Fully Committed Heart

1 Kings 15:14
Although he did not remove the high places, Asa's heart was fully committed to the LORD all his life.

Wicked Abijah ruled for only 3 years, and then his son Asa became king. Before this verse is a list of all the good he did, reversing the worst of what his father had done. He even deposed his grandmother, Maacah, because of her Asherah pole.
The high places must have been hard to remove. Asa wasn't the only king who didn't do it.
I just tried a little research on the subject of high places and found myself digressing into all sorts of theories and opinions on ancient Israel. The simplest definition I found was one calling them open-air shrines, like those built by Jeroboam to keep the split-off kingdom of Israel from returning to worship at Jerusalem.
I also found a good bit about Molech, and the high places built by Solomon. There was a huge grave for the ashes of the sacrificed children that they called Topheth, or Hinnom, or just "hell". So it was easy to see why the high places should have been removed.
Was popular opinion a problem? Was it really that much like modern day abortion, an evil with a barbed hook in the flesh of a society that considers itself decent?
In Asa's defense, his heart was fully committed to Yahweh all his life. Little more could be said of anyone. In fact, in this frequent usage of heart, I'm beginning to see a huge principle. Is the heart fully devoted, or isn't it? Partial devotion is not an option. Partial devotion is not devotion. As Pastor Allen has said, partial obedience is disobedience. Similar principle.
God, examine my heart. Show me if my heart is fully devoted or not. I need to know.

Undevoted Heart

1 Kings 15:3
He committed all the sins his father had done before him; his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his forefather had been.

He was Abijah, king of Judah. His father was Rehoboam, son of Solomon; his mother was Absalom's daughter, Maacah. Thus his parents were cousins, though the two sons of David had different mothers.
Shorthand for his life is 'all the sins' of his father. Some of those were encouraging worship of pagan gods, sexual immorality, and 'all' the horrible things the Canaanites had done. A pretty grim list, especially when you picture it in action, in the life of the nation.
Once again, it is the heart. His heart had no mooring in God's harbor; it drifted into the sensational seas of the world's ways.
For David's sake God allowed Judah to continue and preserved Jerusalem as well. It may be that our country is allowed to continue based on the faithfulness of God to the devoted hearts of our grandparents. May my heart be so devoted that God will show mercy to my grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

God's Eyes

1 Kings 14:8
I tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, but you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commands and followed me with all his heart, doing only what was right in my eyes.

These are Ahijah's words to Jeroboam's wife, who came in disguise to find out what would happen to their son, lying sick at home. The answer was that the child would die, but that was only the beginning. Whatever remained of Jeroboam's family and legacy would suffer humiliating destruction.
Why? "You have done more evil than all who lived before you."
Most of his evil had to do with corrupted worship. He'd made other gods. He allowed high places, and let anyone who wanted to serve as priests there.
So he is unfavorably compared to David, who followed God with all his heart. I like the elaboration of following with all his heart: doing only what was right in God's eyes. There is something both positive and exclusive about it. David's righteousness lay not so much in what he did not do, but in what he did, which was only what God saw as right.
The one standard. No pragmatism, no compromise. Look through God's eyes, and aim there.

Heart Desires

1 Kings 11:37
However, as for you, I will take you, and you will rule over all that your heart desires; you will be king over Israel.

This promise is for Jeroboam, who would soon rule over 10 of the 12 tribes. Only Judah remained to Solomon's descendants, for David's sake, and for the sake of the King to come.
I find it a little unusual that God spoke of heart's desires in this context. The promise was followed by the usual condition: if Jeroboam walked in God's ways and kept God's commands, he would have a lasting dynasty, just like David's, though no one and no tribe would ever take David's exact place.
The whole phrase, rule over all that your heart desires, seemed familiar, and it did occur in 2 Samuel 3:21. But it wasn't God talking. Abner was acting as power broker when he got mad at Saul and offered to help David.
Seeing the end, God must have known that Jeroboam wouldn't last long. But he did what God needed him to, and for that God offered him a shot at his heart's desires.

Unfaithful Heart

1 Kings 11:9
The LORD became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.

The story of Solomon is coming to an end.
God is angry. That's a scary enough thought in itself. Solomon had every reason to keep his heart turned toward God, including two personal visits. But it's like Jesus said in the story of the beggar Lazarus. Even the return of someone from the dead won't convince everyone.
The human heart has a memory about 5 minutes long. We enjoy daily abundance and occasional miracles, yet our hearts look everywhere but toward God.
For Solomon, the price was the kingdom of Israel. He enjoyed a united country to the end of his days, but he knew that his son would not. Before Solomon was off the scene, he witnessed the enemies mobilizing. He personally promoted Jeroboam, then tried to kill him after the prophecy that he would be the one to split the kingdom. So there must have been some remorse in his last days, as the shape of the future showed up plainly.
And he could have no doubt why it happened.
The destruction of Israel had begun in his own heart.

Heart of David

1 Kings 11:4
As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been.

This verse may well be in the running for most occurrences of heart.
It partly moderates the previous verse and my questions about it: when Solomon grew old his wives turned his heart. It didn't happen immediately. The years of compromise finally exacted a price. His love for foreign women turned gradually to love for their dreadful gods.
Several of these are named in the following verses: Ashtoreth, Chemosh, the horrible Molech. But there were more, too many to name! If we haven't forgotten Molech and Ashtoreth, thankfully some of those pagan gods have faded from memory.
I think the last part of the verse says as much about David as about Solomon. David's heart was always devoted to the true God. He didn't always do right, and his old age wasn't a very pretty picture. But his heart never turned to other gods. It was fully devoted to Yahweh.
God, as I get older, keep my heart fully devoted to you. Keep my affections in healthy areas, so that my heart will not stray.

Turned Hearts

1 Kings 11:2
They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, "You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods." Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love.

As the heart has come up so many times in Solomon's story, it comes up to explain his decline. I couldn't decide what word to use there. He remained king, and Israel remained intact for his lifetime. He didn't lose his wealth or power. The chapter gets more fully into what did happen to him, so I won't give it all away now. Let me just see what this verse says.
The first verse of the chapter explains that Solomon loved many foreign women. This is sort of interesting in itself. David took too many wives, but with him it seemed almost accidental. At major events and turning points of his life, a new wife was part of the adventure, till he had a string of them.
But Solomon loved foreign women. It was his own desires that brought 1000 women into his household before it was all over. Why didn't his discerning heart help him know better? Did he think he was above the law? That his love for women justified taking what he wanted?
This verse recounts God's specific command to the Israelites not to intermarry with foreigners, and He was so kind as to give a reason: Hearts that knew the true God could be turned to false gods if they joined with worshippers of those gods of death.
God, please give me a discerning heart to know right from wrong, and let my heart never be turned to a false god.

Wise Heart

1 Kings 10:24
The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart.

This is a gorgeous chapter, full of wealth and beauty and wonderful conversation. As I have been through a few select chapters, I can tell you that is rare, so I won't even mention the things that don't come up here.
Chapter 10 begins with the visit of the queen of Sheba.
Here are some things I found about Sheba.
The discovered text-records of ancient "Ashooris" of Babel; existing during nearly the same era of Queen of Sheba; asserted to the historians an indication of one or more queens that played their roles within the north Sector of the Arabian Peninsula. Queen of Sheba, if happened to be one of those queens, was said to exist during the eight century B.C.
Recently, the Big Exhibition in Paris showing "Ancient-Yemen Treasures" carried her name with the title reference "Yemen... the land of Queen Sheba".
It further specified that Sheba was the name known to one of the four caravans' merchandise routes i.e. Maeen, Sheba, Qataban and Hadramout. These were the four ancient routes of trading, or commerce,
Goods like inscence, myrreh, al-Nadrein perfume were traded on the silk route of Desert Arabia.
The father of History Herodeots wrote about the region: "It was the last land inhabited by Arab nomads. It is South Arabia Land from which natural smell of God were spreading from its soils".
It was the ancient Mareb Dam for which fell all their interests. During the kingdom the "Dam" had been built some nine Kilometers a distance from the ancient capital "Sheba", located now in Mareb province of the Yemeni Republic. This "Dam" is now considered by experts of history as a real artistic and accountable work achieved by ancient Sheba kingdom.
Source: Preliminary press report published
by "Al-Ra'y" newspaper of Oman Sultanate,
issue dated 5/11/97
Author: Press reporter Gozet Allia'
In fact here is the link to this charmingly written bit of history:
Normally I don't get so much into history, but when I look at these heart verses, and then the chapter, I find myself wondering about things I've taken for granted.
So, she was the queen of an Arab land with an incredible dam. Sheba was an area through which the caravans passed in that barbaric day. Poetically, I picture her, in these pre-Islam days, as a bold and strong Arabian woman, riding a beautiful horse, her ears and nose pierced for gold rings. She went to Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put into his heart.
In fact, the whole world went to Solomon.
God, give me a discerning heart, and put just a fraction of that wisdom in my heart.