O Lord, I know... — The confession is made not by the prophet for himself, but as by and for Israel.
The way of man. — The path which a man takes for good or evil, for failure or success. His conduct in life depends, the prophet says, on something more than his own choice : —
“There’s a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will.”
Compare Proverbs 16:9; Proverbs 20:24, as expressing the same thought of the necessity of divine guidance. The two Hebrew words for “man” are used in the two clauses, the first expressing the weakness, the latter the strength of men. Even the strong man has to confess that he needs a hand other than his own to direct his steps.