Where the Heart Should Be

To avoid succumbing to folly, a person needs a rightly motivated heart. The wise man noted: “The heart of the wise is at his right hand, but the heart of the stupid at his left hand.

Eccl. 10:2, 3.

In Biblical usage, the “right hand” often stands for a position of favor. (Compare Matthew 25:33.) The wise person’s heart being at his right hand would, therefore, indicate that it inclines him toward a good, favorable course. The stupid one, however, is motivated toward a wrong path, his heart being at the “left hand.” He is much like a right-handed person who, if he could not use his right hand, might be clumsy with his left hand, unable to do well what must be done.