The Hebrew mo'etsah derives from the verb ya'ats (H3289), to counsel or advise, and refers to the counsel, purpose, or devised plan that guides action. It appears in Psalm 1 ('walks not in the counsel of the wicked') and Isaiah's description of the Messiah as Pele-Yo'ets — Wonderful Counselor (Isaiah 9:6). Mo'etsah can be human wisdom or divine sovereignty unfolding through history.
In Psalm 1, the mo'etsah of the wicked represents a whole counsel for living that is antithetical to God's Torah. The blessed man refuses this and instead meditates on God's instruction. Isaiah 9:6 crowns the Messiah as Yo'ets — the Counselor — whose counsel never fails. Proverbs 19:21 declares that 'many are the plans in a human heart, but it is the LORD's mo'etsah that prevails.' Divine counsel is sovereign, purposeful, and irresistible.