Singular and Plural

Proverbs 16:2 (KJV) All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.

In my first reading of this today, I noticed that “spirits” is plural.  When I read spirits in plural, my mind automatically goes to things like evil spirits and such, but that’s not what this is talking about and the plural is not used for just one word.  I noticed that “man” is singular, but it proceeds by talking about the “ways” of a man which is plural.

During our life, during our day even, we have many different paths that we might go down.  It could be something as literal as the route you take to work.  It could be a plan that you have to negotiate a business deal that day.  It could be considering whether you’re going to run for the Sunday school board.  There are many different paths that we follow each day.

And it’s possible that we can do them with different spirits, different attitudes.  What this is saying is that God looks at the attitude with which we approach the choice.  He’s not concerned primarily with how successful we are or how enthused, but whether we are following the right spirit.

So?  Always ask yourself why you were doing something.  Are you doing it for selfish motives?  Are you truly motivated by a benevolent attitude?  God knows, and I think He assumes that you know also.