Proverbs: The Fear of the Lord and Wisdom: Can We All Just Get Along?

Which Way Are You Inclined?

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Old Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2020-09-28

Synopsis: Pastor John Weaver expounds 1 Kings 8:57-58, focusing on Solomon's prayer that God would incline the hearts of His people toward Himself. He explains that every person is inclined in some direction—either toward God and righteousness or toward the flesh and wickedness. While humans lack the ability to incline their own hearts, they bear the responsibility to do so. Weaver outlines three biblical responsibilities for inclining the heart toward God: putting away false gods and idols, turning from wickedness and refusing to practice iniquity, and stretching out one's ears to hear God's Word. He warns that failure to incline one's heart toward God results in walking after one's own evil imagination and ultimately being unheard by God in times of trouble, based on the principle of lex talionis. The sermon concludes with a call to pray for God to incline our hearts and to faithfully hear Him through His Word.

[John Weaver] First Kings chapter 8. First Kings chapter 8. And we're going to be reading verses 57 and 58. The title of the message is Which Way Are You Inclined? Which Way Are You Inclined? So 1 Kings chapter 8, 1 Kings is dealing with the dedication of the temple where Solomon is praying and he makes a wonderful prayer request in verse 57. He says, the Lord our God be with us as he was with our fathers.

[John Weaver] Let him not leave us nor forsake us that he may incline our hearts unto him to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers. The verse that dealt with my own mind was verse 58, that he may incline our hearts unto him. I want to begin by giving you a couple of illustrations that you can very easily comprehend and understand.

[John Weaver] I have a lounge chair in our living room. And I usually refer to it as the petting chair. I don't ever get in it to sit in it very often. And when I do sit in it, the very first thing that happens is Claiborne, the pit bull, about 70, 75 pounds, jumps in my lap. Well, I've already reclined. I'm horizontal, just about. But he jumps in my lap and I'm inclined just a little bit further toward the floor. And everything is fine until that Mastiff, which weighs 150 pounds, jumps in my lap as well. Then I'm hollering for Alice to come help me get up off the floor because the chair is down and the dogs are on top of me.

[John Weaver] So we can understand once you begin to incline in a certain direction, then obviously you're probably going to lean very heavily in that direction. Alice and I had two friends. One just recently passed away. They had been married over 50 years, and the way they met was very extraordinary in one sense of the word. As a young girl, she was walking to town And Bob rode up on a motorcycle, had never seen Peggy before. Peggy had never seen Bob before. And Bob stopped the motorcycle, looked at her and said, want a ride? She said, yes.

[John Weaver] He said, get on behind me. And she climbed on the motorcycle behind him. And then he looked at her, he said, You lean when I lean. And she would always smile and said, I've been leaning the way he's leaned for the last 50 something years. So, you know, inclined. And of course, we understand that. Of course, here's another illustration. Most of the people have either walked or run. I've done some type of athletics. And obviously, before you begin running or before you begin walking, you always stretch your muscles. And usually when you finish, running or walking, you end up stretching your muscles again, which of course adds flexibility and strength to them as well. I don't know if you've ever noticed a dog or not, but let a dog take a nap, and the very first thing the dog does when he gets up is stretch. And so stretching is something that each of us probably should be aware of.

[John Weaver] And the reason I gave you those illustrations, and you may think they have absolutely nothing to do with our text, But the truth is they do. If you look down in verse 58 again, the Bible says that he, God, may incline our hearts toward him. The Hebrew word is natal, which literally means to lean, to stretch out, to incline, to stretch forth, to bow down, to extend, to be influenced, and to be stretched out. So actually, what Solomon is praying for in verse 58 is that the Lord would stretch out our hearts toward him, that he would make them flexible and make them leaning toward him in order that we may keep his commandments and his judgments and his statutes.

[John Weaver] And Matthew Henry had a comment on this verse that I thought was very appropriate. And he said this, never was a congregation dismissed with what was more likely to affect them and remain with them. What Solomon asked for in this prayer is still granted in the intercession of Christ, of which his supplication, that is Solomon's supplication, was a type. We shall receive grace sufficient, suitable, and seasonable in every time of need.

[John Weaver] No human heart is, by itself, willing to obey the gospel, call to repentance, faith, and newness of life, walking in all the commandments of the Lord. Yet Solomon exhorts the people to be perfect. This is the scriptural method. It is our duty to obey the command of the law and the call of the gospel. Since we have broken the law, when our hearts are inclined to it, Feeling our sinfulness and weakness, we pray for divine assistance so that we are made able to serve God through Christ. So here is a clear truth from scripture, and that is this, that every person is inclined. Every person is bent out or stretched out in a certain direction.

[John Weaver] We're either stretched out toward the flesh, or we're stretched out towards spiritual things. We are either stretched out in obedience or we're stretched out in disobedience. We're either stretched out towards study or we're stretched out toward playing. We are inclined or stretched out to that which is either right and holy or to that which is wrong and wicked. So the question It's not whether or not you are inclined or whether or not you stretched out you are But the question is in what direction Are you inclined in what direction? Are you stretched out? Because the truth is by nature And by nurture, we're opposite from God. We're normally inclined for our own wills, our own ways, and our own fleshly desires. And it's only the sovereign power of God that can change us. It's only his grace and his mercy.

[John Weaver] The Bible says in Proverbs 16 in verse 1, the preparations of the heart in man are from the Lord. Actually, the whole verse says the preparation of the heart and man and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. But note the preparation of the heart and man is from the Lord. So if God prepares our hearts, they are prepared. So if we're ever prepared to pray or be obedient or study or do anything that's righteous in God, it's simply because God prepared our hearts. So here's the truth. We do not have the ability to prepare our hearts. We do not even have the ability to incline our hearts. But however, just because we do not have the ability to incline or stretch forth our hearts, that does not mean that we do not have the responsibility. Ability and responsibility are two different things. and lack of ability does not cancel out or annul responsibility. Now I'm going to show you from scripture how you and I are actually commanded to incline our hearts toward God.

[John Weaver] So the question is, how do we fulfill our responsibility? If there is even a hint of a desire to honor God, to serve him, to pray, and to do that which is right and holy, then obviously God is already working in your heart. Because without his working in your heart, you would never ever have any desire to do that anyway. So we're commanded over and over to make sure that we incline our hearts toward him. So how do we fulfill our responsibilities?

[John Weaver] Let me give you three ways. First of all, our first responsibility in inclining our hearts to the Lord is to stretch them out in making sure that we put away and we forsake all false and strange gods. Let me show you that from Scripture. I want you to look back, whole 1 Kings chapter 8 if you would, but look back in your Bibles to the book of Joshua chapter 24 and verse 23. Joshua chapter 24 and verse 23. Notice what the Scripture says. Joshua is talking to the people of Israel and here's what he says. Joshua 24 and verse 23. He says, now therefore, put away the strange gods which are among you and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel. So he said, put away the strange gods which are among you and incline your hearts, indicating you cannot incline your heart toward God until the strange gods are put away. While it is true that we usually do not have idols in our home, we may have idols in our heart.

[John Weaver] And it is true also that sometimes we do have idols in our homes. I remember years ago, my aunt and uncle took a trip to Hawaii, and they came back, and she brought Alice and I a set of salt and pepper shakers. Well, I thanked her for it, and I put them on the table, and I don't know, I don't remember, it's been so long, we probably used them a week or two. But the problem with the salt and pepper shakers They were little copies of the tiki gods of Hawaii.

[John Weaver] And every time I'd walk by those things, I would see them. And finally, I said, I just don't want those things in our house. And I threw them away.

[John Weaver] Now, it was not something I was bowing down to, certainly not something I was worshiping. But the very fact that they were tiki gods, I just did not want them around me. We have to learn to be like the Thessalonians. in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 in verse 9. I want you to listen because Paul is talking about the effect of the gospel preaching upon these Thessalonians and he says this, For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, how you turned to God from idols to serve the true and living God. So you have a negative in one hand, you're turning from the idols, and now you have a positive to serve the living and the true God. So it is impossible to be inclined toward the one true and the living God while you are clinging to everything that is opposed to him. So while we may not have idols in our home, we can certainly have idols in our heart.

[John Weaver] And usually what we end up with are the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. And we have to remember that anything can be an idol. Anything that we put above God or before God or even on a par with God is idolatry. May I remind you that it is possible to even have your own family as idols. You may have a husband or a wife as an idol or a son or daughter.

[John Weaver] Our Lord said it like this in Matthew 10 in verse 37. He that loveth father and mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. So obviously our Lord in that passage is not telling us not to love our father and mother. He's not telling us not to love our sons and daughters. What he is telling us is that we cannot put our family ahead of him, and we cannot love them more than we love him, because that is idolatry.

[John Weaver] And may I remind you, there's a good illustration of that in the life of Eli. Eli had two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, who were priests. And you remember how God came to Eli, sent a prophet to him and said, look, I'm going to tell you what is going to happen. I'm going to destroy your seed. because you have honored your sons before me." He allowed his sons to be wicked and vile and to steal the sacrifices of God. And God said, look, This is it. You're not going to prosper and your seed is going to fail. And of course, God killed Hophni and Phinehas in the same day. And then Eli, of course, died that day when he heard because he fell over and broke his neck. So obviously, it is possible to put our families above God.

[John Weaver] So we have to ask this question. When it comes to idols of the heart, have we examined ourselves? Have we examined our hearts? You remember that passage? In 2 Corinthians 13 in verse 5, where the apostle Paul said, examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith or not. Know you know that Jesus Christ is in you, except you be reprobates. And then it was Peter in 2 Peter 1, I think, verse 10, who says, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure. So when we think about examining ourselves and examining our hearts, we have to come up with another passage. And that passage is Jeremiah 17 verses 9 and 10, where the Bible tells us in this particular passage that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it. So our hearts are deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Then you get to verse 10, and God says, I, the Lord, know the hearts. I search the heart. I try the reins. In other words, it's only God who knows our hearts.

[John Weaver] So here's the question. Not only may I ask, have we examined our hearts, but I could also ask, Have we besought God to examine our hearts? Since our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked, they may deceive us, but they cannot deceive God. And God is not going to deceive us. So if you look in your Bibles, holding 1 Kings 8, but I do want you to turn in your Bibles to Psalm 139, in order that you might see Psalm 139, that you might see what David says in this passage. Psalm 139, look if you would please, beginning there with verse 23. Psalm 139, verse 23. In this particular passage, David is praying to God and he says this, search me, O God, I know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way of everlasting. So now David is saying, Lord, I don't even know my heart, but you know my heart. So search me and know my heart. Try me.

[John Weaver] Know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me. In other words, if there is, reveal it to me and lead me in the way of everlasting. So clearly, clearly, It is God alone who can really, truly search and examine our hearts.

[John Weaver] Now, if you will turn back to 1 Corinthians, 1 Kings chapter 8, I want you to look there at verse 38, because we're talking about inclining our heart. And the very first way we fulfill our responsibility in stretching our hearts out to the Lord is by putting away all the idols and all the strange gods in our lives. Solomon is praying, he's dedicating the temple, and in verse 38 he says this, what prayer and supplication so ever be made by any man or by all thy people Israel, now watch this, who shall know every man the plague of his own heart and spread forth his hands toward this house. So he talks about every man knowing the plague of his own heart. Well, I suppose that our greatest plague is that we are depraved. I understand that.

[John Weaver] But I think there's a greater plague in one sense of the word. It's not just that we're depraved. I believe one of the greatest plagues of our hearts is the possession of what you and I would call a double heart or a divided heart. A divided heart or divided mind produces instability. You remember that passage in James 1 in verse 8 where God said, a double-minded man is unstable in all of his ways. Literally, he's talking about a double-hearted man. Instability disables.

[John Weaver] We do not know which way to turn. We do not know which way to bend. We don't know how to take a stand. I mean, if we have a double mind, if we have a double heart, we're always in turmoil. I thought about an illustration I heard years ago about a man during the War of Northern Aggression couldn't make up his mind where he wanted to fight for the South or for the North.

[John Weaver] And so he put on Confederate gray pants and a blue Union coat. Well, the Confederates shot him in the chest and the Yankees shot him in the seat of the pants. So he got it from both sides because he had double-minded.

[John Weaver] Now, I want to show you something. We're in 1 Kings 8. I want you to turn to 1 Kings 18. Here is one of the saddest verses in the Bible, but yet at the same time, it shows you the sin and the plague of being double-minded. In 1 Kings chapter 18, Elijah the prophet is on Mount Carmel, and he's there confronting all the prophets of Baal.

[John Weaver] But before he does, he speaks to the people. So notice, if you would, 1 Kings 18 verse 21. And Elijah came unto all the people and said, How long hold ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him. But if Baal be God, follow him. Now watch. And the people answered him, not a word. And the people answered him, not a word. What did he say? Elijah said, if God is the one true and the living God, you follow him. If he's not, and you believe that Baal is the one true and the living God, then you follow him. And all the people were quiet. No one would say, yes, our God is the one true and the living God. No one's going to say, yes, Baal is the one true and the living God.

[John Weaver] They were all double minded. So let me ask you a question. Is Jesus Christ God or is he not God? Is Jesus Christ Lord or is he not Lord? If he is God and if he is Lord and he is, that means we must obey him. We must serve him. And if you do so, You're recognizing His Lordship and His Godship. But if you have a divided heart, if you're unsure, if you're unstable, if you don't know, you're not going to worship Him. You're not going to take a stand for Him. Your heart is not going to be stretched out toward Him. You will have a divided heart. And the very evidence of the fact that most people have a divided heart is very clearly that they embrace everything that is contrary to him and hold on to it.

[John Weaver] Kind of like those people in Second Kings 17, where the Bible said, so they worshiped the one true and the living God and their own gods. Well, how can you do that? Well, you can't. And when you read the last of it, it says, so they worship their false gods. But I want to show you what our Lord thinks. 1 Kings 8, but turn in your Bibles to the book of Revelation 3. Revelation 3, and we'll begin reading there with verse 14. And as we read this passage, I want to remind you that our Lord in this passage is not talking to the heathen. He is not talking to the wicked. He is talking to a church. So in Revelation 3 in verse 14, And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God, I know thy works that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would that thou wert cold or hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.

[John Weaver] Our Lord said, I'd rather you be out and out for me, or out and out against me, rather than being lukewarm. So our Lord cannot stomach a double-hearted, double-minded, unstable, wishy-washy, worthless, and unusable professor. This should be a wake-up call for every professing Christian. It should be a wake-up call for anyone who professes the name of Jesus Christ. It should also be a warning We need to rid ourselves of all of our idols and all of our strange gods, whether up there in our home or in our hearts. And so if we are going to have our hearts inclined toward God, the first thing the Bible demands is that we put away the false and the strange gods.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, to Psalm 141, because here's the second responsibility that we have. I want you to watch this Psalm 141. Our second responsibility in inclining our hearts to the Lord is to stretch them out in turning from every wicked thing and to refuse to practice iniquity. Look what David prayed in verse four. Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men that work iniquity, and let me not eat of their dainties. So he prays, incline not my heart to any evil things. So we need to stay away from wicked men who practice wicked works and stay away from their dainties.

[John Weaver] Now the Hebrew word for dainties here literally refers to delicacies or to dainties. I'm going to show you another word I know the way it's used just momentarily. But the Bible says in Psalm 37 in verse 1, fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. We're not to envy them. They do things that we cannot do. I've seen a lot of large trucks pulling large boats on their way to the beach.

[John Weaver] or the sea or the river. They're going to either go fishing or boating. Well, normally there's nothing wrong with going fishing or boating, except I see them on Sunday morning. And so what it means is they're denying the one true and the living God and heading out to fulfill the lust of their flesh and their pleasure oriented lifestyle. It's just that simple. And so it may be a beautiful day and the fish may be biting, But I don't have any desire to be with them. I don't have any desire to do anything other than to honor and to worship God, especially on his day. So I'm just simply pointing out the Bible says we're not to envy them.

[John Weaver] If you look in Proverbs chapter 24, you'll see basically the same truth again. Look in Proverbs chapter 24 and look at verses 1 and 2. Proverbs 24 verses 1 and 2. He says, be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them, for their heart studieth destruction and their lips talk of mischief. Well, again, God says, don't be envious and neither desire to be with them. Now, I want you to look over to Proverbs 23, because we're going to see the word dainties again.

[John Weaver] When thou sittest with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee, and put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. Be not desirous of his dainties, for they are deceitful meat."

[John Weaver] Now the word deceitful is a very interesting Hebrew word. It refers to that which is lying, deceitful, false, untrue, and a thing that is deceptive. So God is saying that all of these things that appear to be dainties, that appear to be pleasant, that appear to be pleasurable, they are deceptive. All sin is deceptive. It appears as a delightful dainty, yet it is a deceitful meat. It promises pleasure, but it only gives heartache and death.

[John Weaver] Let me give you an illustration. Look in your Bibles to Proverbs chapter 9, Proverbs chapter 9, and let's begin reading there verse 13. Look what God says. Here is a good illustration of someone who thinks that this is a dainty. Watch carefully. The Bible says in Proverbs 9 verse 13, a foolish woman. Now he's talking about an adulterous woman. A foolish woman is clamorous. She is simple and knoweth nothing.

[John Weaver] For she sitteth at the door of her house on a seat in the high places of the city to call passengers who go right on their ways. That is, most people will not even listen to her. But watch verse 16. Whoso is simple, that is, you're void of understanding, Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither. And as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him, Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.

[John Weaver] But he knoweth not that the dead are there, and their guests are in the depths of hell. So here the woman is saying stolen waters are sweet and the bread eaten in secret is pleasant. In other words, it is a dainty. It is something that is pleasurable and desirable. But God says the one who turns into her knoweth not that the dead are there and that her guests are in the depths of hell. So sin is always represented as something that is pleasurable, enjoyable, and even Escapable. But the truth is, sin is not escapable. I have read on numerous occasions about young people who decided they're going to try drugs one time. And they did. And it killed them.

[John Weaver] Or they became addicted for life. I'm just simply saying, whenever you think about sin, it's always deceptive. You look around at all the advertisements, it's on TV, internet or wherever you're looking for the liquor industry. You always see handsome young men and beautiful young women enjoying themselves and laughing and having whatever they want to have. They never show you a picture of an old drunk lying in the gutter in his own vomit. They don't want to show that. I'm just simply saying we have to understand that sin is deceptive.

[John Weaver] Matthew Henry said this, listen carefully. While we live in an evil world and have such evil hearts, we need to pray that we will neither be drawn nor driven to do anything sinful. Sinners pretend to find dainties in sin, but those who consider how soon sin will turn into bitterness will dread such dainties and pray to God to take them out of their sight and by His grace to turn their hearts against Him." Now listen, good men pray against the sweets of sin. Good men pray against the sweets of sin. That's why David prayed, incline not my heart to any, any evil thing to practice wicked works with men that work iniquity. No, he said, let me not eat of their dainties.

[John Weaver] I don't want to be caught. I don't want to be addicted to their food. I don't want anything to do with them. So if we're going to incline our hearts to God, we must put away the idols and the strange gods out of our heart. We must make sure that our hearts are stretched out so that we do not desire to be with wicked men and we are not inclined to be with them or to participate with them in their wicked works.

[John Weaver] Now, there's a third one. Here it is. Our third responsibility in inclining our hearts to the Lord is to make sure that we stretch out our hearts to hear his words. So let me show you. We're in the book of Psalms. I want you to go back to Psalm 78 and let's look, if you would please, at verse 1. We'll look at several passages right quickly. Psalm 78 and verse 1. I want you to watch this.

[John Weaver] Now, remember the word incline means to bend. It means to stretch out. So he says, give ear, O my people, to my law. Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. Lean my way. Lean my way. It's just like I'm hard of hearing, as everybody knows. And when someone has a low voice, I find myself leaning in so that I can hear. This is what God says. Incline your ears, lean your ears, stretch them out to hear the words of my mouth. Look in Psalm 119. Psalm 119.

[John Weaver] And notice if you would please, verse 36. Psalm 119 and verse 36.

[John Weaver] Here David says, incline my heart unto thy testimonies and not to covetousness. Incline my heart to thy testimonies and not to covetousness. If you would turn right over to Proverbs 2 and verse 2. In fact, let's read verse 1 and 2. Proverbs 2 verse 1. He said, My son, if thou will receive my words and hide my commandments with thee, so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom and apply thine heart unto understanding. So we have to stretch out our ears to hear him so that we may be wise and understanding. Look in Proverbs 4 and verse 20. Again, God says, my son, attend to my words, incline thine ear unto my sayings.

[John Weaver] And let me just give you one from the book of Isaiah. Isaiah 55, verse three, where God says, incline your ear and come unto me here and your soul shall live. And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. So he says, incline your ear, come unto me and here. I remember years ago, When I was in a child and in Sunday school, we had a little forum that we had to fill out every Sunday. And one of the questions on that little forum was, did you read your Bible this week? Or did you read your Bible every day? If you did, you had to put a little check there.

[John Weaver] You know, we were always encouraged to do that. But the reason we were encouraged to do that was to make our teacher or our department in Sunday school look good. I was raised in church. I went to church every Sunday morning, every Sunday night, every Wednesday night. Any night there were special meetings, my father and mother and my sister and I were there. It's just that simple.

[John Weaver] I do not ever remember being admonished, warned, or exhorted to hear and read and study the Word of God. Maybe it happened and I just don't remember, but I certainly do not remember it and I was in church every time the doors opened. So the point I'm trying to make is I was being taught actually the importance of coming to church, but I was not really being taught the importance of hearing the word of God. I certainly believe in faithful attendance to the church, but the truth is, if you're not hearing the word of God, the faithful attendance sometimes is rather useless and worthless as well.

[John Weaver] So you need to ask yourself a few questions. How about these questions? Do you read your Bible daily? Do you study your Bible daily? If so, why do you read your Bible daily? Why do you study your Bible daily? If you do not, why do you not read your Bible daily? Why do you not study your Bible daily? You see, we're not to read and study just so that we may have intellectual knowledge. I know some people who read the Bible just so they can appear intellectual on theological issues. I know some people who read the Bible just for the purpose of debating and arguing and criticism. No, we're to read and study the Bible so that we may hear the word of the Lord, so that he may speak to us, so that we may be warned, that we may be encouraged, that we may be changed, that we may be obedient.

[John Weaver] We have to listen and to learn his statutes and his judgments and his law and his principles so that we may apply them in our lives. And let me tell you something. You will never, ever be inclined to God unless you learn to meditate upon His Word. You'll never be stretched out to Him. Someone says, well, what I need is more faith. Well, let me ask you a question.

[John Weaver] Do you remember Romans chapter 10, verse 17? So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. What do you say? I just need more sanctification. Well, how about this one? John 17, 17. Sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. If you fail to incline your heart toward God's law, if you fail to incline your heart to the totality of his word, you will never forsake your idols and you will never ever turn from any and everything that is wicked and wrong and unjust. No, you will never ever stretch out your heart to him and you will never learn his principles and you will never apply your heart to his word. You just never will. because you are going to lean in one way or the other. You're either going to lean toward your own corrupt desires and the lust of the flesh, or you're going to lean toward God's Word and God's truth. It's just that simple.

[John Weaver] Now let me show you. I want you to turn to Jeremiah chapter 7. I want you to just consider what Jeremiah is saying to the people, or what God is saying through Jeremiah to the people. I want you to watch this. This is why I'm saying that God gives us the responsibility to incline our hearts. Notice, if you would, Jeremiah 7 and verse 24. In fact, let's read verse 23. Watch carefully. Jeremiah 7, verse 23. But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people, and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you. Now watch carefully. But they hearken not. nor inclined their ear.

[John Weaver] They didn't stretch it out, but walked in the counsels and in the imaginations of their evil heart and went backwards and not forward. So here's the truth. If your ears and if your heart are not inclined toward God, you're going to end up going backwards. You're going to end up walking according to your own corrupt imagination and your own counsel. Look in Jeremiah chapter 9 and verse 14. Jeremiah 9 and verse 14. Again, God says this. Let's read verse 13. And the Lord said, because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein, but have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Balaam, which their fathers taught them. So if you do not incline your ear toward God, you're not going to be walking in obedience to his word. Look in Jeremiah chapter 11. Jeremiah 11, notice if you would, verse 7 and 8. God said, for I earnestly protested under your fathers in the day that brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even unto this day, rising early and protesting, saying, obey my voice.

[John Weaver] Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked everyone in the imagination of their evil heart. Therefore, I'll bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did them not." Wow. Look, if you would, to Jeremiah chapter 13 and verse 10. Jeremiah 13 and verse 10. God says, this evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk after the imagination of their heart and walk after other gods to serve them and to worship them shall even be as this girdle which is good for nothing. So if we do not incline our ear toward God, if we do not incline our hearts toward God, we're not going to walk in his word. We'll walk after the imagination of our hearts. We'll never put away our false gods. We'll never put away walking after wickedness. No, no, no. We never will. Look in Jeremiah chapter 16 and verse 12. Jeremiah 16 verse 12. In fact, we can read verse 11. You'll see it even more clearly, I hope.

[John Weaver] Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith the Lord, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law, and you have done worse than your fathers. For behold, you walk everyone after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me. Two more. Look in Jeremiah chapter 18 and verse 12. Jeremiah 18 and verse 12. And they said, there is no hope, but we will walk after our own devices and we will everyone do the imagination of his evil heart. If you are not leaning toward God, you're leaning toward your own flesh. Look, if you would, Jeremiah 23 and verse 17. Jeremiah 23, verse 17. God says, in fact, let's read verse 16.

[John Weaver] Thus saith the Lord of hosts, hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you. They make you vain. They speak a vision of their own heart and not out of the mouth of the Lord. They say still unto them that despise me. The Lord has said, you shall have peace. And they say, everyone that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, no evil shall come upon you.

[John Weaver] Now, let me explain something. The truth of the matter is this. If we are not inclining our ears, if we're not inclining our hearts toward God and his word, the truth is we despise him. That's just what he said. We're despising him. You cannot separate God from his word. A king rules by his law. God is a king. In fact, he's king of kings and Lord of lords and God of gods, and he rules by his law. And when you deny his law, you deny his rule. You deny him. Now, God has told us, God has commanded us to incline our ears and our hearts unto him. I want to show you a principle in just a minute. But I want to ask you a question. I already know the answer, but I want to ask you anyhow. Do you want God to hear you in your time of need? Do you want God to hear you in your time of desperation? Do you want God to hear you in your time of danger? Do you want God just to answer your prayers?

[John Weaver] And the answer, of course, is yes. Well, let me show you something. I told you in the beginning of this message that the Hebrew word for incline meant to lean, to stretch out, to be stretched out. I'm going to show you some other verses, but this time The inclining is on God's part, and it is exactly the same Hebrew word. So turn in your Bibles to Psalm 17 and verse 6, and we'll begin there. Psalm 17 and verse 6. Watch carefully. Psalm 17 and verse 6. Look what David says. Psalm 17, verse 6.

[John Weaver] I've called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me. O God, incline thine ear unto me and hear my speech." What is David asking God to do? He's asking God to stretch out his ear so that David can whisper in it, so that God can hear David's prayer. Look in your Bibles to Psalm 71 and verse 2. Psalm 71 and verse 2. David says, deliver me in thy righteousness and cause me to escape. David is in danger. Incline thine ear unto me and save me. Stretch out your ear, God. Bend it down. Hear my prayer. I'm desperate, Lord. Save me. Look in Psalm 88, Psalm 88, and verse 2. Psalm 88, verse 2. David says, let my prayer come before thee, incline thine ear unto my cry. Incline thine ear. And then Psalm 102 and verse 2. Psalm 102 and verse 2. Look what David says. Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble. Incline thine ear unto me in the day when I call. Answer me speedily. I hope you see the desperation in this prayer.

[John Weaver] Hide not thy face from me in the day when I'm in trouble. I am in trouble, O God. Incline thine ear unto me in the day when I call. Answer me speedily. I need help, God, and I need help right now.

[John Weaver] Now, It was Hezekiah who prayed to God when Sennacherib was invading Judah. And he said, Incline thy ear, O Lord, and hear. Open thine eyes, O Lord, and see, and hear all the words of Sennacherib which he hath said to reproach the living God. So here are people, David, Hezekiah, others, who are in deep trouble and they're asking God to stretch out his ear and hear them. So here's my question. Do you desire for God to stretch out his ear and hear you in your time of need, in your time of danger, in your time of desperation? Do you want God to hear your prayers and your requests and your needs? Well, if so, you need to grasp a principle of scripture. The principle of scripture is known as the Lex Talionis.

[John Weaver] That is just simply Latin for the law of retribution. That law is where God makes the punishment fit the crime. Everyone is familiar with the passages of scripture that God gave to the judges where God said it's going to be an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, stripe for stripe. In other words, the punishment has to fit the crime. Well, is it a sin not to stretch out our hearts and our ears toward God? Oh, yes. Is it a crime? Oh, yes. It's treason against God.

[John Weaver] I want to show you something. I want you to see this. I want you to turn to 2 Kings chapter 22. 2 Kings chapter 22. In 2 Kings chapter 22, you have Godly young Josiah. He happens to be the king of Judah. The law of God was found in the temple by Hilkiah the priest, and Shaphan the scribe read the law to young Josiah. And when Josiah heard the law, and he heard the judgments pronounced for violating that law, Boy, he got upset. He trembled. He began to inquire of God.

[John Weaver] He knew that they were in trouble. So I want you to look in 2 Kings chapter 22, beginning there with verse 18, because Josiah had sent to inquire of God. Watch what he said. But to the king of Judah, which sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you send him. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel.

[John Weaver] Now watch, as touching the words which thou hast heard. Now he's going to explain how Josiah heard. Because thine heart was tender, thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest when I spake against this place and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse. And as I ripped my clothes and wept before me, I also have heard thee, saith the Lord. Now, I don't know if you just heard what I read, But God said in verse 19, watch because I in heart was tender and I was humble myself before the Lord. When thou heardest what I speak against this place, then he says, therefore, I also have heard thee. So here's what God said to Josiah. You heard me. Therefore, I heard you. You inclined your ear, you stretched out your ear, you stretched out your heart to me. I want to stretch out my ear to you. I want to hear you. That's the lex talionis. That is where God is doing that which is right and just.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to turn back to Jeremiah chapter 11. I want you to see it again. I could multiply passages. In fact, three times God said this in the book of Jeremiah concerning the people of Judah and Jerusalem. But in Jeremiah chapter 11, look what God says in verse 14, Jeremiah 11 and verse 14. God tells Jeremiah, therefore, Pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them. Now watch what God says. For I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble. Why will God not hear them?

[John Weaver] Oh, didn't I read it to you all a while ago? They wouldn't hear God. They would not listen to Him. And God says, now I'm going to make the punishment fit the crime. When you cry in your trouble, I'm not going to listen to you. I will not hear you. Everyone is familiar with Hosea chapter 4 verse 6. God said, for my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, because thou has rejected knowledge, I've also rejected thee. You wouldn't listen to me. I'm not going to have you. He goes on. Because I was rejected, now that I also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest for me, listen to me. Seeing thou hast forgotten my law, I will also forget thy children." God's law is an expression of his will for our lives. Our children are an expression of our will. God says, you forget my law, you don't hear me, I'll forget your expression of your will. I'll reject your children. I won't have them.

[John Weaver] That is the lex Talionis. And the Lex Talionis is not just true in the time of Josiah and Hosea and Jeremiah. It's true today. God is still the same just God. He makes the punishment fit the crime. He renders that which is just and right. So if we want God to hear us, we must hear him. Let me make some applications. The first one is this. We must seek God to incline our hearts. That's what Solomon prayed for in 1 Kings chapter 8 in verse 58, that he would incline our hearts so that we would obey him and keep his commandments and his statutes. We may not have the ability to incline our hearts, but we have the responsibility.

[John Weaver] And apart from his grace and apart from his mercy, we will never, ever fulfill our responsibilities. It must be God's grace and God's mercies that even motivate us and move us to cry to Him to incline our hearts and to turn our hearts and make us what we should be. The second application is this. We must see the absolute importance of hearing our Lord in and through His word.

[John Weaver] Someone has said that when we pray, we commune with God. When we study the scripture, God communes with us. Well, it is true that we commune with him, not just in prayer, but in and through his word. Here's a sobering fact. When we neglect him, and let me go back, when we neglect his word, we neglect him. When we deny His word, we deny Him. In Jeremiah chapter 2 and verse 32, there's a scripture that says this, can a maid forget her ornaments? What's the answer?

[John Weaver] No, women do not walk out forgetting their jewelry normally. The next question is, can a bride forget her attire? Have you ever known a bride, a woman to get married, forget to put on her wedding dress? No. So he says, can a maid forget her ornaments? No. Can a bride forget her attire? No. But then he says this, but my people have forgotten me days without number. So when we do not hear God, We are forgetting Him. We're neglecting Him. We're denying Him.

[John Weaver] So we must learn to stretch out toward Him. So the last application is this. Do not forget the Lord. Pray to Him. Commune with Him. End it through His word. Worship Him in spirit and truth. And what we have to do is like Solomon. We have to learn to pray, Lord God, incline my heart. so that I may obey thee, and keep thy law, and thy judgments, and thy commandments, and walk pleasing unto thee."

[John Weaver] So let me say it again. Each one of us are inclined one way or the other. Each one of us are leaning. It's not the question, will you be inclined? But which way will you be inclined? You're either going to fall toward righteousness, or you're either going to fall toward wickedness. If we want God to incline our hearts, we need to learn to pray and cry and beseech him to incline our hearts toward him by putting away all of our false idols, not just in our home, but in our hearts, by turning from every wicked thing and not participating in that which is wicked. and in stretching out our heart and our ears toward His Word. If we will not hear His Word, we will not hear Him. Which way are you inclined?

[John Weaver] Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. And Lord, we do ask You in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that You would incline our hearts to Thee. that you would move us, that you would change us, that you would turn us, that you would make us, Lord, to lean your way and to lean when you lean. Give us grace, Father, that we may serve thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear. In thy name we pray. Amen. you you

Which Way Are You Inclined?

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	2dYXWOok4GA
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Proverbs: The Fear of the Lord and Wisdom: Can We All Just Get Along?
Genre	Sermon
Date	2020-09-28
Dictation Name
Book	Book 082: Proverbs: The Fear of the Lord and Wisdom - Volume 2 — Chapter 30
Source Timed Segments	75

Formatted Transcript

Introduction: The Meaning of Incline

Weaver uses personal illustrations of a reclining chair and a motorcycle ride to introduce the concept of inclining, then defines the Hebrew word natal as to lean, stretch out, or be influenced.

First Kings chapter 8. First Kings chapter 8. And we're going to be reading verses 57 and 58. The title of the message is "Which Way Are You Inclined?" Which Way Are You Inclined? So 1 Kings chapter 8, 1 Kings is dealing with the dedication of the temple where Solomon is praying and he makes a wonderful prayer request in verse 57. He says,

Scripture Reading — 1 Kings 8:57-58

"The Lord our God be with us as he was with our fathers." "Let him not leave us nor forsake us that he may incline our hearts unto him to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers."

The verse that dealt with my own mind was verse 58,

Scripture Reading — 1 Kings 8:57-58

"that he may incline our hearts unto him."

I want to begin by giving you a couple of illustrations that you can very easily comprehend and understand.

I have a lounge chair in our living room. And I usually refer to it as the petting chair. I don't ever get in it to sit in it very often. And when I do sit in it, the very first thing that happens is Claiborne, the pit bull, about 70, 75 pounds, jumps in my lap. Well, I've already reclined. I'm horizontal, just about. But he jumps in my lap and I'm inclined just a little bit further toward the floor. And everything is fine until that Mastiff, which weighs 150 pounds, jumps in my lap as well. Then I'm hollering for Alice to come help me get up off the floor because the chair is down and the dogs are on top of me.

So we can understand once you begin to incline in a certain direction, then obviously you're probably going to lean very heavily in that direction. Alice and I had two friends. One just recently passed away. They had been married over 50 years, and the way they met was very extraordinary in one sense of the word. As a young girl, she was walking to town and Bob rode up on a motorcycle, had never seen Peggy before. Peggy had never seen Bob before. And Bob stopped the motorcycle, looked at her and said, "Want a ride?" She said, "Yes."

He said, "Get on behind me." And she climbed on the motorcycle behind him. And then he looked at her, he said, "You lean when I lean." And she would always smile and said, "I've been leaning the way he's leaned for the last 50 something years." So, you know, inclined. And of course, we understand that. Of course, here's another illustration. Most of the people have either walked or run. I've done some type of athletics. And obviously, before you begin running or before you begin walking, you always stretch your muscles. And usually when you finish, running or walking, you end up stretching your muscles again, which of course adds flexibility and strength to them as well. I don't know if you've ever noticed a dog or not, but let a dog take a nap, and the very first thing the dog does when he gets up is stretch. And so stretching is something that each of us probably should be aware of.

And the reason I gave you those illustrations, and you may think they have absolutely nothing to do with our text, but the truth is they do. If you look down in verse 58 again, the Bible says that he, God, may incline our hearts toward him. The Hebrew word is natal, which literally means to lean, to stretch out, to incline, to stretch forth, to bow down, to extend, to be influenced, and to be stretched out. So actually, what Solomon is praying for in verse 58 is that the Lord would stretch out our hearts toward him, that he would make them flexible and make them leaning toward him in order that we may keep his commandments and his judgments and his statutes.

Every Person Is Inclined in Some Direction

By nature, humans are inclined toward their own wills and fleshly desires; only God's sovereign grace can change this inclination.

We're either stretched out toward the flesh, or we're stretched out towards spiritual things. We are either stretched out in obedience or we're stretched out in disobedience. We're either stretched out towards study or we're stretched out toward playing. We are inclined or stretched out to that which is either right and holy or to that which is wrong and wicked. So the question is not whether or not you are inclined or whether or not you are stretched out, but the question is in what direction are you inclined? In what direction are you stretched out? Because the truth is by nature and by nurture, we're opposite from God. We're normally inclined for our own wills, our own ways, and our own fleshly desires. And it's only the sovereign power of God that can change us. It's only his grace and his mercy.

The Bible says in Proverbs 16 in verse 1,

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 16:1

"The preparations of the heart in man are from the Lord."

Actually, the whole verse says

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 16:1

"the preparation of the heart in man and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord."

But note the preparation of the heart in man is from the Lord. So if God prepares our hearts, they are prepared. So if we're ever prepared to pray or be obedient or study or do anything that's righteous in God, it's simply because God prepared our hearts. So here's the truth. We do not have the ability to prepare our hearts. We do not even have the ability to incline our hearts. But however, just because we do not have the ability to incline or stretch forth our hearts, that does not mean that we do not have the responsibility. Ability and responsibility are two different things. And lack of ability does not cancel out or annul responsibility. Now I'm going to show you from scripture how you and I are actually commanded to incline our hearts toward God.

Responsibility Despite Inability

Though we cannot incline our own hearts, Scripture commands us to do so; any desire to honor God is evidence of His working in us.

So the question is, how do we fulfill our responsibility? If there is even a hint of a desire to honor God, to serve him, to pray, and to do that which is right and holy, then obviously God is already working in your heart. Because without his working in your heart, you would never ever have any desire to do that anyway. So we're commanded over and over to make sure that we incline our hearts toward him. So how do we fulfill our responsibilities? Let me give you three ways. First of all, our first responsibility in inclining our hearts to the Lord is to stretch them out in making sure that we put away and we forsake all false and strange gods. Let me show you that from Scripture. I want you to look back, hold 1 Kings chapter 8 if you would, but look back in your Bibles to the book of Joshua chapter 24 and verse 23. Joshua chapter 24 and verse 23. Notice what the Scripture says. Joshua is talking to the people of Israel and here's what he says. Joshua 24 and verse 23. He says,

Scripture Reading — Joshua 24:23

"Now therefore, put away the strange gods which are among you and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel."

So he said, put away the strange gods which are among you and incline your hearts, indicating you cannot incline your heart toward God until the strange gods are put away. While it is true that we usually do not have idols in our home, we may have idols in our heart.

First Responsibility: Put Away False Gods

Inclining the heart to God requires forsaking all idols, whether physical objects or heart idols like family, lust, or pride.

And it is true also that sometimes we do have idols in our homes. I remember years ago, my aunt and uncle took a trip to Hawaii, and they came back, and she brought Alice and I a set of salt and pepper shakers. Well, I thanked her for it, and I put them on the table, and I don't know, I don't remember, it's been so long, we probably used them a week or two. But the problem with the salt and pepper shakers: they were little copies of the tiki gods of Hawaii. And every time I'd walk by those things, I would see them. And finally, I said, "I just don't want those things in our house." And I threw them away.

Now, it was not something I was bowing down to, certainly not something I was worshiping. But the very fact that they were tiki gods, I just did not want them around me. We have to learn to be like the Thessalonians. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 in verse 9, I want you to listen because Paul is talking about the effect of the gospel preaching upon these Thessalonians and he says this,

Scripture Reading — 1 Thessalonians 1:9

"For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, how you turned to God from idols to serve the true and living God."

So you have a negative in one hand, you're turning from the idols, and now you have a positive to serve the living and the true God. So it is impossible to be inclined toward the one true and the living God while you are clinging to everything that is opposed to him. So while we may not have idols in our home, we can certainly have idols in our heart.

And usually what we end up with are the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. And we have to remember that anything can be an idol. Anything that we put above God or before God or even on a par with God is idolatry. May I remind you that it is possible to even have your own family as idols. You may have a husband or a wife as an idol or a son or daughter. Our Lord said it like this in Matthew 10 in verse 37,

Scripture Reading — Matthew 10:37

"He that loveth father and mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me."

So obviously our Lord in that passage is not telling us not to love our father and mother. He's not telling us not to love our sons and daughters. What he is telling us is that we cannot put our family ahead of him, and we cannot love them more than we love him, because that is idolatry.

And may I remind you, there's a good illustration of that in the life of Eli. Eli had two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, who were priests. And you remember how God came to Eli, sent a prophet to him and said, "Look, I'm going to tell you what is going to happen. I'm going to destroy your seed because you have honored your sons before me." He allowed his sons to be wicked and vile and to steal the sacrifices of God. And God said, "Look, this is it. You're not going to prosper and your seed is going to fail." And of course, God killed Hophni and Phinehas in the same day. And then Eli, of course, died that day when he heard because he fell over and broke his neck. So obviously, it is possible to put our families above God.

So we have to ask this question. When it comes to idols of the heart, have we examined ourselves? Have we examined our hearts? You remember that passage? In 2 Corinthians 13 in verse 5, where the apostle Paul said,

Scripture Reading — 2 Corinthians 13:5

"Examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith or not. Know you not that Jesus Christ is in you, except you be reprobates?"

And then it was Peter in 2 Peter 1, I think, verse 10, who says, "Brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure." So when we think about examining ourselves and examining our hearts, we have to come up with another passage. And that passage is Jeremiah 17 verses 9 and 10, where the Bible tells us in this particular passage that "the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it." So our hearts are deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Then you get to verse 10, and God says, "I, the Lord, know the hearts. I search the heart. I try the reins." In other words, it's only God who knows our hearts.

So here's the question. Not only may I ask, have we examined our hearts, but I could also ask, have we besought God to examine our hearts? Since our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked, they may deceive us, but they cannot deceive God. And God is not going to deceive us. So if you look in your Bibles, holding 1 Kings 8, but I do want you to turn in your Bibles to Psalm 139, in order that you might see Psalm 139, that you might see what David says in this passage. Psalm 139, look if you would please, beginning there with verse 23. Psalm 139, verse 23. In this particular passage, David is praying to God and he says this, "Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. And see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way of everlasting." So now David is saying, "Lord, I don't even know my heart, but you know my heart. So search me and know my heart. Try me."

"Know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me." In other words, if there is, reveal it to me and lead me in the way of everlasting. So clearly, clearly, it is God alone who can really, truly search and examine our hearts. Now, if you will turn back to 1 Kings chapter 8, I want you to look there at verse 38, because we're talking about inclining our heart. And the very first way we fulfill our responsibility in stretching our hearts out to the Lord is by putting away all the idols and all the strange gods in our lives. Solomon is praying, he's dedicating the temple, and in verse 38 he says this,

Scripture Reading — 1 Kings 8:38

"What prayer and supplication so ever be made by any man or by all thy people Israel, now watch this, who shall know every man the plague of his own heart and spread forth his hands toward this house."

So he talks about every man knowing the plague of his own heart. Well, I suppose that our greatest plague is that we are depraved. I understand that.

The Plague of a Divided Heart

A double heart produces instability; God detests lukewarmness and calls for wholehearted devotion, as seen in Elijah's challenge and the Laodicean church.

But I think there's a greater plague in one sense of the word. It's not just that we're depraved. I believe one of the greatest plagues of our hearts is the possession of what you and I would call a double heart or a divided heart. A divided heart or divided mind produces instability. You remember that passage in James 1 in verse 8 where God said,

Scripture Reading — James 1:8

"A double-minded man is unstable in all of his ways."

Literally, he's talking about a double-hearted man. Instability disables. We do not know which way to turn. We do not know which way to bend. We don't know how to take a stand. I mean, if we have a double mind, if we have a double heart, we're always in turmoil. I thought about an illustration I heard years ago about a man during the War of Northern Aggression couldn't make up his mind where he wanted to fight for the South or for the North.

And so he put on Confederate gray pants and a blue Union coat. Well, the Confederates shot him in the chest and the Yankees shot him in the seat of the pants. So he got it from both sides because he had double-minded. Now, I want to show you something. We're in 1 Kings 8. I want you to turn to 1 Kings 18. Here is one of the saddest verses in the Bible, but yet at the same time, it shows you the sin and the plague of being double-minded. In 1 Kings chapter 18, Elijah the prophet is on Mount Carmel, and he's there confronting all the prophets of Baal.

But before he does, he speaks to the people. So notice, if you would, 1 Kings 18 verse 21.

Scripture Reading — 1 Kings 18:21

"And Elijah came unto all the people and said, How long hold ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him. But if Baal be God, follow him."

Now watch.

Scripture Reading — 1 Kings 18:21

"And the people answered him, not a word."

And the people answered him, not a word. What did he say? Elijah said, if God is the one true and the living God, you follow him. If he's not, and you believe that Baal is the one true and the living God, then you follow him. And all the people were quiet. No one would say, yes, our God is the one true and the living God. No one's going to say, yes, Baal is the one true and the living God.

They were all double minded. So let me ask you a question. Is Jesus Christ God or is he not God? Is Jesus Christ Lord or is he not Lord? If he is God and if he is Lord and he is, that means we must obey him. We must serve him. And if you do so, you're recognizing His Lordship and His Godship. But if you have a divided heart, if you're unsure, if you're unstable, if you don't know, you're not going to worship Him. You're not going to take a stand for Him. Your heart is not going to be stretched out toward Him. You will have a divided heart. And the very evidence of the fact that most people have a divided heart is very clearly that they embrace everything that is contrary to him and hold on to it.

Kind of like those people in 2 Kings 17, where the Bible said, "So they worshiped the one true and the living God and their own gods." Well, how can you do that? Well, you can't. And when you read the last of it, it says, "So they worship their false gods." But I want to show you what our Lord thinks. 1 Kings 8, but turn in your Bibles to the book of Revelation 3. Revelation 3, and we'll begin reading there with verse 14. And as we read this passage, I want to remind you that our Lord in this passage is not talking to the heathen. He is not talking to the wicked. He is talking to a church. So in Revelation 3 in verse 14,

Scripture Reading — Revelation 3:14-16

"And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God, I know thy works that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would that thou wert cold or hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth."

Our Lord said, I'd rather you be out and out for me, or out and out against me, rather than being lukewarm. So our Lord cannot stomach a double-hearted, double-minded, unstable, wishy-washy, worthless, and unusable professor. This should be a wake-up call for every professing Christian. It should be a wake-up call for anyone who professes the name of Jesus Christ. It should also be a warning. We need to rid ourselves of all of our idols and all of our strange gods, whether up there in our home or in our hearts. And so if we are going to have our hearts inclined toward God, the first thing the Bible demands is that we put away the false and the strange gods.

Second Responsibility: Turn from Wickedness

We must pray not to be inclined to evil or to envy sinners, recognizing that sin's dainties are deceptive and lead to death.

Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, to Psalm 141, because here's the second responsibility that we have. I want you to watch this Psalm 141. Our second responsibility in inclining our hearts to the Lord is to stretch them out in turning from every wicked thing and to refuse to practice iniquity. Look what David prayed in verse four. "Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men that work iniquity, and let me not eat of their dainties." So he prays, incline not my heart to any evil things. So we need to stay away from wicked men who practice wicked works and stay away from their dainties.

Now the Hebrew word for dainties here literally refers to delicacies or to dainties. I'm going to show you another word I know the way it's used just momentarily. But the Bible says in Psalm 37 in verse 1, "Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity." We're not to envy them. They do things that we cannot do. I've seen a lot of large trucks pulling large boats on their way to the beach. or the sea or the river. They're going to either go fishing or boating. Well, normally there's nothing wrong with going fishing or boating, except I see them on Sunday morning. And so what it means is they're denying the one true and the living God and heading out to fulfill the lust of their flesh and their pleasure oriented lifestyle. It's just that simple. And so it may be a beautiful day and the fish may be biting, but I don't have any desire to be with them. I don't have any desire to do anything other than to honor and to worship God, especially on his day. So I'm just simply pointing out the Bible says we're not to envy them.

If you look in Proverbs chapter 24, you'll see basically the same truth again. Look in Proverbs chapter 24 and look at verses 1 and 2. Proverbs 24 verses 1 and 2. He says, "Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them, for their heart studieth destruction and their lips talk of mischief." Well, again, God says, don't be envious and neither desire to be with them. Now, I want you to look over to Proverbs 23, because we're going to see the word dainties again. "When thou sittest with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee, and put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. Be not desirous of his dainties, for they are deceitful meat."

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 23:1-3

Now the word deceitful is a very interesting Hebrew word. It refers to that which is lying, deceitful, false, untrue, and a thing that is deceptive. So God is saying that all of these things that appear to be dainties, that appear to be pleasant, that appear to be pleasurable, they are deceptive. All sin is deceptive. It appears as a delightful dainty, yet it is a deceitful meat. It promises pleasure, but it only gives heartache and death. Let me give you an illustration. Look in your Bibles to Proverbs chapter 9, Proverbs chapter 9, and let's begin reading there verse 13. Look what God says. Here is a good illustration of someone who thinks that this is a dainty. Watch carefully. The Bible says in Proverbs 9 verse 13, "A foolish woman." Now he's talking about an adulterous woman. "A foolish woman is clamorous. She is simple and knoweth nothing."

"For she sitteth at the door of her house on a seat in the high places of the city to call passengers who go right on their ways." That is, most people will not even listen to her. But watch verse 16. "Whoso is simple, that is, you're void of understanding, whoso is simple, let him turn in hither. And as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him, Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant." "But he knoweth not that the dead are there, and their guests are in the depths of hell." So here the woman is saying stolen waters are sweet and the bread eaten in secret is pleasant. In other words, it is a dainty. It is something that is pleasurable and desirable. But God says the one who turns into her knoweth not that the dead are there and that her guests are in the depths of hell. So sin is always represented as something that is pleasurable, enjoyable, and even escapable. But the truth is, sin is not escapable. I have read on numerous occasions about young people who decided they're going to try drugs one time. And they did. And it killed them.

Or they became addicted for life. I'm just simply saying, whenever you think about sin, it's always deceptive. You look around at all the advertisements, it's on TV, internet or wherever you're looking for the liquor industry. You always see handsome young men and beautiful young women enjoying themselves and laughing and having whatever they want to have. They never show you a picture of an old drunk lying in the gutter in his own vomit. They don't want to show that. I'm just simply saying we have to understand that sin is deceptive.

Matthew Henry said this, listen carefully. "While we live in an evil world and have such evil hearts, we need to pray that we will neither be drawn nor driven to do anything sinful. Sinners pretend to find dainties in sin, but those who consider how soon sin will turn into bitterness will dread such dainties and pray to God to take them out of their sight and by His grace to turn their hearts against Him." Now listen, good men pray against the sweets of sin. Good men pray against the sweets of sin. That's why David prayed, "Incline not my heart to any, any evil thing to practice wicked works with men that work iniquity." No, he said, "Let me not eat of their dainties." I don't want to be caught. I don't want to be addicted to their food. I don't want anything to do with them. So if we're going to incline our hearts to God, we must put away the idols and the strange gods out of our heart. We must make sure that our hearts are stretched out so that we do not desire to be with wicked men and we are not inclined to be with them or to participate with them in their wicked works.

Third Responsibility: Incline Your Ears to God's Word

Stretching out our ears to hear Scripture is essential; without it, we will walk after our own imaginations and never forsake idols or wickedness.

Now, there's a third one. Here it is. Our third responsibility in inclining our hearts to the Lord is to make sure that we stretch out our hearts to hear his words. So let me show you. We're in the book of Psalms. I want you to go back to Psalm 78 and let's look, if you would please, at verse 1. We'll look at several passages right quickly. Psalm 78 and verse 1. I want you to watch this.

Now, remember the word incline means to bend. It means to stretch out. So he says,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 78:1

"Give ear, O my people, to my law. Incline your ears to the words of my mouth."

Lean my way. Lean my way. It's just like I'm hard of hearing, as everybody knows. And when someone has a low voice, I find myself leaning in so that I can hear. This is what God says. Incline your ears, lean your ears, stretch them out to hear the words of my mouth. Look in Psalm 119. Psalm 119.

And notice if you would please, verse 36. Psalm 119 and verse 36.

Here David says, "Incline my heart unto thy testimonies and not to covetousness." Incline my heart to thy testimonies and not to covetousness. If you would turn right over to Proverbs 2 and verse 2. In fact, let's read verse 1 and 2. Proverbs 2 verse 1. He said, "My son, if thou will receive my words and hide my commandments with thee, so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom and apply thine heart unto understanding." So we have to stretch out our ears to hear him so that we may be wise and understanding. Look in Proverbs 4 and verse 20. Again, God says, "My son, attend to my words, incline thine ear unto my sayings."

And let me just give you one from the book of Isaiah. Isaiah 55, verse three, where God says, "Incline your ear and come unto me here and your soul shall live. And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David." So he says, incline your ear, come unto me and hear. I remember years ago, when I was a child and in Sunday school, we had a little form that we had to fill out every Sunday. And one of the questions on that little form was, did you read your Bible this week? Or did you read your Bible every day? If you did, you had to put a little check there.

You know, we were always encouraged to do that. But the reason we were encouraged to do that was to make our teacher or our department in Sunday school look good. I was raised in church. I went to church every Sunday morning, every Sunday night, every Wednesday night. Any night there were special meetings, my father and mother and my sister and I were there. It's just that simple. I do not ever remember being admonished, warned, or exhorted to hear and read and study the Word of God. Maybe it happened and I just don't remember, but I certainly do not remember it and I was in church every time the doors opened. So the point I'm trying to make is I was being taught actually the importance of coming to church, but I was not really being taught the importance of hearing the word of God. I certainly believe in faithful attendance to the church, but the truth is, if you're not hearing the word of God, the faithful attendance sometimes is rather useless and worthless as well.

So you need to ask yourself a few questions. How about these questions? Do you read your Bible daily? Do you study your Bible daily? If so, why do you read your Bible daily? Why do you study your Bible daily? If you do not, why do you not read your Bible daily? Why do you not study your Bible daily? You see, we're not to read and study just so that we may have intellectual knowledge. I know some people who read the Bible just so they can appear intellectual on theological issues. I know some people who read the Bible just for the purpose of debating and arguing and criticism. No, we're to read and study the Bible so that we may hear the word of the Lord, so that he may speak to us, so that we may be warned, that we may be encouraged, that we may be changed, that we may be obedient.

We have to listen and to learn his statutes and his judgments and his law and his principles so that we may apply them in our lives. And let me tell you something. You will never, ever be inclined to God unless you learn to meditate upon His Word. You'll never be stretched out to Him. Someone says, well, what I need is more faith. Well, let me ask you a question. Do you remember Romans chapter 10, verse 17? "So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God." What do you say? I just need more sanctification. Well, how about this one? John 17:17, "Sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth." If you fail to incline your heart toward God's law, if you fail to incline your heart to the totality of his word, you will never forsake your idols and you will never ever turn from any and everything that is wicked and wrong and unjust. No, you will never ever stretch out your heart to him and you will never learn his principles and you will never apply your heart to his word. You just never will. Because you are going to lean in one way or the other. You're either going to lean toward your own corrupt desires and the lust of the flesh, or you're going to lean toward God's Word and God's truth. It's just that simple.

Now let me show you. I want you to turn to Jeremiah chapter 7. I want you to just consider what Jeremiah is saying to the people, or what God is saying through Jeremiah to the people. I want you to watch this. This is why I'm saying that God gives us the responsibility to incline our hearts. Notice, if you would, Jeremiah 7 and verse 24. In fact, let's read verse 23. Watch carefully. Jeremiah 7, verse 23. "But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people, and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you." Now watch carefully. "But they hearken not, nor inclined their ear."

The Consequences of Not Inclining to God

Jeremiah repeatedly shows that refusing to incline one's ear leads to walking in evil imaginations and despising God; such people will not be heard by God in their trouble.

They didn't stretch it out, but walked in the counsels and in the imaginations of their evil heart and went backwards and not forward. So here's the truth. If your ears and if your heart are not inclined toward God, you're going to end up going backwards. You're going to end up walking according to your own corrupt imagination and your own counsel. Look in Jeremiah chapter 9 and verse 14. Jeremiah 9 and verse 14. Again, God says this. Let's read verse 13.

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 7:23-24

"And the Lord said, because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein, but have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Balaam, which their fathers taught them."

So if you do not incline your ear toward God, you're not going to be walking in obedience to his word. Look in Jeremiah chapter 11. Jeremiah 11, notice if you would, verse 7 and 8. God said,

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 7:23-24

"For I earnestly protested under your fathers in the day that brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even unto this day, rising early and protesting, saying, obey my voice."

"Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked everyone in the imagination of their evil heart. Therefore, I'll bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did them not." Wow. Look, if you would, to Jeremiah chapter 13 and verse 10. Jeremiah 13 and verse 10. God says, "This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk after the imagination of their heart and walk after other gods to serve them and to worship them shall even be as this girdle which is good for nothing." So if we do not incline our ear toward God, if we do not incline our hearts toward God, we're not going to walk in his word. We'll walk after the imagination of our hearts. We'll never put away our false gods. We'll never put away walking after wickedness. No, no, no. We never will. Look in Jeremiah chapter 16 and verse 12. Jeremiah 16 verse 12. In fact, we can read verse 11. You'll see it even more clearly, I hope.

"Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith the Lord, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law, and you have done worse than your fathers. For behold, you walk everyone after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me." Two more. Look in Jeremiah chapter 18 and verse 12. Jeremiah 18 and verse 12. "And they said, there is no hope, but we will walk after our own devices and we will everyone do the imagination of his evil heart." If you are not leaning toward God, you're leaning toward your own flesh. Look, if you would, Jeremiah 23 and verse 17. Jeremiah 23, verse 17. God says, in fact, let's read verse 16.

"Thus saith the Lord of hosts, hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you. They make you vain. They speak a vision of their own heart and not out of the mouth of the Lord. They say still unto them that despise me. The Lord has said, you shall have peace. And they say, everyone that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, no evil shall come upon you."

Now, let me explain something. The truth of the matter is this. If we are not inclining our ears, if we're not inclining our hearts toward God and his word, the truth is we despise him. That's just what he said. We're despising him. You cannot separate God from his word. A king rules by his law. God is a king. In fact, he's king of kings and Lord of lords and God of gods, and he rules by his law. And when you deny his law, you deny his rule. You deny him. Now, God has told us, God has commanded us to incline our ears and our hearts unto him. I want to show you a principle in just a minute. But I want to ask you a question. I already know the answer, but I want to ask you anyhow. Do you want God to hear you in your time of need? Do you want God to hear you in your time of desperation? Do you want God to hear you in your time of danger? Do you want God just to answer your prayers?

The Lex Talionis: God Hears Those Who Hear Him

The law of retribution means that if we refuse to incline our ears to God, He will not incline His ear to us in our time of need, as seen in Josiah's example and Jeremiah's warnings.

And the answer, of course, is yes. Well, let me show you something. I told you in the beginning of this message that the Hebrew word for incline meant to lean, to stretch out, to be stretched out. I'm going to show you some other verses, but this time the inclining is on God's part, and it is exactly the same Hebrew word. So turn in your Bibles to Psalm 17 and verse 6, and we'll begin there. Psalm 17 and verse 6. Watch carefully. Psalm 17 and verse 6. Look what David says. Psalm 17, verse 6.

"I've called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me. O God, incline thine ear unto me and hear my speech." What is David asking God to do? He's asking God to stretch out his ear so that David can whisper in it, so that God can hear David's prayer. Look in your Bibles to Psalm 71 and verse 2. Psalm 71 and verse 2. David says, "Deliver me in thy righteousness and cause me to escape." David is in danger. "Incline thine ear unto me and save me." Stretch out your ear, God. Bend it down. Hear my prayer. I'm desperate, Lord. Save me. Look in Psalm 88, Psalm 88, and verse 2. Psalm 88, verse 2. David says, "Let my prayer come before thee, incline thine ear unto my cry." Incline thine ear. And then Psalm 102 and verse 2. Psalm 102 and verse 2. Look what David says. "Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble. Incline thine ear unto me in the day when I call. Answer me speedily." I hope you see the desperation in this prayer.

"Hide not thy face from me in the day when I'm in trouble. I am in trouble, O God. Incline thine ear unto me in the day when I call. Answer me speedily. I need help, God, and I need help right now."

Now, it was Hezekiah who prayed to God when Sennacherib was invading Judah. And he said, "Incline thy ear, O Lord, and hear. Open thine eyes, O Lord, and see, and hear all the words of Sennacherib which he hath said to reproach the living God." So here are people, David, Hezekiah, others, who are in deep trouble and they're asking God to stretch out his ear and hear them. So here's my question. Do you desire for God to stretch out his ear and hear you in your time of need, in your time of danger, in your time of desperation? Do you want God to hear your prayers and your requests and your needs? Well, if so, you need to grasp a principle of scripture. The principle of scripture is known as the Lex Talionis.

That is just simply Latin for the law of retribution. That law is where God makes the punishment fit the crime. Everyone is familiar with the passages of scripture that God gave to the judges where God said it's going to be an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, stripe for stripe. In other words, the punishment has to fit the crime. Well, is it a sin not to stretch out our hearts and our ears toward God? Oh, yes. Is it a crime? Oh, yes. It's treason against God.

I want to show you something. I want you to see this. I want you to turn to 2 Kings chapter 22. 2 Kings chapter 22. In 2 Kings chapter 22, you have godly young Josiah. He happens to be the king of Judah. The law of God was found in the temple by Hilkiah the priest, and Shaphan the scribe read the law to young Josiah. And when Josiah heard the law, and he heard the judgments pronounced for violating that law, boy, he got upset. He trembled. He began to inquire of God.

He knew that they were in trouble. So I want you to look in 2 Kings chapter 22, beginning there with verse 18, because Josiah had sent to inquire of God. Watch what he said.

Scripture Reading — 2 Kings 22:18-19

"But to the king of Judah, which sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you send him. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel."

Now watch, "as touching the words which thou hast heard." Now he's going to explain how Josiah heard. "Because thine heart was tender, thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest when I spake against this place and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse. And as I ripped my clothes and wept before me, I also have heard thee, saith the Lord." Now, I don't know if you just heard what I read, but God said in verse 19, watch because thine heart was tender and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord. When thou heardest what I speak against this place, then he says, "Therefore, I also have heard thee." So here's what God said to Josiah. You heard me. Therefore, I heard you. You inclined your ear, you stretched out your ear, you stretched out your heart to me. I want to stretch out my ear to you. I want to hear you. That's the lex talionis. That is where God is doing that which is right and just.

Now, I want you to turn back to Jeremiah chapter 11. I want you to see it again. I could multiply passages. In fact, three times God said this in the book of Jeremiah concerning the people of Judah and Jerusalem. But in Jeremiah chapter 11, look what God says in verse 14, Jeremiah 11 and verse 14. God tells Jeremiah, "Therefore, pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them." Now watch what God says. "For I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble." Why will God not hear them?

Oh, didn't I read it to you all a while ago? They wouldn't hear God. They would not listen to Him. And God says, now I'm going to make the punishment fit the crime. When you cry in your trouble, I'm not going to listen to you. I will not hear you. Everyone is familiar with Hosea chapter 4 verse 6. God said, "For my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, because thou has rejected knowledge, I've also rejected thee." You wouldn't listen to me. I'm not going to have you. He goes on. "Because I was rejected, now that I also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest for me, listen to me. Seeing thou hast forgotten my law, I will also forget thy children." God's law is an expression of his will for our lives. Our children are an expression of our will. God says, you forget my law, you don't hear me, I'll forget your expression of your will. I'll reject your children. I won't have them.

That is the lex Talionis. And the Lex Talionis is not just true in the time of Josiah and Hosea and Jeremiah. It's true today. God is still the same just God. He makes the punishment fit the crime. He renders that which is just and right. So if we want God to hear us, we must hear him. Let me make some applications. The first one is this. We must seek God to incline our hearts. That's what Solomon prayed for in 1 Kings chapter 8 in verse 58, that he would incline our hearts so that we would obey him and keep his commandments and his statutes. We may not have the ability to incline our hearts, but we have the responsibility.

Applications and Conclusion

We must seek God to incline our hearts, recognize the importance of hearing Him through His Word, and pray for grace to lean His way, forsaking idols and wickedness.

And apart from his grace and apart from his mercy, we will never, ever fulfill our responsibilities. It must be God's grace and God's mercies that even motivate us and move us to cry to Him to incline our hearts and to turn our hearts and make us what we should be. The second application is this. We must see the absolute importance of hearing our Lord in and through His word. Someone has said that when we pray, we commune with God. When we study the scripture, God communes with us. Well, it is true that we commune with him, not just in prayer, but in and through his word. Here's a sobering fact. When we neglect him, and let me go back, when we neglect his word, we neglect him. When we deny His word, we deny Him. In Jeremiah chapter 2 and verse 32, there's a scripture that says this, "Can a maid forget her ornaments?" What's the answer?

No, women do not walk out forgetting their jewelry normally. The next question is, "Can a bride forget her attire?" Have you ever known a bride, a woman to get married, forget to put on her wedding dress? No. So he says, can a maid forget her ornaments? No. Can a bride forget her attire? No. But then he says this, "But my people have forgotten me days without number." So when we do not hear God, we are forgetting Him. We're neglecting Him. We're denying Him.

So we must learn to stretch out toward Him. So the last application is this. Do not forget the Lord. Pray to Him. Commune with Him. End it through His word. Worship Him in spirit and truth. And what we have to do is like Solomon. We have to learn to pray, "Lord God, incline my heart so that I may obey thee, and keep thy law, and thy judgments, and thy commandments, and walk pleasing unto thee."

So let me say it again. Each one of us are inclined one way or the other. Each one of us are leaning. It's not the question, will you be inclined? But which way will you be inclined? You're either going to fall toward righteousness, or you're either going to fall toward wickedness. If we want God to incline our hearts, we need to learn to pray and cry and beseech him to incline our hearts toward him by putting away all of our false idols, not just in our home, but in our hearts, by turning from every wicked thing and not participating in that which is wicked, and in stretching out our heart and our ears toward His Word. If we will not hear His Word, we will not hear Him. Which way are you inclined?

Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. And Lord, we do ask You in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that You would incline our hearts to Thee, that you would move us, that you would change us, that you would turn us, that you would make us, Lord, to lean your way and to lean when you lean. Give us grace, Father, that we may serve thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear. In thy name we pray. Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

The Inclination of the Heart

Summary: Every person is inclined either toward God and righteousness or toward the flesh and wickedness; the direction of one's inclination determines their spiritual walk.

Evidence: We're either stretched out toward the flesh, or we're stretched out towards spiritual things. We are either stretched out in obedience or we're stretched out in disobedience.

Human Inability and Divine Grace

Summary: Humans lack the ability to incline their own hearts toward God, but they bear the responsibility; any desire for God is evidence of His prior working.

Evidence: We do not have the ability to prepare our hearts. We do not even have the ability to incline our hearts. But however, just because we do not have the ability... that does not mean that we do not have the responsibility.

Forsaking Idols

Summary: Inclining the heart to God requires putting away all false gods, whether physical idols or heart idols like family, lust, or pride.

Evidence: You cannot incline your heart toward God until the strange gods are put away.

The Danger of a Divided Heart

Summary: A double heart produces instability and is detestable to God; He calls for wholehearted devotion rather than lukewarmness.

Evidence: A double-minded man is unstable in all of his ways... Our Lord said, I'd rather you be out and out for me, or out and out against me, rather than being lukewarm.

The Deceptiveness of Sin

Summary: Sin appears as a delightful dainty but is deceitful meat that leads to death; believers must pray against its sweets.

Evidence: All sin is deceptive. It appears as a delightful dainty, yet it is a deceitful meat. It promises pleasure, but it only gives heartache and death.

The Necessity of Hearing God's Word

Summary: Inclining the heart to God requires stretching out one's ears to hear Scripture; neglecting God's Word is neglecting God Himself.

Evidence: Incline your ears to the words of my mouth... When we neglect his word, we neglect him. When we deny His word, we deny Him.

Lex Talionis: Reciprocal Hearing

Summary: God applies the law of retribution: if we refuse to hear Him, He will not hear us in our time of trouble.

Evidence: You heard me. Therefore, I heard you... They wouldn't hear God... God says, now I'm going to make the punishment fit the crime. When you cry in your trouble, I'm not going to listen to you.

Key Arguments

Inclination is universal and directional

Summary: Every person is inclined in some direction; the question is not whether one is inclined, but toward what.

Evidence: So the question is not whether or not you are inclined or whether or not you are stretched out, but the question is in what direction are you inclined?

Responsibility persists despite inability

Summary: Scripture commands us to incline our hearts, even though we lack the natural ability; God's grace enables the willing.

Evidence: We do not have the ability to incline our hearts. But however, just because we do not have the ability... that does not mean that we do not have the responsibility.

Idols must be removed to incline to God

Summary: One cannot incline the heart toward God while clinging to false gods; putting away idols is the first step.

Evidence: Put away the strange gods which are among you and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel.

A divided heart is unstable and rejected

Summary: Double-mindedness leads to instability and is spewed out by Christ; God demands exclusive loyalty.

Evidence: How long hold ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him... because thou art lukewarm... I will spew thee out of my mouth.

Sin's pleasures are deceptive and deadly

Summary: Sin promises delight but delivers death; believers must pray to be kept from its allure.

Evidence: Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. But he knoweth not that the dead are there, and that her guests are in the depths of hell.

Hearing God's Word is essential to inclination

Summary: Inclining the ear to Scripture is commanded; without it, one will follow evil imaginations and never forsake sin.

Evidence: Incline thine ear unto wisdom and apply thine heart to understanding... If you fail to incline your heart toward God's law... you will never forsake your idols.

Refusing to hear God results in His silence

Summary: The lex talionis means God will not hear those who refuse to hear Him; this is a just retribution.

Evidence: Therefore pray not thou for this people... for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble.

Scripture References

1 Kings 8:57-58

Context: Solomon's prayer at the temple dedication, asking God to incline the hearts of the people to walk in His ways.

Proverbs 16:1

Context: The preparations of the heart in man are from the Lord, indicating God's sovereignty over heart inclinations.

Joshua 24:23

Context: Joshua commands Israel to put away strange gods and incline their hearts to the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 1:9

Context: The Thessalonians turned to God from idols to serve the true and living God.

Matthew 10:37

Context: Jesus teaches that loving family more than Him makes one unworthy of Him, warning against idolatry of relationships.

2 Corinthians 13:5

Context: Paul exhorts believers to examine themselves whether they are in the faith.

Jeremiah 17:9-10

Context: The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked; only God can search and know it.

Psalm 139:23-24

Context: David prays for God to search his heart and lead him in the way everlasting.

1 Kings 8:38

Context: Solomon speaks of every man knowing the plague of his own heart.

James 1:8

Context: A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.

1 Kings 18:21

Context: Elijah challenges Israel on Mount Carmel to choose between God and Baal.

Revelation 3:14-16

Context: Christ rebukes the Laodicean church for being lukewarm and threatens to spew them out.

Psalm 141:4

Context: David prays that his heart not be inclined to evil or to practice wicked works.

Proverbs 23:1-3

Context: Warning not to desire the dainties of rulers, for they are deceitful meat.

Proverbs 9:13-18

Context: The foolish woman entices with stolen waters and secret bread, but her guests are in the depths of hell.

Psalm 78:1

Context: A call to incline the ear to the words of God's mouth.

Psalm 119:36

Context: David prays for his heart to be inclined to God's testimonies and not to covetousness.

Jeremiah 7:23-24

Context: God's people did not incline their ear but walked in their own evil imaginations.

2 Kings 22:18-19

Context: Because Josiah's heart was tender and he heard God's word, God heard him.

Hosea 4:6

Context: God's people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because they rejected knowledge, God rejects them.

Historical References

Matthew Henry's commentary on 1 Kings 8:58

Context: Weaver quotes Matthew Henry's observation that Solomon's prayer is a type of Christ's intercession and that no human heart is naturally willing to obey the gospel.

Eli and his sons Hophni and Phinehas

Context: Eli honored his sons above God, leading to their destruction and his own death, illustrating the danger of family idolatry.

War of Northern Aggression (American Civil War) anecdote

Context: A man wore Confederate pants and a Union coat, getting shot by both sides, illustrating the peril of double-mindedness.

Hezekiah's prayer against Sennacherib

Context: Hezekiah prayed for God to incline His ear and hear the reproach of the living God during the Assyrian invasion.

Josiah's reforms

Context: Young King Josiah heard the law, humbled himself, and God heard him, exemplifying the lex talionis principle.

Important Quotes

So the question is not whether or not you are inclined or whether or not you are stretched out, but the question is in what direction are you inclined?

Significance: Captures the central diagnostic question of the sermon: every person is leaning one way or the other.

We do not have the ability to prepare our hearts. We do not even have the ability to incline our hearts. But however, just because we do not have the ability to incline or stretch forth our hearts, that does not mean that we do not have the responsibility.

Significance: Articulates the tension between human inability and divine command that undergirds the call to seek God's grace.

You cannot incline your heart toward God until the strange gods are put away.

Significance: States the non-negotiable first step in inclining the heart to God: forsaking all idols.

A double-minded man is unstable in all of his ways.

Significance: Highlights the instability that comes from a divided heart, a key warning in the sermon.

All sin is deceptive. It appears as a delightful dainty, yet it is a deceitful meat. It promises pleasure, but it only gives heartache and death.

Significance: Summarizes the deceptive nature of sin that believers must recognize and resist.

If you fail to incline your heart toward God's law, if you fail to incline your heart to the totality of his word, you will never forsake your idols and you will never ever turn from any and everything that is wicked and wrong and unjust.

Significance: Connects hearing God's Word with the power to forsake sin; without it, reformation is impossible.

You heard me. Therefore, I heard you.

Significance: Succinctly states the lex talionis principle that governs God's reciprocal hearing.

When we neglect his word, we neglect him. When we deny His word, we deny Him.

Significance: Emphasizes the inseparable link between God and His Word, making Bible neglect a personal affront to God.

Discussion Questions

In what practical ways can we examine our hearts for hidden idols, and why is it essential to ask God to search our hearts?

Context: Weaver discusses the deceitfulness of the heart and the need for God to reveal idols, referencing Psalm 139:23-24.

How does the concept of a 'divided heart' manifest in the life of a modern believer, and what are the consequences of spiritual lukewarmness?

Context: The sermon warns against double-mindedness using Elijah's challenge and the Laodicean church.

Why is sin often described as 'dainties' or 'deceitful meat,' and how can we cultivate a holy suspicion toward its pleasures?

Context: Weaver explains the deceptive appeal of sin using Proverbs 9 and 23.

What does it mean to 'incline your ear' to God's Word in a daily, practical sense, and how does this differ from mere Bible reading?

Context: The third responsibility emphasizes stretching out the ears to hear God, not just intellectual knowledge.

How does the lex talionis principle challenge or encourage your prayer life, especially in times of trouble?

Context: God's reciprocal hearing is illustrated by Josiah and the warnings in Jeremiah.

In what ways might we be 'forgetting God days without number,' and what steps can we take to remember Him daily?

Context: Weaver cites Jeremiah 2:32 to show that neglecting God's Word is forgetting Him.

Applications

Pray for God to incline your heart

Summary: Since we cannot incline our own hearts, we must continually pray as Solomon did, asking God to stretch our hearts toward obedience.

Evidence: We must seek God to incline our hearts. That's what Solomon prayed for in 1 Kings chapter 8 in verse 58... We may not have the ability to incline our hearts, but we have the responsibility.

Examine and forsake all idols

Summary: Regularly examine your heart and home for anything that competes with God, and put it away, whether it be possessions, relationships, or desires.

Evidence: Put away the strange gods which are among you and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel.

Refuse to envy or join with evildoers

Summary: Do not desire the apparent pleasures of the wicked or participate in their works; instead, pray to be kept from evil.

Evidence: Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men that work iniquity, and let me not eat of their dainties.

Prioritize hearing God's Word daily

Summary: Make daily Bible reading and study a non-negotiable practice, not for intellectual pride but to hear God speak and be changed.

Evidence: Incline your ears to the words of my mouth... Do you read your Bible daily? Do you study your Bible daily?

Recognize the reciprocal nature of hearing

Summary: Understand that if you want God to hear your prayers, you must first hear and obey His Word; neglect of Scripture may result in unanswered prayer.

Evidence: You heard me. Therefore, I heard you... They wouldn't hear God... I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble.

Cultivate a tender heart toward God's warnings

Summary: Like Josiah, respond to God's Word with humility and repentance, knowing that a tender heart invites God's attentive ear.

Evidence: Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest... I also have heard thee.

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T22:03:49Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T13:46:50Z

Clean Transcript

Which Way Are You Inclined?

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

First Kings chapter 8. First Kings chapter 8. And we're going to be reading verses 57 and 58. The title of the message is "Which Way Are You Inclined?" Which Way Are You Inclined? So 1 Kings chapter 8, 1 Kings is dealing with the dedication of the temple where Solomon is praying and he makes a wonderful prayer request in verse 57. He says, "The Lord our God be with us as he was with our fathers."
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"Let him not leave us nor forsake us that he may incline our hearts unto him to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers." The verse that dealt with my own mind was verse 58, "that he may incline our hearts unto him." I want to begin by giving you a couple of illustrations that you can very easily comprehend and understand.
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I have a lounge chair in our living room. And I usually refer to it as the petting chair. I don't ever get in it to sit in it very often. And when I do sit in it, the very first thing that happens is Claiborne, the pit bull, about 70, 75 pounds, jumps in my lap. Well, I've already reclined. I'm horizontal, just about. But he jumps in my lap and I'm inclined just a little bit further toward the floor. And everything is fine until that Mastiff, which weighs 150 pounds, jumps in my lap as well. Then I'm hollering for Alice to come help me get up off the floor because the chair is down and the dogs are on top of me.
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So we can understand once you begin to incline in a certain direction, then obviously you're probably going to lean very heavily in that direction. Alice and I had two friends. One just recently passed away. They had been married over 50 years, and the way they met was very extraordinary in one sense of the word. As a young girl, she was walking to town and Bob rode up on a motorcycle, had never seen Peggy before. Peggy had never seen Bob before. And Bob stopped the motorcycle, looked at her and said, "Want a ride?" She said, "Yes."
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He said, "Get on behind me." And she climbed on the motorcycle behind him. And then he looked at her, he said, "You lean when I lean." And she would always smile and said, "I've been leaning the way he's leaned for the last 50 something years." So, you know, inclined. And of course, we understand that. Of course, here's another illustration. Most of the people have either walked or run. I've done some type of athletics. And obviously, before you begin running or before you begin walking, you always stretch your muscles. And usually when you finish, running or walking, you end up stretching your muscles again, which of course adds flexibility and strength to them as well. I don't know if you've ever noticed a dog or not, but let a dog take a nap, and the very first thing the dog does when he gets up is stretch. And so stretching is something that each of us probably should be aware of.
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And the reason I gave you those illustrations, and you may think they have absolutely nothing to do with our text, but the truth is they do. If you look down in verse 58 again, the Bible says that he, God, may incline our hearts toward him. The Hebrew word is natal, which literally means to lean, to stretch out, to incline, to stretch forth, to bow down, to extend, to be influenced, and to be stretched out. So actually, what Solomon is praying for in verse 58 is that the Lord would stretch out our hearts toward him, that he would make them flexible and make them leaning toward him in order that we may keep his commandments and his judgments and his statutes.
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And Matthew Henry had a comment on this verse that I thought was very appropriate. And he said this, "Never was a congregation dismissed with what was more likely to affect them and remain with them. What Solomon asked for in this prayer is still granted in the intercession of Christ, of which his supplication, that is Solomon's supplication, was a type. We shall receive grace sufficient, suitable, and seasonable in every time of need."
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No human heart is, by itself, willing to obey the gospel, call to repentance, faith, and newness of life, walking in all the commandments of the Lord. Yet Solomon exhorts the people to be perfect. This is the scriptural method. It is our duty to obey the command of the law and the call of the gospel. Since we have broken the law, when our hearts are inclined to it, feeling our sinfulness and weakness, we pray for divine assistance so that we are made able to serve God through Christ. So here is a clear truth from scripture, and that is this, that every person is inclined. Every person is bent out or stretched out in a certain direction.
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We're either stretched out toward the flesh, or we're stretched out towards spiritual things. We are either stretched out in obedience or we're stretched out in disobedience. We're either stretched out towards study or we're stretched out toward playing. We are inclined or stretched out to that which is either right and holy or to that which is wrong and wicked. So the question is not whether or not you are inclined or whether or not you are stretched out, but the question is in what direction are you inclined? In what direction are you stretched out? Because the truth is by nature and by nurture, we're opposite from God. We're normally inclined for our own wills, our own ways, and our own fleshly desires. And it's only the sovereign power of God that can change us. It's only his grace and his mercy.
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The Bible says in Proverbs 16 in verse 1, "The preparations of the heart in man are from the Lord." Actually, the whole verse says "the preparation of the heart in man and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord." But note the preparation of the heart in man is from the Lord. So if God prepares our hearts, they are prepared. So if we're ever prepared to pray or be obedient or study or do anything that's righteous in God, it's simply because God prepared our hearts. So here's the truth. We do not have the ability to prepare our hearts. We do not even have the ability to incline our hearts. But however, just because we do not have the ability to incline or stretch forth our hearts, that does not mean that we do not have the responsibility. Ability and responsibility are two different things. And lack of ability does not cancel out or annul responsibility. Now I'm going to show you from scripture how you and I are actually commanded to incline our hearts toward God.
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So the question is, how do we fulfill our responsibility? If there is even a hint of a desire to honor God, to serve him, to pray, and to do that which is right and holy, then obviously God is already working in your heart. Because without his working in your heart, you would never ever have any desire to do that anyway. So we're commanded over and over to make sure that we incline our hearts toward him. So how do we fulfill our responsibilities?
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Let me give you three ways. First of all, our first responsibility in inclining our hearts to the Lord is to stretch them out in making sure that we put away and we forsake all false and strange gods. Let me show you that from Scripture. I want you to look back, hold 1 Kings chapter 8 if you would, but look back in your Bibles to the book of Joshua chapter 24 and verse 23. Joshua chapter 24 and verse 23. Notice what the Scripture says. Joshua is talking to the people of Israel and here's what he says. Joshua 24 and verse 23. He says, "Now therefore, put away the strange gods which are among you and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel." So he said, put away the strange gods which are among you and incline your hearts, indicating you cannot incline your heart toward God until the strange gods are put away. While it is true that we usually do not have idols in our home, we may have idols in our heart.
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And it is true also that sometimes we do have idols in our homes. I remember years ago, my aunt and uncle took a trip to Hawaii, and they came back, and she brought Alice and I a set of salt and pepper shakers. Well, I thanked her for it, and I put them on the table, and I don't know, I don't remember, it's been so long, we probably used them a week or two. But the problem with the salt and pepper shakers: they were little copies of the tiki gods of Hawaii.
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And every time I'd walk by those things, I would see them. And finally, I said, "I just don't want those things in our house." And I threw them away.
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Now, it was not something I was bowing down to, certainly not something I was worshiping. But the very fact that they were tiki gods, I just did not want them around me. We have to learn to be like the Thessalonians. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 in verse 9, I want you to listen because Paul is talking about the effect of the gospel preaching upon these Thessalonians and he says this, "For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, how you turned to God from idols to serve the true and living God." So you have a negative in one hand, you're turning from the idols, and now you have a positive to serve the living and the true God. So it is impossible to be inclined toward the one true and the living God while you are clinging to everything that is opposed to him. So while we may not have idols in our home, we can certainly have idols in our heart.
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And usually what we end up with are the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. And we have to remember that anything can be an idol. Anything that we put above God or before God or even on a par with God is idolatry. May I remind you that it is possible to even have your own family as idols. You may have a husband or a wife as an idol or a son or daughter.
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Our Lord said it like this in Matthew 10 in verse 37, "He that loveth father and mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." So obviously our Lord in that passage is not telling us not to love our father and mother. He's not telling us not to love our sons and daughters. What he is telling us is that we cannot put our family ahead of him, and we cannot love them more than we love him, because that is idolatry.
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And may I remind you, there's a good illustration of that in the life of Eli. Eli had two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, who were priests. And you remember how God came to Eli, sent a prophet to him and said, "Look, I'm going to tell you what is going to happen. I'm going to destroy your seed because you have honored your sons before me." He allowed his sons to be wicked and vile and to steal the sacrifices of God. And God said, "Look, this is it. You're not going to prosper and your seed is going to fail." And of course, God killed Hophni and Phinehas in the same day. And then Eli, of course, died that day when he heard because he fell over and broke his neck. So obviously, it is possible to put our families above God.
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So we have to ask this question. When it comes to idols of the heart, have we examined ourselves? Have we examined our hearts? You remember that passage? In 2 Corinthians 13 in verse 5, where the apostle Paul said, "Examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith or not. Know you not that Jesus Christ is in you, except you be reprobates?" And then it was Peter in 2 Peter 1, I think, verse 10, who says, "Brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure." So when we think about examining ourselves and examining our hearts, we have to come up with another passage. And that passage is Jeremiah 17 verses 9 and 10, where the Bible tells us in this particular passage that "the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it." So our hearts are deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Then you get to verse 10, and God says, "I, the Lord, know the hearts. I search the heart. I try the reins." In other words, it's only God who knows our hearts.
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So here's the question. Not only may I ask, have we examined our hearts, but I could also ask, have we besought God to examine our hearts? Since our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked, they may deceive us, but they cannot deceive God. And God is not going to deceive us. So if you look in your Bibles, holding 1 Kings 8, but I do want you to turn in your Bibles to Psalm 139, in order that you might see Psalm 139, that you might see what David says in this passage. Psalm 139, look if you would please, beginning there with verse 23. Psalm 139, verse 23. In this particular passage, David is praying to God and he says this, "Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. And see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way of everlasting." So now David is saying, "Lord, I don't even know my heart, but you know my heart. So search me and know my heart. Try me."
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"Know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me." In other words, if there is, reveal it to me and lead me in the way of everlasting. So clearly, clearly, it is God alone who can really, truly search and examine our hearts.
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Now, if you will turn back to 1 Kings chapter 8, I want you to look there at verse 38, because we're talking about inclining our heart. And the very first way we fulfill our responsibility in stretching our hearts out to the Lord is by putting away all the idols and all the strange gods in our lives. Solomon is praying, he's dedicating the temple, and in verse 38 he says this, "What prayer and supplication so ever be made by any man or by all thy people Israel, now watch this, who shall know every man the plague of his own heart and spread forth his hands toward this house." So he talks about every man knowing the plague of his own heart. Well, I suppose that our greatest plague is that we are depraved. I understand that.
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But I think there's a greater plague in one sense of the word. It's not just that we're depraved. I believe one of the greatest plagues of our hearts is the possession of what you and I would call a double heart or a divided heart. A divided heart or divided mind produces instability. You remember that passage in James 1 in verse 8 where God said, "A double-minded man is unstable in all of his ways." Literally, he's talking about a double-hearted man. Instability disables.
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We do not know which way to turn. We do not know which way to bend. We don't know how to take a stand. I mean, if we have a double mind, if we have a double heart, we're always in turmoil. I thought about an illustration I heard years ago about a man during the War of Northern Aggression couldn't make up his mind where he wanted to fight for the South or for the North.
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And so he put on Confederate gray pants and a blue Union coat. Well, the Confederates shot him in the chest and the Yankees shot him in the seat of the pants. So he got it from both sides because he had double-minded.
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Now, I want to show you something. We're in 1 Kings 8. I want you to turn to 1 Kings 18. Here is one of the saddest verses in the Bible, but yet at the same time, it shows you the sin and the plague of being double-minded. In 1 Kings chapter 18, Elijah the prophet is on Mount Carmel, and he's there confronting all the prophets of Baal.
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But before he does, he speaks to the people. So notice, if you would, 1 Kings 18 verse 21. "And Elijah came unto all the people and said, How long hold ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him. But if Baal be God, follow him." Now watch. "And the people answered him, not a word." And the people answered him, not a word. What did he say? Elijah said, if God is the one true and the living God, you follow him. If he's not, and you believe that Baal is the one true and the living God, then you follow him. And all the people were quiet. No one would say, yes, our God is the one true and the living God. No one's going to say, yes, Baal is the one true and the living God.
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They were all double minded. So let me ask you a question. Is Jesus Christ God or is he not God? Is Jesus Christ Lord or is he not Lord? If he is God and if he is Lord and he is, that means we must obey him. We must serve him. And if you do so, you're recognizing His Lordship and His Godship. But if you have a divided heart, if you're unsure, if you're unstable, if you don't know, you're not going to worship Him. You're not going to take a stand for Him. Your heart is not going to be stretched out toward Him. You will have a divided heart. And the very evidence of the fact that most people have a divided heart is very clearly that they embrace everything that is contrary to him and hold on to it.
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Kind of like those people in 2 Kings 17, where the Bible said, "So they worshiped the one true and the living God and their own gods." Well, how can you do that? Well, you can't. And when you read the last of it, it says, "So they worship their false gods." But I want to show you what our Lord thinks. 1 Kings 8, but turn in your Bibles to the book of Revelation 3. Revelation 3, and we'll begin reading there with verse 14. And as we read this passage, I want to remind you that our Lord in this passage is not talking to the heathen. He is not talking to the wicked. He is talking to a church. So in Revelation 3 in verse 14, "And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God, I know thy works that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would that thou wert cold or hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth."
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Our Lord said, I'd rather you be out and out for me, or out and out against me, rather than being lukewarm. So our Lord cannot stomach a double-hearted, double-minded, unstable, wishy-washy, worthless, and unusable professor. This should be a wake-up call for every professing Christian. It should be a wake-up call for anyone who professes the name of Jesus Christ. It should also be a warning. We need to rid ourselves of all of our idols and all of our strange gods, whether up there in our home or in our hearts. And so if we are going to have our hearts inclined toward God, the first thing the Bible demands is that we put away the false and the strange gods.
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Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, to Psalm 141, because here's the second responsibility that we have. I want you to watch this Psalm 141. Our second responsibility in inclining our hearts to the Lord is to stretch them out in turning from every wicked thing and to refuse to practice iniquity. Look what David prayed in verse four. "Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men that work iniquity, and let me not eat of their dainties." So he prays, incline not my heart to any evil things. So we need to stay away from wicked men who practice wicked works and stay away from their dainties.
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Now the Hebrew word for dainties here literally refers to delicacies or to dainties. I'm going to show you another word I know the way it's used just momentarily. But the Bible says in Psalm 37 in verse 1, "Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity." We're not to envy them. They do things that we cannot do. I've seen a lot of large trucks pulling large boats on their way to the beach.
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or the sea or the river. They're going to either go fishing or boating. Well, normally there's nothing wrong with going fishing or boating, except I see them on Sunday morning. And so what it means is they're denying the one true and the living God and heading out to fulfill the lust of their flesh and their pleasure oriented lifestyle. It's just that simple. And so it may be a beautiful day and the fish may be biting, but I don't have any desire to be with them. I don't have any desire to do anything other than to honor and to worship God, especially on his day. So I'm just simply pointing out the Bible says we're not to envy them.
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If you look in Proverbs chapter 24, you'll see basically the same truth again. Look in Proverbs chapter 24 and look at verses 1 and 2. Proverbs 24 verses 1 and 2. He says, "Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them, for their heart studieth destruction and their lips talk of mischief." Well, again, God says, don't be envious and neither desire to be with them. Now, I want you to look over to Proverbs 23, because we're going to see the word dainties again.
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"When thou sittest with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee, and put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. Be not desirous of his dainties, for they are deceitful meat."
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Now the word deceitful is a very interesting Hebrew word. It refers to that which is lying, deceitful, false, untrue, and a thing that is deceptive. So God is saying that all of these things that appear to be dainties, that appear to be pleasant, that appear to be pleasurable, they are deceptive. All sin is deceptive. It appears as a delightful dainty, yet it is a deceitful meat. It promises pleasure, but it only gives heartache and death.
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Let me give you an illustration. Look in your Bibles to Proverbs chapter 9, Proverbs chapter 9, and let's begin reading there verse 13. Look what God says. Here is a good illustration of someone who thinks that this is a dainty. Watch carefully. The Bible says in Proverbs 9 verse 13, "A foolish woman." Now he's talking about an adulterous woman. "A foolish woman is clamorous. She is simple and knoweth nothing."
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"For she sitteth at the door of her house on a seat in the high places of the city to call passengers who go right on their ways." That is, most people will not even listen to her. But watch verse 16. "Whoso is simple, that is, you're void of understanding, whoso is simple, let him turn in hither. And as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him, Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant."
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"But he knoweth not that the dead are there, and their guests are in the depths of hell." So here the woman is saying stolen waters are sweet and the bread eaten in secret is pleasant. In other words, it is a dainty. It is something that is pleasurable and desirable. But God says the one who turns into her knoweth not that the dead are there and that her guests are in the depths of hell. So sin is always represented as something that is pleasurable, enjoyable, and even escapable. But the truth is, sin is not escapable. I have read on numerous occasions about young people who decided they're going to try drugs one time. And they did. And it killed them.
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Or they became addicted for life. I'm just simply saying, whenever you think about sin, it's always deceptive. You look around at all the advertisements, it's on TV, internet or wherever you're looking for the liquor industry. You always see handsome young men and beautiful young women enjoying themselves and laughing and having whatever they want to have. They never show you a picture of an old drunk lying in the gutter in his own vomit. They don't want to show that. I'm just simply saying we have to understand that sin is deceptive.
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Matthew Henry said this, listen carefully. "While we live in an evil world and have such evil hearts, we need to pray that we will neither be drawn nor driven to do anything sinful. Sinners pretend to find dainties in sin, but those who consider how soon sin will turn into bitterness will dread such dainties and pray to God to take them out of their sight and by His grace to turn their hearts against Him." Now listen, good men pray against the sweets of sin. Good men pray against the sweets of sin. That's why David prayed, "Incline not my heart to any, any evil thing to practice wicked works with men that work iniquity." No, he said, "Let me not eat of their dainties."
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I don't want to be caught. I don't want to be addicted to their food. I don't want anything to do with them. So if we're going to incline our hearts to God, we must put away the idols and the strange gods out of our heart. We must make sure that our hearts are stretched out so that we do not desire to be with wicked men and we are not inclined to be with them or to participate with them in their wicked works.
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Now, there's a third one. Here it is. Our third responsibility in inclining our hearts to the Lord is to make sure that we stretch out our hearts to hear his words. So let me show you. We're in the book of Psalms. I want you to go back to Psalm 78 and let's look, if you would please, at verse 1. We'll look at several passages right quickly. Psalm 78 and verse 1. I want you to watch this.
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Now, remember the word incline means to bend. It means to stretch out. So he says, "Give ear, O my people, to my law. Incline your ears to the words of my mouth." Lean my way. Lean my way. It's just like I'm hard of hearing, as everybody knows. And when someone has a low voice, I find myself leaning in so that I can hear. This is what God says. Incline your ears, lean your ears, stretch them out to hear the words of my mouth. Look in Psalm 119. Psalm 119.
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And notice if you would please, verse 36. Psalm 119 and verse 36.
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Here David says, "Incline my heart unto thy testimonies and not to covetousness." Incline my heart to thy testimonies and not to covetousness. If you would turn right over to Proverbs 2 and verse 2. In fact, let's read verse 1 and 2. Proverbs 2 verse 1. He said, "My son, if thou will receive my words and hide my commandments with thee, so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom and apply thine heart unto understanding." So we have to stretch out our ears to hear him so that we may be wise and understanding. Look in Proverbs 4 and verse 20. Again, God says, "My son, attend to my words, incline thine ear unto my sayings."
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And let me just give you one from the book of Isaiah. Isaiah 55, verse three, where God says, "Incline your ear and come unto me here and your soul shall live. And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David." So he says, incline your ear, come unto me and hear. I remember years ago, when I was a child and in Sunday school, we had a little form that we had to fill out every Sunday. And one of the questions on that little form was, did you read your Bible this week? Or did you read your Bible every day? If you did, you had to put a little check there.
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You know, we were always encouraged to do that. But the reason we were encouraged to do that was to make our teacher or our department in Sunday school look good. I was raised in church. I went to church every Sunday morning, every Sunday night, every Wednesday night. Any night there were special meetings, my father and mother and my sister and I were there. It's just that simple.
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I do not ever remember being admonished, warned, or exhorted to hear and read and study the Word of God. Maybe it happened and I just don't remember, but I certainly do not remember it and I was in church every time the doors opened. So the point I'm trying to make is I was being taught actually the importance of coming to church, but I was not really being taught the importance of hearing the word of God. I certainly believe in faithful attendance to the church, but the truth is, if you're not hearing the word of God, the faithful attendance sometimes is rather useless and worthless as well.
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So you need to ask yourself a few questions. How about these questions? Do you read your Bible daily? Do you study your Bible daily? If so, why do you read your Bible daily? Why do you study your Bible daily? If you do not, why do you not read your Bible daily? Why do you not study your Bible daily? You see, we're not to read and study just so that we may have intellectual knowledge. I know some people who read the Bible just so they can appear intellectual on theological issues. I know some people who read the Bible just for the purpose of debating and arguing and criticism. No, we're to read and study the Bible so that we may hear the word of the Lord, so that he may speak to us, so that we may be warned, that we may be encouraged, that we may be changed, that we may be obedient.
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We have to listen and to learn his statutes and his judgments and his law and his principles so that we may apply them in our lives. And let me tell you something. You will never, ever be inclined to God unless you learn to meditate upon His Word. You'll never be stretched out to Him. Someone says, well, what I need is more faith. Well, let me ask you a question.
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Do you remember Romans chapter 10, verse 17? "So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God." What do you say? I just need more sanctification. Well, how about this one? John 17:17, "Sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth." If you fail to incline your heart toward God's law, if you fail to incline your heart to the totality of his word, you will never forsake your idols and you will never ever turn from any and everything that is wicked and wrong and unjust. No, you will never ever stretch out your heart to him and you will never learn his principles and you will never apply your heart to his word. You just never will. Because you are going to lean in one way or the other. You're either going to lean toward your own corrupt desires and the lust of the flesh, or you're going to lean toward God's Word and God's truth. It's just that simple.
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Now let me show you. I want you to turn to Jeremiah chapter 7. I want you to just consider what Jeremiah is saying to the people, or what God is saying through Jeremiah to the people. I want you to watch this. This is why I'm saying that God gives us the responsibility to incline our hearts. Notice, if you would, Jeremiah 7 and verse 24. In fact, let's read verse 23. Watch carefully. Jeremiah 7, verse 23. "But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people, and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you." Now watch carefully. "But they hearken not, nor inclined their ear."
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They didn't stretch it out, but walked in the counsels and in the imaginations of their evil heart and went backwards and not forward. So here's the truth. If your ears and if your heart are not inclined toward God, you're going to end up going backwards. You're going to end up walking according to your own corrupt imagination and your own counsel. Look in Jeremiah chapter 9 and verse 14. Jeremiah 9 and verse 14. Again, God says this. Let's read verse 13. "And the Lord said, because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein, but have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Balaam, which their fathers taught them." So if you do not incline your ear toward God, you're not going to be walking in obedience to his word. Look in Jeremiah chapter 11. Jeremiah 11, notice if you would, verse 7 and 8. God said, "For I earnestly protested under your fathers in the day that brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even unto this day, rising early and protesting, saying, obey my voice."
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"Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked everyone in the imagination of their evil heart. Therefore, I'll bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did them not." Wow. Look, if you would, to Jeremiah chapter 13 and verse 10. Jeremiah 13 and verse 10. God says, "This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk after the imagination of their heart and walk after other gods to serve them and to worship them shall even be as this girdle which is good for nothing." So if we do not incline our ear toward God, if we do not incline our hearts toward God, we're not going to walk in his word. We'll walk after the imagination of our hearts. We'll never put away our false gods. We'll never put away walking after wickedness. No, no, no. We never will. Look in Jeremiah chapter 16 and verse 12. Jeremiah 16 verse 12. In fact, we can read verse 11. You'll see it even more clearly, I hope.
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"Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith the Lord, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law, and you have done worse than your fathers. For behold, you walk everyone after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me." Two more. Look in Jeremiah chapter 18 and verse 12. Jeremiah 18 and verse 12. "And they said, there is no hope, but we will walk after our own devices and we will everyone do the imagination of his evil heart." If you are not leaning toward God, you're leaning toward your own flesh. Look, if you would, Jeremiah 23 and verse 17. Jeremiah 23, verse 17. God says, in fact, let's read verse 16.
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"Thus saith the Lord of hosts, hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you. They make you vain. They speak a vision of their own heart and not out of the mouth of the Lord. They say still unto them that despise me. The Lord has said, you shall have peace. And they say, everyone that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, no evil shall come upon you."
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Now, let me explain something. The truth of the matter is this. If we are not inclining our ears, if we're not inclining our hearts toward God and his word, the truth is we despise him. That's just what he said. We're despising him. You cannot separate God from his word. A king rules by his law. God is a king. In fact, he's king of kings and Lord of lords and God of gods, and he rules by his law. And when you deny his law, you deny his rule. You deny him. Now, God has told us, God has commanded us to incline our ears and our hearts unto him. I want to show you a principle in just a minute. But I want to ask you a question. I already know the answer, but I want to ask you anyhow. Do you want God to hear you in your time of need? Do you want God to hear you in your time of desperation? Do you want God to hear you in your time of danger? Do you want God just to answer your prayers?
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And the answer, of course, is yes. Well, let me show you something. I told you in the beginning of this message that the Hebrew word for incline meant to lean, to stretch out, to be stretched out. I'm going to show you some other verses, but this time the inclining is on God's part, and it is exactly the same Hebrew word. So turn in your Bibles to Psalm 17 and verse 6, and we'll begin there. Psalm 17 and verse 6. Watch carefully. Psalm 17 and verse 6. Look what David says. Psalm 17, verse 6.
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"I've called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me. O God, incline thine ear unto me and hear my speech." What is David asking God to do? He's asking God to stretch out his ear so that David can whisper in it, so that God can hear David's prayer. Look in your Bibles to Psalm 71 and verse 2. Psalm 71 and verse 2. David says, "Deliver me in thy righteousness and cause me to escape." David is in danger. "Incline thine ear unto me and save me." Stretch out your ear, God. Bend it down. Hear my prayer. I'm desperate, Lord. Save me. Look in Psalm 88, Psalm 88, and verse 2. Psalm 88, verse 2. David says, "Let my prayer come before thee, incline thine ear unto my cry." Incline thine ear. And then Psalm 102 and verse 2. Psalm 102 and verse 2. Look what David says. "Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble. Incline thine ear unto me in the day when I call. Answer me speedily." I hope you see the desperation in this prayer.
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"Hide not thy face from me in the day when I'm in trouble. I am in trouble, O God. Incline thine ear unto me in the day when I call. Answer me speedily. I need help, God, and I need help right now."
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Now, it was Hezekiah who prayed to God when Sennacherib was invading Judah. And he said, "Incline thy ear, O Lord, and hear. Open thine eyes, O Lord, and see, and hear all the words of Sennacherib which he hath said to reproach the living God." So here are people, David, Hezekiah, others, who are in deep trouble and they're asking God to stretch out his ear and hear them. So here's my question. Do you desire for God to stretch out his ear and hear you in your time of need, in your time of danger, in your time of desperation? Do you want God to hear your prayers and your requests and your needs? Well, if so, you need to grasp a principle of scripture. The principle of scripture is known as the Lex Talionis.
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That is just simply Latin for the law of retribution. That law is where God makes the punishment fit the crime. Everyone is familiar with the passages of scripture that God gave to the judges where God said it's going to be an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, stripe for stripe. In other words, the punishment has to fit the crime. Well, is it a sin not to stretch out our hearts and our ears toward God? Oh, yes. Is it a crime? Oh, yes. It's treason against God.
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I want to show you something. I want you to see this. I want you to turn to 2 Kings chapter 22. 2 Kings chapter 22. In 2 Kings chapter 22, you have godly young Josiah. He happens to be the king of Judah. The law of God was found in the temple by Hilkiah the priest, and Shaphan the scribe read the law to young Josiah. And when Josiah heard the law, and he heard the judgments pronounced for violating that law, boy, he got upset. He trembled. He began to inquire of God.
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He knew that they were in trouble. So I want you to look in 2 Kings chapter 22, beginning there with verse 18, because Josiah had sent to inquire of God. Watch what he said. "But to the king of Judah, which sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you send him. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel."
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Now watch, "as touching the words which thou hast heard." Now he's going to explain how Josiah heard. "Because thine heart was tender, thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest when I spake against this place and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse. And as I ripped my clothes and wept before me, I also have heard thee, saith the Lord." Now, I don't know if you just heard what I read, but God said in verse 19, watch because thine heart was tender and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord. When thou heardest what I speak against this place, then he says, "Therefore, I also have heard thee." So here's what God said to Josiah. You heard me. Therefore, I heard you. You inclined your ear, you stretched out your ear, you stretched out your heart to me. I want to stretch out my ear to you. I want to hear you. That's the lex talionis. That is where God is doing that which is right and just.
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Now, I want you to turn back to Jeremiah chapter 11. I want you to see it again. I could multiply passages. In fact, three times God said this in the book of Jeremiah concerning the people of Judah and Jerusalem. But in Jeremiah chapter 11, look what God says in verse 14, Jeremiah 11 and verse 14. God tells Jeremiah, "Therefore, pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them." Now watch what God says. "For I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble." Why will God not hear them?
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Oh, didn't I read it to you all a while ago? They wouldn't hear God. They would not listen to Him. And God says, now I'm going to make the punishment fit the crime. When you cry in your trouble, I'm not going to listen to you. I will not hear you. Everyone is familiar with Hosea chapter 4 verse 6. God said, "For my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, because thou has rejected knowledge, I've also rejected thee." You wouldn't listen to me. I'm not going to have you. He goes on. "Because I was rejected, now that I also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest for me, listen to me. Seeing thou hast forgotten my law, I will also forget thy children." God's law is an expression of his will for our lives. Our children are an expression of our will. God says, you forget my law, you don't hear me, I'll forget your expression of your will. I'll reject your children. I won't have them.
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That is the lex Talionis. And the Lex Talionis is not just true in the time of Josiah and Hosea and Jeremiah. It's true today. God is still the same just God. He makes the punishment fit the crime. He renders that which is just and right. So if we want God to hear us, we must hear him. Let me make some applications. The first one is this. We must seek God to incline our hearts. That's what Solomon prayed for in 1 Kings chapter 8 in verse 58, that he would incline our hearts so that we would obey him and keep his commandments and his statutes. We may not have the ability to incline our hearts, but we have the responsibility.
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And apart from his grace and apart from his mercy, we will never, ever fulfill our responsibilities. It must be God's grace and God's mercies that even motivate us and move us to cry to Him to incline our hearts and to turn our hearts and make us what we should be. The second application is this. We must see the absolute importance of hearing our Lord in and through His word.
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Someone has said that when we pray, we commune with God. When we study the scripture, God communes with us. Well, it is true that we commune with him, not just in prayer, but in and through his word. Here's a sobering fact. When we neglect him, and let me go back, when we neglect his word, we neglect him. When we deny His word, we deny Him. In Jeremiah chapter 2 and verse 32, there's a scripture that says this, "Can a maid forget her ornaments?" What's the answer?
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No, women do not walk out forgetting their jewelry normally. The next question is, "Can a bride forget her attire?" Have you ever known a bride, a woman to get married, forget to put on her wedding dress? No. So he says, can a maid forget her ornaments? No. Can a bride forget her attire? No. But then he says this, "But my people have forgotten me days without number." So when we do not hear God, we are forgetting Him. We're neglecting Him. We're denying Him.
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So we must learn to stretch out toward Him. So the last application is this. Do not forget the Lord. Pray to Him. Commune with Him. End it through His word. Worship Him in spirit and truth. And what we have to do is like Solomon. We have to learn to pray, "Lord God, incline my heart so that I may obey thee, and keep thy law, and thy judgments, and thy commandments, and walk pleasing unto thee."
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So let me say it again. Each one of us are inclined one way or the other. Each one of us are leaning. It's not the question, will you be inclined? But which way will you be inclined? You're either going to fall toward righteousness, or you're either going to fall toward wickedness. If we want God to incline our hearts, we need to learn to pray and cry and beseech him to incline our hearts toward him by putting away all of our false idols, not just in our home, but in our hearts, by turning from every wicked thing and not participating in that which is wicked, and in stretching out our heart and our ears toward His Word. If we will not hear His Word, we will not hear Him. Which way are you inclined?
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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. And Lord, we do ask You in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that You would incline our hearts to Thee, that you would move us, that you would change us, that you would turn us, that you would make us, Lord, to lean your way and to lean when you lean. Give us grace, Father, that we may serve thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear. In thy name we pray. Amen.
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T22:03:49Z

Which Way Are You Inclined?

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

Pastor John Weaver expounds 1 Kings 8:57-58, focusing on Solomon's prayer that God would incline the hearts of His people toward Himself. He explains that every person is inclined in some direction—either toward God and righteousness or toward the flesh and wickedness. While humans lack the ability to incline their own hearts, they bear the responsibility to do so. Weaver outlines three biblical responsibilities for inclining the heart toward God: putting away false gods and idols, turning from wickedness and refusing to practice iniquity, and stretching out one's ears to hear God's Word. He warns that failure to incline one's heart toward God results in walking after one's own evil imagination and ultimately being unheard by God in times of trouble, based on the principle of lex talionis. The sermon concludes with a call to pray for God to incline our hearts and to faithfully hear Him through His Word.

Introduction: The Meaning of Incline

Weaver uses personal illustrations of a reclining chair and a motorcycle ride to introduce the concept of inclining, then defines the Hebrew word natal as to lean, stretch out, or be influenced.

Scripture Reading — 1 Kings 8:57-58

"The Lord our God be with us as he was with our fathers." "Let him not leave us nor forsake us that he may incline our hearts unto him to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers."

The verse that dealt with my own mind was verse 58,

Scripture Reading — 1 Kings 8:57-58

"that he may incline our hearts unto him."

I want to begin by giving you a couple of illustrations that you can very easily comprehend and understand.

Every Person Is Inclined in Some Direction

By nature, humans are inclined toward their own wills and fleshly desires; only God's sovereign grace can change this inclination.

The Bible says in Proverbs 16 in verse 1,

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 16:1

"The preparations of the heart in man are from the Lord."

Actually, the whole verse says

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 16:1

"the preparation of the heart in man and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord."

Responsibility Despite Inability

Though we cannot incline our own hearts, Scripture commands us to do so; any desire to honor God is evidence of His working in us.

Scripture Reading — Joshua 24:23

"Now therefore, put away the strange gods which are among you and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel."

First Responsibility: Put Away False Gods

Inclining the heart to God requires forsaking all idols, whether physical objects or heart idols like family, lust, or pride.

Scripture Reading — 1 Thessalonians 1:9

"For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, how you turned to God from idols to serve the true and living God."

Scripture Reading — Matthew 10:37

"He that loveth father and mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me."

Scripture Reading — 2 Corinthians 13:5

"Examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith or not. Know you not that Jesus Christ is in you, except you be reprobates?"

Scripture Reading — 1 Kings 8:38

"What prayer and supplication so ever be made by any man or by all thy people Israel, now watch this, who shall know every man the plague of his own heart and spread forth his hands toward this house."

So he talks about every man knowing the plague of his own heart. Well, I suppose that our greatest plague is that we are depraved. I understand that.

The Plague of a Divided Heart

A double heart produces instability; God detests lukewarmness and calls for wholehearted devotion, as seen in Elijah's challenge and the Laodicean church.

Scripture Reading — James 1:8

"A double-minded man is unstable in all of his ways."

But before he does, he speaks to the people. So notice, if you would, 1 Kings 18 verse 21.

Scripture Reading — 1 Kings 18:21

"And Elijah came unto all the people and said, How long hold ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him. But if Baal be God, follow him."

Now watch.

Scripture Reading — 1 Kings 18:21

"And the people answered him, not a word."

Scripture Reading — Revelation 3:14-16

"And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God, I know thy works that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would that thou wert cold or hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth."

Second Responsibility: Turn from Wickedness

We must pray not to be inclined to evil or to envy sinners, recognizing that sin's dainties are deceptive and lead to death.

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 23:1-3

Now the word deceitful is a very interesting Hebrew word. It refers to that which is lying, deceitful, false, untrue, and a thing that is deceptive. So God is saying that all of these things that appear to be dainties, that appear to be pleasant, that appear to be pleasurable, they are deceptive. All sin is deceptive. It appears as a delightful dainty, yet it is a deceitful meat. It promises pleasure, but it only gives heartache and death. Let me give you an illustration. Look in your Bibles to Proverbs chapter 9, Proverbs chapter 9, and let's begin reading there verse 13. Look what God says. Here is a good illustration of someone who thinks that this is a dainty. Watch carefully. The Bible says in Proverbs 9 verse 13, "A foolish woman." Now he's talking about an adulterous woman. "A foolish woman is clamorous. She is simple and knoweth nothing."

Third Responsibility: Incline Your Ears to God's Word

Stretching out our ears to hear Scripture is essential; without it, we will walk after our own imaginations and never forsake idols or wickedness.

Now, remember the word incline means to bend. It means to stretch out. So he says,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 78:1

"Give ear, O my people, to my law. Incline your ears to the words of my mouth."

And notice if you would please, verse 36. Psalm 119 and verse 36.

The Consequences of Not Inclining to God

Jeremiah repeatedly shows that refusing to incline one's ear leads to walking in evil imaginations and despising God; such people will not be heard by God in their trouble.

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 7:23-24

"And the Lord said, because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein, but have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Balaam, which their fathers taught them."

So if you do not incline your ear toward God, you're not going to be walking in obedience to his word. Look in Jeremiah chapter 11. Jeremiah 11, notice if you would, verse 7 and 8. God said,

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 7:23-24

"For I earnestly protested under your fathers in the day that brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even unto this day, rising early and protesting, saying, obey my voice."

The Lex Talionis: God Hears Those Who Hear Him

The law of retribution means that if we refuse to incline our ears to God, He will not incline His ear to us in our time of need, as seen in Josiah's example and Jeremiah's warnings.

"Hide not thy face from me in the day when I'm in trouble. I am in trouble, O God. Incline thine ear unto me in the day when I call. Answer me speedily. I need help, God, and I need help right now."

He knew that they were in trouble. So I want you to look in 2 Kings chapter 22, beginning there with verse 18, because Josiah had sent to inquire of God. Watch what he said.

Scripture Reading — 2 Kings 22:18-19

"But to the king of Judah, which sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you send him. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel."

Applications and Conclusion

We must seek God to incline our hearts, recognize the importance of hearing Him through His Word, and pray for grace to lean His way, forsaking idols and wickedness.

Which Way Are You Inclined?

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	2dYXWOok4GA
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Proverbs: The Fear of the Lord and Wisdom: Can We All Just Get Along?
Genre	Sermon
Date	2020-09-28
Dictation Name
Book	Book 082: Proverbs: The Fear of the Lord and Wisdom - Volume 2 — Chapter 30
Source Timed Segments	75

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction: The Meaning of Incline: Weaver uses personal illustrations of a reclining chair and a motorcycle ride to introduce the concept of inclining, then defines the Hebrew word natal as to lean, stretch out, or be influenced.
Every Person Is Inclined in Some Direction: By nature, humans are inclined toward their own wills and fleshly desires; only God's sovereign grace can change this inclination.
Responsibility Despite Inability: Though we cannot incline our own hearts, Scripture commands us to do so; any desire to honor God is evidence of His working in us.
First Responsibility: Put Away False Gods: Inclining the heart to God requires forsaking all idols, whether physical objects or heart idols like family, lust, or pride.
The Plague of a Divided Heart: A double heart produces instability; God detests lukewarmness and calls for wholehearted devotion, as seen in Elijah's challenge and the Laodicean church.
Second Responsibility: Turn from Wickedness: We must pray not to be inclined to evil or to envy sinners, recognizing that sin's dainties are deceptive and lead to death.
Third Responsibility: Incline Your Ears to God's Word: Stretching out our ears to hear Scripture is essential; without it, we will walk after our own imaginations and never forsake idols or wickedness.
The Consequences of Not Inclining to God: Jeremiah repeatedly shows that refusing to incline one's ear leads to walking in evil imaginations and despising God; such people will not be heard by God in their trouble.
The Lex Talionis: God Hears Those Who Hear Him: The law of retribution means that if we refuse to incline our ears to God, He will not incline His ear to us in our time of need, as seen in Josiah's example and Jeremiah's warnings.
Applications and Conclusion: We must seek God to incline our hearts, recognize the importance of hearing Him through His Word, and pray for grace to lean His way, forsaking idols and wickedness.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Inclination is universal and directional

Every person is inclined in some direction; the question is not whether one is inclined, but toward what.

So the question is not whether or not you are inclined or whether or not you are stretched out, but the question is in what direction are you inclined?

Responsibility persists despite inability

Scripture commands us to incline our hearts, even though we lack the natural ability; God's grace enables the willing.

We do not have the ability to incline our hearts. But however, just because we do not have the ability... that does not mean that we do not have the responsibility.

Idols must be removed to incline to God

One cannot incline the heart toward God while clinging to false gods; putting away idols is the first step.

Put away the strange gods which are among you and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel.

A divided heart is unstable and rejected

Double-mindedness leads to instability and is spewed out by Christ; God demands exclusive loyalty.

How long hold ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him... because thou art lukewarm... I will spew thee out of my mouth.

Sin's pleasures are deceptive and deadly

Sin promises delight but delivers death; believers must pray to be kept from its allure.

Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. But he knoweth not that the dead are there, and that her guests are in the depths of hell.

Hearing God's Word is essential to inclination

Inclining the ear to Scripture is commanded; without it, one will follow evil imaginations and never forsake sin.

Incline thine ear unto wisdom and apply thine heart to understanding... If you fail to incline your heart toward God's law... you will never forsake your idols.

Refusing to hear God results in His silence

The lex talionis means God will not hear those who refuse to hear Him; this is a just retribution.

Therefore pray not thou for this people... for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble.

Scripture References

1 Kings 8:57-58: Solomon's prayer at the temple dedication, asking God to incline the hearts of the people to walk in His ways.
Proverbs 16:1: The preparations of the heart in man are from the Lord, indicating God's sovereignty over heart inclinations.
Joshua 24:23: Joshua commands Israel to put away strange gods and incline their hearts to the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 1:9: The Thessalonians turned to God from idols to serve the true and living God.
Matthew 10:37: Jesus teaches that loving family more than Him makes one unworthy of Him, warning against idolatry of relationships.
2 Corinthians 13:5: Paul exhorts believers to examine themselves whether they are in the faith.
Jeremiah 17:9-10: The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked; only God can search and know it.
Psalm 139:23-24: David prays for God to search his heart and lead him in the way everlasting.
1 Kings 8:38: Solomon speaks of every man knowing the plague of his own heart.
James 1:8: A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.
1 Kings 18:21: Elijah challenges Israel on Mount Carmel to choose between God and Baal.
Revelation 3:14-16: Christ rebukes the Laodicean church for being lukewarm and threatens to spew them out.
Psalm 141:4: David prays that his heart not be inclined to evil or to practice wicked works.
Proverbs 23:1-3: Warning not to desire the dainties of rulers, for they are deceitful meat.
Proverbs 9:13-18: The foolish woman entices with stolen waters and secret bread, but her guests are in the depths of hell.
Psalm 78:1: A call to incline the ear to the words of God's mouth.
Psalm 119:36: David prays for his heart to be inclined to God's testimonies and not to covetousness.
Jeremiah 7:23-24: God's people did not incline their ear but walked in their own evil imaginations.
2 Kings 22:18-19: Because Josiah's heart was tender and he heard God's word, God heard him.
Hosea 4:6: God's people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because they rejected knowledge, God rejects them.

Historical References

Matthew Henry's commentary on 1 Kings 8:58: Weaver quotes Matthew Henry's observation that Solomon's prayer is a type of Christ's intercession and that no human heart is naturally willing to obey the gospel.
Eli and his sons Hophni and Phinehas: Eli honored his sons above God, leading to their destruction and his own death, illustrating the danger of family idolatry.
War of Northern Aggression (American Civil War) anecdote: A man wore Confederate pants and a Union coat, getting shot by both sides, illustrating the peril of double-mindedness.
Hezekiah's prayer against Sennacherib: Hezekiah prayed for God to incline His ear and hear the reproach of the living God during the Assyrian invasion.
Josiah's reforms: Young King Josiah heard the law, humbled himself, and God heard him, exemplifying the lex talionis principle.

Important Quotes

So the question is not whether or not you are inclined or whether or not you are stretched out, but the question is in what direction are you inclined?

Captures the central diagnostic question of the sermon: every person is leaning one way or the other.

We do not have the ability to prepare our hearts. We do not even have the ability to incline our hearts. But however, just because we do not have the ability to incline or stretch forth our hearts, that does not mean that we do not have the responsibility.

Articulates the tension between human inability and divine command that undergirds the call to seek God's grace.

You cannot incline your heart toward God until the strange gods are put away.

States the non-negotiable first step in inclining the heart to God: forsaking all idols.

A double-minded man is unstable in all of his ways.

Highlights the instability that comes from a divided heart, a key warning in the sermon.

All sin is deceptive. It appears as a delightful dainty, yet it is a deceitful meat. It promises pleasure, but it only gives heartache and death.

Summarizes the deceptive nature of sin that believers must recognize and resist.

If you fail to incline your heart toward God's law, if you fail to incline your heart to the totality of his word, you will never forsake your idols and you will never ever turn from any and everything that is wicked and wrong and unjust.

Connects hearing God's Word with the power to forsake sin; without it, reformation is impossible.

You heard me. Therefore, I heard you.

Succinctly states the lex talionis principle that governs God's reciprocal hearing.

When we neglect his word, we neglect him. When we deny His word, we deny Him.

Emphasizes the inseparable link between God and His Word, making Bible neglect a personal affront to God.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

In what practical ways can we examine our hearts for hidden idols, and why is it essential to ask God to search our hearts?

[Context]

Weaver discusses the deceitfulness of the heart and the need for God to reveal idols, referencing Psalm 139:23-24.

[Question]

How does the concept of a 'divided heart' manifest in the life of a modern believer, and what are the consequences of spiritual lukewarmness?

[Context]

The sermon warns against double-mindedness using Elijah's challenge and the Laodicean church.

[Question]

Why is sin often described as 'dainties' or 'deceitful meat,' and how can we cultivate a holy suspicion toward its pleasures?

[Context]

Weaver explains the deceptive appeal of sin using Proverbs 9 and 23.

[Question]

What does it mean to 'incline your ear' to God's Word in a daily, practical sense, and how does this differ from mere Bible reading?

[Context]

The third responsibility emphasizes stretching out the ears to hear God, not just intellectual knowledge.

[Question]

How does the lex talionis principle challenge or encourage your prayer life, especially in times of trouble?

[Context]

God's reciprocal hearing is illustrated by Josiah and the warnings in Jeremiah.

[Question]

In what ways might we be 'forgetting God days without number,' and what steps can we take to remember Him daily?

[Context]

Weaver cites Jeremiah 2:32 to show that neglecting God's Word is forgetting Him.

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