Is It True That "the Heart Is Deceitful above All Things"?
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Deceit is a nasty little word, and most Christians would steer clear of anything considered “deceitful.” Defined as the act or practice of deceiving, deceit encompasses such sins as lying, misleading, or distorting the truth, twisting what is right and true into something far different.
Yet in Jeremiah 17:9 we find the verse, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”
What does this mean? Is Jeremiah being negative and pessimistic, or is the human heart truly filled with deceit?
What Does This Verse Mean?
Let’s take a look at what Jeremiah means here. Taking the original Hebrew, we can see the prophet uses the word leb, or lebab, for heart. The Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon says this word means the inner man, the mind, the will, or the heart — that inner part of a person, our innermost being. It’s the same inner being referenced in Genesis 6:6, when God was grieved in his heart for making humankind, which turned out to be so wicked, or in Genesis 17:17, when Abraham laughed in his heart that God would give him and Sarah a child in their old age.
For “deceitful,” Jeremiah uses the word aqob, which means insidious, deceitful, tracked by footprints. There’s an inference of sneakiness and manipulation here, an underhanded aspect. Other synonyms include slippery or sly, insidious.
Basically, the prophet is saying human beings are sneaky, treacherous, and crafty at our core, not worthy of trust of righteousness. Deceitful is the opposite of God, who we know is only good (Psalm 100:5). Indeed, 1 John 1:5 tells us, “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.”
What Is the Context of Jeremiah 17:9?
In the book of Jeremiah, the prophet offers dire prophecies to the people of Judah and Jerusalem about God’s approaching judgment because of Judah’s intentional disobedience against God. He predicted they would be exiled but later restored under the Messiah.
Written sometime in the latter part of the sixth-century B.C., we know how far God’s people had fallen from their original covenant and trusting relationship with God. They worship false gods and do what they want, not what God wants. Not only were they falling apart morally, but they were being threatened and attacked by their enemies. Their coming exile was God’s appropriate response to the people’s wrongdoing. Jeremiah wants the people to turn back, to repent.
In chapter 17, Jeremiah is making a contrast between those who trust in God and those who turn away and trust themselves or false gods. The former are blessed, but the latter are cursed, he says.
Then in verse 9, he declares the heart is “deceitful” above all things, beyond cure, and incomprehensible. Other translations of the Bible use “mind” instead of “heart” and “perverse” or “corrupt” instead of “deceitful,” but the point remains that deep down, people are bad and this is both confusing and perplexing. We people have a propensity for evil. On our own, we are unworthy, and we can never possibly be good enough for salvation or blessedness.
This verse is followed by God’s statement to Jeremiah that, “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve” (Jeremiah 17:10).
Is It True That Our Hearts Are Deceitful?
In a sense, this is true. God created us in His image (Genesis 1:27) and gave us dominion over the world. But we separated ourselves from Him in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve disobeyed Him and ate the forbidden fruit, and we’ve been separating ourselves from Him through our sins ever since. On our own, we are wicked and doomed.
As it says in Romans 3, no one is righteous, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
We are all born sinners with sinful and selfish natures. Ecclesiastes 7:20 reminds us there is no one on earth who is righteous, and Psalm 143:2 echoes the same.
Jesus described it this way: “But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander” (Matthew 15:18-19).
God knows this — He knows us completely. Indeed, the statement in Jeremiah 17:10, that God searches the heart and examines the mind, is a direct response to Jeremiah’s previous verses. In 11:20 and 12:3, Jeremiah talks about how God Almighty judges us righteously. He sees us truly and perfectly. He also sees and knows Jeremiah himself truly and perfectly. He’s the ultimate judge.
This is why the sacrifice Jesus made for us is so profound — His death paid our sin debt, washed us clean, and gave us an opportunity for salvation if we repent of our wicked ways and believe. As we know from John 3:16-17, God loved us so much that He gave us Jesus, “that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
The creator of the universe knew we were deceitful on our own, so He sent a way for us to achieve unity with Him: Jesus.
Should We "Listen to Our Hearts" When Making Decisions?
This is why the concept of listening to our hearts — trusting our minds, our inclinations, our intuitions — when it comes to decision-making is foolish. Instead of trusting our ways, which are false and misguided, not to be trusted, it is far better to put our hope in the Lord, who is perfect and steers us the right way. Unlike the people of Judah, who followed their own will and way and made decisions apart from God, we should heed Jeremiah’s advice and cling to God. We should pray for His guidance and for godly wisdom and behave in the manner we believe His son, Jesus, would have behaved.
It's tempting sometimes to think we are good, righteous, and worthy. But it’s critical to understand that any semblance of goodness isn’t anything we can possibly achieve on our own. Instead, it’s all from Jesus, who only and always points to the Father, God Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
God is all-knowing and all-seeing. He understands us intimately and fully.
As God reminded the prophet Jeremiah himself when He first called him to service, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5).
It’s the same with us. Deep down, we are sinners, but we are saved by grace — God’s grace, mercy, love, and magnificent generosity.
Jeremiah warned the people of Judah all those years ago they had gone astray, but God knew and saw them. They would be punished, but they would one day have the path to redemption. Their exile from the Promised Land, just like our exile from the garden and our separation from God, would end courtesy of Jesus.
Praise be to God.
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