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Pro 16:1 The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.
Pro 16:2 All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.
Pro 16:3 Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.
Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Pro 16:5 Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.
Pro 16:6 By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.
Pro 16:7 When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
Pro 16:8 Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right.
Pro 16:9 A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.
The heart is representative of the disposition of a human being.
Wrong doing is purged through mercy and truth (truth directs right doing). Obviously such a purging involves the submission of the will in order to be a right doer.
In order to be a right doer one departs from wrong doing through a fear of God. In Psalm 1 we read...
Pro 1:22 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
Pro 1:23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
Pro 1:24 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
Pro 1:25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
Pro 1:26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
Pro 1:27 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
Pro 1:28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
Pro 1:29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:
Pro 1:30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
Pro 1:31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
Pro 1:32 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
Pro 1:33 But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.
Those who do not fear God do not turn at God's reproof, they continue in evil. Woe to be anyone who fits that description because the ultimate end will be sudden fear and destruction in the end when the delusion is peeled away and the actual reality becomes apparent.
Thus those whom preserve their souls are the ones who take the road where evil is departed from. departed via truth and mercy through a fear of God.
Pro 16:17 The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keepeth his way preserveth his soul.
Now if we turn to the words of Peter, whom was taught, first hand, by Jesus.
1Pe 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
It is in meekness and fear that we bear witness to others of the hope in us, for we have sanctified or set apart our hearts unto the Lord. Our good conduct (wrought through a good conscience ie. inner cleanliness) is to bear witness of righteousness in a wicked world. Our minds/disposition/heart is aligned with grace of God through which the power of God energises us as we walk in victory over the world, the lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.
There is a strong delusion in effect today that negates an emphasis on the true condition of the heart, a strong delusion which implies ongoing wickedness of heart as the state of a Christian.
Of one can be convinced that one is "saved" whilst one is yet "wicked" then one is certainly neutralised psychologically from being able to partake of a genuine salvation experience and thus truly be cleansed in heart and mind.
Thus let us make sure we have submitted ourselves to God, not with with lip service, but rather from the heart.
Jas 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Jas 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
Jas 4:9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
Jas 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.