Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi
It is time to dive into the deep waters. I have pondered and pondered what the best approach to looking at all the instances of heart/hearts in the book of Psalms might be...should I lump all the instances of a particular Hebrew word together? Should I try to categorize the verses some other way?
I finally decided just plowing through it might be the best approach; I'm going to try to take it 10 chapters at a time, although I may tweak that, depending. There's going to be a lot of repetition, I'm sure, but maybe the repetition is important. And it ain't gonna go fast....but I really don't have a deadline so we'll just take it as it comes. So, here we go...
The first three Psalms don't mention Heart/Hearts at all...at least, not in the NIV. So we begin in the 4th Psalm, one of David's:
In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. SELAH. - Ps. 4:4 ; 'Hearts' is H2834 - Lebab, one of the two most-frequently seen Hebrew words in this study....the inner man, mind, will, heart, soul, understanding.
Speaking to the reader/ listener, Not really any indication of what to search FOR...but maybe we aren't to look FOR anything in particular, so much as to check one's heart over good and know what's there. Be honest and self-aware. Not a bad nightly discipline.
You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound. -- Ps. 4:7; 'Heart' is H3820 - Leb, the other one of the two most-frequently used Hebrew words for 'heart', which is actually derived from H2834.
Speaking to God, David acknowledges that the joy brought by fellowshipping with the Lord is better than an unbeliever's abundance... 'grain' and 'new wine' are wealth-related words.
From the 5th Psalm, a Psalm of David, who is speaking of his enemies:
Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with destruction, their throat is an open grave; with their tongue they speak deceit. - Ps. 5:9. King James and the NASB translate 'heart' as 'inward part'; the Amplified uses 'Heart'; it is Strong's H7130, Qereb: "properly, the nearest part, i.e., the center, whether literal, figurative, or adverbial (especially with preposition)."
Rotten to the core.
Psalm 7 is listed as 'a shiggion of David'...probably referring to the musical style.
We have a prayer and a declaration:
O righteous God, who searches minds and hearts, bring to an end the violence of the wicked and make the righteous secure. My shield is God Most High, who saves the upright in heart." Ps. 7:9-10. ' 'Hearts' in verse 9 is H3826 - Libbah, which is 'feminine of H3820; the Heart'. There are no other listed options for that translation, and it's used 7 times in the OT; once in Ezekiel and the others are all in Psalms and Proverbs. "Heart" in verse 10 is H3820., the first repeated Hebrew word today!
But, wow, what a timeless prayer...bring to an end the violence of the wicked and make the righteous secure. Amen.
David starts the 9th Psalm
I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. -- Ps. 9:1; 'Heart' is H3820 again.
'With all my heart'...David is thoroughly committed.
In the Tenth Psalm, the Psalmist (who isn't specifically named) is in the midst of a description of a wicked man:
He boasts of the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD. --Ps. 10:3; 'Heart' translated from a word we have seen before, but not often...H5314, Nephesh - "Soul, living being, life, self, person, desire, appetite, emotion, passion"; I get the feeling 'heart' is used more as an adjective here...describing the cravings that are deep-seated; passions, even. The word translated as 'cravings', H8378, can imply lust, appetite, covetousness.
The wicked one boasts of lusts and appetites and heaps approval on folks who acquire a bunch of stuff...and snubs God.
Um...wow.
Some things don't change.
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