The Heart Of It All

What is on your heart?  I’m not talking about a burden or trouble. What do you have written on your heart?  In Proverbs 3:3, we are told what needs to be written on our hearts. Look at how the Amplified puts it;

Do not let mercy and kindness and truth leave you [instead let these qualities define you];
Bind them [securely] around your neck,
Write them on the tablet of your heart.

The qualities listed in this verse; mercy – kindness, and truth should define us.  Let’s look at the Hebrew words in Strong’s.

חסד chêsêd – kheh’-sed – favour, good deed (-liness, -ness), kindly, (loving-) kindness, merciful (kindness), mercy, pity, reproach, wicked thing.

אמת ’emeth – eh’-meth –  assured (-ly), establishment, faithful, right, sure, true (-ly, -th), verity.

These are the very characteristics of God. These are what we are to have written on the tablet of our hearts.  Our hearts are to reflect God’s mercy, kindness and truth to others.

Now take a look at the word tablet.

לח לוּח  lûach lûach – loo’-akh, loo’-akh -meaning to glisten; a tablet (as polished), of stone, wood or metal.

A polished tablet of stone, wood, or metal is going to take a lot of work to get it smooth and glistening. On top of that, you can’t write on stone, wood, or metal with a pen. In order to write on the tablet, it will take some physical work. A hammer and chisel are needed. Pieces are going to be removed. It could be painful. The tablet will forever be changed.

In Proverbs 4:20-23 ESV; we find more to do with the heart.

My son, be attentive to my words;
    incline your ear to my sayings.
Let them not escape from your sight;
    keep them within your heart.
For they are life to those who find them,
    and healing to all their flesh.
Keep your heart with all vigilance,
    for from it flow the springs of life.

It is the Word of God that we are to hide within our hearts. Not only does His Word define us, it brings healing.

If you notice we are to keep vigilance over our heart. Earlier we saw that the tablet of our heart is not something that can change then why do we need to keep watch over our hearts?  The Hebrew word here has a vast array of meanings as you will see. To understand it better let’s look at the definition in Brown-Driver-Briggs’ Hebrew Definitions.

לב lêb – labe – 1. inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding
a. inner part, midst
1. midst (of things)
2. heart (of man)
3. soul, heart (of man)
4. mind, knowledge, thinking, reflection, memory
5. inclination, resolution, determination (of will)
6. conscience
7. heart (of moral character)
8. as seat of appetites
9. as seat of emotions and passions

As you see it goes from the mind to the emotions. Our mind, thinking and understanding can get pretty messed up when our emotions and feelings get in the way. It is pretty hard to think your way through something when your emotions are running wild. It is the emotional part of our heart that we need to keep a watch on so that they cannot blur our judgement.

Our hearts are what others see in us and through it flows the springs of life, not just for us but to those around us.