Heart Songs

(Proverbs 25:20 KJV)  As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to an heavy heart.

Did you have a parent that would wake you up singing something like “Oh, what a beautiful morning”?  As irritating as it was you knew it was all in good fun.  That is not what Solomon means by singing to a “heavy” (troubled NASB) (7452a) “heart” (3820).  He is talking about a heart that is churning because of evil, which is the literal meaning of the Hebrew word.

One place this speaks to me today is in my insensitivity to people going through hard times.  I dismiss my response as exercising discernment, and there is some of that, but often it is just a failure to read the conflict that is going on.  Instead of being dismissive I should be listening.  Instead of saying “Deal with it” I need to let them know I feel their pain.

So?  That is hard for me to do.  Being hard does not mean it is to be avoided.  It means it needs to be practiced.  May the Lord soften my heart.