The Reins and the Heart

There’s an interesting phrase that appears a handful of times in the scriptures.  The exact language varies across the references, but the idea is this: “The Lord tries the reins and the heart.”  This phrase appears twice in the Psalms, three times in Jeremiah, and once in the book of Revelation: 

·         “The righteous God trieth the hearts and the reins” (Psalms 7:9)

·         “Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart” (Psalms 26:2)

·          “But, O Lord of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest the reins and the heart” (Jeremiah 11:20)

·         “I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings” (Jeremiah 17:10).

·         “But, O Lord of hosts, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins and the heart” (Jeremiah 20:12)

·         “I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts” (Revelation 2:23) 

So what does the Lord mean by this analogy?  The word “reins” is an old form of the word for kidneys (and is the exact spelling for the common term for kidneys in French), and according to one online dictionary, reins means “the seat of the feelings or affections” in the Bible.  The heart is obviously a very common analogy all throughout the scriptures to represent our feelings, desires, spirituality, submissiveness, etc.  Perhaps one way to summarize it is that the heart represents a measure of our spiritual life.  This makes sense since the heart is what gives life to the whole body by circulating blood.  But why would the Lord use the kidney in a similar analogy?  The kidneys are what clean the blood and the body.  So when the scriptures tell us that the Lord “triest the reins” of each of us, perhaps this relates to our ability to keep ourselves clean and “unspotted from the world” (D&C 59:9).  How well do our filters work as the world bombards us with wickedness?  When the kidneys fail for someone, it can mean physical death without serious medical intervention.  Perhaps we should consider the state of our spiritual kidneys, for without the ability to filter out the barrage of violence, immorality, vulgarity, and pornography that fills today’s popular books, magazines, movies, and internet sites, we will likewise die spiritually.  As many scriptures teach, “The Spirit of the Lord doth not dwell in unholy temples”—and if the Spirit does not dwell in us we die spiritually (Helaman 4:24).  We must keep our spirits clean with diligent protection against all that does not edify. 

                Isaiah described Christ saying that “Righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins” (Isaiah 11:5).  He was always faithful to His Father, so he never wavered under all the temptations that Satan tried to harm Him with during His mortal life.  In our lives that is the same solution for us: faithfulness to God and our covenants will enable us to keep our spirit bodies clean from the sins so prevalent in our generation.  And our hope is that when the Lord looks at us to search our reins and heart, He will find our minds pure and our spirits alive.