The Dwelling Place of Our Heart

September 1947

The Dwelling Place of Our Heart

God looks at the heart, and what does He see there? When Jesus looked into the Pharisees’ hearts, He saw dead men’s bones, extortion, and self-indulgence, hypocrisy, unrighteousness, and all kinds of abominable things. Matt. 23:25-28.

People did not see an external glory in Jesus’ life, but if the door of His heart had suddenly been opened, they would have been blinded by the exceedingly abundant glory that could be found there. They would have seen the Son of God wandering about in the palace of His heart in power and glory.

What impression would people get if they could suddenly look into our thought life, into the chambers of our heart? If they could go from room to room, what would they see? Would the hearts of your opposers melt if they could look into the prayer chamber of your heart and see the walls deeply engraved with names, and also find their own names deeply engraved with love and care? Or perhaps they would only find the names of your own family members and a few others written on the walls? Or would they look into a dark and cold room where they could barely see the remains of some names that had been erased? Would they be struck with amazement if they came into a chamber of peace and felt the blessed heavenly peace that was there?

How would it be if they looked into the halls of righteousness and love? Would they see the walls covered with all kinds of awful idols just like the elders of Israel had in their hearts? Ezek. 8:10 and 14:3. Or would they see the walls covered with the laws of love and righteousness, engraved with Jesus’ own hand, and would they see the Father and the Son sitting at your side having communion with you? Heb. 10:16; John 14:23; Rev. 3:20.

Yes, God can do great things with a human being. He can save, re-create, and transform us. He can cleanse our hearts and adorn the dwelling of our hearts with the most precious things. We carry this house with us wherever we go; it is a habitation of peace in the midst of this restless and anxious world. It is a dwelling that no power on earth can enter and destroy against our will.

Unfortunately, there are many dismal and dangerous houses. All sorts of ugly, creeping things jump out if you leave the door ajar just a little bit. Poisonous asps stick out their tongues and spray their deadly poison around. It would be good if such houses bore large, clear warning signs, because their entire surroundings are extremely dangerous due to their many nasty traps.

David writes in Psalm 55:15, “Let death seize them; let them go down alive into hell, for wickedness is in their dwellings and among them.”

The pure in heart shall see God and receive counsel from His eyes. As long as the elders of Israel kept idols in their hearts, the Lord refused to be inquired of by them.

“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” Prov. 4:23.

The foundation of our house must be on top of the Mount of the Lord, and the whole area surrounding the mountaintop is to be most holy. Ezek. 43:12.