GUARD YOUR HEART

Proverbs 4:20-27 “My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. ²¹ Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. ²² For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. ²³ Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. ²⁴ Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. ²⁵ Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. ²⁶ Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. ²⁷ Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.”

This is an excellent passage to use when conducting a spiritual inventory of your life. There are a number of Life Truism’s contained in this passage.

• What enters my ear will influence my heart and my decisions (v 20).
• The things I focus on will affect my values, actions, and plans (v 21).
• Whatever the heart loves, the ear will hear and the eye will see (v 23).
• Whatever is in the heart will ultimately come out of the mouth (v 24).
• A life lacking a course is a life lacking a source (v 26-27). The Hebrew word translated “ponder” means “to weigh” or “to make level.”

The “physical heart” is the fountain from which life proceeds. Care must be taken that this fountain is not blocked, hindered or injured. It is so vital to the entire body that a constant concern for its health must be kept.

The same is true of the “spiritual heart”; it issues the streams of life to the soul. Watch with all diligence, that this fountain is not blocked, hindered or injured.

Therefore (v 24-25) “Put away from thee a froward mouth and perverse lips… ²⁵let thy eyes look straight on.” Or, in other words, look inward, look onward, look upward.

1.    WHAT DOES “THE HEART” MEAN? Our lives revolve around a spiritual muscle the Bible calls “The Heart.”

• The book of Proverbs refers to the “heart” 81 times.

• The Heart is the window of a man’s soul.

·         It’s the throne of man’s mind, will and emotion.

·         It’s the seat of man’s affections.

·         It contains the components of life (feelings, desires, motives; resolve, intellect, character and virtue).

·         It’s the Central Point of man’s spiritual life.

2.    HOW MANY KINDS OF HEARTS ARE THERE? In Proverbs there is…

• The Understanding Heart (2:2) “…apply thine heart to understanding;
• The Wise Heart (2:10) “When wisdom entereth into thine heart,… knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;”
• The Obedient Heart (3:3) “My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:”
• The Merciful Heart (3:3) “Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:”
• The Trusting Heart (3:5) “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”
• The Wicked Heart (6:18) “A heart that devises wicked imaginations,…”
• The Sensual Heart (7:10) “There met him a woman with a sensual heart.”
• The Lying Heart (12:20) “Deceit is in the heart of them that imagine evil:…”
• The Bitter Heart (14:10) “The heart knoweth his own bitterness;…”
• The Proud Heart (18:12) “The heart of man is haughty,..”
• The Fretting Heart (19:3) “man’s heart fretteth against the LORD.”
• The Envious Heart (23:17) “Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD..”

3.    WHAT MAKES MEN’S HEARTS SO DIFFERENT? The Heart is affected by…

• What We Think About. Proverbs 23:7 “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.” 
• What We Talk About. Proverbs 24:1-2 “Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them. ² For their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief.”
• What We Desire To Have. Luke 12:34 “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

4.    WHAT ARE SOME REASONS FOR HEART TROUBLE? Since Adam’s fall, the Heart of mankind…

•  Resist Reproof (5:12-13). Solomon, counseling his sons concerning moral conduct, warns them not to “hate instruction; despise reproof or ignore their teachers.” Remedy: Receive Reproof. Proverbs 12:1 “Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish.”

•  Desires Darkness. Proverbs 6:23-24 “For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: ²⁴ To keep thee from the evil.” Some hearts struggle with all that is sensual, lustful, and immoral. Remedy: Pursue Purity. Proverbs 6:20-22 “My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother: ²¹ Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck. ²² When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.

• Is Clouded With Confusion – leading to anxiety, gloom & despair. Proverbs 12:25 “Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop:..” Some hearts are prone to dwell on the dark, dismal tones of life. Remedy: Reinforce Reliance. Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”

• Gravitates toward Gossip. Proverbs 6:12-14 “A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth. ¹³ He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers; ¹⁴ Frowardness is in his heart , he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord.” Remedy: Disciplined Dialogue. Proverbs 4:24 “Put away from thee a forward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.”

5.    WHAT DOES GOD TELL US TO DO WITH “THE HEART?” God gives us counsel that carries the tone of intense priority in Proverbs 4:23 “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”

A paraphrase says: “Keep watch over your heart, the place where God speaks to you, because from within it come divine direction for your life.”

CONCLUSION: Proverbs 23:4-7 “Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. ⁵ Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven. ⁶ Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: ⁷ For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.”

• If your heart is not well guarded, it will be unable to discern God's voice.

• If your heat is captivated with idols and substitutes, His voice is silenced and the source of our direction for living is walled off as our lives are rendered powerless and useless. 
• Thoughts give birth to words and deeds. Therefore, it is of necessity to guard your heart.