On the wandering heart

Reading through the Old Testament, specifically Samuel and Kings, I am this day reminded and humbled by the frail nature of man, myself included. Not that we set out intentionally to do evil, but that our very nature is susceptible to corruption. It therefore makes it all the more important that we guard our hearts daily, for corruption doesn’t happen in one big swing. For what are we to say of Solomon, who, having been warned by God twice of his downfall should he turn, still ended up looking no different from Pharaoh in the days of Israel’s slavery? How do we reconcile the numerous kings who had God’s commandments but still ended up worse than the very nations Israel was sent to redeem? Like Apostle Paul in his letter to the church in Corinth, these things are indeed written for our admonition, and I am again reminded of my utter dependence on God’s Spirit, who alone can guard the wandering heart and conform it to his likeness. And so I am left to ruminate on Robert Robinson’s sobering lines from Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing. Knowing our propensity to corruption, his lyrics become the honest confession of the human condition.