Continuing from yesterday's post about the heart…more hard stuff to think about, but oh, how badly I need to rehearse these truths!
How sick is the heart?
First, notice who can know it…no one, not even myself, only God! Verse 10 says, "I, the Lord, search the heart and test the mind."
I want to say this to myself each day: Do not think you will learn much about your heart by looking inwardly AT YOUR OWN HEART! WHY? Because as verse 9 states, the heart is wicked and deceitful.
It reminds me of that line in the movie, "A Few Good Men", when Nicholson shouted from the witness stand, "You can't handle the truth!"
- I cannot even SEE the truth of my heart because I will deceive myself!!
Second, notice the primary character of the heart, of my heart:
- “desperately wicked?” It translates a single Hebrew word that means “incurable.
- The problem is irreversible. It is past remedy.
- In a word, my heart’s condition is terminal.
Matt 13:15, "For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear,
and their eyes they have closed."
Matt 15:8-9 "This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me"
Rom 3:10-12 “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
Third, notice the primary conduct of the heart, of my heart:
- Deceitful = crooked, polluted, a fraud
- my heart deceives me
- that I am good enough to be accepted by God
- that I can do something to earn God's favor
- that I can rely on myself -- no need for God
- that I can transform myself
- that my duty or good works can gain me a position/relationship with God
- that I can stop sinning and have a change of heart
- that I can, by myself, steer clear of sin and temptations
- that I can, by myself, maintain self-control and not fall into sin
- my heart, apart from God giving me a new one
- is corrupt through and through
In all honesty, this brings me to tears. It should…and it's only by grace that it does! The grace that I have truth in my hands (the Scripture). The grace that God opened my eyes to just a glimpse of my wretched heart. The grace that God provides the solution to my problem. Jesus.
Thank you God for Jesus and opening my eyes to the gospel of the glory of Your Son who came to take my sin, take my wrath, and give me new life with you!!
Got awe? The gospel provides the awe!
In response to these last two posts about my heart…there is a song that I just purchased from a new album (just 5 songs) from West Coast Revival (from Sovereign Grace Ministries). The song is called "All That Thrills My Heart." You can listen to the full songs from this site (click here). It's track #2.
It is my prayer that God makes this the song and pursuit of my heart! By grace alone!!
All That Thrills My Soul
VERSE 1
Spirit of the living God, open up my eyes
Show me the pride that blinds me
Stoop to my weakness, mighty as You are
And show me Jesus as I ought to see Him
For when I see Him, truly see Him
CHORUS
All that thrills my soul is Jesus
No greater joy can be
He bore all my sins and sorrows
His perfect love
Is all that I need
VERSE 2
Father, may Your living Word penetrate my heart
And undo the lies that bind me
Shine in my darkness, mighty as You are
And make me know You as I ought to know You
For when I know You, truly know You
VERSE 3
Jesus, still my wandering heart, tie me to the rock
That rests on Your work completed
Keep me from falling, mighty as You are
That I may love You as I ought to love You
For when I love You, truly love You
© 2013 Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP)