The Way of the Wise - Proverbs
5 - Guard Duty
The key verse for our study this time is Proverbs 4:23 which says, “Above all else guard your heart because it is the well spring of life.” So I have called this talk, “Guard your heart.” We are going to think today about “guard duty” and ask three questions:
1. “What is guard duty?”
2. “How do I do it?”
3. “Why should I do guard duty?”
So first, what is it this guard duty? It is a command that we guard our hearts. It is something we must do, and it must not be neglected. It is the clear instruction of Scripture that we are to guard our heart above all else. To keep or to guard is the Hebrew word “Natzar”. It has various meanings, but the main one is to keep something in safe custody. Sometimes we guard a criminal to protect society from him. Sometimes we may protect valuables by putting them into the safe custody or keeping of a Bank. But what exactly is it that we are to guard so carefully? It is our heart, and the word heart here includes a great deal. It includes the understanding, and it includes the will and the affections.
Jesus answered the question of a lawyer-teacher, “Which is the great commandment in the law,” by saying, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:36). The heart also includes the conscience and it includes the mind and the memory. David said in the Psalms, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11).
Solomon here in Proverbs chapter 4 warns us not to do evil. In verses 14 and 15 he says “Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evil men. Avoid it do not travel on it, turn from it and go on your way”. Do you remember God’s words to Israel, “And now Israel what does the Lord your God require of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him with all your heart and with all your soul?” (Deuteronomy 10:12). Then there is that lovely invitation in Proverbs 23:26, “My son give me your heart and let your eyes observe my ways”. Clearly the word “heart” has a wealth of meaning, but essentially here “heart” means the real you, your whole soul with all its powers and abilities and understanding and potential, the real you that will never ever die.
What is the context of this instruction to guard the heart? The context is that of a journey - the path of life. There are two paths through life. Verses 18 and 19 describe them as the paths of light and darkness: “The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble.” Jesus said of Himself, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12), and the entrance of his word into believing hearts gives light. The Apostle Paul said, “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness who has shone into our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). Paul also said in writing to Christian believers, “You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord” (Ephesians 5:8). The word of God brought us life, and we need the word of God for a spiritually healthy heart. It is by the application of God’s word that we guard our hearts.
So we come to our second question: “How am I to guard my heart?” Verse 19 speaks about a pathway of darkness which is the way of the wicked. It is spiritual darkness that describes the tragic condition of those without Christ. To guard your heart you must be sure that you are on the right pathway and that you have been guided by the light of God’s word. Verse 20 tells us to receive his word, to pay attention to it and to listen closely to it. Verse 21 tells us keep it within our heart. Our delight and our duty is to retain the word of God in our minds.
We are also to guard our words, according to Verse 24, avoiding troublesome and corrupt talk. We are to guard our eyes, according to Verse 25, taking care not to look at things that will turn us away from the path of the righteous. Then we are to guard our feet, considering carefully our path through life, according to Verses 26 and 27. But the most important, “Above all else”, says Solomon, “guard your heart.” Guard it like a guard in a top security prison. Don’t allow sin or defilement in. Guard it like those who watch in time of war. It is war spiritually to fight the good fight of faith. Guard it like the Levites guarding the sanctuary of God, for we are temples of the Holy Spirit as a Christians guard your heart as man guards his life. Guard your heart as people guard their treasures. Guard your heart as people keep their gardens neat and tidy allowing no weeds or slugs and snails or any such things.
And finally, “Why should I guard my heart?” Solomon gives the answer in the rest of this verse, “because it is the well spring of life.” As a man thinks in his heart, that is what he is really like. It is out of the heart that all our affections, actions and ambitions spring, and so Paul writes to the Colossian Christians in chapter 3 of his letter: “Since then you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:1 to 3).
Where is your heart set? What occupies your mind more than anything else? The Lord Jesus said that where a man’s treasure is, there his heart will be. Treasure speaks of value and wealth, of something that is very precious to us. Is your heart set on Christ or on the passing things of this life? Is your chief ambition to live for Him and so bring glory to Him? Guard your heart, then, more carefully than any earthly treasure for it is the real you, and the real you is eternally precious.