How Importanant is the State of the Heart (1 Kings 2-11)

A Bible teacher of mine once said "The New [Testament] is CONTAINED in the Old [Testament] and the Old is PROCLAIMED in the New".  And how true that is!!  So often the state of he heart is assumed to the the focus of the New Testament and the Law the focus of the Old; however, we see the heart mentioned 34 times in 1 Kings.  Below is a review of what we have studied in chapters 2 through 11.

•  The first time the heart is mentioned, it is in the conditional promise God made David about the future of the kingdom if they walk with an upright heart 1 Kings 2:4
• The first reference to an evil heart was Shimei's.  This was the man David warned Solomon about who Solomon ended up killing 1 Kings 2:44
• David had a righteous and upright heart 1 Kings 3:6
• When Solomon prayed for wisdom in was in the context of an understanding heart 1 Kings 3:9; God answered that prayer again referencing Solomon’s heart later in vs. 12. This gift from God was again noted in 1 Kings 4:29
• It was David’s heart’s desire to build the Lord a house 1 Kings 8:17, 18,
• Solomon stated how all were to walk, before the Lord with all their heart 1 Kings 8:23
• In content of praying for future famines and pestilence in the land, Solomon prayed for the condition of Israel’s heart, specifically he prayed for the “affliction” or the plague of Israel’s heart in 1 Kings 8:38,39
• When sinning they were to turn to God with all of their heart 1 Kings 8:48
• Israel’s heart was to be inclined and fully devoted to the Lord 1 Kings 8:57, 61
• After the feast of the Tabernacle/Tents, the people returned to their tent with joy in their heart 1 Kings 8:66
• God heard Solomon’s prayer from chapter 8 and promised to have God's heart forever in the Temple Solomon built 1 Kings 9:3
• We again see the conditional promise of walking with an upright heart from 1 Kings 2:4 also in 1 Kings 9:4
• Solomon’s wise heart is described in 1 Kings 10:24 but notice the contract the next time Solomon’s heart is mentioned.
• Solomon's heart was turned away from God and toward other gods in 1 Kings 11:3-4.  This was the turning point in Solomon’s life and in the life of the nation of Israel.

God gave Israel the Law in the Old Testament; however, we see here in 1 Kings the importance of the heart and a beautiful foundation for what is ahead in the New Testament.  One of Jesus' core messages in the Sermon on the Mount is the state of the heart…if you have anger in your heart you have committed murder (Mt. 5:22) if you have lust in your heart you have committed adultery (Mt. 5:28). In light of this I encourage you to examine the state of your heart.