“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9
About whose heart is Jeremiah the prophet speaking in this passage? It must describe the murderer, the thief, the adulterer. It even sounds like the heart of some people we may know. It could be that fellow employee, an ex-spouse, the neighbor that is always complaining and causing trouble. But whose heart is Jeremiah describing? He is describing your heart and mine.
Our hearts deceive us into thinking that we are pretty good. And, when we sin, our hearts comes up with a thousand excuses to justify what we have done.
If you don’t think your heart is deceitful and wicked, just think back over the thoughts that have gone through your mind, the things you have desired, the words and actions which almost spilled out. I’m afraid the thoughts and desires of my heart would shock people. In fact, I am often appalled at what goes on in my heart and what sometimes comes out of it in the form of words and actions!
Jesus says the same thing of our hearts in Matthew 15:19: “Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” And how could Jesus know? Jeremiah writes further: “I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings” (Jeremiah 17:10).
Our hearts, yours and mine, are “desperately wicked”; and they deceive us into thinking that we’re not all that bad. Yet God says the imagination of our hearts is evil from our youth (cf. Genesis 8:21).
That is why we need a Savior! That is why God Himself took on human flesh and kept His holy law for us and then suffered and died upon the cross to bear the full punishment for our sins! That is why the risen Christ poured out His Holy Spirit upon us and regenerated us, giving us faith in Him as our Savior and a new heart which loves the LORD God and desires to please Him!
This is why David, in the Old Testament, prayed: “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin … Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me….” (Psalm 51:1-2, 10).
Yes, our hearts are wicked, and they would deceive us into thinking they are good. God’s Word describes our hearts as they really are. But God, in His Word, also tells us of His mercy and forgiveness in Jesus Christ and of His gracious working to recreate our hearts in His image.
“Create in me a new heart, Lord, that gladly I obey Thy Word and naught but what Thou wilt, desire; with such new life my soul inspire.” Amen. (TLH 398, v. 3).
[Devotion by Randy Moll. Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]
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