Proverbs 23 verse 26.
My son, give me thine heart and let
thine eyes observe my ways.
In German, the text is a bit different,
but I was glad to find that the
standard version, the American standard version, and that
the old Afrikaans translation are the same as
the German Bible.
In the German version, it's give me my
son, thine heart and let thine eyes observe
my ways.
In the American revised version, it's my son,
give me your heart and let your eyes
delight in my ways.
In Afrikaans, I didn't have time to look
at the new translation, my son, give me
your heart and let your eyes delight in
my ways.
The first, I'd just like to touch on
a few points in this text.
The first point, my son, God isn't
addressing the heathen here, but his son.
In the American translation, God is addressing his
son.
Give me my son, thine heart.
God speaks to his son and beseeches him,
pleads with him that he should give him
his heart.
I was pleasantly surprised when we sang the
song, the chorus, where we say, Give me
my son, give me your heart and let
your eyes delight in
my
ways.
Our hearts should be a gift for God.
That God draws close to us and addresses
us in such a way, says my son,
give me your heart.
What prompted God to address us in such
a way?
That he's got such a request that we
should give him our hearts.
And that he makes it very personal and
says, my son, give me your heart.
Any father who addresses his son or his
child and talks like this, there's something behind
it.
There's only one thing, love prompts this request.
It is only love that seeks after love.
We do not care to be loved by
people we don't love.
So he cares so much for you because
he's got a feeling, he's got a love
that prompts him to utter this request, my
son, give me your heart.
It's not a natural thing that we can't
take it for granted that every son will
give God his heart.
Let's just think of the prodigal son, the
fellow on his own.
He left the father with his heart.
He didn't give his father his heart.
It's not a natural thing that every son
will give his heart to God for his
father.
The prodigal son is an example of that.
We know of a prophet to whom God's
word came and when he heard God speaking
to him, he ran away.
You know who that prophet was?
Jonah.
But Jonah ran away from the Lord and
headed for Tarshish.
He should have gone to Nineveh.
What was the reason, just this, that he
hadn't given his heart to God, to the
father?
His heart, in other words, his soul, his
will, his feeling, his taste, what he liked
and he didn't like, wasn't fully yielded to
God and given to God.
It is said that a certain man bought
a big, huge mansion.
He was a very rich man.
And when the keys had to be handed
over to the buyer, the
owner, the previous owner, said, here are the
keys.
But there's one key missing from the fourth
floor and the second key for the attic
right on top of the fourth floor.
And he told the buyer, you see, I
can't give you that key on the fourth
floor and right on top in the attic.
That's a dark room and I can't give
you that key.
And the buyer said, I want everything or
I don't want anything.
I want the keys for those two rooms
up there as well.
Because I'm the new owner of this place
and as the master, I want the master
key for every room.
He said he wanted the whole house.
And I don't doubt that when the heavenly
father says, give me my son, your heart
he wants the whole heart.
Not just a piece of the heart, because
the heart that is halved is killed.
God wants the whole heart.
With no corners, no rooms upstairs, whether at
the bottom in the cellar or right up
in the attic.
He paid the price and he paid a
great price at Golgotha.
He wants everything.
Now a personal question, have you given your
heavenly father your heart?
And that we do it consciously,
we have now sung three times, take my
heart.
Did we mean it or did we just
sing?
And it was not a conscious thing.
We who know confirmation in the Lutheran church,
we know of the best words a person
can utter in this world.
And
we say, but
it's just a pity that sometimes we do
it superficially and and do our own business.
Give me my son, your heart.
And then we get to the next
point.
So that you may delight in my ways.
God's ways aren't our ways.
He doesn't hide it from us.
Sometimes they're contrary to our ways.
Now we say, oh no, I don't see
any chance for this.
Now, who of us would have expected years
ago that God would take common in such
a way with only 48 years of age?
Who would ever have thought that my wife,
who was much younger than what I was,
would leave me behind?
God's ways aren't our ways.
But never forget, they are so much higher
and better than our ways as heaven is
above the earth and heaven compared to the
earth.
And if we have given him, yielded our
heart to him, completely, perfectly, fully surrendered to
God, come what may, we say, oh, even
if God's ways aren't our ways, but we
embrace them.
They are the best ways.
He never makes a mistake.
Karl Heinz and Carmen's children could say, oh,
why should we lose our mother at such
an early age?
Why shouldn't I have a biological mother anymore?
Sometimes you go into the house, mama, and
she isn't there.
And the husband may say, mama, I've brought
something for you, and suddenly you realize she's
not there.
May there never be murmuring or
anger against God because of his ways in
our lives and in your lives.
What God does is best.
The Lord Jesus told Peter, Peter, what I
do now, you can't understand, but one day
you'll realize.
God's ways are perfect.
He knows why things have gone this way.
Should never fight or kick against it.
And if we have given our heart to
him, we say, let your will be done.
In our lives, as it is done in
heaven.
Then it says, last time and I'll get
mine.
That we are well pleased with that.
What God has done.
A few times the voice came from heaven.
This is my beloved son in whom I'm
well pleased.
The father was well pleased.
Even if we don't understand God's ways, but
let's do what the father says, give me
your heart.
And then you'll have delight and you'll be
delighted with all my ways.
You'll never be bitter.
You won't be disappointed.
You'll delight yourself in the Lord.
There were two persons, a male, he was
82 years old, a female, 52 years.
And they were sick.
They weren't related.
I'm just using them as an example.
And the 82 year old said, I wouldn't
like to die now.
I'm so happy with my children and grandchildren.
Everything is going so well.
Couldn't you pray that God will heal me,
that I'll carry on living.
The 52 year old lady said, I'm only
52 years.
I'd be so happy if my children and
grandchildren could still grow up a bit.
Pray for me that I'll be healed.
Now God is a sovereign God.
He can do anything.
He can kill a living soul and he
can raise the dead.
But still, he has got his ways with
us.
And when they realized that it was getting
worse, and they had prayed often, like Paul
in the Bible prayed three times, take this
thorn out of my flesh.
And God said, wait a bit.
You need this.
But my grace will be sufficient for you.
He accepted it.
And when these two people, the 82 year
old woman and the 52 year old lady,
accepted it and said, Could it be that
God's time has come?
Their lives, they were bright out shining.
They shone.
They said, we're going to be home soon.
And they were a testimony to many people.
The Bible
says
his spirit bears witness with our spirits that
we are children of God.
And they said, we got the assurance.
This is God's way.
And they made by God's grace the best
of it.
My son, give me your heart.
Let your eyes delight in my ways.
Be well pleased with my
ways.
Be well pleased with his ways.
Say, we don't see the fullness of it,
but by faith we thank God for what
he's done.
Now, to be delighted, in God's words, Webster's
dictionary defines the word delight as
to take great pleasure in, to find great
satisfaction and joy in it.
One can say, oh, it's impossible.
You can't expect such a thing.
But by God's grace, God can carry you.
And you don't find fault with him.
And you are not angry with him, as
Jonah was.
And he said, I knew before I left
home, or when I left, that you would
forgive them.
He wasn't satisfied with it.
But now in the Hebrew language, it means
something else as well.
In Hebrew, anak.
The root of that word is to be
soft and pliable.
That means yielding to God.
If this day has got us to the
place where we anew give our heart to
God and say, on this day, I've given
my heart.
I was conscious of what I do.
And I, by God's grace, I'll never forget
it.
That on Carmen's burial, I gave God my
heart anew.
And I've given my heart to him by
his grace.
I want to delight in his ways.
Even if it looks the opposite.
Even if it seems to be wrong.
Even if we can't understand it.
We say, Father, we know you don't make
a mistake.
Your ways are the best ways.
We know for her it's the best.
She's in a place that hasn't been seen
by any of our eyes or heard by
our ears.
A house built by God.
We can't imagine what that is like.
But for us who stay behind, it's sore,
it's difficult, but he promises us that he'll
be with us and turn this into a
blessing as well.
We thank you for your holy word.
It comforts us, it gives us courage, new
strength and joy.
We thank you, Lord, for your word.
There's nothing like it in this world.
You comfort us with your holy word.
You inspire us, you strengthen us, you quicken
us, and you carry us through.
And may we never take back what we've
given to you.
Amen.