Three More Hearts

Solomon addressed no less than six kinds of troubled heart in his wisdom sayings. We addressed three [Saturday]: The deceitful heart—People pursue wrongdoing and cover their tracks by deceiving themselves and others. The heavy heart—Sometimes difficulties consume a person’s every thought and sap all his or her emotional strength.

Three Hearts

Although the daily grind of a troubled heart is common, we often think we’re the only one struggling with discouragement, anxiety, doubt, and disappointment. Not so! It’s all around us. As I described earlier, a troubled heart beats within every chest, and the kinds of trouble are numerous. I find no less than six specified in Solomon’s writings. We’ll discuss three today and three [Monday].

Deep Waters

Whoever dubbed our era “The Aspirin Age” wasn’t far off. We live in a time when huge numbers of the world’s population use medications to relieve heartache, much of which is stress related. According to a 2011 article, prescriptions for the treatment of depression increased by 30 percent between 1996 and 2007 among patients with no psychiatric diagnosis.

Counselors of Shalom

A major cause of death in our world is heart trouble. I don’t mean heart attacks or heart failure; I mean that nearly everyone endures the daily grind of a troubled heart, which often presents as lingering anxiety and low-grade depression. More and more people are experiencing a relentless inner churning, characterized by discontentment, insecurity, instability, doubt, unrest, and uncertainty.

Keep It between the Lines

Having convinced us of the importance of guarding our hearts, Solomon urged three specific actions to make this practical. We’ve considered the first: we are to ignore false directions (v. 24). As we said earlier, if someone you have regular contact with habitually gives you information that contradicts your road map or GPS, drop him off at the next truck stop and don’t look back!

Good Directions

By now, I trust that Solomon has sufficiently motivated you to guard your heart from invasive, detrimental influences and to cultivate a hunger for knowledge of God. Hopefully, we possess adequate discernment to distinguish between helpful and harmful input. If not, deeper knowledge of God is readily available through His Word. If you are reading these pages, you are most likely reading the Scriptures.

On Guard!

Our study of Solomon’s fatherly advice has helped us appreciate the importance of guarding our heart, our inner self. He then explains why. The conjunction for could be translated “because.” The Hebrew word typically indicates an answer to the question why. We must guard the heart because “from within it” something extremely important occurs.

Your Greatest Treasure

As we examine Solomon’s counsel on the importance of guarding one’s heart, note that he again directs his words to “my son.” Because the Holy Spirit preserved this passage for us, we now benefit from Solomon’s wise fatherly advice. Observe his comment about inclining your ear to his sayings and keeping them “in the midst of your heart” (v. 21). Very interesting!

A Life-or-Death Matter

Make no mistake! Your heart is under siege. Like marauding hordes surrounding a fortress, advertisers, porn moguls, and media mavens scheme to find a point of entry. They lob projectiles and drop subtle baits, looking for weaknesses, and shout taunts, hoping to gain an entrance. They want in so they can bring you under their subjection. At first glance, you may think I’m being overly dramatic.

Stinkin’ Thinkin’

Sunday, we examined two reasons why people fail to heed the counsel of wisdom—found either in Scripture or other sources—when making choices. Some stubbornly resist wisdom because they are strong-willed and refuse to surrender. Others simply fail to hear wise counsel due to insensitivity. Today, we encounter two additional factors. Indifference “You neglected all my counsel” (1:25).

Tag Archives: Proverbs