All the ways of a man are {b} clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.

(b) He shows by it that man flatters himself in his doings, calling that virtue, which God terms vice.

Wesley's Notes

16:2 Weigheth - Exactly knows as men do the things which they weigh. Spirits - The hearts of men.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

2. clean-or, "faultless."

weigheth-or, "tries," "judges," implying that they are faulty (Pr 21:2; 24:12).

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

16:1 The renewing grace of God alone prepares the heart for every good work. This teaches us that we are not sufficient of ourselves to think or speak any thing wise and good. 2. Ignorance, pride, and self-flattery render us partial judges respecting our own conduct. 3. Roll the burden of thy care upon God, and leave it with him, by faith and dependence on him.

Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary

Verse 2

Note, 1. We are all apt to be partial in judging of ourselves: All the ways of a man, all his designs, all his doings, are clean in his own eyes, and he sees nothing amiss in them, nothing for which to condemn himself, or which should make his projects prove otherwise than well; and therefore he is confident of success, and that the answer of the tongue shall be according to the expectations of the heart; but there is a great deal of pollution cleaving to our ways, which we are not aware of, or do not think so ill of as we ought. 2. The judgment of God concerning us, we are sure, is according to truth: He weighs the spirits in a just and unerring balance, knows what is in us, and passes a judgment upon us accordingly, writing Tekel upon that which passed our scale with approbation-weighed in the balance and found wanting; and by his judgment we must stand or fall. He not only sees men's ways but tries their spirits, and we are as our spirits are.