KJV: The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.
ASV: The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.
Matthew Henry Commentary
1 The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.
Note, 1. Even the hearts of men are in God's hand, and not only their goings, as he had said, Pr 20:24. God can change men's minds, can, by a powerful insensible operation under their spirits, turn them from that which they seemed most intent upon, and incline them to that which they seemed most averse to, as the husbandman, by canals and gutters, turns the water through his grounds as he pleases, which does not alter the nature of the water, nor put any force upon it, any more than God's providence does upon the native freedom of man's will, but directs the course of it to serve his own purpose. 2. Even kings' hearts are so, notwithstanding their powers and prerogatives, as much as the hearts of common persons. The hearts of kings are unsearchable to us, much more unmanageable by us; as they have their arcana imperii--state secrets, so that they have great prerogatives of their crown; but the great God has them not only under his eye, but in his hand. Kings are what he makes them. Those that are most absolute are under God's government; he puts things into their hearts, Re 17:17,Ezr 7:27.
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