Clean Transcript

What Is In Your Heart

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• I want you to open your Bibles, if you would please, today to 1 Chronicles, chapter 29. 1 Chronicles, chapter 29. We're going to read verses 17 through 20. 1 Chronicles, chapter 29, verses 17 through 20. The title of the message is, "What Do You Have in Your Heart?" Notice, if you would, 1 Chronicles, chapter 29, beginning there with verse 17. David is praying, and he says, "I know also, my God, that Thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of mine heart I have willingly offered all these things. And now have I seen with joy Thy people which are present here to offer willingly unto Thee. O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of Thy people, and prepare their heart unto Thee. And give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart, to keep Thy commandments, Thy testimonies, and Thy statutes, and to do all these things, and to build a palace for the which I have made provision."

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• And David said to all the congregation, "Now bless the Lord your God." And all the congregation blessed the Lord God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads, and worshipped the Lord and the King. Most of you know that one leading credit card company has an advertisement and it goes like this, "What do you have in your wallet?" The more important question is not what you have in your wallet, but what do you have in your heart? Our hearts are indeed the most important aspect of our beings. I have been asked in times past, having preached nearly 53 years now, which do you consider the most important message that you have ever preached for Christians? Without hesitation, I have always answered, I believe the most important message I have ever preached for Christians is from Proverbs 4, verse 23, on keeping the heart. The Scripture says there that we are to keep our hearts with all diligence, for out of the heart are the issues of life. It's not my intent to preach that message today.

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• However, if you've not heard it, I would encourage you to listen to it. If you have heard it in time past, I would encourage you to listen to it again. I think it's so important because, to be absolutely honest, I preach that message to myself practically every day. I do have a series on heart preparation. I believe those messages are important as well. But I believe the message on keeping the heart is absolutely fundamental and an absolute requirement for every child of God if we understand, and we should understand, that everything begins in our hearts.

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• Now, I'm not going to go into a great deal of detail about that message. I'm certainly not going to quote all the Scriptures that I give in that message. But let me just simply allow me to say this, that your heart is your mind. It is your understanding. A heart is not some physical organ that God is talking about. When He says, "Keep thy heart with all diligence," obviously, He's not talking about the physical organ. Because one of these days, it's going to stop.

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• And there's absolutely nothing you can do about it. And I don't know about you, but I'm quite thankful that I don't have to lie awake at night saying, "Pump, heart, pump, beat, heartbeat." It just does it. It just keeps going. And one day it will stop, and I can't hinder it from stopping. So when he says, "Keep thy heart," he's literally talking about keeping your mind. The Hebrew word "lev" there is translated "mind" and "understanding" 20 times in the Scripture. When you look in 1 Chronicles chapter 29, verses 17 through 20, the Hebrew word here for heart is translated in their Bibles as heart, mind, and understanding. So it refers then to the thought life, the inner man, the mind, the soul, the understanding. In reference to our lives, we are told in Proverbs 23 and verse 7, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he."

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• Simply stated, our actions, our conduct, and our behavior are nothing more than the outworking of our thoughts and our affections. So the same truth is repeated in the New Testament. If you would hold 1 Chronicles, I'm coming right back there, but I want you to look in the book of Luke chapter 6 and verse 45. Notice what our Lord says, and I think you can get a good grasp of what I'm trying to share with you. Luke chapter 6 and verse 45. Our Lord says it like this, "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil. For of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." So our Lord is just simply saying everything pours forth from the heart. And out of the heart, the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh.

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• In other words, whatever we think, whatever we have in our hearts, ultimately we end up speaking. It is revealed. If you would look in your Bibles to the book of Matthew, chapter 15, and let's begin reading there with verse 15. Matthew 15 and verse 15. Notice again what our Lord is saying. He's still talking about the heart. Notice Matthew chapter 15 verse 15, "Then answered Peter, and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable."

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• And Jesus said, "Are you also yet without understanding? Do not you yet understand that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? Now watch. But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart, and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man."

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• Now there are two statements here that we should pay very close attention to. First of all, our Lord says, "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart." Everything comes out of our heart. Everything flows from our heart. Our heart is our mind. Our heart is our understanding. Our heart is the way we think. And so everything is going to flow out of our heart. The second thing our Lord points out here, He says this, "Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts," which indicates very clearly that your heart is your mind.

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• And then he goes on to list murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. Let me put it to you like this. You cannot commit a sin without first thinking about that sin. So when you begin to entertain that sinful, wicked thought in your mind, ultimately what he's going to say, or what he is saying, is you're going to do exactly what you're thinking about. So, obviously, it is out of the heart proceed all of these wicked things.

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• Now, both Testaments, Old and New, are consistent in establishing the fact that our hearts happen to be our mind and our understanding. Now, I want you to look back in your Bibles to 1 Chronicles 29 because, interestingly enough, the passage that I read to you is found in the context where David is dedicating the wealth that he gave and the wealth that the people gave for the building of the temple. Now, I want you to look back to 1 Chronicles 26 and verse 27 because I want you to be absolutely amazed at something in just a moment. But notice 1 Chronicles 26 and verse 27.

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• The Bible says, "Out of the spoils won in battles did they dedicate to maintain the house of the Lord." So, many times when David conquered foreign enemies and confiscated their wealth, the wealth was given to the house of the Lord. So, here is a vast sum of money, a vast sum of wealth that has been laid up for the house of the Lord from the battles that David won.

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• Now, I want you to look, if you would please, in 1 Chronicles chapter 29, and let's begin there with verse 2. I want you to see what David said. Not counting that which David had confiscated in battle, notice verse 2. He says, "Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God, the gold for the things to be made of gold, and the silver for the things of silver, and the brass for the things of brass, and iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood, onyx stones, and stones to be set, glistering stones of diverse colors, and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance." Now he's prepared all this. Now watch. "Moreover, because I've set my affection to the house of my God, I have of mine own proper good," now this is not what he won in battle, this is out of his substance, "I have of my own proper good of gold and silver, which I have given to the house of my God

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• over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house, even three thousand talents of gold, even of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls for the houses withal, the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver, and for all manner of work to be made by the hands of artificers. And who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord?" Now David said, out of all of this wealth that he had confiscated in order to build the house of God, out of his own personal money, out of his own personal wealth, he had given three thousand talents of gold, and seven thousand talents of silver, and that doesn't count the stones, and the

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• marble, and the wood, and the brass, and whatever. You know, that figure does not normally register too much with us. I've told our people, I said, we have no way of knowing, we have no way of imagining exactly how wealthy David really was, or how wealthy the people of Israel really and truly were. But when you stop and think that a talent weighs 75 pounds, and David gave 3,000 talents of gold or 225,000 pounds of gold, and when you stop and think that an ounce of gold today is 1,200 bucks, 1,200 Federal Reserve notes, actually it's more. But I'm just taking $1,200. So if you took $1,200 an ounce and multiplied it times 16, you'd get $19,200. If you multiplied that times the pounds that David gave, he would have ended up giving, in today's value, approximately $4,300,000,000 just in gold. That doesn't count what he gave in silver. It would be 525,000 pounds of silver.

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• You're talking about the temple being magnificent? Now, let me show you something. It was not just David. Skip down, if you would, please, to verse 6. 1 Chronicles 29, verse 6. "Then the chief of the fathers and princes of the tribes of Israel and the captains of thousands and of hundreds with the rulers of the king's work offered willingly. Now watch. And gave for the service of the house of God of gold five thousand talents, and ten thousand drams, and of silver ten thousand talents, and of brass eighteen thousand talents, and one hundred thousand talents of iron. And they with whom precious stones were found gave them to the treasure of the house of the Lord by the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite. Then the people rejoiced for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly unto the Lord. And David the king also rejoiced with great joy." So look at this, if you would please. David had given this vast sum out of his own treasury, and now here all of the leading princes and chief of the fathers give another enormous amount toward the temple of God.

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• And the Bible says, of course, that David rejoiced. Then when you get to verses 10 through 16, this is the prayer and praise of David, where David is blessing the Lord for everything that has been given to God, and he's enunciating the fact that everything that they gave to God was actually his own. Because they didn't have anything that God had not given them. So if you'll look down to verse 16, he kind of summarizes it like this. He says, "O Lord our God, all this store that we have prepared to build Thee an house for Thine holy name cometh of Thine own hand and is all Thine own." Wow. So there is absolutely nothing that we have that God has not first given unto us. Everything we are, everything we have, has come from God. Now, our text is part prayer and praise and worship of God that David began in verse 10. Now, I want you to look in verse 18. I want you to notice what David requests of God for his people.

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• He says, "O LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of Thy people, and prepare their heart unto Thee." When I read this passage some time back, one of the things that really caught my eye was verse 18. When David said, "O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of Thy people." And when I read that, my mind immediately thought of another passage of Scripture that speaks of the imagination of the thoughts of the heart. If you would hold 1 Chronicles 29, but look back in your Bibles to the book of Genesis chapter 6 and verse 5. You're going to find this phrase used again. Notice, if you would, Genesis chapter 6 and verse 5. The Bible says, "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Isn't that amazing?

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• So he talks about every imagination of the thoughts of the heart being only evil continually. And when you look at 1 Chronicles 29 and verse 18, he says, "Keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of Thy people." Wow. I hope you can see the difference between Genesis chapter 6 and verse 5 and 1 Chronicles 29 and verse 18. Genesis 6 verse 5 is what man is by nature. 1 Chronicles 29 verse 18 is what man is by grace. Genesis 6 verse 5 is the work of man. 1 Chronicles 29 verse 18 is the work of God. Genesis 6 verse 5 is the work of man's depravity. And 1 Chronicles 29 verse 18 is the work of God's saving grace. So he talks about the imagination of the thoughts of the heart in Genesis 6 and verse 5, and the imagination of the thoughts of the heart in 1 Chronicles 29 verse 18. We're talking about depravity. We're talking about grace. So the question has to be, what do you have in your heart?

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• Is it depravity? Or is it grace? Are your thoughts centered upon that which is wicked, wrong, depraved, and rebellious? Or are your thoughts centered upon that which is right, holy, pure, godly, and biblical? In other words, your life is going to evidence and demonstrate and manifest whatever is in your heart. So here's a question. What was David's request to keep in the hearts of the people forever?

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• That's what he said in verse 18. "O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel our fathers, keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of Thy people." We could answer very generally and say what David was requesting that God would keep in their hearts would be all of the good dispositions and all of the good attitudes and all of the good cooperation that had been given toward the support of the temple. And David could be requesting that God would fix in them a holy temper and a holy disposition to always do that which is right and biblical and godly. And that would be a very general statement. But I want you to notice something else he says in verse 18. He says, "O LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the imagination and thoughts of the heart of Thy people, and prepare their heart unto Thee." Now, what David is recognizing here is that the spirit of giving and cooperation and graciousness that he had just witnessed was the result of God's preparing the hearts of His people.

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• You know, the Bible says this in Proverbs 16, verse 1, "The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord." The preparations of the heart in man are from the Lord. So let me put it like this. If your heart is ever prepared, God prepared it. If your heart is ever prepared to pray, God prepared it. If your heart is ever prepared to study, God prepared it. If your heart is ever prepared to come to Jesus Christ, God prepared it. It is true that in John 6, verse 37, our Lord said this, "All that the Father giveth Me shall come unto Me, and him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out." That is absolutely true. But it is equally true that our Lord said in John 6, verse 44, "No man can come unto Me except the Father who hath sent Me draw him, and I will raise him up in the last days." So in order for the sinner to come, he must have his heart prepared by God.

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• The preparations of the heart in man are from the Lord. And we must remember that it is our duty, our obligation, our responsibility to seek God to prepare our hearts. His is the ability. Ours is the responsibility. You can read through Scripture. And you're going to find various statements made in reference to kings and other individuals. But the Bible tells us exactly the source of the wickedness that was in the life of Rehoboam, Solomon's son, David's grandson. When the Bible tells us in 2 Chronicles 12 and verse 14 concerning Rehoboam, that he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord. Isn't that amazing? He did evil, why? Because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord. Now it is true only God can prepare the heart, but he had a responsibility, he had a duty and an obligation to seek God to prepare that heart. And yet when you get to 2 Chronicles 27 and verse 6, the Bible says this about King Jotham. "So Jotham became mighty because he prepared his ways before the Lord."

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• In other words, he examined his ways to make sure that they were biblical and holy and godly. So he became mighty. You know, it's said of godly Ezra, who understood this responsibility. In Ezra 7 and verse 10, "For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and to do it and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments." Ezra prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and to do it.

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• Do you realize godliness just does not simply happen. Holiness does not simply happen. You do not go to bed dumb and wake up smart, neither do you go to bed unholy and wake up holy. We must learn what it means to prepare our hearts. In fact, in 1 Samuel chapter 7 and verse 3, Samuel admonished the Israelites, and he said this, "And Samuel spake unto the whole house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the Lord with all of your hearts, then put away the strange gods that are among you and Ashtoreth, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve Him only, and He will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines." So Samuel said, "Look, if you really want deliverance from your enemies, then you put away your strange gods, you put away your god of Ashtoreth. You put away all of these strange gods, you repent, you serve Him and serve Him only."

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• By the way, I think that's a modern day application that we should understand in our day and time. If we really want our land back, if we really want our history and our heritage and our country, then we must cease from our idolatry and our wickedness and our rebellion and turn to the Lord with all of our hearts. That's what Samuel said. By the way, hold 1 Chronicles 29, but look in your Bible to the book of Luke, chapter 12, verse 47. Our Lord tells us basically the same thing. Luke chapter 12, notice if you would please verse 47, he says this, "And that servant which knew his Lord's will and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes." Did you hear that? "And that servant which knew his Lord's will and prepared not himself."

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• So if we know what God's will is, we have a duty, we have an obligation, we have a responsibility to prepare ourselves. We have a responsibility to seek the Lord to prepare our hearts. How do we prepare our hearts? First of all, by seeking Him.

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• Secondly, by turning from our sins. Thirdly, by putting in our hearts His Word, His truth, and obeying Him. Undoubtedly, as you look at 1 Chronicles 29, you could say, yes, David wants all of these good dispositions to continue in his people. Yes, he wants them to remain true to the Lord. But if you look at verse 18 again of 1 Chronicles 29, he says, "O LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel our fathers, keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of Thy people, and prepare their heart unto Thee." David is very specific. "Keep this. Keep this." So what is David actually praying that God would keep in the hearts of his people forever? If you understand verse 18, you must take it in the context of verse 17. Look what he asks. David says in verse 17, "I know also, my God, that Thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of mine heart I have willingly offered all these things, and now have I seen with joy Thy people which are present here, to offer willingly unto Thee."

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• "O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this," so that "this" refers back to verse 17. So what is it, this, that David wants kept in the hearts of the people? Well, first of all, if you look back in verse 17, he says this, "I know also, my God, that Thou triest the heart." So the very first thing that we are to keep in our hearts forever is that God tries the heart.

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• Now, the word "triest" is the Hebrew word "bachan," which literally means to examine, to prove, to scrutinize, and to test. So God scrutinizes, God tests, God examines our heart. You see, God not only knows the heart perfectly, He tests it, He examines it, He tries it, and He reveals it not only to ourselves, but to others as well. You remember that passage in Genesis 22, verse 1? Where the Bible said, "And it came to pass that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am." Now it says that God did tempt. Often times we use the word "tempt" but we think then of temptation or solicitation to do evil. But the word "tempt" there just simply means to test. You remember that passage in James 1, verses 13 through 15, when he said, "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man."

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• "But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man. So God is not going to try to seduce us or tempt us to go contrary to His Word. No. He will test us. He will try us.

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• He will reveal to us and to others what is exactly in our hearts, what we are made of. But He does not tempt us to sin. The Bible tells you in 1 Peter, let me just read it, 1 Peter 1, verses 6-8, Peter wrote, "Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." So Peter says, look, you're going through a test. You're going through a trial of fire. And that trial is much more precious than gold which perishes. Now, it's interesting as you read through the Bible. God oftentimes tests us. And He tells us this truth, and sometimes we read it and we do not understand it because it occurs under a word that most people are unfamiliar with.

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• For instance, I want you to turn in your Bibles, hold 1 Chronicles 29, and I want you to turn in your Bibles to Psalm 7. We're going to go through the book of Psalms very quickly. I'm not going to read all of these verses. Then we'll go to the book of Jeremiah. Then we'll go to the book of Revelation, but notice if you would please Psalm 7 and verse 9. Psalm 7 and verse 9. It happens to be one of my favorite verses. There's a wonderful prayer. Psalm 7 verse 9, look at it. David prays.

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• "Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins." Wow. "And the reins." Look in Psalm 26 and verse 2. Psalm 26 and verse 2, because David makes this prayer request. And he says, "Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart." Try my reins. Look in Psalm 73 and notice, if you would please, verse 21. Psalm 73, verse 21, Psalm of Asaph. When God opened his eyes, Asaph said, "Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins." Wow. Look in Psalm 139 and verse 13. Psalm 139, verse 13. David said, "For Thou hast possessed my reins: Thou hast covered me in my mother's womb." And then if you turn to Jeremiah 17, in verse 10. Jeremiah 17, look at verse 10. "I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins,

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• even to give to every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings." So God says, "I search the heart, I try, or I test the reins, even to give to every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings." Then if you would look in the book of Revelation chapter 2, and notice verse 23. Revelation 2 and verse 23. Watch what he said, "And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am He which searcheth the reins and the hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works."

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• Now, there are plenty of other verses that refer to the reins, and in the Old Testament, the Hebrew word is actually "keliah" for reins, and it literally refers to your kidneys. The Lord trieth the heart and the kidneys. Sometimes it refers to the physical organ, but most of the time it's just another word that refers to the emotions, or the seat of affection, or the seat of understanding. When you get in the book of Revelation chapter 2 and verse 23, the Greek word there is "nephros," which also means kidneys, loins, or innermost thoughts, feelings, and purposes of the soul. What we do not understand is most of the Old Testament, and even in the New Testament times, they referred to the deepest recesses of man as his kidneys or as his bowels. You remember Jeremiah said, "My bowels churned within me." One of my favorite Greek words, one of my favorite is "splagchnizomai." I looked at my wife and I said, "Sweetheart, I love you with all my bowels."

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• She said, "That doesn't sound romantic to me." But that's biblical, to love you with all my bowels, because the bowels or the kidneys was the most innermost part of individuals. It was the seat of their affection. And when the Bible says that God tries the hearts and the reins, what He's saying is, "I'm trying everything in you. I'm going to scrutinize every motive, every desire, every thought. I'm going to test it."

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• By the way, I hope you understand this. You're responsible to keep your thoughts biblical, holy and pure. That's your responsibility. What did the Apostle Paul say in Romans 2 and verse 16? "In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel." God shall judge the secrets of men. You may not think that your wife or your husband or your children know what goes on in your mind, and they may not, but God does. God does. The Bible says, Proverbs 17, verse 3, "The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the Lord trieth the hearts."

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• David said, here's something we better keep in our mind. Here's something we better keep in the imagination of the thoughts of our hearts forever, and that is that God tries us. He examines us. He scrutinizes us. He knows everything about us. You cannot con God. You cannot deceive Him. You cannot confound Him. You cannot avoid Him. He knows everything. And He is constantly scrutinizing your heart, your mind, your thoughts. In fact, God said in His book, "I know thy thoughts, every one of them, even before they enter into your mind." Wow! Remember what David said? David said, "Thou hast laid Thine hand upon me. Thou knowest my words, O Lord, even before I speak them."

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• "Such knowledge is too wonderful to me. It is too high. I cannot attain to it." God tests our mind. When that wicked, fleshly, sensual thought hits your mind, you need to instantly and immediately kick it out and say, "I will not have it. I will not think of it. That is not my child. I will not have it." Because my Father tests and scrutinizes and examines my mind. There are no secrets from God.

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• If you look back in your Bibles to 1 Chronicles chapter 29, David said, this is the one thing that we need to keep in our hearts and our minds forever. First of all, "I know also, my God, that Thou triest the heart." That's the first thing we should keep in our mind. The second thing is this: "and hast pleasure in uprightness." God has pleasure in uprightness. Have you ever considered that which pleases God? You know, usually we want to do that which pleases ourselves. But have you ever really come to God in prayer and said, "Lord, I know You test my heart. I know You examine my heart. I know You scrutinize my heart. And Lord, with all the scrutiny and all the testing, Lord, I want You to know that in my heart, I really, genuinely want to please Thee." Because the Bible says, the Lord has pleasure in uprightness. So the question is, have you ever purposely set out each morning, each day, each afternoon, have you ever purposely set out to please God particularly?

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• The Hebrew word for "pleasure" here literally means to do that which is acceptable, pleasing, delightful, enjoyable, favorable, and approvable. In other words, it's these things that bring God pleasure. Let me show you. I want you to hold 1 Chronicles 29, but look in your Bibles to the book of Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1. Notice if you would please verse 10. Colossians 1 verse 10. Paul is praying for the Colossian Christians and he says this, "That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God." Now note, if you would, "that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing." You have to walk in such a manner as to please Him. Then He said, "being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God." So there is a way that we can walk pleasing. Now, I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Colossians chapter 3 and verse 20. We're talking about that which pleases God.

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• Look in Colossians 3 and verse 20. A verse everyone in this room could quote. "Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord." Wow.

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• Now, according to our text, the Lord has pleasure in uprightness. And the word "uprightness" means that which is straight, that which is upright, that which is right and that which is due. Now, the Lord has pleasure in uprightness. If we're pleasing Him by doing that which is straight, that which is right, that which is due. Here's some of my questions. What is right? What is God's due? How do we give unto God that which is His right? And how do we give to God that which is His due? Hmm. David is praying, "Lord, I want You to keep these two things forever in the hearts of the imagination of Your people, number one, that You scrutinize, You test the heart and number two, that You have pleasure in uprightness." So if I were to ask you, what is God's due? What does it mean to walk straight before Him?

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• The answer should be obvious. We owe Him obedience. We owe Him honor. We owe Him glory. We owe Him praise. We owe Him worship. How much do we owe Him? Well, let me go back and let's look at Colossians 3 and verse 20 again. "Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well-pleasing unto the Lord." It's not, "Children, obey your parents in some things." Or, "Children, do the best you can." No. It's, "Children, you obey your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing unto the Lord." Now, listen to me. If as children, we owed total and complete obedience to our earthly parents, how much more, as spiritual children, do we owe total and complete obedience to our Heavenly Father? If the obedience of earthly children to earthly parents highly pleases God, how much more should spiritual obedience and practical obedience to our Heavenly Father please Him. Now listen, if we please Him according to Colossians 1 in verse 10, He said, "That ye might walk worthy unto the Lord, unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God."

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• So, if we're well-pleasing to Him, we have to be obedient because we're being fruitful in every good work. And if we're pleasing Him and well-pleasing Him, we must be studious. Why? Because we're increasing in the knowledge of God. It's impossible to please Him without obedience. And it's impossible to please Him without study. It's impossible. Look back in 1 Chronicles 29, verse 17. Look what David said. Watch it. 1 Chronicles 29, verse 17. "I know also, my God, that Thou triest the heart and hast pleasure in uprightness." David said, "I know these two things." That's why he said in verse 18, "O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of Thy people." Keep these two things. Keep them. Go back to verse 17. He said, "I know also, my God, that Thou triest the heart and hast pleasure in uprightness." Now look what he says. "As for me, in the uprightness of mine heart, I have willingly offered all these things."

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• Did you hear what he said? "As for me?" Lord, I know You examine the heart. He just got it out of his mouth. You try. You scrutinize. Now, Lord, as for me, in giving all of this great wealth, as for me, in the uprightness of my heart, I willingly offered these things. I was not reluctant. I was not greedy. I was not selfish. I was not stubborn.

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• I was not half-hearted. Lord, You examine. You know that I willingly offered these things. And then he goes on to say, "And now I have seen with joy Thy people which are present here to offer willingly unto Thee." Lord, obviously these people offered in the same way. Now, Lord, since we know that You try the heart and we know that You delight in uprightness, keep this in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of Thy people forever.

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• Do you realize that David oftentimes asked God to search him? You know, I think sometimes we're afraid to ask God to search us because we know what is there. And we think somehow if we hide it, that God's not going to find it or God's not going to know it. But David said in Psalm 139, verses 23 and 24, "Search me, O God, and know my heart." Watch it. "Search me, O God, and know my heart and try me and know my thoughts."

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• "And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." You know, the Bible says in Psalm 51 in verse 6, that's great, that great psalm where David was confessing his sin. But it said this in verse 6, "Behold, Thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part Thou shalt make me to know wisdom." Thou desirest truth in the inward parts. Certainly, one would desire truth and uprightness in heart if he understood and if he kept in mind that God searches his heart and reins. God scrutinizes and knows. And you would certainly want to be upright if you were going to please your Heavenly Father. I want you to turn to Isaiah 33. I want you to look at this passage. Isaiah 33 and verses 15 and 16. This should really be an encouragement to keep these two things in mind. Isaiah 33. Notice if you would please verses 15 and 16.

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• God says, "He that walketh righteously and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; he shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure." Why? Because he is walking uprightly. He's walking as in pleasing unto the Lord. He's walking in obedience. He's walking in faith.

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• Now, let me make just a couple of applications. The first one is this. When you think of these two truths, especially that God tries the heart, it is a great satisfaction and great consolation to a godly man to know that God tries and examines the heart and the desires and the motives. How can it be such a great consolation? Why dare say that every one of you have had some of the experiences that I've had in my life? When you have genuinely, honestly, and truly tried to help someone, and your motives were pure, and you were upright.

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• And everything exploded and turned out wrong. And instead of people being appreciative, they hated you. You know, at times like that, the only thing I can say is, "Oh, God. You know my heart. You knew my desires. You knew my motives. You knew everything about me. Lord, I did not intend this. I did not want this. But it happened. But my motives were right and pure and holy." You remember how Peter denied the Lord three times? And in John 21, three times, Jesus asked Peter, "Lovest thou Me more than these?" "Yea, Lord." "Yea, Lord." Finally, the third time, Jesus said, "Peter, lovest thou Me more than these?" And you know what Peter said? "Yea, Lord, Thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love Thee." What was he saying? You search the heart. You try the reins. You know what's in my kidneys and my bowels. You know everything about me. You know that I love You.

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• Now, the truth that God searches the hearts and the reins, the truth that God scrutinizes and tests and reveals, although it be a comfort and a consolation to God's people, it is a terror and consternation to His enemies. Because when they comprehend the simple fact that God knows every motive, every desire, every wicked thought, everything, and they will give an account in the day of judgment, they shall not escape. They shall not escape.

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• So the second is this. If we desire to please God, if we desire to be like David and say, "Lord, You know. You've searched me and known me. You've tried my downsitting and my uprising. You've examined my thoughts. You know everything about me, Lord. And Father, I want to walk uprightly. I want to walk pleasing unto Thee. I want to be obedient unto Thee. I do not want to live in depravity. I do not want to live in wickedness. I want to live in purity, holiness, and godliness." So here's the question. What's in your heart? Because you cannot have but one thing at a time in your heart. You can't think of but one thing at a time, no matter how hard you try.

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• And in your heart, in your mind, in your understanding, you're either going to have obedience or disobedience. You're either going to have grace or depravity. You're either going to be thinking that which is biblical and scriptural or that which is unbiblical and ungodly. You're either going to be thinking that which is heavenly or that which is earthly. You're either going to be thinking that which is spiritual or that which is fleshly. God knows what's in your heart. It's your responsibility to seek Him to keep wickedness out of your heart, and that your thoughts would be brought into absolute and complete conformity to His Word. Keep, said David, these things in the thoughts of the imagination of the hearts of Thy people, that You test us, You scrutinize us, and that You have pleasure in uprightness.

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• Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. Lord, help us to learn these two simple truths. You do scrutinize and test us. And You have pleasure in uprightness. May we please Thee by walking uprightly. And may we, Lord, even beseech Thee to search us that You might reveal to us our own wickedness, because the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, and only You can know it. But, Lord, lead us in Thy righteousness, in Thy godliness. In the name of Jesus Christ we ask and pray, Amen.

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T14:06:21Z