If there is one thing that is clear in Scripture, it is that God wants nothing less than our hearts. The LORD does not want a purely external form of service; in all his commands he wants our hearts. He rebukes his people when they honour him with their lips, while their heart is far from him. He takes no pleasure in sacrifices and burnt offerings. He seeks a broken spirit and a contrite heart. He desires that we love him with our whole hearts. My son, my daughter, give Me your heart! “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Prov. 4:23), says the preacher. So, what is it, our heart?

The Center of Feeling⤒🔗

I am under the impression that the Biblical “heart” is often interpreted as: our inner being, our feelings, our emotional life. Texts such as have been quoted in the introduction which underline the central place of the heart in the service the LORD, are then used to present our inner experience and emotion as the most important part of faith.

People distinguish three aspects in that faith: love, obedience, and knowledge which would then correspond to the trio of heart, hand and head. It is clear which is then the most important of the three, the heart, the inner attitude.

It seems important to me to further investigate this line of thinking. That is because this involves an area in which we are confronted, in our days, with a clear temptation. I am under the impression that Satan, in these last years, has tried to force a new way of thinking into the church of Christ. This way of thinking is not as easy to recognize as Marxism and materialism. Whoever reads descriptions about the modern feelings about life, such as are expressed in the new age philosophy, will have noticed that it is about a spiritual melding of godly forces supposedly hidden in creation and in the universe. One speaks about “mother earth”. People experience a deep aversion to dogma and rationalism. You must feel, experience and live truth. Faith alone, holding fast to God’s promises is not enough. At the very least, you must have a special experience along with that. Truth will not let itself be caught in a doctrinal system, definitely not in a specific doctrinal stream. Opposing views and differences must not be dug up and augmented, but must be solved in peaceful harmony. There must be no antithesis or confrontation, but rather a meeting of minds, conversation, and melding of ideas. Other “faith traditions” are so enriching for your own spirituality, your own manner of experiencing faith.

This modern feeling of life goes hand in hand with greater attention to the inner man. Having done something, experiencing something, and spirituality, have in a short time, become key words. People say that for centuries, it was about an outside truth which you just had to swallow, and about norms and values which you had to maintain and obey, but the person with his feelings and emotions was ignored. Now it is time to bring about change in this situation. We must ask ourselves to a much greater degree how a person can be himself and how he can live according to the wishes and choices of his own heart. Every person has something of god inside himself (Aleid Schilder). Let us then finally put an end to the talk of “obedience”, and let us now put a greater emphasis on “self-development”.

You then see that there is a shift happening in much of modern thinking. A person’s actions and words are no longer compared to what Scripture says, but to the question whether or not he is “really sincere”, or if he “really means what he says”, or if it is “authentic”. That is the antithesis of this time: people who speak from their hearts and people who do not. Meanwhile the seriousness of the scriptural antithesis disappears: it is no longer important for discussion to happen within the bonds of the Word of God, but rather, that thoughts are exchanged in an “open and honest”, “good atmosphere”.

Because I believe that as church, in this area, we are confronted with a strong temptation, I hope to think through and discuss these matters. Allow me to open up this discussion with a few comments about the “heart”.

Everything Comes From Our Heart←⤒🔗

Every person, believing or unbelieving, “feelings” person or intellectual person, speaks from his heart. A person can allow himself to be led through very rational arguments. A person can slavishly follow those who form opinions and can obey those who have authority without thinking it through. However, that does not take away that it is that person’s own choice to do so. In that choice, the heart speaks!

A person’s feelings can be underdeveloped. A person can keep his emotions hidden and express them rarely. But nobody can say or do something without his heart moving him to do so. The heart also speaks in deeds unaccompanied with words! Any expressing of life comes from the heart.

Under the Norm←⤒🔗

It is not the case that if you say what you think and do as you please, your presentation is worthy of respect for those reasons. The Lord, indeed, does not want us to be hypocrites, but he is, at least, equally displeased when we are unholy. Heart and mouth must be in agreement, but in the fear of the LORD.

What I do and say is not good, purely and only because it comes from my heart. I do not have a godly spark deep within me. I know that, by nature, nothing good dwells within me. My heart is, by nature, a terribly foul spring. The Lord Jesus speaks about a heart from which wicked deliberations come, adultery, theft, murder, divorce, envy, covetousness, cunning, etc. We are warned against living out our heart’s desires. Everyone’s heart must be purified and renewed (Ps. 51:9-14).

The Lord then does not say, do what your heart urges you to do, but he says, guard your heart. Our heart is not automatically directed towards the LORD. In the Psalms we read prayers such as: let the deliberations of my heart be pleasing to you, and incline my heart to your witnessing. Whoever speaks out of his heart, is not elevated above critique. He stands, with everything that lives in his heart, under the norm of God’s commandment: my son, my daughter, give your heart to Me. Love Me with everything that is in you. See to it that there is no wicked or adulterous heart in you.

Also as redeemed Christians, we stand under that norm. The Lord does not approve of everything that his children do. Also those who have been sealed by the Holy Spirit, can nevertheless disappoint him.

Give Me Your Heart←⤒🔗

Thanks to the Holy Spirit, we are being renewed. We seek God with our whole heart. From the heart, we sing our psalms and hymns of praise to him. We are heartily sorrowful about our sins (Heidelberg Catechism answer 89). We resolve to set our hearts to serving God according to his Word. The Lord is happy when he sees that. He rejoices over this proof and over the fruits of his grace in our lives.

The LORD comes near to us through our ears. He desires that we listen (Rom. 10:14-17) and understand (Matt. 13:10-17; Matt. 23). That is the way in which the Holy Spirit reaches to our hearts (Acts 16:14).

The LORD wants our hearts. He desires our love. It is not about our gifts and offerings. He wants our hearts. He does not only want us to keep his commandments. He wants to see that we take pleasure in living for him. (Heidelberg Catechism answer 90): a love and delight to live according to the will of God in all good works. For him, it is about our happy faces when we serve him. He desires us to do all kinds of good works for him. He does not desire a present from us or a quick thank-you. He desires us!

No Superficial Service←⤒🔗

When we speak about our “heart” that must be for the Lord, we must not internalize that. Certainly, the heart is something that is not visible to the eye. But it is noteworthy that the LORD does chastise our hearts according to what they bring forth. One will know the tree by its fruits.

When the LORD, in Psalm 50, criticizes Israel’s service of offerings, he proves the superficiality of the offerings by their sinful lifestyle. There is no shortage of pious words! They know God’s commands from memory; they can recite multiple sections. God’s command lies in their mouths, but meanwhile, they reject God’s words. They intermingle with thieves and adulterers. They defame and gossip. This displays their wrong attitude (vv. 16-20).

The same criticism resounds in the days of Amos. The people bring offerings repeatedly. They sing and play music before the LORD. This is all joyful religion and “spirituality”. But the Lord says, “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies…I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs…But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5: 21-24).

Through Isaiah, the LORD says something similar. Israel’s service of God is totally for show. They offer, they pray, and they are very pious. But the LORD says, when you fold your hands, I will not listen. And even though you increase the number of prayers and quiet time in great measure, I will not listen, for the hands which you fold are the hands with which you commit one sin after another. First wash yourself and cleanse yourself. Take your evil deeds away from my eyes and cease to do evil (Isa. 1).

The lamentation of Isaiah taken up by our Lord Jesus is very expressive: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men” (Isa. 29:13). In which situations does the Lord Jesus apply this lamentation to those who oppose him? How does he come to the point where he accuses them of this? Because he has searched their inner secret feelings? No, he has observed their deeds and he has concluded that they have made God’s command irrelevant in an elaborately underhanded manner. They speak piously, but neglect the fifth commandment: honor your father and your mother (Matt. 15).

The LORD measures our love in the same manner. If someone says that he loves God but does not keep God’s commands, then he is a liar. For this is love, that we keep God’s commands. The Lord would sooner have us listen to him and do what he asks than that we bring him offerings according to our taste.

Love of the neighbour is also proven by concrete deeds. You cannot wish somebody who is in need of clothing and food, the best in a very friendly way and then leave him to his plight. Pure and undefiled service of God is “to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world” (James 1:27). Faith without works is dead.

That God wants our hearts does not take away from the command of concrete obedience, also in outward things such as clothing and free time. The LORD wants more than “experiencing” of our faith. He wants a life of faith, a life that is unified, a life that is a feast which we celebrate, cleansed and purified.

Command Center←⤒🔗

It is not correct to limit the heart to the center of our feelings or the seat of our emotions. If it is only about our “feeling” life, the Old Testament preferably speaks about “kidneys” and “intestines”. The heart is something else.

“Heart” in Scripture can refer to the organ that beats within our chest. It can also refer to what in colloquial language is called “the inner man” (Gen. 18:5; for another usage of the expression “the inner being” Eph. 3:16).

But in the texts with which we are concerned in this article, the heart is the spiritual center which gives leadership in the totality of our lives. We do not desire to make references to individual texts. From summarizing oversights in “theological dictionaries”, it appears that the heart is our inner command center. As such, it is the seat of emotions, longings and desires. But it is not less the center of consciousness, deliberation, understanding, insight and wisdom. In our “heart”, we set our priorities, formulate our plans, and make our decisions. Heart can also stand for conscience. My “heart” — that is I, in the way that I react to the gospel.

In Scripture, “heart” does not only indicate “feeling”, but also “will”, “conscience”, and even (unbelievable as it seems to some), “intellect”! Whoever equates “heart” with “feeling” and “emotion”, short changes the scriptural speaking about heart. As the LORD demands our “heart” for himself, that means more than that he wants our “feelings” or that we should “experience” our faith. It means that he wants all of our “life” down to its deepest root.

Let us not allow the biblical understanding of “heart”’ to fall prey to the preference and taste of the modern life “feeling”. In this field, let us also hold ourselves outside of the reach of the antithesis (knowledge/heart) set up by the unjustly so-called “knowledge” (1 Tim. 6:20). That would be a good thing for the scriptural level and content of our discussion about the issue of faith-experience.