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.

An Interlude: Praying about Enemies

“Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God! Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men. For they speak against You wickedly; Your enemies take Your name in vain. Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate You? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies.” –Psalm 139:19-22 (NKJV).

I must confess to wanting to skip over Psalm 139:20-22. My thoughts, as I’ve dwelt so intently on Psalm 139 for three days now, have rejoiced in the themes so far of this marvelous Psalm: God’s omnipotence, His omnipresence, His omniscience in knowing us even before our conception, and keeping us in His plan. And then come verses 19-22 which express a prayer that confesses hatred for enemies and a plea that God would slay them. If it is of any consolation to us, some scholars, in close scrutiny of these verses, hold that they may have been misplaced by those who decided on the canonization of the Scriptures, and that these four verses are more in keeping with the theme of Psalm 140 which is a prayer for deliverance from evil men.

We are very much aware that David, the likely author of Psalm 139, was beset on every hand with enemies who sought his life and wanted to dethrone him. It is possible that even in the midst of praising God for His omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience, David could have been reminded of his enemies and how they intended him harm. Another important lesson we learn from these verses is that we can talk to God about anything that bothers us; and certainly enemies fall into the area of troubles. David seems to have a viable ground for his hatred of enemies: He asks: “Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate you? Do I not loathe those who rise up against You?” An enemy of God is an enemy to David (and so they are to us as well, among them false teachers “in sheep’s clothing”).

Jesus gave us a different perspective on how we should consider and treat enemies. In the Beatitudes Jesus taught us to love our enemies: “You have heard it was said, 'you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be the sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?”-Matthew 12:43-46 (NKJV). We are to treat enemies charitably: “Therefore if your enemy hungers, feed him; if he thirsts, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” –Romans 12:20-21 (RSV).

In reconsidering the verses from Psalm 139 that deal with hatred of enemies, we also should consider that Jesus taught us to love our enemies and Paul admonished Christians to whom he wrote to treat enemies kindly. Someone has summed up how we should treat any enemies of God and ourselves: “Hate the sin but love the sinner.” President Abraham Lincoln, when asked what he would do with all the enemies the United States made during the crisis of the Civil War: “We will make them our friends.” And he had plans for reconciliation before his life was taken from him by an assassin’s bullet. We cannot join the enemy in their disobedience and hatred of God; but we certainly can replace hatred with love and destructive actions by compassionate deeds. And, like David, it is good for us to be on guard against the enemies of God and the damage they can do in the Kingdom of God. Life is a constant warfare; therefore “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (I Peter 5:8). Be on guard, therefore, and pray.

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

"For You formed my inward parts; You knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your books were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them. How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with You.” –Psalm 139:13-18 (ESV).

Lifting a phrase “fearfully and wonderfully made” out of these thought-provoking verses for our consideration today, I write with awe to think that God knew me—and each one of us—even before we were formed in our mother’s womb. He knew our days, knew our paths, knew our potential and our personalities. I heard a wise man say many years ago, “When God wants a job done in the world, He forms a baby to grow up and do that job.” With that in mind, we might ask if we have any choice in what we are, what we are like in personality and possibilities, and what we do in our time upon planet earth. The fact is that we are made in the image of God Himself with an innate ability to love and to follow goodness. But we have the power of choice, and in that characteristic—choice—lies the ability to make wrong choices, to fall into temptation and to come short of God’s intended glory for us.

I am strongly pro-life in today’s debate about abortion. Statistics on this blight in present-day society are staggering. In America alone, these statistics were recorded for the year 2011: “One baby is aborted every 26 seconds, 137 every hour, 3,304 every day, 23,196 every month, 1,206,192 ever year” (“United States Abortion Statistics, National Right to Life Committee, 2011). Multiply these staggering statistics by all the countries of the world and an astronomical number of deaths-by-abortion are committed each year—by far more than have ever been recorded for any war on record. We hold life in the balances and so many do not consider how “fearfully and wonderfully” we are made for God’s purposes.

The beautiful story of Pam Teebow’s decision not to abort has been told by her oral testimony and in writing. Bob and Pam Teebow, parents of the Denver Broncos Quarterback, Timothy Richard Teebow, were missionaries in the Philippines when Pam became pregnant. She contracted a terrible disease (amoebic dysentery from contaminated drinking water). The doctor advised Mrs. Teebow to abort the baby she carried, warning her that he would be born with serious birth defects, and that both her life and the baby’s were in danger. After much prayer, the Teebows made the decision to have the child. Tim was born August 14, 1987 in the Philippines, a “slim and long” baby who grew into the athlete we know today. On December 10, 2007, he received the Heisman Trophy, a very prestigious athletic award. We have seen him—and also heard the controversy that rages—about his saluting God at the end of football games and falling to his knees to pray. Many have criticized his action, saying it is for “show.” However, to hear Tim Teebow’s testimony, he makes it clear that his belief in the Lord Jesus Christ is his most transcendent and precious relationship—not winning, not the applause of men for his athletic prowess, but to love and serve the Lord. His contributions to the orphanage his parents now run, and other Christian charitable support are evidences of his belief that he is, indeed, “wonderfully and fearfully made.” God invites each of us to think of ourselves as He considers us. Let us read again the verses from Psalm 139, and thank God that He knew us, even before we were formed!

Our Omnipresent God

“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall fall on me,’ Even the night shall be light about me; Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You.” – Psalm 139:7-12 (NKJV).

As God’s children, we are never alone. The theological term for God being everywhere is omnipresence. One of the most beautiful and expressive passages of God’s omnipresence is written in Psalm 139:6-12. God is present in the world and with His people in a most unique manner. He is never separate from His creation. As Spirit He can be (and is) present everywhere.

Let’s review some of the people in the Bible who experienced God’s mnipresence. Moses saw God in a burning bush (Exodus 3:2) and he as with God on the mountain top (Exodus 19:18-20). In the year that ood King Uzziah died, Isaiah experienced God’s presence in the emple (Isaiah 6). He came to Elijah and manifested Himself “in a still, small voice” (I Kings 19:12). He appeared to Saul of Tarsus on the Damascus Road and he was converted (Acts 9). The most amazing appearances was God Emmanuel (God with us), Jesus Christ our Lord, God come to earth, Jesus the Saviour, Who walked, talked, performed miracles, taught disciples during His brief 33-year life on earth. His death was our own sacrifice for sin. His resurrection gave hope over death. His ascension back to the Father celebrated His mission on earth finished and His glory restored.

What beauty of expression is used as the Psalmist describes the omnipresence of God. If I “take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there Your hand shall lead me.” This shows the intimacy with which God regards His children. On land and on sea, He is with us and His hand holds us steadfastly! What reassurance to think that God is living, He is working in His world, and He is aware of and attentive to our comings and goings. Night and day are all the same to Him, and we have no need to be afraid. God is not a remote Spirit, hiding and inaccessible. He is personal and at work in the world He created.

Robert Grant (1779-1838) expressed well the omnipresent nature of God in the third stanza of the beloved hymn, “O Worship the King”:

“Thy bountiful care what tongue can recite?
It breathes in the air, it shines in the light,
It streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,
And sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.” Amen!

God Knows Even Me!

“O Lord, You have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up, You discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.” –Psalm 139:1-6 (ESV).

God knows even me! His omniscience, although hard to understand, and sometimes harder for us to accept, is very real, powerful and, yes, even protective. The characteristic of omniscience ascribed to God means “all-knowing.” Psalm 139 is attributed to David, although scholars who have studied carefully the Hebrew language in which it was originally written have noted that it contains expressions of the Aramaic language which occurred long after the time of David. Whether it was David or someone living much later than he who wrote this Psalm, it was, nevertheless, inspired by the Spirit of God to reveal the important truth of God’s all-knowing nature. Note the many aspects of our lives God knows: “When I sit down and when I rise up.” The all-knowing God has us in His vision at all times. He genuinely cares what we do and where we are.

God knows our thoughts…and that “from afar.” I’m sure you’ve experienced your mind “wandering” and having to be called back to the objects of your concentration. But just think: God “discerns my thoughts from afar.” No wandering of His attention! He knows what I think. This knowledge of His omniscience should lead us to think pure thoughts and to fill our minds with purposeful pursuits. “Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether!” Have you ever been speaking or teaching and suddenly thoughts come into you mind you had not considered when you prepared? Be assured that God knew that direction you should go. This has happened to me many times in my teaching/speaking experiences. Some call this being extemporaneous, or “thinking on one’s feet.” I like to call it God’s Spirit working to have us present His truths.

God knows our path and our ways. How many of you, in starting out on a journey, perhaps driving alone as I so often do now, pray that God will go with you on the trip, to give you alertness to conditions and safety on the trip? And then when you safely arrive at your destination, do you take the time to thank Him for His protection? I was driving from Milledgeville to Epworth, as I do several times a year, and as usual, I had prayed before I set out on the trip. I was cruising along, and found a place to pass a truck I had been behind for miles. At one juncture, he gave a right-hand turn signal, and I saw opportunity to pass. But alas! He had given a wrong signal and turned left instead of right. Alertness and the ability to guide my vehicle to a safe slow-down occurred just split-seconds before what could have been a terrible collision. You can believe I thanked God with all my heart that I did not wreck. But God’s omniscience saw that possible collision in His all-knowing vision and protected the truck driver and me. He had “hemmed me in,” and put a protective wall about me. We know that wrecks and misfortunes occur. We cannot judge or assume that God’s attention shifted.

God “lays His hand upon me.” God’s remarkable providence in our lives is beyond comprehension. Considering such a truth the psalmist exclaimed: “It is too high for me! I cannot attain it!” How true; we cannot understand the Almighty’s knowing all about us and caring so much for us. But thanks be to God, He does know us, and He does know all about us. Let us thank Him for our position in His plan for each of us.