King Solomon was speaking of himself here, and he probably taught kings of other nations these same words, in that God guides the heart of the king like a flowing river, turning it where He pleases, and through the king, God can guide the hearts of the people.  This placed King Solomon in a very powerful and responsible position over Israel and every surrounding nation where the kings received wisdom from Solomon.

• This demonstrates to us how one man, a leader among men, can change the heart of nations (plural) of people - even those whose core belief is not of God, but other religions....one man!
• God is always looking for a man or woman who is willing to follow after God, no matter what.  God can use even one person to change the hearts of nations of people.
• How about you?  Are you willing to be that one person to follow after God, no matter what?  God wants to use you to advance the Kingdom of God.   

² People may be right in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their heart.

Man without God thinks their ways are the best, based on their upbringing and their experiences in life.  They justify their behavior, looking down on others if they think differently than others.  Pride sets in and man is confident that his way is the right way.  That is not God's ways, however!

• Christians are not without fault here as well.  Just because we have accepted the Lord in our heart, that does not mean that we are walking in His ways.  We can be sincere in our belief, but without it being Word and God directed, more than likely, we walk in some sort of deception.   All this to say is everyone is indoctrinated in some way, and God hates wrong indoctrination because it violates the Word of God.  

God examines our heart, knowing where our thinking does not align itself to God's Word.  This is why it is so critical to renew our minds according to the will of God (Rom 12:2).  Remember, first comes knowledge!  Then having the indwelling Holy Spirit, He begins to show us truth and where we have erred in our life.  Again, we come back to "first comes knowledge, then understanding, then we can purpose to apply God's wisdom to our life.

³ The Lord is more pleased when we do what is right and just than when we offer him sacrifices.

This scripture verse was spoken to the Israelites who lived under the Law.  The Mosaic Law commanded that when an Israelite sinned, the man of the household took a particular animal and brought it before the brazen altar to offer blood sacrifices for the sin or sins committed.  The blood sacrifice then meant to cover over the sins of the person, or household, and they would be forgiven. 

• Sadly, what happened over a period of time was - the people purposely set out to sin first, enjoying it with the intention of later bringing their sacrifices to the altar, thinking they would be forgiven. 
• God, however, was telling them that their sacrifices are an abomination to Him because God desires that his people obey Him with love and kindness toward others as the Law commands.  Then, and only when they disobey the Law, would they humbly bring a sacrifice to the brazen altar for covering of sin and forgiveness.

How then can we, as New Covenant believers apply this scripture to our life?  We know that we do not have to bring blood sacrifices to an altar to have forgiveness of sins.  Jesus died on the cross to become our eternal sacrifice for our sins.  He does want us, however, to humbly come to Him in repentance when we have sinned, asking for forgiveness of our sins.  As such, He cleanses (not covers up) and forgives us of our sin because He sees that our heart is right before Him.

• Just like the Israelites did in the twisting of the Law, there are Christians who go out and do their sinning first, with the intentions of coming to God later to ask for forgiveness.  That is no different that what the Israelites did to get around the sin issue.  That is called cheap grace, and an abomination to God.  God wants us to come to Him with a humble repentant heart asking for forgiveness, seeking never to do that sin again.
  
  1 John 1:9  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

        Remember, God examines our heart, knowing the motives of our heart.

⁴ Haughty eyes, a proud heart, and evil actions are all sin.

Often a proud heart is displayed through a haughty look.  That look comes from a heart which thinks oneself superior over others.  The world is full of people like that!  That is a sin.

• Confidence in oneself, however, is something different where a confident person walks tall and with purpose, but there is love and kindness even in their facial expressions.   

The proud and haughty person thinks only of himself and looks at life as to whatever works for him - even to a point of putting others down.

• The confident person, however, looks at the world with different eyes.  As a confident believer in Christ, one walks upright knowing God has their back, they are on the right path that God is leading them down, and their purpose in life is to bring love and kindness to others.

One is a sin against God, man and himself, and the other is the one whom God considered righteous.

⁵ Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.

Here again, we have the difference between a diligent person and a sluggard.  Good planning and hard work does lead to prosperity.  In whatever you put your mind and plow to, you WILL yield a harvest.  Sluggards look for ways to get out of work, cut corners, and end up losing in the end.  Sluggards are lazy and definitely shows the world they are not interested in getting ahead in life.

⁶ Wealth created by a lying tongue is a vanishing mist and a deadly trap.

A lying tongue comes out of a deceptive, dishonest heart who is willing to gain wealth at the cost of others.  While the world is full of these kind of people, they are the deceived in thinking their treasures gained will bring them happiness and security.  It is, however, a treasure filled with traps that lead to eternal death. 

• Ill-gotten gains is a momentary pleasure and an abomination against God.  This kind of happiness and security can only last so long because eventually their wealth will leave them and they will then be lost without it.  If they are able attain it, they will have to protect it at all cost, which brings more evil, filled with a life of inner shame, unhappiness and misfortune in other ways because they were deceptive in their motives to protect what they have.  It's end result will become just like King Solomon's in that he ended his life filled with regrets, having to live with his guilty conscience, followed by a final judgment from God for the sins he committed. 

⁷ The violence of the wicked sweeps them away, because they refuse to do what is just.

The wicked love violence and use it for their gain.  They prey off of the innocent, taking pleasure in the pain of others.  This is an abomination against others and an abomination against God.  Because of their wickedness they will be judged by what they do and what they don't do, as well as the motives of the heart. They will reap what they have sown, and fall into the judgment of God.  

⁸ The guilty walk a crooked path; the innocent travel a straight road.

There are two roads to travel in life - your way or God's way.  One path is filled with sin and leads to destruction and final judgment by God.  The other path is filled with righteousness and leads to God and eternal peace and joy with Him. Our path will be the fruit of our lives and visible by all.  The choice is ours.

⁹ It’s better to live alone in the corner of an attic than with a quarrelsome wife in a lovely home.

During Bible times, the home belong to the man.  He went out to seek out a wife; whereas the woman then became the property of her husband.  The duties of the wife were to honor, obey and serve her husband, keeping peace and order in the home.  This scripture then spoke to the wife stating she must have a quiet and meak spirit, making the home a pleasant place to live for everyone.

So then, how do we apply this scripture to us today as New Covenant believers?  Jesus stated that everyone is equal in the eyes of God (Gal 3:28), and the woman was to come alongside of her husband as one, not being the property of anyone (Eph 5:31).

• While there are exceptions to the rule, the woman generally sets the tone for peace in her home.  While she needs the cooperation of every member of the family, the wife and mother can make her house into a wonderful home of peace and contentment or she can neglect her family and home to where it simply is a house where people live in.  
• Nobody wants to live in a contentious home, so we must all guard to live in peace and contentment wherever we are.  Our homes are the places where we seem to allow our guard to come down, however, this is the place where we have to guard our hearts the most so that we don't quarrel and fight with those we love the most.  Therefore, we can say of this verse that it is better to live alone in the corner of an attic in peace than with a quarrelsome person in a lovely home. .

¹⁰ Evil people desire evil; their neighbors get no mercy from them.

When a wicked man or woman does evil, it is because their their heart desires to do evil.  The fruit of their lives shows the world that Satan is in control of their life.  Most people  do not like being around evil people unless they are evil themselves.  They cannot be trusted because evil reigns in their life.  Be careful of those kind of people who do not get along with good people. 

¹¹ If you punish a mocker, the simpleminded become wise; if you instruct the wise, they will be all the wiser.

This is a repeat verse from an earlier chapter.  Again, there is a difference between the scoffer and the simple minded.  The scoffer's is so heart hardened to where he or she will not listen to any instruction given them.  They refuse to comply and only want their way. 

• The simple, on the other hand doesn't always have the ability to understand instruction. They often have to be instructed as a command for them to obey.  When the scoffer is punished, however, the simple minded will take notice and become wiser as they see the scoffer experience their punishment, knowing they do not want that to happen to them.
• The wise know when godly instruction of knowledge is given to them, and as such, will comply knowing it is the best thing for them.  As such, they will become wiser.

¹² The Righteous One knows what is going on in the homes of the wicked; he will bring disaster on them.

God, as THE Righteous One, knows the heart of all men.  He examines the house of the wicked and nothing escapes Him.  God will allow the sowing and reaping process to take effect to where there will be a day when judgment will come upon them and they, individually, will be judged accordingly for what they have done.  Whatever judgment they receive, it will be fitting of their deeds.  

¹³ Those who shut their ears to the cries of the poor will be ignored in their own time of need.

God has compassion on the poor.  Jesus said in the Book of Luke that we will always have the poor among us; therefore, we need to have a heart willing to reach out to those who are suffering in poverty.  If we have it to give, give accordingly as God lays it upon your heart. 

• If we, however, harden our heart to the poor, the sowing and reaping process works in all men.  We all have times of need, and if we want God to reach out to us in our time of need, we need to reach out to the poor in their time of need.

¹⁴ A secret gift calms anger; a bribe under the table pacifies fury.

This also is a repeat of another verse laid out in a little different way.  Giving a gift to someone who is anger does have the ability to calm the angry person down.  Given in secret takes away the embarrassment of opening it up in front of others.  This has been effective in many situations to bring about reconciliation.  

• A bribe under the table, however, may be morally questionable, but it can work with a corrupt leader.  It does not make it right, it is just the reality of how things are done in many circles.

¹⁵ Justice is a joy to the godly, but it terrifies evildoers.

Godly people love justice, for that is a key to leading a life free from conflict and oppression.  When someone has been violated by some evil, there is on the inner part of man a need for justice to satisfy the soul.  Sadly, the ones who do evil will keep doing evil unless or until justice comes in to take over.  When it does, those who have done evil will fear justice, for they know judgment will come to them for their evil ways.   Justice is a good thing for all people, and a way to keep the evil doer from bringing destruction on the innocent.  God knows the heart of all men, and in the end, everyone will have to face God for their life. 

• There are two or more books that will be open before the throne of God where all men will stand individually to be judged by God.  
  
  
  • Book #1 is the Book of Life.  Only those whose name is written in this book will be allowed to enter into heaven.  That will be those who accepted Jesus, God's Son, as their personal Lord and Savior.  Those whose name is not written in this Book of Life will be cast into the Eternal Lake of Fire for all eternity (Rev 21:15).
  • Book #2 is the Book of Deeds.  Everyone's name, along with everything they did in this life is written down in this book - saved and unsaved individuals.  Each individual will be judged by how they treated mankind and followed what God had asked of them.  Those who go to heaven will receive their rewards based on what is in this book.  Those who go to the Eternal Lake of Fire for all eternity will be individually judged by what is in this book as well.  They will be punished according to their deeds.  To what measure, only God knows!  (Eccl 12:14; Rom 2:6; Rev 20:12).