“And in the breastpiece of judgment you shall put the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be on Aaron’s heart, when he goes in before the Lord. Thus Aaron shall bear the judgment of the people of Israel on his heart before the Lord regularly.”
– Exodus 28:30
Oh, Exodus 28:30 is a great verse, a great picture. So picture Aaron, the priest, representing the people of God, going in to the presence of God, and bearing … The language says here, “The judgment of the people of Israel.” Now, most commentators believe this refers specifically to decision making before God. So you look at other translations, and you’ll see that Aaron will always bear the means of making decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the Lord. And similarly, another translation say, “Aaron will always carry over his heart, the objects used to determine the Lord’s will for his people whenever he goes in before the Lord.” So, basically this is Aaron as the priest, representing the people of God, going before the Lord, asking for wisdom in making decisions for the people of God.
This Verse Images God Guarding our Hearts
So in this picture, we see a great image of how God guides the hearts of his people. This picture of the priest wearing this on his breastpiece as a symbol of saying, “God, please guide my heart as I, as we, as your people, make decisions. Guide our hearts to make decisions that glorify you.” I think about that picture, and then I think about my own life. I think about when I have decisions to make.
You have decisions to make. Small decisions, we’ll make all kinds of decisions is our lives today. Where to go here, what to do there. Decisions at work, decisions at home, decisions in life. But they’ve had big decisions and we’re making big decisions. God invites us, as his people, to come before him and ask for him to guide our hearts. So I just want to encourage us to pray then, in that light.
Exodus 28:30 Prays for Guided Decisions
God, we will make so many different decisions today. Just a little decisions, what to say here and there, where to go at this time or that time. We’ll make decisions in our lives and our families and our work, with other people. Other people will be affected by our decisions. So God, we pray, please guide our hearts. Direct our hearts to make wise decisions, we pray. We pray that we would live today just in dependence on you for wisdom in those decisions.
And then God, in big decisions. Think about things I’ve been wrestling with in my life, am wrestling with right now in my life. Things that others are wrestling with in their lives, or just wondering, “What do I do here or there?” God, we pray that you would guide our hearts. Help us to make decisions according to your wisdom, and your word, and your will. Decisions that are pleasing to you. God, we come to you through the priesthood that’s possible through Jesus’ death on the cross for our sins. And we ask you to guide our hearts in making decisions today. God, we pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
