The Divine Charioteer and the Baffled Driver Text: Proverbs 20:24
Introduction: The Unasked-For Itinerary
We live in an age that worships at the altar of the autonomous self. Modern man sees himself as the captain of his own ship, the master of his own fate, the author of his own story. He believes his life is a blank page, and he holds the pen. He makes his plans, sets his course, and expects reality to fall in line. And when it doesn't, when his grand designs end in a ditch, when his carefully constructed narrative takes an unexpected and unwelcome turn, he is left bewildered, angry, and confused. He shakes his fist at the heavens, or at the uncaring cosmos, or at "the system," never suspecting that the problem is not with the map, but with the mapmaker.
The book of Proverbs is a bucket of cold, clear water thrown into the face of this kind of thinking. It is relentlessly God-centered. It assumes from beginning to end that the universe is not a random collection of atoms, but a coherent story being told by a sovereign Author. It assumes that wisdom does not begin with introspection or self-discovery, but with the fear of Yahweh. And in our text today, Solomon delivers a tight, two-part punch that knocks the legs out from under all humanistic pretensions of self-determination.
This proverb is not designed to be a soft pillow for the perplexed, but rather a sharp goad for the proud. It establishes a fundamental truth about reality that our generation desperately needs to hear: God is in charge of the details of your life, the nitty-gritty steps of your journey, and because He is, you are not. And because you are not, you will often find yourself completely baffled by the path you are on. This is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be embraced. It is the very thing that drives us out of ourselves and into the arms of a God who actually knows what He is doing.
The Text
The steps of a man are from Yahweh,
How then can man understand his way?
(Proverbs 20:24)
God's Micromanagement (v. 24a)
We begin with the first clause, a statement of absolute divine sovereignty:
"The steps of a man are from Yahweh..." (Proverbs 20:24a)
Notice the granularity here. The proverb does not say that the general direction of a man's life is from the Lord, or that the big, momentous turning points are in His hands. It says his "steps" are. This is the Hebrew word for the individual paces, the stride, the specific footfalls. This is divine sovereignty at the street level. This is God's meticulous providence over every single move you make. Where you place your foot next, the decision to turn left or right at the corner, the choice to pick up the phone or to let it ring, all of it is "from Yahweh."
This is a direct assault on Deism, which imagines God as a cosmic clockmaker who wound up the universe and then went on vacation. It is also a rebuke to the sort of flaccid evangelicalism that wants God to be sovereign over salvation, but not over sin; over the good things, but not over the bad. The Bible knows no such distinction. God's sovereignty is exhaustive. As the prophet Jeremiah confesses, "O LORD, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps" (Jeremiah 10:23). Or as Solomon says elsewhere, "A man's heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps" (Proverbs 16:9).
This is where we must grasp the Creator/creature distinction. God is not the biggest player on the field; He owns the field, the players, the ball, and the rulebook. His relationship to our actions is not like one billiard ball hitting another. It is more like the relationship between an author and his characters. Shakespeare is 100% responsible for every word Hamlet speaks, and Hamlet is 100% responsible for every word he speaks. They are different kinds of responsibility, operating on different planes of reality. So it is with God and man. God ordains our steps, and we are the ones who take them. He is the ultimate cause; we are the proximate cause. And we are responsible for the steps we take.
This truth should not lead to a passive fatalism, a "que sera, sera" shrug of the shoulders. That is a profound misunderstanding of what the Bible teaches. Paul was a thorough-going predestinarian, and it did not make him sit back and relax. It made him roll up his sleeves and endure all things for the sake of the elect (2 Tim. 2:10). The fact that God ordains the end also means He ordains the means to that end. God ordained that you would arrive at work this morning, and He ordained that you would do so by getting in your car and driving there. His sovereignty does not cancel out our action; it establishes it. It gives our steps meaning and purpose, because they are part of His grand, unfrustratable plan.
Man's Inevitable Confusion (v. 24b)
The second clause of the verse follows as an inescapable, logical consequence of the first.
"How then can man understand his way?" (Proverbs 20:24b)
This is not a cry of despair, but a rhetorical question of profound wisdom. If it is true that God, the infinite, transcendent, all-wise Creator, is directing your every step, then how on earth could you, a finite, fallen, and shortsighted creature, possibly expect to have a comprehensive understanding of your own journey while you are in the middle of it? You can't. It is an epistemological impossibility.
You are a character in a story, and you have not read the last chapter. You are a soldier on a battlefield, and you can only see your small corner of the fight. The General sees the whole map. To demand to understand your own way is to demand to be God. It is the sin of the Tower of Babel, wanting to make a name for ourselves, to build a structure that reaches to heaven so we can see what God sees. But God's ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9).
Think of Joseph. As he was being sold into slavery by his brothers, did he understand his way? When he was falsely accused by Potiphar's wife and thrown into a dungeon, did he understand his way? Of course not. From his vantage point, it was a series of injustices and disasters. But from God's vantage point, every step, every betrayal, every moment in the pit and the prison, was a necessary part of the path to the throne of Egypt, all so that God's people might be saved. It was only at the end that Joseph could look back and say to his brothers, "You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good" (Genesis 50:20).
This is why the Christian life is a life of faith, not a life of sight. We are called to walk by faith, not by explanation. We are commanded to trust in the Lord with all our heart and to lean not on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). Our own understanding is a broken reed. It cannot bear the weight of our lives. The demand for exhaustive understanding is a manifestation of pride and unbelief. It is saying to God, "I will trust you, but only after you have submitted your travel itinerary for my approval." God does not operate that way. He is the potter, we are the clay. He is the shepherd, we are the sheep. He leads, we follow.
Putting It All Together
So what is the practical upshot of this proverb? It is twofold: humility and trust.
First, humility. This verse ought to dismantle our pride. We are not in control. Our successes are not ultimately our own doing, and our failures are not outside of God's sovereign purposes. When things go well, we have no grounds for boasting. When things go poorly, we have no grounds for ultimate despair. We are not the masters of our fate. We are utterly, completely, and wonderfully dependent on God for every single step we take. This should crush our arrogance and cultivate a spirit of profound humility before the God who holds our very breath in His hands.
Second, trust. Because God is the one directing our steps, and because He is a good, wise, and loving Father, we can trust Him even when, and especially when, we cannot understand our way. The confusion and bewilderment we feel is not a sign that God has lost the plot. It is a sign that we are creatures and He is Creator. The mystery is not a bug; it is a feature. It is designed to wean us off of our addiction to our own understanding and to teach us to rest in His character.
When you are in the dark, when the path makes no sense, when you cannot see two feet in front of you, this proverb comes as a great comfort. Your steps are from Yahweh. The one who loved you enough to send His Son to die for you is the same one who is meticulously ordering the details of your Tuesday afternoon. He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32). That includes the grace to take the next step, even when you have no idea where the path is leading.
Conclusion: The Walk of Faith
The Christian life is not a leap in the dark, but rather a walk in the daylight of God's revealed character, even when the path ahead is shrouded in mist. We do not know what the future holds, but we know who holds the future. We cannot understand our own way, but we know the one who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Therefore, when you are tempted to anxiety because you cannot make sense of your circumstances, remember this proverb. When you are tempted to pride because of your apparent success, remember this proverb. When you are tempted to despair because of your apparent failure, remember this proverb.
Your steps are from Yahweh. He has ordained them. He is with you in them. And He will bring you to your ordained destination by the ordained road. Your job is not to understand the map, but to trust the Guide. Your task is not to direct your steps, but to offer them up to the one who has already directed them for His glory and for your good. So walk on in faith, leaning not on your own understanding, but trusting in the sovereign Lord who orders the steps of His beloved children.