Prone to Wander

Judges 21:25
“In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

Hebrews 2:1-4
“Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken though angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?”

Jeremiah 17:9-10
“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.”

Proverbs 16:18
“Pride goes before destruction,
And a haughty spirit before a fall.”

I’ve just finished reading the book of Judges in my daily Bible reading. It never ceases to impress me when I read through Judges, and the whole of the Old Testament really, how very prone to wander our hearts are. Throughout the period of the Judges, the people really did some horrific things as “everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” And some of the stories are heartbreaking and shocking. But, in His grace and mercy, God would periodically raise up judges, many of whom were quite flawed themselves, who would bring order from the chaos and the people would be faithful for about a generation or so before straying back into what was right in their own eyes again. It was only a generation after Joshua that the people were already forgetting the covenant with God, but He always upheld His promises to them. Judges 2:10 says, “When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel.” And so, they went their own way.

This was heartbreakingly true throughout the history of Israel. When the leader was faithful to the Lord, the people would follow their leader, and when the leader was not faithful to the Lord, the people would follow that leader into syncretism where they tried to incorporate pagan practices into their worship of God and then just outright, flagrant idolatry with no pretense at worship of the true God.

One reason it is important to read the Old Testament is, first of all, to understand the Law – which understanding will help us to understand our desperate need for a Savior, because none of us can keep that Law. Another reason is that reading about Israel’s history of straying from faith should serve as a warning to us how prone to wander the human heart really is, and what serious consequences there are for attempting to approach God on our own terms rather than His.

I heard Alistair Begg preach recently on Hebrews 2:1-4, and I’m still thinking on what he said about being very careful to pay heed to the Gospel lest we stray from the truth into error. I’ve always been extremely sobered by the passage in Matthew where Jesus warns that there will be many who think they are saved but will be told that He never knew them and to depart. He said many. (Matthew 7:21-23) And He said that the way is very narrow, and few find it. I take very seriously the example of the Israelites and their fickle faith and the warnings in the New Testament to be careful, to take heed and guard my heart and examine myself to be sure I’m in the faith. My assurance must not rest in my deceitful heart’s ability to be faithful. My assurance rests on Christ’s faithfulness, not mine. He kept the Law perfectly, every jot and tittle. He offered Himself on the cross, enduring God’s wrath for my sin, my shame, my utter inability to seek after His glory. His blood cleansed me. He is alive and at the right hand of the Father interceding for me. That is where my assurance rests.

There is no room for pride in this thought. But, I have to confess that when I do not pay careful attention, give the more earnest heed, to the things I’ve learned, it is far too easy to find myself slipping into Pharisaical self-righteous pride. I don’t want to allow myself to give over to pride and fall. When that temptation comes to think higher of myself than I ought, or to think that I’m really smart or something to have gotten my ducks in a row doctrinally speaking, I need to remember again that the only, and I mean only, reason I have any understanding of God’s grace and His word is because He has regenerated my spiritually dead heart and opened my understanding. It is not because I was so good or so smart to have figured it out all by myself. The natural man cannot comprehend the things of God. That’s why you have some people claiming these days that the Bible is just not understandable. Because it isn’t understandable to the natural, unregenerated heart and mind. But, I emphatically reject the notion floating around in so-called Christian circles today that the Bible can’t be understood at all. Yes it can. The basic, fundamental doctrines of the faith are understandable to the mind that God has regenerated and opened the understanding. Will there be some things we, in our finite understanding can’t get our minds fully around? I think that may be so, for God’s ways are higher than ours and His thoughts are not our thoughts. But the scriptures are clear on the fundamental things, and as God does His gracious, sanctifying work in the heart of a believer, understanding will deepen as that believer devotes himself or herself to diligent, prayerful study of God’s word.

So, understanding all this, that pride is a real danger and will take my eyes off of the Savior and put them back on me and my natural tendency to wander, I need to pay careful attention and guard my heart. I need to pay careful attention to the things I’ve learned and rehearse them often and take great joy in such a great salvation so that I will recognize the truth and not be seduced into error. And in doing that, the way I speak to and think about others should be affected. But, this post is already too long, so perhaps I’ll address the matter of how I ought to speak in another post. For now, here’s a hymn that beautifully articulates how I’m thinking about the heart’s tendency to stray and how I long to banish pride from my attitudes.

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,
Till released from flesh and sin,
Yet from what I do inherit,
Here Thy praises I’ll begin;
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;
How His kindness yet pursues me
Mortal tongue can never tell,
Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me
I cannot proclaim it well.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.