This verse closes the YHWH run, Proverbs 16:1–9.
Quick answer
Plan the route; hold the steps loosely. The heart's planning is real and right, and the LORD's direction is realer still: the way you mapped and the steps you take are related but not identical, and the difference is His.
Read both lines
The first line dignifies planning, which this book everywhere expects. The second does not cancel it; it outranks it: the actual footfalls, the way the journey really unfolds, pass through His government, and every life eventually learns the distance between the itinerary and the trip. The verse bookends the run that began at 16:1 and is this book's most compact statement of the partnership: you are free to plan and unable to control, and both halves are mercy.
Related: Proverbs 19:21 · Proverbs 20:24 · James 4:13–15
New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. Full copyright information. Scripture provided by API.Bible.
Go Deeper
If this verse has been used to put weight on you that it was never carrying, ask about it directly.