Editor’s Note: This is the first part of a monthly series entitled Lyrical Exposition which will be led by Prince Woodrow. Check back every second Saturday as he examine more songs by various Hip Hop artists.
Braille’s Changed Hearts:
Notable Lyrics
“Search your own heart”
“Spark a changed in our hearts”
“Praying for changed hearts”
“My passion is persuaded by a changed heart”
“So the minister depends on God to work by His Spirit and His Word to change hearts!”
“Hearts get changed when the truth is revealed, hearts get changed when Christ is revealed”
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Break Down
In his track, “Changed Hearts,” Humble Beast recording artist Braille is back at it again, rhyming about his own changed heart, how it impacts his actions, and how he wants to see changed hearts in others.
So what are the heart issues central to Braille’s message?
Braille is not referring to the heart as a physical organ, rather the spiritual part of us where our desires and emotions dwell.
The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. – Genesis 6:6
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? – Jeremiah 17:9
But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.- Romans 2:5
The Fall (Genesis 3) had a major impact on us internally. As seen from the verses above, the human heart in its natural condition is evil, deceitful, hard, and impenitent. Our desires, our emotions, and our minds are tainted by sin. Jesus revealed the condition of our hearts in Mark 7:21-23, “From within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man unclean.”
Our hearts are naturally in no condition to honor God. Romans 3:11 says, “None is righteous, no, not one.” We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), and that sin has separated us from God.
In order for a person to be saved from God’s wrath, that is, His judgment of sin (Romans 5:9, 1 Thessalonians 5:9), our hearts need to be changed. This only happens by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8). If confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved (Romans 10:10) and God will create a new heart within us (Ps. 51:10, Ezekiel 36:26). As Braille says, “hearts get changed when the truth is revealed, hearts get changed when Christ is revealed.”
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But it doesn’t stop there! After we put our faith in Him, God will begin to sanctify us and fill our hearts with new ideas, new wisdom, and new desires (1 Kings 10:24, 2 Cor. 8:16). We won’t reach perfection on this side of eternity, but this sanctifying will continue until we die and depart to be with our Lord, or until “the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).
“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Proverbs 4:23).
Pray continually for God to change your heart, and conform it to His will. Pray for the same change in others. Pray Psalm 139:23-24: “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” As you listen to Brailles song “Changed Hearts,” rejoice and be thankful for the work that God has done in your life!
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