John Trapp on Proverbs 16:1

CHAP. XVI. Verſ. 1. The Preparations of the heart in man]

HEE ſaith not of man, as if it were in mans power to diſpoſe of his own heart; but in man, as wholly wrought by God; for our ſufficiency is not in ourſelves, but in him (as wee live, ſo) wee move, Act. 18.28. (underſtand it of the motions of the minde alſo.) It is hee that faſhioneth the hearts of men, Pſal. 33.13. ſhaping them at his pleaſure. Hee put ſmall thoughts into the heart of Ahaſhueroſh, but for great purpoſes. And ſo hee did into the heart of our Henry 8. about his Marriage with Katherine of Spain, Scult. Annal. dec. 2. ep. dedic. the Riſe of that Reformation here, Quam deſperaſſet atas praterita, admiratur praeſens, obſtupeſcet futura, as Scultetus hath it, which former ages deſpaired of, the preſent admireth, and the future ſhall ſtand amazed at.

And the anſwer of the tongue is from the Lord] For though a man have never ſo exactly marſhalled his matter in hand, [non-Latin text not transcribed] diſponere, ordinare, & aciem inſtruere ſignificat. as it were in battel array (as the Hebrew word here imports, and as David uſing the ſame word, ſaith, hee will marſhal his Prayer, and then bee as a ſpy upon a watch-tower, to ſee what became of it, whether hee got the day, Pſal. 5.3.) though hee have ſet down with himſelf both what and how to ſpeak; ſo that it is not only ſcriptum in animo, ſed ſculptum etiam, as the Orator ſaid, yet hee ſhall never bee able to bring forth his conceptions, without the obſtetrication of Gods aſſiſtance. The moſt eloquent Demoſthenes, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. being ſent ſundry times in Ambaſſage to Philip King of Macedony, thrice ſtood ſpeechleſs before him, and thrice more forgot what hee intended to have ſpoken. Likewiſe Latomus of Lovain (a great Scholar) having prepared a ſet ſpeech to bee made before the Emperour Charles the fifth, was ſo confounded when hee came to deliver it, that he uttered nothing but non-ſenſe, and thereupon fell into a fit of deſpair. So Auguſtine having once loſt himſelf in a Sermon, and wanting what elſe to ſay, fell upon the Ma[illegible: 1 letter]ichees (a point that hee had well ſtudied) and by a good Providence of God, converted one there preſent, that was infected with that errour. Digreſſions are not alwayes unuſeful: Gods Spirit ſometimes draws aſide the doctrine to ſatisfie ſome ſoul which the Preacher knows not. But though God may force it, yet man may not frame it; and it is a moſt happy ability to ſpeak punctually, directly, and readily to the point. The Corinthians had elocution as a ſpecial gift of God: And St. Paul gives God thanks for them, that in every thing they were inriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge, 1 Cor. 1.5.