Transgression [like an oracle] speaks to the wicked deep in his heart.
Psalm 36:1 (AMP)
What speaks to your heart?
What touches the very core of your being?
What causes your ears to “perk up” and spark your interest?
What fuels your imagination?
Like it or not, more often than not, our character, our essence and our true identity as human beings are revealed by these questions.
Throughout the four Gospels, there are over a dozen instances of Jesus making much ado about “ears that hear” or “eyes that see.” He would chide religious leaders for not having ears to hear and eyes to see, then bless “sinners” for having ears that actually could hear, and eyes that actually could see.
What was Jesus talking about? I think we find a clue in Matthew 6:22 (AMP):
The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is sound, your entire body will be full of light. But if your eye is unsound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the very light in you [your conscience] is darkened, how dense is that darkness!
I don’t believe Jesus was talking about the physical eye here. If you study the meaning of the word “eye”, using the scripture as it’s own commentary, you’ll find the word “eye” quite likely means “desire.” I also find it difficult to believe Jesus is calling the physical, flesh body a light expressing agent. Proverbs 20:27 tells us the spirit of man is the candle, or lamp, of the Lord - not the physical body.
Listen to this verse substituting the word “eye” with “desire” and “body” with “spirit.”
Desire is the lamp (or illuminating agent) of the spirit. So if your desires are sound your entire spirit will be full of light. But if your desires are unsound, your whole spirit will be full of darkness. If then the very light in you [your conscience] is darkened, how dense is that darkness!
Does this paraphrase make a little more sense to you? It certainly does for me!
So then, how does this apply to my original question, i.e. what speaks to your heart? Simply put, those things that speak to ones heart are those things that fulfill the desires of one’s heart, that fulfill the longings of one’s heart.
The words of Jesus, (which were actually the words of the Father), did not speak to the hearts of the malignant narcissists of His day, the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Jesus’ words did not appeal to the hearts of those evil men. Their hearts could not even perceive the message of Christ. Their hearts were not able to understand what Jesus was talking about, or comprehend His simple illustrations we call parables.
Why not?
Once again, I think it all comes down to the desire of the heart, to that which one truly seeks in his or her heart of hearts.
The Pharisee did not desire honor that comes from God only. Nope, only the person who sincerely desired the invisible honor that comes from God (a clean conscience perhaps) had ears to hear and eyes to perceive those truths the Master sought to unveil.
The Pharisee did not desire to do what was right in the eyes of God. Quite the contrary, the Pharisee believed he was right in his own eyes. Only the man hungering and thirsting to do what was right and pleasing to God possessed the ears to hear and eyes to see the Living Word.
The Pharisee was not poor in spirit, longing for the councils and precepts of God to guide his path. No, the Pharisee was quite satisfied that he, and he alone, knew the “way of salvation”, and would thank God he was not like those other, sinful men, who didn’t. Only the man that felt lost, broken, and searching for guidance from a power greater than himself could “hear” the message of the Galilean.
So if Jesus wasn’t speaking to the hearts of the Pharisees, who was? Let’s go back to our original text:
Transgression [like an oracle] speaks to the wicked deep in his heart.
Transgression (not Truth) spoke to the heart of the Pharisees. Transgression (not Truth) spoke to the heart of the Sadducees. Transgression (not Truth) spoke to heart of those wicked men.
My friend, nothing has changed from then until now.
The same transgression that spoke to the Pharisees of Jesus day speaks to the malignant narcissists of our day.
One meaning of the word “transgression” I discovered in Strong’s concordance means, “To break away from just authority.”
The word also simply means rebellion. Or lawlessness.
I believe most, if not all malignant narcissists, are those who at an early age, “broke away” from the authority of their own conscience. By doing so, they broke away from the very law of God written in their heart. Let’s look at Romans 2:14, 15 (AMP) and I’ll show you what I mean:
When Gentiles, who have not the [divine] Law do instinctively what the Law requires, they are a law to themselves, since they do not have the Law (the Torah). They show that the essential requirements of the Law are written in their hearts and are operating there, with which their consciences (sense of right and wrong) also bear witness and their [moral] decisions (their arguments of reason, their condemning or approving thoughts) will accuse or perhaps defend and excuse [them].
If a man or woman refuses to be governed by his or her own conscience, “breaks away” from their conscience, or, to put another way, does not allow his or her conscience to speak to his or her heart, what IS (speaking to his or her heart)?
Transgression! Law-LESS-ness! Rebellion!
As we all have come to painfully know by now, the things that speak to the heart of a malignant narcissist, touch the core of his being, cause his ears to perk up, spark his interest and fuel his imagination, often reek havoc, if not outright destruction, in the lives of others.
Using the outstanding definition of abuse found on the “A Cry for Justice” website, I’d like to paint a picture for you of the type of things that speak to the heart of the abusive narc; things the Bible calls “transgression.”
That plan, purpose or pursuit which validates, supports and enforces the narcissist’s inflated sense of entitlement.
That plan, purpose or pursuit that constructs, facilitates and empowers the narcissist’s place as the center of the world, including that which coerces his victim to recognize him as the same.
That plan, purpose or pursuit that allows for control and power over others, which the narcissist believes is his natural right.
If you want to touch the heart and soul of the malignant narcissist in your life, speak things that justify his sense of entitlement. If you want to excite the narcissist in your life, make him feel as if he is the center of the universe, including your own. If you want to spark the imagination of the narcissist in your life, encourage him to exercise any and all the power and control he feels is necessary to satisfy his ego and bank account. Yes, the narc has ears to hear these kind of things. This is the kind of parable the narc will “get.”
If, however, you refuse to speak the kind of things that touch the heart of your abuser, get ready for some narcissistic rage and abuse.
They killed Jesus over it.
