Proverbs 28:26 He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.
There is a saying that is quite popular in some circles. It is also the way many people operate. The saying suggests that you should trust your heart.
God tells us that is not a wise saying at all. God told Jeremiah to write:
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
The heart of the lost is very deceived. Feelings dominate the thinking of the lost. If they do not like something they hear, they take offence and they cut the person off who made them feel bad. If the offended person is in a position of influence, they might try to enlist some legal person to try to sue the person. We have a government that is working hard to try to silence the voice of truth. There is a question being asked right now. It goes something like this: does the government have the authority to edit the Bible?
The obvious answer is no, but why should the government not try to edit the Bible? We have allowed corrupted men to edit the Word of God for well over one hundred years. We have over one hundred perversions of God’s Word on the market now. They contradict one another and they certainly contradict God’s preserved Word. Yet, that does not seem to matter to the religious but lost crowd.
God warns us that to trust your own heart is foolish and makes the person guilty of being a fool. God also reminds us that our heart is deceitful above all else. Nothing will deceive you more than your own heart.
We need to be motivated by more than just our heart if we want to make wise choices. God directed Solomon to declare that the wise person walks wisely. He does not just have a wise thought once in a while. He walks wisely. He considers every step he takes with Godly wisdom.
We can go back and look at the life of young king Solomon. In I Kings chapter 2 we read that David trusted in the wisdom of his son Solomon. Solomon had some important decisions to make as the new king of Israel. His father had left some unfinished business prior to his death. Now he challenged his son to deal with those things. King Solomon demonstrated his wisdom in that context.
In I Kings 3 two harlots came to king Solomon with a dilemma. They both had given birth to sons. Their sons were still infants and they slept with their mothers. On a particular night, one of the harlots rolled over and smothered her young son to death. It was not deliberate, but it happened. During the night, while the other harlot was still asleep, this harlot took her dead son and switched with the other harlot’s living son.
In the morning the woman who had not smothered her son, realized the dead son that lay next to her was not her own son. The two women could not resolve their situation and they came to king Solomon. Both women claimed the live child was theirs and the dead child was the other woman’s. How was Solomon to figure this out?
We read that king Solomon heard the argument of both women and then he called for a sword. He commanded that they take the live child and slice in into two parts and give each woman a half. The woman whose the living child was, immediately cried out that this not be done. She would rather the other woman have her son, than that it be killed.
King Solomon knew then who the real mother was. The other woman did not care about the other son. If it needed to be killed, then at least neither one of them would have a living son. Solomon gave the living son to its rightful mother and the case was settled. The people marvelled at the wisdom of Solomon.
Later, God appeared to king Solomon and asked what he wanted of the Lord. Solomon wisely asked for wisdom to be able to govern this great nation. King Solomon had already demonstrated that he was operating under the wisdom of God. God increased his wisdom and this was a great asset to the nation of Israel. The queen of Sheba heard of the wisdom of Solomon and she travelled to Jerusalem to witness that wisdom for herself.
Up to that time, Solomon had walked wisely. However, he abandoned the wisdom that God gave him and he chose to marry many women. He became an adulterer. His wives were not godly women. Had they been godly women, they would never have consented to marrying him. They were able to turn Solomon’s heart away from the Lord, because he chose to follow his heart rather than the Word of God.
Deuteronomy 17:18 And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites:
19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:
20 That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.
Before the nation of Israel ever entered the land of Canaan, and before they ever had a king, God commanded them that when they would get a king, he needed to write him a copy of this law in a book. God commanded the people that the king should read in that book all the days of his life. He was to keep all the words of this law. He was not to turn to the right hand, nor to the left hand. If he would heed God’s Word, he would prolong his days in his kingdom. This promise was not just for the king, but for his family as well.
King Solomon failed to heed God’s Word and the result was that his kingdom was split by God, after his death. The once powerful nation of Israel was now going to face civil wars and enemies from without. Due to the king’s corrupted heart, he encouraged others in a place of leadership within the nation, to also corrupt themselves. Idolatry became a curse to the nation, causing the north to fall to the Assyrians and the south to fall to the Babylonians.
God told Jeremiah to write that He would search the heart and He would give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. That was not what Solomon wanted. It was not what the nation of Israel wanted, but it is what they received, because they despised the Word of God.
God does not want us to be fools today. He wants us to take His Word seriously. He wants us to consider our course of life carefully. He wants us to submit to His authority and ask Him to lead us in the right way.
Psalm 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
God knows my heart. He knows your heart as well. He wants us to ask Him to search our hearts. He wants us to see the importance of letting Him show us the wickedness that is in our hearts and to ask Him to remove that wickedness so that He can lead us in the way everlasting.
As we come to the close of this year, it would be good to ask God to search your heart. Don’t assume your heart is in the right place. Ask God to show you what is truly going on in your heart. If you truly ask God to search your heart, you also need to be humble enough to listen to what He sees. Ask His forgiveness if He shows you a corrupt heart. Ask Him to cleanse you of your sin. Then ask Him to lead you in the way everlasting.
Most people want to go to heaven when they die. That is not an automatic end for man. The automatic end is hell. It requires repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ to get off the wide road and get onto the narrow way. The narrow way is the way that leads to life. Choose that way.
Pastor Bartel
