Proverbs Pertaining to the Heart
By Mary E. Caruana
“Scripture quotations taken from THE AMPLIFIED BIBLE, Copyright ©1954,1958,1962,1964,1965,1987 by
The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)”
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Proverbs Pertaining to the Heart
The heart of a man is the life-giving center of the body. The Scripture can be prayerfully studied and
insight into the difficulties of the heart obtained.
Here, sixty-two proverbs are arranged into eight topical sections pertaining to the heart. The proverbs in
each section are presented together on a topic to allow study of an idea about the heart. The eight
topics covered are: what the heart holds, the make-up of the heart, difficulties of the heart, people
relationships and the heart, the foolish heart, the Lord’s relation to the heart, a glad heart, and lastly the
two most important ideas concerning the heart.
I. The heart of a person understands, holds wisdom and commandments.
Direct the heart to understanding. “My son, if you will receive my words and treasure up my commands
within you, Making your ear attentive to skillful and godly Wisdom and inclining and directing your heart
and mind to understanding [applying all your powers to the quest for it];” Proverbs 2:1,2 Solomon, who
is the author of the book of Proverbs, set out to instruct the people on wisdom. He wrote many of the
proverbs as a father instructing his son. This is one of them. A son should receive a father’s words,
treasuring his commands. To do this a son is to listen to him carefully and direct his heart and mind to
understanding. There are many scripture verses expressing the working together of the heart and mind.
The heart is directed with the mind to get understanding. This is so important a person is to apply all his
powers in the quest for understanding.
Have wisdom enter the heart. “Yes, if you cry out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, If
you seek [Wisdom] as for silver and search for skillful and godly Wisdom as for hidden treasures … Then
you will understand righteousness, justice, and fair dealing [in every area and relation]; yes, you will
understand every good path. For skillful and godly Wisdom shall enter into your heart, and knowledge
shall be pleasant to you.” Proverbs 2:3,4,9,10 The way to have wisdom enter the heart is to cry out for
insight and raise your voice for understanding. Godly wisdom must be diligently sought as if it is silver.
Godly wisdom is searched for as if it was hidden treasure. Picking up the result of the search a few
verses later, the idea of godly wisdom is given. It is the understanding of righteousness, of justice, and of
fair dealing. The understanding is in every area and relationship, every good path. With this
understanding godly wisdom enters the heart and knowledge is pleasant.
Let the heart keep a father’s commandments. “My son, forget not my law or teaching, but let your
heart keep my commandments; For length of days and years of a life [worth living] and tranquility
[inward and outward and continuing through old age till death], these shall they add to you.” Proverbs
3:1,2 Solomon is again instructing his son. He says that the son should not forget what he says but to let
his heart keep his father’s commandments. To do so will lengthen the days of his son’s life and add
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tranquility. The tranquility is both inward and outward, through old age until death. This is the result of
letting a heart keep a father’s commandments.
Bind parental laws on the heart. “My son, keep your father’s [God-given] commandment and forsake
not the law of [God] your mother [taught you]. Bind them continually upon your heart and tie them
about your neck. When you go they [the words of your parents God] shall lead you; when you sleep,
they shall keep you; and when you waken, they shall talk with you.” Proverbs 6:20,21 Solomon in these
two scripture verses expands the concept of the father’s commandment to his son to also include the
law of God taught by the mother. These laws are to be bound continually on the heart. Also they are to
be tied about the neck. This enables God to lead a son correctly wherever he goes. When the son is
asleep God will keep him. When the son is awake God will talk with him. It is especially important that
God is in the words of the parent’s God.
Write commandments on the tablet of the heart. “Keep my commandments and live, and keep my law
and teaching as the apple (the pupil) of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of
your heart.” Proverbs 7:2,3 These scripture verses comprise another thought of a father’s
commandments. In this thought, where to retain the commandments is given. The instruction is to keep
the commandments, as a father’s law, as a teaching before the eyes. The commandments are to be
bound on the fingers and written on the area of the heart called a tablet. The fingers control action and
a father’s commandments are to control the person. The heart and mind work together to give a person
self-control. Commandments written on the tablet of the heart for memory enable the heart and mind
to work together for self-control.
Wisdom rests silent in the heart. “Wisdom rests [silently] in the mind and heart of him who has
understanding, but that which is in the inward part of [self-confident] fools is made known.”
Proverbs 14:33 Wisdom which controls a person’s actions and speech does not need to speak out of the
heart. It can rest silently there. However foolish people who do not have God’s relationship in right
perspective, let their inward thoughts be made known. This is so they can be corrected and brought into
a God fearing relationship rather than having a concept of reliance on themselves.
A person who has wisdom in his heart is called prudent, understanding, and knowing. “The wise in
heart are called prudent, understanding and knowing, and winsome speech increases learning [in both
speaker and listener].” Proverbs 16:21 A silent person, who has wisdom in the heart, is called prudent,
understanding and knowing. To have prudence one needs to contemplate action before taking action.
So people are silent while they contemplate the correct action. Understanding takes thought also as
ideas are gathered and put together. So again there is silent contemplation. Also people who seem to
know, do not speak. Knowing is a state of the mind not of speech. Now when the time to speak comes,
through the contemplation and knowledge, speech is winsome, or pleasing and engaging. The speaker
learns from the wise speech and so does the listener.
Advice comes from the heart. “Counsel in the heart of man is like water in a deep well, but a man of
understanding draws it out.” Proverbs 20:5 Counsel comes from the heart. It is a deep matter like water
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in a deep well. To retrieve the godly wisdom from the heart, a person must use understanding to receive
the advice.
II. The heart consists of a tablet, a center, an opening. It is a storage place for knowledge with which it
thinks.
Write mercy, kindness and truth on the tablet of the heart. “Let not mercy and kindness [shutting out
all hatred and selfishness] and truth [shutting out all deliberate hypocrisy or falsehood] forsake you;
bind them about your neck, write them upon the tablet of your heart. So shall you find favor, good
understanding, and high esteem in the sight [or judgment] of God and man.” Proverbs 3:3,4 Keep mercy,
kindness and truth about. Mercy and kindness will shut out hatred and selfishness. Truth will shut out
deliberate hypocrisy and falsehood. To keep these virtues tie them about the neck like a tie or necklace.
Put them on the tablet of the heart for permanent memory. The result will be favor from God and man.
People will have a good understanding of the person. High esteem will be given from the judgments of
God and man.
Keep a father’s sayings in the center of the heart. “My son, attend to my words; consent and submit to
my sayings. Let them not depart from your sight; keep them in the center of your heart. For they are life
to those who find them, healing and health to all their flesh.” Proverbs 4:20-22 A son should apply his
self to his father’s words. He should try to form consent to their meaning and hold as valuable his
father’s sayings. The words and sayings should be in a son’s sight in the center of the heart. This will
bring about spiritual life to the son and be healing and health to his body.
A heart opens to receive understanding. “All the words of my mouth are righteous (upright and in right
standing with God); there is nothing contrary to truth or crooked in them. They are plain to him who
understands [and opens his heart], and right to those who find knowledge [and live by it].”
Proverbs 8:8,9 Here wisdom is talking. All the words of wisdom are upright and are in right standing with
God. The words of wisdom are not contrary to truth. There is nothing crooked about them. The words of
wisdom are plain to those who have understanding of them. A heart then opens to receive them. The
words of wisdom are right to those who live by knowledge.
Knowledge is stored in the heart. “Wise men store up knowledge [in mind and heart], but the mouth of
the foolish is a present destruction.” Proverbs 10:14 Wisdom is stored up as knowledge in the mind and
the heart. But if there is foolishness rather than wisdom in the heart then the foolish person will express
it and destruction of inaccurate ideas of God will come.
A person thinks in his heart. “Eat not the bread of him who has a hard, grudging and envious eye,
neither desire his dainty foods; For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. As one who reckons, he says to
you, eat and drink, yet his heart is not with you [but is grudging the cost].” Proverbs 23:6,7 A heart is
nourished with bread. If a guest of a person who is eyeing the guest’s food because he is a hard man or
envious of the guest, then the guest should not desire the person’s dainty food. The person’s heart is
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not with the guest to wish him a good meal. His heart is grudging him the cost. And as the heart thinks
so is the person doing.
III. The heart experiences seventeen difficulties and requires attention.
A heart can despise reproof. “And you groan and mourn when your end comes, when your flesh and
body are consumed, And you say, How I hated instruction and discipline, and my heart despised reproof.
I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers nor submitted and consented to those who instructed me.”
Proverbs 5:11-13 The end of dissipation with a loose woman is mourning and groaning. The body is
worn out. In reflection the person realizes that he disliked instruction and the disciplines of temperate
living. His heart of feelings disliked reproof to the point of despising the correction. Obedience to
teachers was missing. It would have taken submission and the person’s consent to receive correction
and instruction.
A heart can manufacture wicked thoughts and plans. “These six things the Lord hates, indeed, seven
are an abomination to Him: … A heart that manufactures wicked thoughts and plans, feet that are swift
in running to evil,” Proverbs 6:16,18 Two of the six actions that the Lord hates are listed in these
scripture verses. The Lord hates the heart that thinks like a factory, manufacturing thoughts that are
sinful and making plans that are against the love of Jesus Christ. The other action that is hateful is using
the feet to run quickly to teaching others to reject God. Both actions are an abomination to the Lord.
A heart can be willful and contrary. “They who are willfully contrary in heart are extremely disgusting
and shamefully vile in the eyes of the Lord, but such as are blameless and wholehearted in their ways
are His delight.” Proverbs 11:20 If the feeling of the heart is willful against God, contrary to wholesome
teaching, the person is extremely disgusting to the Lord. The Lord cannot reach the person. It is a
shameful feeling to be out of touch with God. It is an utterly bad thing in the sight of the Lord. If a
person’s actions are blameless the Lord delights in him. Rather than a contrary heart, whole hearted
attempts to follow Jesus’ teaching of love are what God wants.
A heart can be perverse. “A man shall be commended according to his Wisdom [godly Wisdom, which is
comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God] but he who is of a perverse heart shall be
despised.” Proverbs 12:8 Godly wisdom recommends a person as worthy of confidence. Godly wisdom
involves having insight into the ways of God and his purposes. But if a heart is perverse, strongly
opposing what is right in the eyes of God, a person is considered worthless.
A heart can be anxious. “Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down, but an encouraging word makes it
glad.” Proverbs 12:25 The spirit of a person coming from the heart hardly reaches up to God if the heart
is anxious. The person must pray to reach God and remove the anxiety. A heart is made glad when God
answers the prayer. The person is encouraged.
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The hope of a heart can be deferred. “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire is
fulfilled, it is a tree of life.” Proverbs 13:12 The heart becomes sick when hope in the heart is postponed.
Life returns to the heart when the desire of the heart is fulfilled.
A heart can be bitter. “The heart knows its own bitterness, and no stranger shares its joy.”
Proverbs 14:10 The heart contains knowledge and thinks using the knowledge. When the heart has
knowledge of bitterness in it, the heart must think about the bitterness to remove it. Joy is shared in
fellowship by people who have known the person’s circumstances.
A heart can backslide. “The backslider in heart [from God and from fearing God] shall be filled with [the
fruit of] his own ways, and a good man shall be satisfied with [the fruit of] his ways [with the holy
thoughts and actions which his heart prompts and in which he delights].” Proverbs 14:14 A person who
backslides moves his heart far from God. Rather than fear God he relies on himself. He is filled with the
results of his own ways rather than God’s ways. A godly person is satisfied with the results of his ways
because his thoughts were completely on God and he acted in a godly manner. When a heart is with
God the heart prompts a person to be godly. Then the person is delighted in his ways.
A heart can be proud and arrogant. “Everyone proud and arrogant in heart is disgusting, hateful, and
exceedingly offensive to the Lord, be assured [I pledge it] they will not go unpunished.” Proverbs 16:5
The Lord is interested in a person’s love for other people. A heart that is proud and arrogant holds itself
above other people and this does not show other people love. The person is offensive to the Lord
because the Lord tries to enable everyone to come together as a body having fellowship with one
another. The person who has a proud and arrogant heart will be punished.
A heart can have iniquity. “By mercy and love, truth and fidelity [to God and man – not by sacrificial
offerings], iniquity is urged out of the heart, and by the reverent, worshipful fear of the Lord men depart
from and avoid evil.” Proverbs 16:6 When a heart has sin in it, the sin must be purged out of the heart.
This is done by showing mercy because God is merciful to those who show mercy. God is pleased when
love of a neighbor is shown. Sin is often a wrong idea about what is happening and truth will purge the
idea from a heart. Finally if a person continues in loyalty to others, Christ works to correct sin between
people. Removing iniquity or sin from the heart is not done by sacrificial actions. If a person continues in
a reverent and worshipful relationship to the Lord, fearing the Lord, the person will avoid the
temptation to act against God.
A heart can be proud. “Haughtiness of eyes and a proud heart, even the tillage of the wicked or the
lamp [of joy] to them [whatever it may be], are sin [in the eyes of God].” Proverbs 21:4 Haughty eyes
and a heart that is proud make the work the person does sin to God. What is joyful to the person
becomes sin in God’s eyes also. Praise must be offered to God for whatever the person is taking credit
himself for and credit given to God instead to clear the wrong look in the eyes and wrong attitude in the
heart.
A heart can envy sinners. “Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the reverent and worshipful
fear of the Lord all the day long. For surely there is a latter end [a future and a reward], and your hope
and expectation shall not be cut off.” Proverbs 23:17,18 Envy towards what a sinner is doing or has in his
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or her possession is hard to overcome. This scripture verse instructs a person to not let the heart have
envy but keep in mind fear of the Lord, having a reverent and worshipful attitude towards Him. Be
confident that there is a future and also a reward for doing so. God will not cut off a person’s hope and
expectation that there is a complete end to envy.
A heart can rejoice when an enemy falls. “Rejoice not when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be
glad when he stumbles or is overthrown. Lest the Lord see it and it be evil in His eyes and displease Him
and He turn away His wrath from him [to expend it upon you, the worse offender].” Proverbs 24:17,18
This proverb is tricky because it is natural to want to rejoice when a enemy falls but this scripture verse
says not to rejoice. A person should not let his heart be glad then his enemy stumbles and is
overthrown. The Lord is for all people coming together in unity and the Lord will be displeased in the
rejoicing because it means there still is no unity on the concept that was fought over. The scripture verse
says that rejoicing might make the Lord view the person who rejoices as the worst offender not the
winner.
A heart can be heavy. “He who sings songs to a heavy heart is like him who lays off a garment in cold
weather and like vinegar upon soda.” Proverbs 25:20 A heavy heart is a sad heart and will not listen to a
happy song. A person trying to sing a happy song to a sad person sends a chill to the sad person and has
a nullifying action on him or her.
A heart can be wicked. “Burning lips [uttering insincere words of love] and a wicked heart are like an
earthen vessel covered with the scum thrown off from molten silver [making it appear to be solid
silver].” Proverbs 26:23 This proverb talks about the effect on the body of insincerity. If a person speaks
insincerely about love, his or her lips will burn. A heart that tries to hold an insincere relationship to God
is a wicked heart and looks like a clay pot covered with silver scum to appear solid silver.
A heart can contain abominations. “He who hates pretends with his lips, but stores up deceit within
himself. When he speaks kindly, do not trust him for seven abominations are in his heart. Though his
hatred covers itself with guile, his wickedness shall be shown openly before the assembly.”
Proverbs 26:24-26 A person who expresses active hostility must pretend to love because love of
neighbor is God’s way. In the pretense, a person stores deceit in his heart. He is not to be trusted as his
heart contains the extreme hatred and loathing. The person tries to cover it up with deceitful cunning
but the wrong relationship with God’s will to love one another shows in an assembly.
A heart can harden. “Blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) is the man who reverently and
worshipfully fears [the Lord] at all times [regardless of circumstances], but he who hardens his heart will
fall into calamity.” Proverbs 28:14 A person is happy and fortunate when in adverse circumstances he
prays to God about his problems. This is reverence and worshipful fear of the Lord in all circumstances.
The opposite concept is to harden the heart not listening to the will of the Lord. Predictable calamity will
befall the person.
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IV. Women, husbands and friends all affect the heart.
Be careful of lust in the heart. “For the commandment is a lamp, and the whole teaching [of the law] is
light, and reproofs of discipline are the way of life. To keep you from the evil woman, from the flattery
of the tongue of a loose woman. Lust not after her beauty in your heart, neither let her capture you with
her eyelids.” Proverbs 6:23-25 A loose woman, or a woman that is straying from her husband, entices
lust from a man. Pay attention to commandments, the whole law and the reroofs of discipline to keep
oneself from lust. A woman far from her husband is out of relationship to God. She uses flattery and
tries to capture a man with her eyelids. The instruction is to refrain from lust of the woman’s beauty in
the heart.
The heart should not be inclined to harlots. “And behold, there met him a woman, dressed as a harlot
and sly and cunning of heart. She is turbulent and willful; her feet stay not in her house; … Let not your
heart incline towards her ways, do not stray to her paths, For she has cast down many wounded;
indeed, all her slain are a mighty host. Her house is the way to Sheol (Hades, the place of the dead),
doing down to the chambers of death.” Proverbs 7:10,11,25-27 A harlot is described as a woman who is
sly and cunning in her heart. She is turbulent and willful. She does not stay at home. Men stray from
God’s ways to her ways. She does not heal wounds but puts people in death. She has slain many people.
Her house is the way to the spiritually dead. The instruction is not to let the heart be inclined to her
ways.
A father should have a son’s heart. “My son, give me your heart and let your eyes observe and delight
in my ways. For a harlot is a deep ditch, and a loose woman is a narrow pit.” Proverbs 23:26,27 A son
must keep himself with his father to keep from harlots and loose women. The son’s heart must be with
his father, observing and delighting in the father’s ways. The harlot is described as a deep ditch and the
loose woman as a narrow pit. Both relationships need a father’s help to escape from becoming caught in
them.
Win the hearts of men. “He kisses the lips [and wins the hearts of men] who give a right answer.”
Proverbs 24:26 When a person gives a correct answer, the feeling is as if the person gave out a kiss. A
man’s heart is won in this way.
A brother can be far off in heart. “Your own friend and your father’s friend, forsake them not; neither
go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity. Better is a neighbor who is near [in spirit] than a
brother who is far off [in heart].” Proverbs 27:10 For a correct heart attitude towards friends, brothers
and neighbors consider these simple rules. Be loyal to friends even to a father’s friend. Rather than go to
a brother’s house when in trouble go to a neighbor. A neighbor is near in spirit when a brother is far off.
The heart reflects man to man. “As in water face answers to and reflects face, so the heart of man to
man.” Proverbs 27:19 Water reflects the image of a person. The heart also has a reflection action to the
heart of another person.
The heart of a husband trusts in a virtuous wife. “A capable, intelligent, and virtuous woman – who is
he who can find her? She is far more precious than jewels and her value is far above rubies or pearls.
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The heart of her husband trusts in her confidently and relies on and believes in her securely so that he
has no lack of [honest] gain or need of [dishonest] spoil.” Proverbs 31:10,11 The husband who has a
capable wife has found a precious partner. Her intelligent handling of what matters to him is worth a lot
to him. If she is also virtuous his heart trusts her completely. She enables her husband to perform
honest work with no need of dishonesty.
V. Foolish people need heart. Their heart needs understanding such that it disperses knowledge. A
child’s heart is bound in foolishness and needs attention from parents at the start of life. A person must
trust in the Lord from their heart.
The foolish need an understanding heart. “O you simple and thoughtless ones, understand prudence;
you [self-confident] fools, be of an understanding heart.” Proverbs 8:5 People who are simple do not
think matters through before acting. Simple people need to understand that prudence, control of self
from the use of reason, would be beneficial to them. People who are foolish need understanding in their
heart. Foolish people are confident in themselves rather than relying on God. Foolish people need to
understand reliance on God from their heart.
The foolish spiritually die because they do not have heart. “The lips of the [uncompromisingly]
righteous feed and guide many, but fools die for want of understanding and heart.” Proverbs 10:21
Righteous people, those who are in right standing with God, do not compromise their integrity. They are
able to provide for and guide many other people. People who are foolish need understanding of God’s
principles and encouragement in their heart. Otherwise they spiritually die.
The foolish serve the wise of heart. “He who troubles his own house shall inherit the wind, and the
foolish shall be servant to the wise of heart.” Proverbs 11:29 A house is a home for a productive family.
If a family member troubles the household rather than contributing t it, the family will not give the
family member an inheritance to start his or her own home. Wisdom builds the house and foolish family
members must serve the wise family members.
The heart of the foolish does not disperse knowledge. “The lips of the wise disperse knowledge [sifting
it as chaff from the grain], not so the minds and hearts of the self-confident and foolish.” Proverbs 15:7
People who are wise are able to convey their wisdom to others. People who are foolish are not centered
on God and do not have inspiration to convey wise thoughts to anyone. Foolish people do not use either
their mind or their heart to speak wise sayings.
The foolish need heart and sense. “Folly is pleasure to him who is without heart and sense, but a man
of understanding walks uprightly [making straight his course].” Proverbs 15:21 Foolishness put into
action is pleasure to people who are not encouraged to be practical. People who are foolish need
understanding. Those who have understanding can have an upright relationship to God and find a
practical way of life.
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The foolish need understanding and heart to learn skillful and godly wisdom. “Of what use is money in
the hand of a [self-confident] fool to buy skillful and godly Wisdom – when he has no understanding or
heart for it?” Proverbs 17:16 Skillful and godly wisdom come from understanding the ways of God.
People who are confident in themselves rather than trusting in God cannot understand godly wisdom.
Money cannot purchase instruction on a skill or on wisdom for self-confident and foolish people
because they have no heart for God.
Foolishness is in bound in the heart of a child. “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, but the
rod of discipline will drive it far from him.” Proverbs 22:15 Children have a natural tendency to be foolish
in their point of view. They need to be taught to be practical. Discipline releases the foolishness from
their heart and removes the foolishness far away.
The foolish are self-confident if their heart trusts in themselves rather than God. “He who leans on,
trusts in and is confident of his own mind and heart is a [self-confident] fool, but he who walks in skillful
and godly Wisdom shall be delivered.” Proverbs 28:26 Confidence in a person’s own mind and heart is
foolish. To be wise a person must lean on and trust in God. A person who uses skillful and godly wisdom
will find deliverance from trouble.
VI. A person’s heart is before the Lord. The Lord weighs and tries the heart, perceives and knows what
knowledge is in the heart, and needs trust and confidence from the heart. A king’s heart is unsearchable
and is turned by the Lord.
The Lord needs trust and confidence from a person’s heart. “Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the
Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on our own insight or understanding. In all your ways
know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.”
Proverbs 3:5,6 The Lord wants people to trust Him. He wants to be relied on to rescue a person from
trouble so that He is glorified. If people are confident in their own insight in a matter, they will praise
themselves. Instead people need to know the Lord, to recognize and to acknowledge Him so that they
will escape foolishness and have their ways made straight by the Lord.
A heart is before the Lord. “Sheol (the place of the dead) and Abaddon (the abyss, the final place of the
accuser Satan) are both before the Lord – how much more, then, the hearts of the children of men?”
Proverbs 15:11 The Lord is able to look into both Sheol (where the dead are) and Abaddon (where Satan
ends up). These are hard places to look into. It is easier to look into hearts. The Lord needs to see into
the heart to remove dead works and lifeless observances and purify the heart.
The Lord weighs the thoughts and intents of the heart. “All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,
but the Lord weighs the spirits (the thoughts and intents of the heart).” Proverbs 16:2 As a person looks
at his own ways, his mind thinks that he is pure. The Lords however looks into the heart and knows if the
mind and heart think the same thing.
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The Lord tries the heart. “The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tries the
hearts.” Proverbs 17:3 Silver and gold are heated to make them pure. Likewise, the Lord will try the
heart to purify it.
The king’s heart is turned by the hand of the Lord. “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as are
the watercourses; He turns it whichever way He wills.” Proverbs 21:1 The government is on Christ’s
shoulders and rulers are turned by the Lord, just like watercourses, however the Lord wills.
The heart is weighed and tried by the Lord. “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord
weighs and tries hearts.” Proverbs 21:2 A man sees his ways as right to himself. The Lord however sees
into the heart to test the weight it has in what it thinks.
The Lord perceives and knows what knowledge is in the heart. “If you [profess ignorance and] say,
Behold, we did not know this, does not He who weighs and ponders the heart perceive and consider it?
And He who guards your life, does not He know it? And shall not He render to [you and] every man
according to his works?” Proverbs 24:12 If a person pretends to be ignorant, saying that he or she does
not know concerning a matter, the Lord who sees into the heart will be able to tell if what is said is true.
The Lord will consider the profession of ignorance a lie, because He guards a person’s life. A person’s
spiritual life consists depends on a truthful spirit. A person saying he or she does not know when they do
know will bring judgment.
The king’s heart is unsearchable. “As the heavens for height and the earth for depth, so the hearts and
minds of kings are unsearchable.” Proverbs 25:3 The Lord searches a heart but a king, a ruler, his heart is
unsearchable. The proverb explains the reason with the similarities of high and low. The Lord must be
above to look down on hearts and on minds, and no one is above the king.
VII. A glad heart makes the face look happy, is always celebrating, and adds light in the eyes. Oil and
perfume cause the heart to rejoice. Use wisdom to make your father’s heart glad.
The face looks happy when the heart is glad. “A glad heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by
sorrow of heart the spirit is broken.” Proverbs 15:13 When a person is pleased, the heart is glad and the
face is cheerful. By contrast when a person is sorrowing in his heart, he or she has a broken spirit.
A heart that is glad is always celebrating. “All the days of the desponding and afflicted are made evil [by
anxious thoughts and forebodings], but he who has a glad heart has continual feast [regardless of
circumstances].” Proverbs 15:15 Anxious thoughts make a person extremely discouraged. Bad ideas
enter the thoughts. This occurs with affliction. Prayer must be used to keep a person’s days from
becoming evil. The person must find concepts to be glad about so that his heart will be continuously
nourished in spite of his or her circumstances.
A light comes to the eyes of a glad heart. “The light in the eyes [of him whose heart is joyful] rejoices
the heart of others, and good news nourishes the bones.” Proverbs 15:30 When a person looks into the
eyes of another person and there is a light in his or her eyes, the other person rejoices. The light comes
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from a joyful heart. Joy is shared this way. Correspondingly when good news is told, a person’s bones
are nourished.
If a son’s heart is wise, a father’s heart will be glad. “My son, if your heart is wise, my heart will be glad,
even mine; Yes, my heart will rejoice when your lips speak right things.” Proverbs 23:15,16 The form of
this proverb is a father speaking to his son. When wisdom is on the lips of his son, a father’s heart is
pleased. The father’s heart rejoices when his son speaks of right things.
Oil and perfume make the heart rejoice. “Oil and perfume rejoice the heart; so does the sweetness of a
friend’s counsel that comes from the heart.” Proverbs 27:9 Oil, such as used in cooking and in cosmetics,
and perfume bring about joy of the heart. Also joyful is advice from a friend that is from the deep waters
of the heart.
Make your father’s heart glad. “My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him who
reproaches me [as having failed in my parental duty].” Proverbs 27:11 A parent’s duty is to teach a son
godly wisdom. A father’s heart is glad if his son is wise and the father can answer those who criticize him
about his son.
VIII. Most important guard your heart for an undisturbed heart is life and health to the body.
Above all guard your heart. “Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard,
for out of it flow the springs of life.” Proverbs 4:23 The physical heart of a person is the life-giving center
of the body. The life blood of a person is pumped by the heart. The spiritual heart is the same. It is the
life-giving center of the spiritual body. A heart both physical and spiritual must be kept with all vigilance.
The heart must be watched over as the highly important center life.
An undisturbed heart is life and health to the body. “A calm and undisturbed mind and heart are the
life and health of the body, but envy, jealousy, and wrath are like rottenness of the bones.”
Proverbs 14:30 Three emotions of the heart produce unstableness. Envy dislodges a person from his or
her own self possession. Jealousy causes a person to fight with other people. Wrath bends an upright
personality. All three are like rotten bones not supporting the person in righteousness. Calmness and an
undisturbed heart and mind bring health to the body and establish life. For healing a person must find a
settled place and take care of his heart and mind.
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