eternal kingdom in righteousness by judging the wicked. Goldsworthy notes this as well:

For, in fact, in this city both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together against your holy Servant Jesus, whom you anointed, to do whatever your hand and your will had predestined to take place.

Jesus comes as the only king of Israel to rule perfectly according to the ideals of kingship set out in Deuteronomy 17:14-20. He is the true son of David, thus fitting that role in a way that sinful Solomon could never do. (Tree of Life, 125)

Since the kingdom is established in righteousness, kings are pleased with those who speak rightly (Prov 16:13). The author here encapsulates all of the activities of the kingdom: work, actions, and speech. The king is to govern all of these actions to establish the kingdom. He does this by carrying out judgment, including capital punishment (v. 14). The wise person appeases the king because his favor is like a new creation blessing (v. 15). Thus, the king—fulfilled in Messiah Jesus—is to be judge and punisher. Life and death are in his hands just like they are in Yahweh’s hands. The king wields life and death on Yahweh’s behalf. Jesus is both Savior and Judge, so we should bow the knee to him.

We see this same picture of Yahweh ruling on earth through his Messiah in Psalm 2. This rule includes wrath against those who stand against the Messiah and Yahweh. The wise person kisses the Son so that he does not become angry (Ps 2:12). As in Proverbs 16:15, blessed are all those who take refuge in the Messiah!

Our response to the sovereign Lord and his Messiah is to bow the knee. Why? We bow to the King because God’s sovereign plan for the world is centered on the Messiah. God’s sovereign plan is to exalt the Son and through him to redeem persons from every people group on earth (see Rev 5; 7). God’s plan will not be stopped, so do not take a stand against it. Rather, embrace it. It is foolish to attempt to live outside the sovereignty of God. Submit to the King! Anyone who repents of sin and believes in Jesus will be saved and be part of God’s plan for the world. For some of you this may be scary, or you might have a hard time agreeing with it, but deep in your heart you believe this and are comforted by it. After all, we sing about this all the time: “He’s got the whole world in his hands,” and “From life’s first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny. No pow’r of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from His hand” (Getty and Townend, “In Christ Alone”). That is good news!