21 The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord;
He turns it wherever He wishes.
2 Every man’s way is right in his own eyes,
But the Lord weighs the hearts.
3 To do righteousness and justice
Is desired by the Lord more than sacrifice.
4 Haughty eyes and a proud heart,
The lamp of the wicked, is sin.
5 The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage,
But everyone who is hasty comes surely to poverty.
6 The acquisition of treasures by a lying tongue
Is a fleeting vapor, the [a]pursuit of death.
7 The violence of the wicked will drag them away,
Because they refuse to act with justice.
8 The way of a guilty man is crooked,
But as for the pure, his conduct is upright.
Solomon’s “channels of water” reminds me of the irrigating crops, for it certainly isn’t quite like our modern plumbing. Sure, a pipe might break, but the water isn’t getting out of the pipe otherwise. Unlike the water, which does what its Maker designed it to do, we have choices, lots of them.
When a farmer is irrigating, he has to go out and check the system periodically. Now, I’m not sure what it’s called, but I’m not talking about the massive pivots you might see like giant sprinklers. Rather, the method where the water is directed via loosely laid pipes, and then flows down the rows to water the corn or grain.
Like the water, we sometimes jump ship, but unlike the farmer, God knows what’s coming and already has a contingency plan. We can submit to God, or keep pushing our way through. Which also reminds me of a game I like to play. It’s an RTS, where you build a town, and you have villagers to gather crops, lumber, etc. You tell them what to do, and they do it, and some like to call it “god mode”, but it isn’t.
See, my villagers don’t have a choice, but imagine if they did. Instead of chopping lumber, the villager decides to take off on his own. He thinks he knows better (v. 4) and can’t wait (v. 5). He’s going to conquer the enemy single-handed. But what is really going to happen? Sadly, death is the inevitable result. I can try to redirect him, but if he is determined, he’ll run into the enemy with overwhelming odds.
Why do we think we are immune to this? Solomon makes it pretty clear that we are not. Only by staying pure, and following God’s plan (v. 8) will we find lasting life and fulfillment, the “advantage” of v. 5. Certainly, we can choose to ignore God, and stubbornly continue on our own way to the end of our days.
But the result of that is clearly spelled out by Paul, the same as that poor villager, “the end result of our rebellion is death… but the free gift of God is eternal life.” When we choose to follow God’s design, to acknowledge his unerring hand in our lives, the result is more than we could have imagined. And it’s freely given, laid out in front of us. Take the next step with God at your side, and follow the path laid out for you before time began, to life everlasting and full of glory.