Browse Bible Study Resources

Daily Devotions

Jeremiah

Jeremiah 
Day 
Day 214

"The heart is deceitful above all things"

Text: Jeremiah 17:9

THE HUMAN HEART

God’s view of the human heart is not quite the same as human opinion. His view of the state of the human heart is explained.

“The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?
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.
As a partridge that broods but does not hatch,
So is he who gets riches, but not by right;
It will leave him in the midst of his days,
And at his end he will be a fool.”
Jeremiah 17:9-11

1. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?”

a) This is a very candid expression of the human heart.
b) God’s declaration about the true state of the human heart.
i) It is most deceitful.
ii) It is desperately wicked.
c) Who can know the true state of the human heart?
i) It is often kept hidden.
ii) It is also cleverly disguised.
iii) Many will never allow another person to see the true heart.

2. “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”

a) God searches the depths of the heart.
b) He tests the mind as well.
c) Both are closely related.
d) God’s judgment:
i) He will recompense everyone according to his ways.
ii) The fruit of a man’s action reveals the state of his heart.
iii) God will deal with him accordingly and appropriately.

3. “As a partridge that broods but does not hatch, so is he who gets riches, but not by right;
it will leave him in the midst of his days, and at his end he will be a fool”

a) The way of a partridge was cited as an example.
i) It is known to steal the eggs of other birds.
ii) It adds these stolen eggs and hatches them as its own.
b) This is illustrative of a covetous man.
i) He seeks wealth.
ii) He takes what was not his by right.
c) At the end of the day:
i) The wealth that he claims as his would be lost.
ii) He is proven to be a fool for his sinful and wicked ways.