Heart Problems

The book of Proverbs intones: Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. – Prov. 4:23 Tragically, the Judah of Jeremiah’s day failed to attend this most basic instruction.

Despite being murderers, idolaters, thieves, deceivers, (etc.), it would seem that God considered Judah’s fundamental problem to be one of the heart. Five times in this chapter, He addresses the people’s “heart problem.”

Plow up the hard ground of your hearts! – Jer. 4:3
…surrender your pride and power. Change your hearts before the LORD. – Jer. 4:4
…put on clothes of mourning and weep with broken hearts… - Jer. 4:8
…cleanse your heart that you may be saved. – Jer. 4:14
Your own actions have brought this upon you. This punishment is bitter, piercing you to the heart! – Jer. 4:18

Jeremiah was desperately pleading with his people to let God break the shells they had constructed around their hearts to hide their sins and protect them from godly criticism and amendment. As I reflect on the message of this text, I recognize that there is such a shell around my own heart. Like the ancient Judeans, I say that I want God to use me and be present in my life; But is that even possible? What can God really do with an unmalleable heart? What can anyone do with people who refuse to change. How do you teach someone who has already made the decision that they do not want to learn what you’re trying to teach them?

It is far too tempting for us to dismiss our heart problems as regrettable—but not life-threatening. I have frequently heard chronic sin in Christian lives (my own included) excused with the refrain: “Well, what’s it gonna’ hurt? That’s just [insert name here] being [insert name here].” According to Jeremiah—quite literally, everything.

If we repeatedly refuse to address our heart problems, at some point, God will step in and address those problems for us. In Jeremiah 4:23-26, He announced to the people of Judah:

I looked at the earth,
And it was empty and formless.
I looked at the heavens,
And there was no light.
I looked at the mountains and hills,
And they trembled and shook.
I looked, and all the people were gone.
All the birds of the sky had flown away.
I looked, and the fertile fields had become a wilderness.
The towns lay in ruins, crushed by the LORD’s fierce anger.
-- Jer. 4:23-26

Discussion Question:

1. Is there anything significant about the destruction imagery Jeremiah uses in 4:23-26? (Hint: Compare this language to Genesis 1)
2. In what (if any) ways are you hard-hearted?
3. What reason(s) might God have for telling the people to “put on clothes of mourning and weep with broken hearts?” (4:8) Is there anything good that can come of mourning and being broken?
4. Who was responsible for bringing this destruction upon Judah?