Real motives lie deep in the heart like water in a well, and a wise person knows how to draw them out.
Proverbs 20:5 moves into the inner life: A plan in the heart of a man is like deep water, but a man of understanding draws it out (v. 5). What a person actually intends is rarely what he announces, and Solomon trains the student to see beneath the surface.
A plan in the heart of a man sits like deep water. Plans, motives, and convictions tend to settle to the bottom of the heart, hidden under self-presentation. The water is real, but it is not visible from above. The deeper the well, the harder the water is to reach.
The man of understanding draws it out by patient skill. He asks the right questions, listens longer than feels comfortable, and resists reacting to surfaces. Real counsel and real friendship require this slow drawing-out of what the heart is actually planning.
Proverbs 20:5
5 A plan in the heart of a man is like deep water,
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Proverbs 20:5 meaning
Proverbs 20:5 moves into the inner life: A plan in the heart of a man is like deep water, but a man of understanding draws it out (v. 5). What a person actually intends is rarely what he announces, and Solomon trains the student to see beneath the surface.
A plan in the heart of a man sits like deep water. Plans, motives, and convictions tend to settle to the bottom of the heart, hidden under self-presentation. The water is real, but it is not visible from above. The deeper the well, the harder the water is to reach.
The man of understanding draws it out by patient skill. He asks the right questions, listens longer than feels comfortable, and resists reacting to surfaces. Real counsel and real friendship require this slow drawing-out of what the heart is actually planning.