Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit[1]
Have you ever wondered, as you read through your Bible (and I pray you do often), why there are so many references to the word, ‘heart?’
Let’s take a journey together through the scriptures and see where it takes us.
I am not attempting to give you a commentary, because I would not want to give you the impression that I am a theologian or a bible student. I am a person who has had a heart for God since I was seven years old. The Bible is my favourite book (and I’ve read a wide range of books of various genres, over time). I began reading the Bible after I gave my life to God in 1980. It was a King James Bible, and I struggled to understand the language.
But God told me to persevere, and that God alone would be my teacher. God began in those early days by telling me not to ‘study the Bible,’ but just to read it, and God would reveal what and when I was to understand. I believed what God said and now here I am – sharing what God has taught me and continues to teach me…
So, I have my thoughts on why the scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments, refer to the heart, and what is meant by the word heart in the bible. I feel sure that if I checked the root word in each scripture, whether it be Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament), I would find considerable variation in meaning.
Bear with me then, as we travel together and I share my views with you. For your part, you must check with God on everything you read, because that’s what God wants you to do.
We are all accustomed to the heart as an organ that pumps blood through the arteries and veins in our bodies. But spiritually speaking, it’s more than a physical organ.
My understanding is that we humans consist of a body, mind, and spirit. We are probably more familiar with body and mind and less so with the spirit. Our bodies perform all the physical functions in this trio, cooperating with the mind. The brain is part of our bodily function and could be compared to a hard drive. The mind could be thought of as a library of software programmes or apps. These apps deal with thinking and reasoning—sensory features like sight, sound, and touch. There’s memory, emotion, imagination, and self-awareness, and the list is too long to include everything, but I think you get the idea.
Now the spirit is a unique part that could be associated with our computer, connecting us to the internet and Wi-Fi. In other words, the spirit connects us with the Spirit world, and our communication with God comes via this connection.
But what is the ‘heart’ and where does it fit in?
To answer this, we need to look at a few scriptures:
- “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”[2] In this life, they will have a relationship with God, as seen in the five wise virgins. The heart as a spiritual centre, the fruit of our relationship with God is purity.
- “The heart is deceitful above all things,” [3] Here, the heart is portrayed as deceitful.
- “For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.”[4] Here, the heart is portrayed as a source of both good and evil.
Hebrew and Greek Roots: The Hebrew words leb or lebab, and the Greek kardia, appear over 1,000 times in the Bible. They refer to both the physical organ and metaphorically to the emotional, intellectual, and moral center of a person.
If the heart, in its different interpretations, is mentioned a thousand times in the scriptures, surely God is telling us that the heart is an essential part of our being. Do you agree?
Here are A few aspects that tell us about the importance of our hearts:
- The scriptures say the heart is the very core of our spiritual being. This means that all our thoughts, emotions, desires, and intentions are within our hearts.
- If God’s word refers to ‘a pure heart,’ this means there is room for the heart to be impure as well – this seems logical.[5]
- It is our hearts that bring us to the place of accepting God in the first place, as well as the renewal of our lives.[6]
- We must take care of our hearts, because as you can see from above, it is the very source of our lives.[7]
Our longing for God and our ability to trust God come from our hearts. This is the way we build our relationship with God.[8] There cannot be a relationship without trust.[9]
I understand that what I have shared with you is a difficult pill to swallow, but it is of the utmost importance that we do understand.
Pray this prayer every day:
“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”
Love and blessings
Peter-James