Key Verse Spotlight
Proverbs 20:24 - Meaning and Application
Understand how this verse speaks to what you're facing and how to apply it today
Translation: World English Bible — Catholic Edition
" A man’s steps are from the LORD; how then can man understand his way? "
Proverbs 20:24
Verse in Context
Understanding the surrounding verses prevents misinterpretation:
22 Don’t say, “I will pay back evil.” Wait for the LORD, and he will save you.
23 The LORD detests differing weights, and dishonest scales are not pleasing.
24 A man’s steps are from the LORD; how then can man understand his way?
25 It is a snare to a man to make a rash dedication, then later to consider his vows.
26 A wise king winnows out the wicked, and drives the threshing wheel over them.
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We are taught here that in all our affairs, we depend on God all the time and in every way. Our natural actions depend on his care, and our spiritual actions depend on his grace. The best person is no better than God makes him, and every creature is only what God intends it to be for us. Our plans succeed, not simply because we want them to, but because God directs and orders them.
Even the steps of a strong man, as the word suggests, are from the Lord. His strength is weakness without God, and victory does not always go to the strong. We also have no clear view of future events, so we cannot fully plan for them. How can a person understand his own way? How can he know what will happen, since God’s purposes about him are hidden? For that reason, he cannot safely make his own path without divine guidance.
We understand our own way so little that we do not even know what is best for ourselves. So we must accept this necessity and turn it into wisdom: commit our way to the Lord, whose hand holds it, and follow his leading with trust and submission.
From This Chapter
Proverbs 20:1
"Wine is a mocker and beer is a brawler. Whoever is led astray by them is not wise."
Proverbs 20:2
"The terror of a king is like the roaring of a lion. He who provokes him to anger forfeits his own life."
Proverbs 20:3
"It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife, but every fool will be quarreling."
Proverbs 20:4
"The sluggard will not plow by reason of the winter; therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing."
Proverbs 20:5
"Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out."
Proverbs 20:6
"Many men claim to be men of unfailing love, but who can find a faithful man?"
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