This blog will alternate with each post between two subjects. One week will address why churches are not growing, and the coming move of God. The alternate week the blog will continue with the in-depth study through the Book of Proverbs.
The Scripture passages are identified with bold upright font and the author’s notes are identified with italic regular font.
Note – All words or phrases found in quotation marks are actual parts of the Hebrew definition.
20 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. 21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. 22 For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. 23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. 24 Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.
‘Keeping one’s heart with all diligence’ is such a massive job and entails so much the ability to do verse twenty-three justice in one segment is simple not possible. However, I will make the primary point of the importance of guarding our heart. For an in-depth examination of verse twenty-three you might find a book I wrote about the verse enlightening. It can be purchased in either softback book or Kindle eBook form from Amazon. It is titled, “ The Heart – Why Does It Hurt So Often? – Proverbs 4:23”
Every aspect of our life is affected and effected by what is going on in our hearts. If our hearts are not healthy we are not healthy. The above book examines how we can both get, and keep, our hearts healthy. One of the first and most important things we need to know about ‘keeping our hearts with all diligence’ is that it is we who must be a watchman over our own hearts.
Here is an excerpt from the book, “The Heart – Why Does It Hurt So Often? – Proverbs 4:23”
“with all diligence” – What a phrase, but not one that can be separated from “for out of it – the issues” and retain its proper meaning or communicate its proper understanding.
Hebrew Definitions:
“keep”
5341. נָצַר nâtsar, naw-tsar’; a prim. root; to guard, in a good sense (to protect, maintain, obey, etc.) or a bad one (to conceal, etc.):— besieged, hidden thing, keep (-er, -ing), monument, observe, preserve (-r), subtil, watcher (-man).
“with all diligence”
4929. מִשְׁמָר mishmâr, mish-mawr’; from 8104; a guard (the man, the post, or the prison); fig. a deposit; also (as observed) a usage (abstr.), or an example (concr.):— diligence, guard, office, prison, ward, watch.
8104. שָׁמַר shâmar, shaw-mar’; a prim. root; prop. to hedge about (as with thorns), i.e. guard; gen. to protect, attend to, etc.:— beware, be circumspect, take heed (to self), keep (-er, self), mark, look narrowly, observe, preserve, regard, reserve, save (self), sure, (that lay) wait (for), watch (-man).
In the first half of the Hebrew definition for “with all diligence”, there is language in the definition that communicates the need for us to be much like a prison guard in how we approach the need to “keep” our hearts. Both “keep” and “with all diligence” have the concept of being a “watchman or keeping a “watch” in their definitions.
There are individual who are called to be Watchmen over the Body of Christ, also often referred to as Prophets/Prophetess, just as there were men who were called to be Watchmen over Israel, and we are called to be Watchmen over our own hearts. Therefore, we will take time to look at some Scripture about what it means to be a Watchman so we can understand the severity of the task.
Ezekiel 33:7–9 (NKJV)
7 “So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me. 8 When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you shall surely die!’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. 9 Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.
What does it mean to you when I state that the heart is the center of our being and the retainer of our spirit?
The Scriptures are filled with information about the heart and through this sheer volume and content of the Scriptures we can deduce that the heart is not only the center of physical life but also of spiritual life. Spiritually we are often asked to examine our hearts because the heart is the inner most being.”
– End of excerpt –
When we fail to keep watch over our hearts, when we fail to keep them with all diligence we are acting in one of the most unwise ways possible, which is why King Solomon warned his son so strongly to ‘keep or guard his heart with all diligence.’ I urge you also to, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
Verse twenty-four can also be associated with keeping one’s heart healthy as well as standing alone in the principle of godly talk versus ungodly talk. What we say, what comes out of our mouths, has an effect in the spiritual realm and thus an affect upon our hearts.
From the Hebrew definition we find that we are warned in verse twenty-four against using our words in the form of “perverted, distorted, or crooked (dishonest)” talk, words that would cause other people or ourselves “to turn aside or depart” from God’s Ways, God’s Will, and God’s Wisdom.
People often talk just to talk. Don’t! Actually have something fruitful or useful to say when you speak.
Throughout this study if you need the wisdom of God on a matter, and you wish to receive the counsel of another Believer in Christ, please use the “comments” link to send your question to me.
Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:
This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers, and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.
Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV
11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
God's Truth in Love 