Fat Hearts

~Amy Brown

From the wicked who oppress me, From my deadly enemies who surround me.  They have closed up their fat hearts; With their mouths they speak proudly.  They have now surrounded us in our steps; They have set their eyes, crouching down to the earth,-Psalm 17:9-11

In Psalm 17 David is praying for deliverance from his enemies.  In our specific text, he describes them as wicked and deadly, as having fat hearts, and mouths that speak proudly. 

Did you know that humans can actually accumulate physical fat around their hearts?  It’s referred to as pericardial fat and has been found to be directly linked to an individual’s risk for a condition called atherosclerosis, or fatty deposits in the arteries that can lead to heart attacks and/or strokes.  Physical fat poses a danger to our physical health.  However, the danger that “spiritual fat” poses is far more serious, as it has eternal consequences. 

Scripture often speaks of fatness as being equated with pride and of those who forsake God.

But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; You grew fat, you grew thick, You are obese! Then he forsook God who made him, and scornfully esteemed the Rock of His Salvation.-Deut 32:15

Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.-Psalm 73:7

 Their heart is as fat as grease, but I delight in Your Law.-Psalm 119:70

 You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter.-James 5:5

We hear so often how important it is to exercise, eat a balanced diet, etc. in order to ward off disease.  Ladies, it is no different with our spiritual health.  We must be diligent, exercising our minds in the study of God’s Word and always seeking to better ourselves spiritually (2 Peter 1:5-8).  In this way, we can always be striving to trim the “spiritual fat” from our hearts.

Amy is the wife of one of the minsters at the Hiram church of Christ in Kennesaw, Georgia and currently teach the teen girls.  Since Amy has no children of our own, she is very thankful for the opportunity to share God's Word with the children of others.