Plans of the Heart is Scripture’s way of naming purpose that lives inside a person
—
and the purpose that lives in God.
The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
the plans of His heart to all generations.
Many are the plans in the mind of a man,
but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.
The heart is where schemes are born.
His heart is where history is kept.
The heart in the Bible is not only feeling. It is the well of thought, will, and desire. Man plans his way; the Lord establishes his steps. A man’s heart plans his course, and still he does not know what tomorrow brings. You ought to say, If the Lord wills. The fool says, Soul, you have ample goods for many years. God says, This night. Nations draft counsel; He brings it to nothing.
Then the other sentence: the plans of His heart run to all generations. I know the plans I have for you, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. That word was spoken to exiles, not to a poster. It did not cancel seventy years. It promised that captivity was not the last page.
The wicked heart devises evil. The Lord searches the heart and tests the mind, to give every man according to his ways. Out of the heart come evil thoughts—and out of a new heart come the works God prepared beforehand. Plans are not neutral. Whose heart, and whether that heart has been made new, decides whether a plan is rebellion or obedience.
- His plans outlast generations. Ours often do not outlast a night.
- Many plans in a man is normal. Treating them as sovereign is not.
- If the Lord wills is how a planned life stays honest.
- Exile can sit inside His good plans. Comfort is not the same as speed.
- He searches the heart that made the plan, not only the outcome.
- A new heart is how our plans begin to rhyme with His.
- The rich fool planned years. God required a soul.
- His Heart – Counsel that stands; purpose to all generations.
- Man’s Heart – Many plans; steps established—or cut short.
- If the Lord Wills – Tomorrow held with an open hand.
- Welfare and Hope – Spoken over a people in exile, on His timetable.
- Searched – Ways and fruit measured from the inside.
- New Heart – Spirit within; walk in His statutes.
- Against Schemes – Nations’ counsel emptied; wicked devices exposed.
- Psalm 33:10-11 – “The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.”
- Proverbs 19:21 – “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.”
- Proverbs 16:9 – “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”
- Proverbs 16:1 – “The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.”
- Jeremiah 29:11-14 – “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”
- James 4:13-15 – Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. You are a mist. Instead you ought to say, If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.
- Luke 12:18-20 – I will tear down my barns and build larger ones… Fool! This night your soul is required of you.
- Jeremiah 17:9-10 – The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick… I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways.
- Genesis 6:5 – Every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
- Psalm 36:4 – He plots trouble while on his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good.
- Isaiah 46:10 – My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all My purpose.
- Isaiah 55:8-9 – My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways.
- Ezekiel 36:26-27 – I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you… I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes.
- Ephesians 1:11 – In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.
- Ephesians 2:10 – We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
- Proverbs 21:5 – The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.
- Psalm 20:4 – May He grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans.
- 1 Corinthians 4:5 – The Lord will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart.
The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations.
Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.
The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.
I know the plans I have for you—plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.
You are a mist. You ought to say, If the Lord wills.
Fool! This night your soul is required.
I will give you a new heart. He works all things according to the counsel of His will.
Plan. Be diligent. Hold the calendar loosely. His heart outlasts yours. Seek Him. Walk in the works He prepared. Let His purpose stand when yours cannot.
Entry compiled for the JESUSaves.com Bible Glossary. Optimized for wiki.js Visual Editor.