LESSON 10 COLE WOMEN S MINISTRY SPRING 2018 LESSON 10. Matters of the Heart NASB SECTION I

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1 COLE WOMEN S MINISTRY PROVERBS SPRING 2018 LESSON 10 SECTION I Proverbs 2:2 Proverbs 3:1 Proverbs 3:3 Proverbs 4:4 Proverbs 4:21 Proverbs 4:23 Proverbs 6:21 Proverbs 7:3 Proverbs 10:8 LESSON 10 Matters of the Heart NASB Make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding; My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your hearts keep my commandments; Do not let kindness and truth leave you, bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then he taught me and said to me, Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments and live. Do not let them depart from your sight; keep them in the midst of your heart. Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life. Bind them continually on your heart; tie them around your neck. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. The wise of heart will receive commands, but a babbling fool will be thrown down. Proverbs 23:12 Apply your heart to discipline, and your ears to words of knowledge. Proverbs 23:19 Listen, my son, and be wise, and direct your heart in the way. Proverbs 23:26 Give me your heart, my son, and let your eyes delight in my ways. SECTION II Proverbs 6:14 Who with perversity in his heart devises evil continually, who spreads strife? Proverbs 6:18a A heart that devises wicked plans, Proverbs 10:20b The heart of the wicked is worth little. Proverbs 11:20 The perverse in heart are an abomination to the Lord, but the blameless in their walk are His delight. Proverbs 12:20 Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but counselors of peace have joy. 10 1

2 PROVERBS COLE WOMEN S MINISTRY LESSON 10 SPRING 2018 Proverbs 16:5 Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord; assuredly he will not be unpunished. Proverbs 18:12 Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, but humility goes before honor. SECTION III Proverbs 23:17 Do not let your heart envy sinners, but live in the fear of the Lord always. Proverbs 24:17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles. Pray that God would open your eyes to His truth and give you His vision. For the Lord looks at the heart, (I Samuel 16:7) and He is the one who can create in you a clean heart. (Psalm 51:10) 1. Of what do you think the writers of Proverbs were thinking when they thought of a heart? Circle the correct answer. a. The bodily organ in the chest which pumps blood. b. That part of man that constitutes the seat of our intellect, emotion and will. Refers to the inner self, the place where God speaks to you. The heart, the symbol of our hidden inner life, is the source of all our behavior the control center. Sir Walter Raleigh, one of Britain s great sea captains, was a favorite of Queen Elizabeth I but was disliked by her successor James I. In the end, the king condemned Sir Walter to death. The executioner, whose sympathies were with the prisoner, told Sir Walter how to place his head on the block to assure speedy decapitation. Sir Walter thanked him and then replied, It matters little, friend, whether or not the head is right so long as the heart is right. The heart can be right only if it is cleansed by the priceless blood of Christ and indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. Even then the heart must be kept with all diligence. Read Proverbs 4: Reread Proverbs 4:23. a. Define each word that is underlined in the verse below. Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life. watch heart 10 2

3 COLE WOMEN S MINISTRY PROVERBS SPRING 2018 LESSON 10 diligence flow springs b. Now write the verse in your own words. Read Matthew 15: What matters more: how people behave or their motives and attitudes? Read the Proverbs listed in Section I at the beginning of this lesson. Let s put Proverbs 4:23 back into context. Reread Proverbs 4: What are we to keep in the midst of our hearts? Note: We do what we do, because we are what we are. The heart determines what we are and therefore, what we do. This is why we are told to guard our hearts. 5. What are some things that cause your heart to wander? O to grace how great a debtor daily I m constrained to be! Let Thy goodness like a fetter bind my wand ring heart to Thee: Prone to wander Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love; Here s my heart O take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above. - verse 4 of Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing by Robert Robinson 10 3

4 PROVERBS COLE WOMEN S MINISTRY LESSON 10 SPRING Much of Proverbs is written in poetic language. a. How is the heart described in Proverbs 3:3 and 7:3? DIG DEEPER b. How does this process take place in the life of a believer? (See Jeremiah 31:33-34 and II Corinthians 3:3.) It was not easy for an Old Testament Jew to forget God s Word. He was required to write Bible texts on the door posts of his house so when he left home and when he returned he was reminded of them. Later it was the habit of devout Jews to wear phylacteries. These small cases, worn on the arm or bound by a band to the forehead, contained written verses of Scripture. These outward demonstrations became mere formalism rather than wholehearted obedience to Deuteronomy 11:18 and the Proverbs. Better than wearing phylacteries is memorizing Bible verses. However, to get God s Word into our heads only involves a learning process, but to get God s Word into our hearts involves a love process. God always goes after the heart. When the mind is engaged in an issue the motive is I ought to; when the will is engaged in an issue the motive is I have to; but when the heart is engaged in an issue the motive is I want to. We need to engage our hearts in the issue of our relationship to God s Word. Then we will not only hear it; we will also heed it. - John Phillips in Exploring Proverbs: An Expository Commentary, Volume 1 7. Write out Proverbs 3: Notice that Proverbs 3:5 charges that we trust in the Lord with all our hearts. a. Keeping in mind that in Hebrew thought, the heart was the seat of our intellect, emotion, and will, what is God asking from us? b. Read Romans 10:9-10. What level of commitment does God desire? DIG DEEPER 10 4

5 COLE WOMEN S MINISTRY PROVERBS SPRING 2018 LESSON 10 c. Have you made a personal commitment to God by confessing Jesus Christ as Lord of your life? Is yours an emotional commitment? An intellectual commitment? Or a wholehearted commitment? Read the proverbs listed in Section II at the beginning of the lesson. 9. Hearts that need some work: a. Describe the type of heart that is an abomination to the Lord. b. Do you see yourself in this list? Elaborate. c. Whenever we find ourselves falling short of God s holy standard, what should we do? (I John 1:9) DIG DEEPER Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10 Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way. Psalm 139: Checking our attitude toward the wicked: a. What is your reaction to the wicked prospering and enjoying the good life? b. What attitudes are you to avoid in Proverbs 23:17 and 24:17? Read Psalm 73. Take your time! Take plenty of time! 10 5

6 PROVERBS COLE WOMEN S MINISTRY LESSON 10 SPRING In this psalm we view a man who had the attitude described above. In fact, he was tumbling downward fast, almost to the point of giving up. He sees the wicked getting away with murder and prospering at the same time. a. How does the psalmist come to his senses? b. How does he describe himself before he sees reality? (Psalm 73:21-22). c. What does it mean to be pure in heart? 12. Reread verse of Psalm 73. a. What characteristics of God are revealed in these final six verses of the psalm? b. What does God do for the one who yields his/her heart to Him? There are times in our lives when our hearts and our flesh may fail, but remember the rest of Psalm 73. God is the strength of our hearts and our portion forever. Enter into the sanctuary of God and let Him mold you into a vessel for His use. Retire from the world each day to some private spot...stay in the secret place till the surrounding noises begin to fade out of your heart and a sense of God s presence envelops you. A. W. Tozer, Tozer on Christian Leadership 13. Now let s apply what we have studied. a. What has God impressed on your heart from this lesson and these verses? b. Is there something He is prompting you to do? If so, what? K Allen (1997) 10 6