THINKING ABOUT THE HEART

Here is what we find in Proverbs 16:

V1  The preparations of the heart in man and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.
V2  Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the lord
V9  A man’s heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his steps
V21  The wise in heart shall be called Prudent.
V23  The heart of the wise teacheth his mouth and addeth learning to his lips.

When we think of a person we often think of “body, soul and spirit”.  We can also think of the essence of a person as “heart” of the person.  That being said, we could consider the heart encompasses all of a person: body, soul and spirit.

What are the preparations of the heart?  Someone, the Lord or the man, is doing something to the heart, getting it ready.

What is the heart?  If it is the very innermost seat of a man’s being, that from which his thoughts emanate, it must originate in the man.  It can be without God because it can be "proud" (V5).  God is not proud.  If a man can be proud in heart, he must not be regenerated by God because he is an abomination to God (as stated in verse 2.  Yet in a regenerated man the heart must be something God uses because the preparations of it are from the Lord (V1).  The heart comes before language and actions (VS 9, 23).  Yet something of the Lord seems to be added to the speech and actions intended of the heart:   “. . . is from the Lord” (V1), “. . . [God] directeth his steps” (V9).

•    Is the heart thinking, or feeling, or both?
•    Does a condition of the heart expressing itself to the outside influence the flesh to produce chemicals that lead to feelings such as joy or fear or even health or sickness?
•    Is the joy or fear within the heart itself?
•    Does the heart have emotion or are the emotions the result of something else or do they stand by themselves?
•    The heart must be under ownership of the man because a Proud one in an abomination of the Lord.  God does not make abominations.  A man can direct his heart away from God and become an abomination.
•    “There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth”   shows that the heart can continue from birth through eternity, in this case an eternity in hell.
•    So, the heart could be  the decision-making seat of a person, the essence of the character of a person, the spiritual essence of a person, a sub-lingual, pre-action impetus.