Proverbs to Live By – Keep Your Heart With Diligence

“Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.” Proverbs 4:23 (KJV).

I chose to use the King James Version of Proverbs 4:23, for that is the version from which I memorized the verse when I was quite young.  The New English version renders it “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”  Eugene H. Peterson’s The Message Bible states: “Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that’s where life starts.”  Heart in Proverbs (and, indeed, throughout the Bible) refers to the center of one’s inner life.  “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7, KJV). Jeremiah wrote:  “the heart is deceitful above all things” (17:9), but he also said, “And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God:  for they shall return unto me with their whole heart” (Jeremiah 24:7).  And in the Beatitudes, Jesus taught us, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8).  Paul knew that with the heart a person came to salvation: “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10, KJV).  It is no wonder, then, that the writer of Proverbs urged that we keep the heart with all vigilance (or diligence), for from it spring the issues of life, among which are the conviction to be saved from sin, the faith to turn to Jesus for forgiveness and salvation, and the knowledge to listen to and follow God in conduct of life.  Ezekiel substantiated the result of repentance and turning to God, saying He would : “make you a new heart and a new spirit” (Ezekiel 18:31).

We are to keep our heart “with all vigilance”—or “with all diligence.”  To keep vigil is to set a guard, to keep watch, to be awake and aware.  It was a common practice in biblical times to have a watchtower at city gates to which guards were assigned to keep watch over the city and to allow only those with authentic passes to enter.  Likewise, a vigil was set over fields to keep marauders from the harvest.  We’re familiar in our day with identification badges, pass codes, and even guards at places that faithfully check credentials.  Diligence is akin to vigilance, with the added idea of being persistent, steady and exerting effort.  The New International Version translates Proverbs 4:23:  “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”  If we allow the wellspring of our being to be polluted, the contamination will spread and the appetites we thought were under control will produce wrong ways of thinking and acting.  In his comments on Proverbs 4:23, Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe notes:  “The Bible warns us to avoid a double heart (Psalm 12:2), a hard heart (Proverbs 28:14), a proud heart (Proverbs 21:4), an unbelieving heart (Hebrews 3:12), a cold heart (Matthew 24:12), and an unclean heart (Psalm 51:10).  And this prayer comes from Psalm 139:23: “Search me, O God, and know my heart.” [The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT. Colorado Springs: Cook, 2007, p. 1065].  

J. Edwin Orr used the words form Psalm 139:23 as the basis of his hymn with these words which are a prayer:  “Search me, O God, and know my heart today;/Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray./See if there be some wicked way in me;/Cleanse me from ev’ry sin and set me free.”  As we set a vigil over our heart, it would be wise to remember Orr’s words and the tune by Edward J. Hopkins that accompanies the words and sing them daily as our sincere prayer.

Proverbs to Live By—Gain Understanding

“…if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.  For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.” –Proverbs 2:3b-6 (ESV).

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7a).  “Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding” (Proverbs 3:13).  With these verses the theme of Proverbs is stated.  Add this from Proverbs 4:7 : “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom; and with all thy getting, get understanding” (KJV).  To fear God, to hold Him in deep reverence, is where true knowledge begins.  He will then bless the one who pursues wisdom.  And then comes understanding, the ability to discern, weigh, apply reflective thought.  Understanding is a depth of knowledge beyond mere acquisition of facts; to understand is to be aware, to perceive.  Paul had the right idea about the depth of understanding when he urged Timothy to reflect on his teachings, for in so doing, the Lord will give him insight:  “Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything” (2 Timothy 7).

The wise man who wrote the Proverbs (in this section, Solomon is given credit for teaching these precepts to his son) covered many subjects under the general topics of seeking wisdom and understanding.  He is warned not to fall into habits of perverted speech (2:12, and not to follow those who walk in dark and devious ways (2: 13, 15).A bit of sex education was included in these instructions, with the warning not to go after “the forbidden woman” or “the adulteress with smooth words” (2:16).  Only abysmal failure will come from such behavior, for one following this path cannot “regain the paths of life” (2:19).  I am reminded of the father who wanted to teach his child the effects of falling into sin.  Every time the child transgressed the rules the parents had set for him, they went out to the wooden gate and drove a nail into the solid boards of the gate.  When the child repented of his ways and mended his behavior, the father would go with him and they would draw the offending nail out of the gate.  But alas, a hole remained in the solid wood where the nail had entered, even after it was removed.  The father then told his son, “When you transgress, the scars will always remain upon your life, even when you are forgiven.  So it is better not to walk in evil ways and bear the marks of wrongdoing.”

Throughout these proverbs the admonitions are a father to his son.  It was the Hebrew way to acknowledge the son who would reach the age of accountability and be fully accepted into the way of the Jewish laws.  But this is not to say that the admonitions were any less for daughters.  In that day, it was a masculine world.  But the admonitions to fear the Lord, seek wisdom, and seek understanding were for both genders, male and female as well.  I recall a serious talk my father had with me just before I left home to go to college.  Warning me that I might be taught what my father called “strange doctrines,” and might be tempted to be led astray by those who had not been instructed to follow the Lord’s ways, he said to me:  “Ethelene, always remember where you came from, your upbringing.  All you do will be a reflection upon your family.  So I pray that you will remember your raising and follow the right paths.”  I could never get very far away from my father’s advice.  He sacrificed much to allow me to get an education.  I did not want wrong choices and wrong behavior to reflect adversely on the good rearing I had received.  He had a good phrase for understanding; it was simply “Use good common sense.”