The perverse in heart are an abomination to the LORD,
but the blameless in their walk are His delight.

Proverbs 11:20

This is one of those key verses I think we better breakdown word for word to open up the depth of opposites presented here. But, first it is important to note that this verse is planted in a large portion of Proverbs that is written in contrasts and those contrasts are often glaring in their differences. And that is exactly the writer’s (God’s) intention. 

We’ve already discussed at length the definition of heart used in the Bible. It is not just an emotion though it does encompass emotion, in fact, it encompasses passion both of love and courage. However, the overwhelming use of ‘heart’ in the Bible refers to who we are in our very soul! We must keep this in mind (and I know I am pounding it out daily in these blogs) because it is vital that we keep the correct definition and nuances of this word in our thinking as we study, heart, as it is presented in Proverbs. Okay…onward.

Perverse: This is…twisted, distorted, crooked, perverse, perverted.

Are: This is…used twice in this verse. Present tense verb with second-person pronoun or any plural nouns and pronouns.

Abomination: This is…a disgusting thing, unclean, of wickedness.

 LORD: This is…Yahweh (YHWH), the Always Existing One, The I AM!

But: This is…a conjunction commonly used to indicate a contradiction or contrast.

Blameless: This is…complete, whole, sound, healthful, wholesome, in accord with truth and fact.

Their: This is…in association with, ownership of something belonging to.

Walk: This is…way, road, journey, direction, manner, habit, course of life, of moral character.

His: This is referring back to LORD.

Delight: This is…pleasure, favor, goodwill, acceptance, desire, will.

You may think this is overkill for a short devotional, but I am convinced that this breakdown will aid in the future heartkey verses that follow in this particular section of Proverbs that uses contrasts so masterfully. God wants there to be no doubt about the difference between the world’s ways and corrupted ends and His Ways and Righteous Ends!

Read through this key verse again, keep the definitions in mind…in your heart. Which contrast do you choose? Which do I choose? Great Question…isn’t it!