The Lord Ponder the Heart Prov. 21: 2 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

Every way of a man is right in his own eyes.  When men choose a way, they think they’re right in the way they are going.  This is how men are about religion.  Paul thought he was right in his way when he was fighting against Jesus Christ and the gospel.  Your way is right in your own eyes.  But God, though he knows our way, pondereth our hearts.  The Lord pondereth the hearts because our hearts reveal our:

Qualities – our essential character, our nature is in our heart, not in our appearance.  Man looketh on the outward appearance; but the Lord looketh on the heart [1 Sam 16:7].  The outward appearance doesn’t reveal the true nature of the man.  His heart does.  Consider the Pharisees.  Their hearts were very different than their appearance.

Affections – what you love.  The Pharisees loved greetings in the markets, the uppermost rooms [Matt 23:6-7] and the praise of men [Jn 12:43].  You know what you love and the Lord knows what you love, though no one else may know.  We are to set our affection on things above.

Fears – what you fear.  One old preacher said, “You can tell a man by what he fears and what he loves.”  If he fears God and loves God, he’s a good man.

Motives – why you do what you do.  The Pharisees did what they did to be seen of men [Matt 6:1-5].  We are to do what we do for the Lord, regardless whether men approve.  Mary anointed the body of Jesus because she loved him and she was not distracted by the accusing comments of the disciples who said that what she was doing was a waste.

Desires – the things you want, even your lusts.  Some men want recognition, they want to be noticed.  Some men want acceptance.  Some men want money.  Amnon said that he loved Tamar.  In fact, he just desired her body.  And after he had her, he hated her.  We should desire those things that the Lord desires.

Thoughts – your thoughts and imaginations; your meditations.  As he thinketh in his heart, so is he [Prov 23:7].  What you think about is what you are going to do.  Trouble with the thoughts of the heart was the underlying reason for Noah’s flood.  However, after the flood, the evil thoughts were still there.  In general, quiet, pensive, unresponsive people always raise suspicion.  They are generally thinking about something completely different than what they are hearing in church.  And, in time, what they’ve been thinking about shows up in their actions.

Beliefs – it’s not what you say that you believe but what you truly believe that matters.  To get saved, you must believe with your heart [Acts 8:37; Rom 10:9-10].  It is often not possible to know what a man believes with his heart, because he might be inclined, like a politician, to profess a belief in what he thinks you want to hear.  Professing belief in Jesus Christ is not the same thing as trusting him with all your heart.  And the Lord knows this because he ponders the hearts.

Conclusion: since God ponders our hearts, then we should be much more concerned with what’s in our hearts than with what’s in our appearance.  Keep your heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life.