I. God Exercises Sovereign Control Over All Things (His Sovereign Will)

• All things form part of His plan (16:9).
• Those with highest authority are still controlled by Him (21:1).
• What appears to be chance or coincidence is controlled by Him (16:33).
• No decision can overthrow what God ordains (21:30).
• What a person plans or chooses may not be the outcome the Lord chooses (16:9, 19:21).
• The way of our lives is inscrutable (20:24).
• Man’s plans do not determine the final outcome (21:31).

God’s sovereign will is the will by which He brings all things to pass. It is hidden to us until it takes place.

II. God Hates and Loves Certain Actions (His Preceptive Will)

• Some actions are God’s “delight”; others are an abomination to Him (Prov 6:16-19, 11:1, 11:20, 15:9, 15:26, 16:15, 17:15, 21:27, 11:20, 12:22, 15:8).
• Various consequences are promised throughout Proverbs for obedience and disobedience. From this we learn:
  • God is commanding and urging us to embrace His preceptive will.
  • These promised consequences are axiomatic, i.e. general. God may have reasons for bringing a different consequence.
  • Our choices are real, and influence the final outcome.

God’s preceptive will is God’s revealed law or commandments, which we have the power but not the right to break.

III. God Calls Us To Discover and Enact His Preceptive Will, and Trust His Sovereign Will

• We must align ourselves with His character and loves (Prov 8:13).
• We are to live in a submitted, loving relationship with Him (1:7, 9:10).
• We are to gather as much advice as possible (11:14, 15:22, 24:6).
• We are not to trust in our own hearts or understandings (28:26, 3:5).
• We should anticipate consequences (22:3, 6:7-8).
• We are to make plans based on God’s priorities and good counsel (20:18, 15:22).
• We are to trust God entirely, and know Him in continual experience. We are to entrust our plans, burdens, thoughts to Him (3:5-7; 16:3).
• At some point, we are to act, making no more postponements (Eccl 11:1-4, 20:4, 22:13, 26:13-15).

Our part in doing God’s will is to seek out what is revealed (which includes the above principles), and then act obediently, trusting that His sovereign will will be good.