Guard your Heart
Proverbs 4: 1-27
Biblical authors claim that the kings of Israel and Judah were divinely chosen and that they were expected to abide by the Mosaic covenant (see, for example, Deut 17:14-17, 1Sam 8-12, 1Kgs 2:3-4). Thus, Israelites saw their king as an agent of God, ruling on His behalf (see Hag 2:20-23). Since God was in charge, He was responsible for protecting the king of Israel from threats by enemies (2Sam 7, Ps 2) and for punishing him and even removing him if he did not fulfill divine expectations (1Sam 13-14, 2Sam 7, 1Kgs 11:29-39). Ps 72 calls upon God to grant the king divine justice and righteousness so that he might rule the people properly, and Isa 32:1-2 calls upon the king to rule in righteousness so that his officers will govern with justice (see Isa 9:5-9, Isa 11:1-9).
As the anointed representative of the Lord, the king was seen by Old Testament writers as a mediator of the covenant between the Lord and His people. As such David is mentioned as "ruler over my people Israel" (2 Samuel 7:8).
This was a weighty task, and we sense the severity of it in the opening verses of our text: “Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction, be attentive, that you may gain insight, for I give you good precepts; do not forsake my teaching” (vv. 1–2).
The nation’s faithfulness to the Lord rose or fell on the king’s faithfulness to the Lord. As such Solomon knew full well the responsibility resting on his shoulders and on the shoulders of his son.
But exactly how was the ways of the Lord made known from generation to generation? Verses . 3–9 tell us:
" When I was a son with my father, tender, the only one in the sight of my mother, he taught me and said to me, “Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will keep you; love her, and she will guard you. The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight. Prize her highly, and she will exalt you; she will honour you if you embrace her. She will place on your head a graceful garland; she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”
(Proverbs 4:3–9)
David's instruction to his son is a call to “get wisdom” (v. 5). As also in v. 4b, getting this wisdom, keeping these commandments, brought with it the promise of life: “Hold fast to my words; keep my commandments, and live.”
Solomon tells us elsewhere that whoever finds wisdom “finds life and obtains favour from the LORD, but he who fails to find wisdom injures himself; all who hate wisdom love death” (8:35–36).
So it seems that wisdom is essential for life and prosperity; life for the king, life for Israel, life for the nations in darkness. God’s instruction, God’s Word has always been the means through which he creates, renews, and assembles a people for Himself.
Where do we look for renewal and hope? In magazines? From TV shows? From peers or family members older than you? From motivational quotes or feel-good one-liners? On Facebook or Instagram? In the blogosphere? Look no further than the life giving Word of God. Feed on it. Immerse yourself in it. You will never regret it.
Solomon’s plea here for his son to get this wisdom is communicated through a metaphor: Wisdom is likened to a woman: “Do not forsake her, and she will keep you; love her and she will guard you…. Prize her highly and she will exalt you; she will honour you if you embrace her.”(vv 6-8)
Solomon, being taught of David and being gifted with the gift of wisdom which God had given him, realized that wisdom and knowledge of the things of God should bring a person even closer to God; and therefore, keep him from failure and ruin.
Wisdom does bring honor instead of shame. A foolish son or daughter brings shame to their parents, but children filled with godly wisdom bring honor to their parents.
The more highly one esteems wisdom, the more highly wisdom lifts that person.
I can’t help but think of the contrast here with other sections of Proverbs, where Solomon speaks of the simple, the fool, the ungodly, and the wicked as those who embrace another woman: the adulteress. “Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with an adulteress and embrace the bosom of another man's wife ?”(Proverbs 5:20). Again, “Say to wisdom, ‘You are my sister,’ and call understanding your "kingsman ", they will keep you from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words” (Proverbs 7:4–5).
To embrace the adulteress, Solomon tells his son , was to walk down the highway to the grave, “leading down to the chambers of death” itself (7:27). Instead, the son was to embrace wisdom, for his life and the life of his people depended on it.
You may be asking, just what is this wisdom we speak of? Well, if you remember how, Solomon begins the book with these words: “The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight, to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth” (1:1–4).
Righteousness. Justice. Equity. This is the substance of wisdom. This is the case because these things—righteousness, justice, and equity—belong to and come from God (Psalm 89:14; Isaiah 61:8).
Friends, God is righteous; God is morally perfect; God enacts justice; God seeks and maintains equity; God acts in fairness and without partiality.
To embrace wisdom was to embrace all that God is and all that God loves. The son was to recognise wisdom and never leave her. She was to govern his thoughts, his actions, his dealings, and his judgments. He was to rule in righteous judgment, bringing about equity and extending mercy to the afflicted.
Solomon begins this section with his familiar refrain—Hear, my son, and accept my sayings(v 10) — which is often used as a sort of checkpoint marker to make sure his young son is still with him. He implores him to accept my sayings, like he did when his father taught him.
What then is a Biblical Proverb . A proverb is a short saying that expresses a universal truth for practical, godly living. They are not necessarily to be taken literally, and they are not promises; rather, they are an acknowledgment of a common reality. They are also not guarantees. They are usually principles, if you like.
And so, when Solomon says the years of your life will be many, he is not guaranteeing you will avoid a premature death. There are elements beyond your control.
What he means is that, generally speaking, you will live longer than you would otherwise have lived. This could be because you have less stress and the years you do live will be substantially more fulfilling
Solomon again resets the stage in order to emphasize his objective: I have directed you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in upright paths (verse 11) Throughout Proverbs, Solomon is leading his son to receive wisdom and take ownership of it. He is directing him in the way of godliness and righteousness, just as someone might provide directions to a lost person for how to get to their desired destination. Solomon has shown the benefits of wisdom as well as the dangers of wickedness. But it is clear his son has the freedom to decide whether or not to follow.
The ball is, effectively, in the son's court—he will choose either the path of wisdom or the path of folly.
Once again, the proverbial sayings in verse 12 are not suggestions that all our circumstances will be perfect. When you walk, your steps will not be impeded and if you run, you will not stumble are not guarantees life will go as we wish. What Solomon is saying ia that God will give us the power to make the choice to trust Him, and that He will give us enough light so that we will not stumble. No matter the circumstance of life, when we chose wisdom , God will guide us to the God pleasing goal.
What is being offered is the key to overcoming circumstances, to not letting them define one’s existence. We must, therefore, guard wisdom for she is your life Pursue, follow, and uphold this treasure. It is the key to transforming life from a set of oppressive circumstances to a set of opportunities. To live life in alignment with godliness , and gain the greatest fulfillment available, for the short time we are granted to live.
Psalm 107 is a great example of the distress that is brought about by living life apart from God, by leaving the straight path that He calls us to walk. As a result of the people's sin they were hungry and thirsty, they wandered in desert lands, sat chained like prisoners, and eventually they recognized their waywardness and cried out to the Lord. Seven times in Psalm 107 we find the same Hebrew word that is translated as 'hampered' in Proverbs 4.
Decisions that we make can hamper our walk. The people that we choose to hang out with can hamper our walk. The things we watch or listen to can hamper our walk. We need to keep our eyes and ears tuned to the voice of the Lord so that our walk will not be hampered my friends.
Let's take a look at how the people we hang out with hamper our walk. In Proverbs 4:14-17 we read.
Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evil men. Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way. For they cannot sleep till they do evil; they are robbed of slumber till they make someone fall. They eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence. (Proverbs 4:14-17 NIV)
This is a very disturbing passage of Scripture. Disturbing because it shows us that we can so easily get off track. There should be big 'Caution!' signs posted around verses 14-17. Solomon tells his son that he is not to even set foot on the same path of the wicked. There are two very important lessons we need to learn from this wise counsel of Solomon.
First, who are the 'wicked' ? That's a great question. Solomon says not to set foot on their path. Well, tell me who 'they' are and I will stay away from 'them.' Are the wicked those who are murderers? Is the title reserved for the Hitler's of the world? Are the wicked the worst of the worse among us Is this what Solomon is pointing out for us? Not hardly. Satan is far too subtle to come at us like that.
The word for 'wicked' is often set in opposition to the ' righteous' in the Old Testament. The ' righteous' are those who are rightly related to God and to other people. The live in obedience to God and their lives are a blessing to those around them. The 'wicked' are those who have no regard for God's ways, they don't honor His Word with their lives, they're not broken over their sin.
The second lesson that we need to learn is that the way of the wicked is any path that is not in obedience to God's word. That is a difficult truth for us to grasp because many of us think that 'wicked' is a sinister, devilish, twisted word and we would never put ourselves or our friends in that category. But when you understand that 'wicked ways ' is simply any path other than 'God's path' then you understand how we ought to become unnerved when God brings to our attention that we have strayed. This reality should also stir within us a passionate desire to know God's path so that we will not stray.
There are so many influences in our society that entice us to leave the path of righteousness and take the first step on the path of wickedness. Know this the path of the wicked won't look wicked. Don't look for a sign that says, 'Wicked Path. Beware.' Look for what is enticing, inviting, look for the path where all of the cool folks are hanging out, look for the path that seems to be on the edge of what is exciting.
Jesus said,
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." (Matthew 7:13-14 NIV)
Wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction. It will seem like most everyone is on that path, that you are the only person who is missing out on all of the fun, but you can't see further down that road my friend. Trust the Lord and His wisdom and you will thrive. Refuse to listen to the wisdom of God and your situation will grow increasingly bleak and dreary
Solomon put it another way
The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble. (Proverbs 4:18-19 NIV)
Solomon is summing up his argument to his son on why he should walk in the way of the godly rather than the ungodly. He has spoken of the way of wisdom as well as the path of the wicked. Now in these two verses he sums up his statements with one of the most memorable statements in all of Proverbs.
He begins with the path of the righteous. A "path" here is a byway or highway. It is the kind of path a person walk on . It is referred here as the "path of the righteous" - meaning the path of those who walk in what is "right". If you are wondering who's view of "right" this is - it refers to what is "right" in the sight of God.
This path is described for us next. It is like the light of dawn that shines in increasing brightness until the full day. This description is of how the sun rises with its initial beams of light at dawn. As the sun rises in the sky, the light given to us increases ever brighter, illumining all that is in the world, until it reaches its zenith at noon. This description is given to us to describe the path and way of those who walk in what God states is "right." Their path is full of light and they see clearly where to walk and to avoid those things that hamper our walk. In fact as time goes on their path only grows more illumined and easy to walk upon.
By this I do not mean that the Christian life is always an easy one, because that is not true. For the believer who draws near to God there are times of opposition from the world as well as the fight with indwelling sin. There is also the battle with the devil and the forces of darkness. The Christian life is not one that is always easy - but this passage speaks of how clearly we know how to walk upon it. For the one who seeks the Lord and desires to know Him better, for the one who desires God's wisdom and walks in it; for this one the path of life grows brighter and brighter as God's illumination through His Spirit and through Scripture continues to grow and we can easily avoid those obstacles that hinder our walk with God.
The path to Him grows brighter every day. I can see the obstacles in front of me because there is more light to guide me on the path. Choices that I did not make too confidently before are now easy ones because I see things so much more clearly in the light of His Word.
Solomon now turns to the way of the wicked - after speaking of how the path of the righteous is shining ever brighter. The way of the wicked knows no such light. Their way is darkness. It is the intense blackness that exists in the middle of a moonless, cloudy and starless night.
The word that is used to describe this darkness is also found in Exodus 10:22 - this verse speaks of the plague of darkness that came upon Egypt. It is a darkness that goes beyond the absence of light - a darkness that can be felt. Metaphorically, it is used in Isaiah 8:22 and Jeremiah 23:12 to speak of the trouble and misfortune that comes upon the wicked in the day of God's wrath and anger against sin. This same word is used to describe the darkness of the day of the Lord in both Joel 2:2 and Zephaniah 1:15 when God speaks of the day of "darkness and gloom" that will come upon the ungodly. This word indicates gloom, despair, distress, and anguish. This is the way of the wicked - they may look happy on the outside, but inside they are not at peace. There is gloom in their future - distress and despair await them.
The study of the words "light" and "darkness" and how they are used in describing the "darkness " and " light" are very illuminating for us.
"This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God." John 3:19-21.
The passage in Proverbs also informs us that as a result of walking in the darkness - they stumble - they fall - the wind up with problems. The word stumble here indicates more than just tripping up on something. It means they stagger, they totter and fall. It is the stumbling of those overthrown by lifestyle choices that bring them low. Yet the wicked just don't get it. They don't know over what they are tripping, because they reject God's Word as a source of light. Thus they trip, they fall, and they curse the darkness - not realizing that their steps would be sure if they just stepped into the light
Why would anyone want to walk in the darkness of the wicked? No one would if they truly knew that they were walking in darkness. Unfortunately they do not understand. When you consider this - and watch day by day those who walk about in darkness - it should make you eternally grateful for the grace of God that has brought you into the light.
Verse 23 reminds us that we should keep our “heart with all diligence…” The word diligence is defined as: 1. Earnest and persistent application to an undertaking; steady effort; 2. Attentive care; heedfulness. We must be consistent about keeping our hearts (and in the Bible, the word “heart” usually means our souls… that which makes us what we are—our “selves”) under God’s control and guidance. We do that by constantly praying and seeking God’s guidance before each move we make. He says that “out of it (our hearts/selves) spring the issues of life.
If our “hearts” are centered on God and His ways, then what springs out of our lives are fruits of the Spirit: gentleness, kindness, love, joy, peace, faithfulness, goodness, patience, and self-control, these “issues” are the ones we want.
If our “hearts” are centered on our “lusts of the flesh”, then what will spring out of our lives are the many types of sin - Galatians 5:19-21 gives a list of many of the “lusts of the flesh,” while Galatians 5: 22 & 23 lists the gifts of the Spirit:
We now come to verses 4:20-27 Within these verses, Solomon dives into the heart of wisdom. While we have already been given the command to write these words of wisdom on the tablet of our hearts, ( Prov. 3: 3) he now commands us to keep (or guard) our heart vigilantly because from it flow the springs of life. Solomon gives this command because he knows that our if our heart is foolish, everything we do will be foolish.
For reasons that I hope to make clear throughout this study, I believe that this verse is the central thought of our text; therefore, we will apply our focus here first and then move to the surrounding verses as they provide application for observing this verse. Solomon provides us here with a command followed by his reasoning behind the command: Keep you heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.
In order to understand this command, we must first know what is the heart. Biblically, the heart refers to far more than the primary muscle of our circulatory system; it is core of our identity. Who you are in your heart is who you really are. It represents the fundamental sense of you being you. Proverbs 27:19 shows this thought by saying, “As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man.” Knowing a person’s heart means knowing them fundamentally.
Obviously, this concept elevates the heart’s importance significantly, and it is why Solomon tells us to keep our heart with all vigilance. Keep here could also easily be translated as guard or defend. Vigilance is actually another form of the word used for keep in verse 21, and it often means to imprison, confine, or guard. It carries here the idea of guarding more than anything else, watching supremely and vigilantly. The idea is, then, that we must guard the heart with greater vigilance than we guard anything else. The NIV’s translation truly does capture the intention of this verse: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
But why do we need to vigilantly guard the heart? Springs of life flow from the heart. The metaphor here implies the imagery of a reservoir with many springs flowing from it. The heart is the great reservoir of life. Everything we do is rooted in our heart. Our actions are molded by our inward character. Jesus supports this understanding in Matthew 15:18-19:
“But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.”
The principle here is terrifying. We like to assume that we are good people who occasionally do bad things, and even then, we convince ourselves that our intentions are generally pure. Sin, therefore, is simply a problem of behavior. But Jesus shatters this thought by stating that we do bad things because we have bad hearts, and if our heart is bad, we are bad. Sin is not a "behavioral" issue; it is a "being" issue. We are not righteous people who occasionally sin. We sin because we are sinners. Our heart is corrupt, so there is no aspect of our being that escapes corruption, behavior included.
Proverbs even goes so far as to portray sin as destroying the heart. Throughout the book we are told that fools lack sense. The Hebrew word for sense is the same word used for the heart. The adulterer’s lack of sense really comes from having a sin-strangled heart (6:32). The fool lacks sense because sin is killing his heart. Sin is actively trying to pull us into the grave, both now and in eternity. Thus, to neglect guarding the heart means that we will die for lack of discipline, being led astray by our folly (5:23).
All of this provides us with a few questions and problems to address ourselves. If the heart is so important, how then can we guard the heart? If our heart is defiled, how can we have life at all? What role does obedience play in keeping the heart?
Now that we have briefly covered the necessity of keeping our hearts, let us now dive into the question of how we should do so. Fortunately, Solomon does not give us a command without further instruction. Verses 24-27 provide a snapshot for how to guard our hearts.
Verses 24-27 shows that we can only guard our heart through our physical actions. These verses focus on three parts of the body:
(1) the mouth,
(2) the eyes, and
(3) the feet.
With our mouth, we are commanded to avoid devious talk. With our eyes, we are told to focus on our goal - righteousness. And with our feet, we are urged not to swerve off the path. What do these directives mean?
We’ve already said that the heart holds influence over our actions, but the reverse is also true: our actions influence our heart
There are certainly many issues where Christian liberty becomes a matter of each individual’s conscience, yet the exercise of this freedom must never undermine or override our pursuit of holiness. Secular media is not innately sinful, but it should be consumed with wisdom. Solomon warns us to control our bodies because our heart follows close behind. As followers of Christ, we should ask this question about everything that we do: Am I glorifying God in this? John the Baptist desperately wanted to look more and more like Jesus (John 3:30). Does your life reflect this goal as well? Peter calls us strangers and exiles in this world, (1 Peter 2:11) but how are we any different from the world if our eyes watch the same things, our mouths talk the same way, and our feet go the same places? Without taking a nosedive toward legalism, we must reclaim a hunger for holiness, for Christ to be increased while we decrease.
A Christian who looks and acts identical to the world has reason to question the validity of his salvation. The process of sanctification happens slowly, but the disciple of Christ should continuously be growing toward resembling the image of Christ. We cannot spend our days in fellowship with darkness and expect to have communion with the Light. Vigilantly guarding our hearts means vigilantly guarding our actions.
So essentially this is our problem. Sin kills our heart, so we must flee from sin and obey God. But true obedience must be with all of our heart, and we are incapable of obeying with all our heart because our heart is already marred by sin. Thus, our heart continues to sin, and we continue to disobey God. It is an endless cycle of sin, disobedience, and death. This is why the Old Testament’s promise of a new covenant is so significant. Hear how Jeremiah and Ezekiel describe the new covenant:
Jeremiah 31:31-34 ' Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
Ezekiel 36:22-32 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.
And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. And I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you. I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations. Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations. It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord God; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.
Notice that both texts concern themselves with Israel’s inability to obey God’s commandments. Especially through Ezekiel, God goes through great lengths to assure the Israelites that He is not saving them for their own sake but rather for the holiness of His name. But the beauty of these texts is how God resolves to respond to their inability to obey.
The Israelites could not love God with all their heart because their heart was already marred by sin. The LORD, therefore, declares that He will give them a new heart and cause them to “walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules” (Ezekiel 36:27). They could not obey God’s Law, so He intervenes by writing it onto their hearts (Jeremiah 31:33).
This New Covenant was established by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Luke 22:20).
