Commit thy works unto Jehovah, and thy thoughts shall be established.
Proverbs 16 opens with a run of sayings about who really runs a life: man makes the plans, but the LORD gives the answer and directs the steps. Verse 3 sits in the middle of that as an invitation: hand the work over, and something inside you gets steadied — what the ESV calls "your plans" and the older wording used by the writers here calls "your thoughts."
Man plans, God decides
This verse does not stand alone. It answers the two sayings before it, where a man's own estimate of himself proves unreliable.
"The plans of the heart belong to man" — a man's heart works out what he wants — "but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD" (v. 1). The eventual outcome depends on what the Lord decrees by His Word. A man may believe his ways and actions are pure. But that is only his own opinion, and it is often far from the truth, for the Lord weighs the spirits (v. 2)... So how wise it is to commit our works to the Lord before we act (v. 3), so that He may establish our thoughts.
What "commit" means
"Commit" is a stronger word than it sounds. Its literal sense is rolling something off yourself and onto someone else.
The Lord has the final word. Man plans in his heart, but the answer of the tongue comes from the LORD. It is the same idea as the English proverb, "Man proposes, God disposes." Man loves to justify himself. His ways are clean in his own eyes. But the LORD weighs the spirits. He is the judge of ways and motives. We are to commit our works to the LORD — literally, roll them onto Him. Then establishment and blessing follow.
An uneven exchange
Notice the exchange is uneven. What you hand over is outward and practical; what He settles is inward.
What a comfort that He Himself tells us to commit our works to Him — literally, to roll them onto Him! And then not merely our works but our thoughts will be established. We trust Him with what is outward, and in His goodness He steadies our "thoughts," which waver and fade so easily. How slow even His own people are to learn how much loving interest He takes in those who trust Him!
The relief of the transfer
Another writer uses the same picture of rolling, and draws out what it does to the person who acts on it.
"Commit your way to the Lord" — or, as the margin note puts it, "Roll your way upon the Lord." How often our circumstances are so confusing and hard that our way seems blocked and impossible. Sometimes people misjudge us, oppress us, even persecute us. What can we do? We can roll the responsibility of our way upon the Lord, and rely on Him. There is immense relief in this. He takes the load off our weak shoulders and puts it on His strong ones.
What has to come first
Committing is not a technique you can use cold. It comes third in a list of instructions, and the same writer insists on that order.
It is not the first item of instruction, nor the second, but the third. It takes for granted that we are trusting in the Lord, and finding our delight in Him. Then, and only then, are we ready to roll our way onto Him, and to know the happy result: "He will bring it to pass."
Plans held loosely
Handing your works to the Lord does not turn you into someone who never thinks ahead.
Of course we should not act without thinking about where we are going. But a believer must take the Lord into his plans. He should hold those plans loosely enough for the Lord to change them if He wants to, and trust fully that the Lord will guide him well.
Under a heavy workload
One writer described what this looked like in his own crowded days of work and responsibility.
I am at work from seven in the morning till eleven at night. Then I often have many things weighing on me, all within my responsibility. But I commit them to Him. He is mightier than anything this poor world can demand, and to Him a burden is no burden at all. He guides everything, just as I might steer a carriage I am sitting in. He arranges everything according to the counsel of His will.
Summary
- Weigh — you judge your own ways as clean; the Lord weighs the spirits. So ask Him before you act, not after.
- Roll — "commit" means to roll the load off yourself and onto Him. The relief is real: the weight moves from weak shoulders to strong ones.
- Trust first — rolling your way over is not step one. It assumes you are already trusting Him and delighting in Him.
- Receive — you hand Him your works; He hands back steady thoughts. He settles the inner life that wavers so easily.
- Walk — keep planning, but keep the plans loose enough for Him to change, confident that He directs the steps.