Guard Your Heart | Part 2
Episode One explored the urgency of maintaining a pure heart before God. Episode two uses the life of King Josiah to explore the actual practice of nurturing a heart that is sensitive to the whispers of God while maintaining an awareness of the subtleties of sin. The episode examines events in the life of King David that contrast and illustrate the dangerous but common (relentless) trap of allowing a once tender sensitive heart to be lured by the unexpected deceitfulness of sin.
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Transcript
Welcome to the Fortifying youg Family podcast.
Speaker A:It can be daunting to navigate through an anti marriage and family culture.
Speaker A:Our teacher will expound biblical principles to help fortify our families and keep these sacred institutions strong.
Speaker A:And now, here's this week's teaching from Sam Wood.
Speaker B:But not only do we need to keep a pure heart, let me also say we need to keep a tender heart.
Speaker B:A tender heart.
Speaker B:You know the Bible, if you study the heart, it speaks of all kinds of different hearts.
Speaker B:Speaks of you probably remember the hard heart of Pharaoh.
Speaker B:Jesus told the Pharisees that they were slow of heart.
Speaker B:The Bible speaks of those who have an evil heart of unbelief.
Speaker B:But the Bible also speaks of a tender heart.
Speaker B:Now let me stop and I want to define what I mean by a tender heart.
Speaker B:Someone with a tender heart.
Speaker B:I believe this has a reference to a man who is so sensitive to sin in his life that he quickly responds to the first awareness of that sin.
Speaker B:A person, a Christian, who is so sensitive to sin in their life that they quickly respond quickly respond to the first awareness of that sin in their life.
Speaker B:Now I want you to look with me at a brief example of this, a living example of this in 2nd Kings 22.
Speaker B:Look there with me for just a moment and we see a living example of a man with a tender heart.
Speaker B:And I think this illustrates it beautifully.
Speaker B:And hope you'll just follow right along with me in Scripture for a few minutes.
Speaker B:Second Kings, chapter 22.
Speaker B:And look with me if you would, at verse one.
Speaker B:Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign.
Speaker B:And he reigned 30 and 1 years in Jerusalem.
Speaker B:And his mother's name was Jedidiah, the daughter of Adaian Bosch.
Speaker B:And he did that which was right in the sight, the Lord.
Speaker B:And he walked in all the ways of David his father.
Speaker B:And he turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.
Speaker B:Look at verse eight.
Speaker B:And Hilkah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I found the book of the law in the house of the Lord.
Speaker B:And Hilki gave the book to Shaphan.
Speaker B:And he read it.
Speaker B:And Shaphan the scribe came to the king and brought the king word again and said, thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and they have delivered it into the hand.
Speaker B:Them that do the work, they have the oversight of the house of the Lord.
Speaker B:Verse 10.
Speaker B:And Shaphan the scribe showed the king, saying, hilkiah, the priest hath delivered me a book.
Speaker B:And Shaphan read it before the king.
Speaker B:Now I want you to notice with me very carefully what happens when the word of God is simply read.
Speaker B:Simply read to King Josiah, verse 11.
Speaker B:And it came to pass when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.
Speaker B:He rent his clothes.
Speaker B:And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahiakam the son of Shaphan, and Ekbar the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the scribe and Ahaiah a servant of the king, saying, go, ye inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah concerning the words of this book thou hast found.
Speaker B:For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.
Speaker B:Now pause with me just a minute.
Speaker B:The book of the law has been discovered.
Speaker B:It's simply read to the king.
Speaker B:But the moment he hears it.
Speaker B:The moment he hears it, his heart is so struck by God that he tears his clothes off, which is a sign of inner humiliation because he realizes how they have disobeyed God, broken his law, and the wrath of God will come upon them.
Speaker B:Oh, that God will give us that heart today.
Speaker B:That we could look at what's happening in our country and we would rent our clothes before God and say, God, give me such a tender heart that I would be concerned, even concerned as Josiah was concerned.
Speaker B:Look at verses.
Speaker B:In verses 14 through 17, God states, His wrath will come upon the nation.
Speaker B:He says that the nation will go into captivity.
Speaker B:But look at verse 18 at God's assessment of Josiah.
Speaker B:But to the king of Judah, which sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, thus saith the Lord God of Israel, as touching the words which thou hast heard.
Speaker B:Because thine heart was.
Speaker B:Say it with me, Church.
Speaker B:Tender.
Speaker B:Because thy heart was what?
Speaker B:Tender.
Speaker B:And thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord when thou heardest what I spake against this place and against inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse and hast rent thy clothes and wept before me.
Speaker B:I also have heard thee, saith the Lord.
Speaker B:Scripture goes on to tell us that God's judgment will not come until after Josiah dies.
Speaker B:We might ask several questions here.
Speaker B:Why does God stay his judgment?
Speaker B:Because Josiah's heart was what church?
Speaker B:Because it was tender.
Speaker B:Where were the indications that his heart was tender?
Speaker B:Look at verse 19.
Speaker B:Again.
Speaker B:He humbled himself when he heard.
Speaker B:When he heard the words of The Lord.
Speaker B:He humbled himself before the Lord.
Speaker B:He rent his clothes and he wept before me.
Speaker B:That's all he needed.
Speaker B:Very interesting.
Speaker B:That's all Josiah needed.
Speaker B:He didn't need somebody to come and preach him 10 sermons on 10 Sundays to try to keep pricking his heart and pricking his heart and pricking his heart and pricking his hard heart, heart, heart, keep doing that work.
Speaker B:The first time he heard the word of God read, his heart was so tender that he was brokenhearted to the point that he rent his clothes in total humiliation before God.
Speaker B:And he began to cry, wow.
Speaker B:God help us.
Speaker B:God help me.
Speaker B:A godly Christian has such a tender heart that when the Spirit reveals sin to them, they respond through immediate confession and repentance.
Speaker B:Immediate confession and repentance.
Speaker B:But listen, the frightening thing, folks, as I studied this, the frightening thing is that a man can have a tender heart at one point in his life, and yet later his heart can turn hard and become hardened against God.
Speaker B:I want to give you an example.
Speaker B:As I close with that turn to 1 Samuel, chapter 24.
Speaker B:I want to give you an example of a man who has a tender heart, but later his heart becomes hardened before God.
Speaker B:First Samuel, chapter 24.
Speaker B:David is to be the next king of Israel.
Speaker B:But Saul is chasing him around as a fugitive, trying to kill him because of his jealousy that David will be the next king.
Speaker B:So Saul's hunting him down like a fugitive.
Speaker B:In 1st Samuel 24, we see an instance that reveals the heart of David at this time in his life.
Speaker B:Look at it with me.
Speaker B:And it came to pass when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, behold, David is in the wilderness of Engidi.
Speaker B:Then Saul took 3,000 chosen men out of Israel and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats.
Speaker B:And he came to the sheepcotes, by the way, where was a cave.
Speaker B:And Saul went in to cover his feet.
Speaker B:And David and his men remained in the sides of the cave.
Speaker B:Look at verse four.
Speaker B:And the men of David said unto him, behold the day of which the Lord said unto thee, behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it would seem good unto thee.
Speaker B:Now let me stop and say this.
Speaker B:Nowhere in Scripture is that recorded no prophet ever, that was never recorded by it.
Speaker B:It may have been said.
Speaker B:We don't know that it wasn't said.
Speaker B:But nowhere in Scripture was that recorded.
Speaker B:So David's soldiers are saying, this is the time that God gave you to Kill Saul.
Speaker B:Here he is in the cave.
Speaker B:Now you can get him.
Speaker B:You can kill him.
Speaker B:Said then David arose and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe privily.
Speaker B:It came to pass afterward that David's heart did what church it smote him.
Speaker B:David's heart smote him because he had cut off Saul's skirt.
Speaker B:And he said unto his men, the Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my master.
Speaker B:The Lord's anointed to stretch forth my hand against him, seeing he's anointed of the Lord.
Speaker B:So David stayed his servants with these words and suffered them not to rise against Saul.
Speaker B:But Saul rose up out of the cave and went on his way.
Speaker B:Oh, what a picture of a tender heart.
Speaker B:No sooner had he went over and snuck up to Saul's robe and skirt, and he took a little knife and cut off a piece of that skirt, and he snuck back to where he was at.
Speaker B:No sooner had he done that than his heart slayed him.
Speaker B:His heart smote him.
Speaker B:He had such a tender heart about what he had just done that his heart smote him.
Speaker B:He had touched God's anointed, and he knew that was contrary to God's law.
Speaker B:David had a tender heart that was so sensitive to sin that he quickly responds to the first awareness of that sin in his life.
Speaker B:Let's let 20 some years pass by.
Speaker B:And now David's the king.
Speaker B:He's much wiser.
Speaker B:He's a psalmist.
Speaker B:He's a man after God's own heart.
Speaker B:Look at it with me in second Samuel, chapter 11 for a moment.
Speaker B:Second Samuel, chapter 11.
Speaker B:Just a few years pass by.
Speaker B:David's the king of Israel, verse 1.
Speaker B:Follow along with me, if you would.
Speaker B:This morning it came to pass after the years was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel.
Speaker B:And they destroyed the children of Amnon and besieged Rabbah.
Speaker B:But David tarried still at Jerusalem.
Speaker B:Oh, that the next verse in this passage of Scripture in verse two would say, and his heart smote him, and he put on his armor and went out to battle.
Speaker B:Oh, that that next verse would read that, verse two.
Speaker B:And it came to pass in the evening ty that David arose from off his bed and walked upon the roof of the king's house.
Speaker B:And from the roof he saw a woman washing herself.
Speaker B:And the woman was very beautiful to look upon all friends.
Speaker B:Oh, that the next verse would read, and David's heart smote him, and he turned his eyes away so that he would not lust after this woman.
Speaker B:It doesn't read that, but oh that it would.
Speaker B:Verse 3.
Speaker B:And David sent and inquired after the woman.
Speaker B:And one said, is not this Bathsheba the daughter of Eliam the wife of Uriah the Hittite?
Speaker B:Oh that the next verse would read, and David's heart smote him, that he would not covet another man's wife.
Speaker B:David sent messengers and took her, and she came unto him, and he lay with her, for she was purified from her uncleanness and she returned unto her house.
Speaker B:Oh that the next verse would read, and his heart smote him because he had committed adultery with another man's wife.
Speaker B:Verse 5.
Speaker B:And the woman conceived and sent and told David and said, I am with child.
Speaker B:Oh that the next verse would read and his heart smote him, knowing that God would not let him get away with his sin.
Speaker B:Oh that his heart was so smitten at that point.
Speaker B:But no, what does he do?
Speaker B:He schemes in his heart a cover up.
Speaker B:He sends for her husband so she'll come home and have some intimacy with his wife to cover up his sin.
Speaker B:But look in verse 11 how Uriah responds.
Speaker B:And Uriah said unto David the ark and Israel and Judah abide in tents, and my Lord Joab and the servants of my Lord are encamped in the open fields.
Speaker B:Now here's a man, Uriah, who is a Hittite, a converted pagan Jew, not a Jew by birth, but a converted pagan Jew who says, shall I then go into mine own house to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife as thou livest and as thy soul livestream?
Speaker B:I will not do this thing.
Speaker B:Oh that the next verse would read, and David's heart smote him when he heard the words of Uriah and confessed and repented of his sin to God.
Speaker B:David then stoops to trying to get Uriah drunk because he knows that all self control is lost in drunkenness.
Speaker B:Now listen, folks, this is, this is David.
Speaker B:Folks listen, this is David, the man whose heart smote him when he cut off a little piece of Saul's robe in a cave.
Speaker B:Now he's getting a man drunk trying to cover up his sin.
Speaker B:Go have relations with your wife, David says.
Speaker B:So it'll give me an excuse.
Speaker B:When your wife starts, her belly starts getting bigger and she starts showing to everybody else, they won't think it's me.
Speaker B:They'll think her husband did this.
Speaker B:We know that.
Speaker B:Plot fails.
Speaker B:So he sends a messenger to Joab to take this man Uriah and put him in the front ranks so he'll be killed in the providence of war.
Speaker B:And when the messenger returns and tells David that Uriah was killed, look at David's response in verse 25.
Speaker B:Then David said unto the messenger, thus shalt thou say unto Joab, let not this thing displease thee, for the sword devoureth one as well as the other or another.
Speaker B:Make thy battle more strong against the city, and overthrow it, and encourage thou him.
Speaker B:David responds at this message that Uriah has been killed like a pagan would respond, saying, things just happen.
Speaker B:It's all left up to chance.
Speaker B:God has nothing to do with it.
Speaker B:All left up to chance.
Speaker B:Is this the same man who went in the cave several decades before, whose heart smote him when he cut off a little piece of Saul's robe?
Speaker B:Is this the same man who humbled himself in a cave but exalted himself on the roof?
Speaker B:David is a calculated adulterer and murderer.
Speaker B:Now I want to ask you a question.
Speaker B:How did his how did he get from the point of having a tender heart over here in the cave, having a hard heart on the rooftop when he's coveting another man's wife?
Speaker B:Let me just try to give you a simple explanation the best I can in just a few minutes as we close.
Speaker B:He thought the first time his heart smote him that he could resist it and it would not build a callous place on his heart.
Speaker B:But over time, David resisted the smiting of God in his heart and his heart became hardened.
Speaker B:And folks, let me just say something here this morning.
Speaker B:It's a dangerous thing when the Holy Spirit speaks to you about sin in your life and you ignore that and quench the spirit in your life.
Speaker B:When your heart is tender at one point in your life and you quench the spirit of God and don't respond immediately to that sin, that you build a little callous place over your heart and your heart begins to become harder and harder and harder, folks, lest we become proud.
Speaker B:It's like just watching one TV program and you see one thing you know you shouldn't be watching, and your heart smites you about it and you resist in saying, it's just this one time.
Speaker B:It's not going to hurt me.
Speaker B:I'm going to look.
Speaker B:Some men say, I'm going to look at this magazine, I'm going to look at this website, and there's going to be lust that's going to burn in my mind.
Speaker B:But I'm just going to do it this one time.
Speaker B:I'm just going to fudge on My taxes, cheat on my taxes, steal what is not mine.
Speaker B:Just this one time, I'm just going to.
Speaker B:And I'm going to let you fill in the blank.
Speaker B:I'm just going to do this thing just one time.
Speaker B:I believe if someone had come to David after he left that cave and said, In 20 years you'll be on top of your king's palace looking at another woman, and lust will be burning in your heart to the point that it'll lead you to commit adultery with her.
Speaker B:And to cover that up, you will kill her husband.
Speaker B:You will be an adulterer, and you'll be a murderer.
Speaker B:I believe David would say, what are you talking about?
Speaker B:That could never happen to me.
Speaker B:You don't know me.
Speaker B:I'm David.
Speaker B:I'm the psalmist.
Speaker B:I'm the one after God's own heart.
Speaker B:I would never do such a thing, folks.
Speaker B:I can tell you I've heard the same words in counseling so many times.
Speaker B:I never would have believed.
Speaker B:I never would have believed that I could do what I did.
Speaker B:I never would have believed that I could have had an affair in another relationship with another man and commit adultery.
Speaker B:I never believed I could get so hooked on pornography that it would destroy my life this way.
Speaker B:I never believed this would happen to me.
Speaker B:Now listen, folks, I'm not throwing stones at David.
Speaker B:See, all this in Scripture is written for our admonition.
Speaker B:Amen.
Speaker B: First Corinthians: Speaker B:Lest he fall.
Speaker B:Now, praise the Lord, folks, that we have the testimony.
Speaker B:What a great testimony it is in Psalm 51 that reveals David's heart became broken before God and tender once again as he cries out to the Lord, Create within me a clean heart, O God.
Speaker B:Restore the joy of my salvation.
Speaker B:Prayer.
Speaker B:Praise God for that psalm has your heart becomes so hardened that you no longer are tender and sensitive to God about sin in your life.
Speaker B:You may need to confess and repent of some weeds that the Holy Spirit has shown you that are in your heart, that need to be pulled up, plucked up out of your heart, confessed and repented of.
Speaker B:You may need to come and cry before God and say, God, I.
Speaker B:I'm that person.
Speaker B:I've got a hard heart.
Speaker B:I'm not sensitive to sin anymore.
Speaker B:The preacher can talk about it and talk about it.
Speaker B:People can talk about it and read the Bible.
Speaker B:It doesn't affect me anymore.
Speaker B:If that's you, folks, listen, your heart has become hardened.
Speaker B:You need to come and confess that to God and say, oh God, forgive me.
Speaker B:Restore unto me the joy of my salvation.
Speaker B:Cleanse my heart.
Speaker B:Make it tender once again before you.
Speaker A:Thank you for joining the Fortifying youg Family podcast.
Speaker A:And if you feel encouraged by today's teaching, give us a follow so we can invite you back and share us on your socials so more marriages and families can be strengthened and fortified through the truths of God's Word.
Speaker A:Remember, fortifying your family starts with a strong belief in God's Word.
Speaker B:Sa.
